Contributions for this
page will be welcomed. Interesting stories relating to the Hahn, Bartz, Sprengeler,
Husfeldt, or Hueneberg families are appreciated, as well as are stories relating to life
in southern Minnesota in the late 1800s. To gain a geographical perspective, also
see the maps at the Family
Emigrations from Northern Germany in the 19th Century page by clicking HERE, and the Family Settlements in Minnesota page
by clicking HERE
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....The US Government
passed the Homestead Act of 1862, by which the head of a family or any person 21 years of
age could acquire by settlement and improvement 160 acres of land. This opened the
territory west of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers....
Some of the pioneers
came from Germany and Prussia, seeking a new home in America. Upon reaching New
York, many immigrants were welcomed by agents of the Minnesota Legislature, and were
persuaded to come to Minnesota. Others left the south because they did not favor
slavery, while some left their homes in Ohio and other eastern states because they liked
the prairie land. Many traveled by steamboat up the Minnesota by way of Henderson.
Some came by oxcarts, covered wagons, or on foot. As the story is told, one settler
came by oxcart, and it took six weeks to travel from central Iowa. The settlers
brought with them trunks, bundles, furniture, animals, and anything that could be used in
their homes. After seeing the beautidul valley and rolling prairie land, many
settlers wrote to their relatives telling them to come to Minnesota.
From 100 YEARS
'IN OUR FATHER'S WORLD' 1866 - 1966, the centennial book of Trinity Lutheran Church in
Sibley County, Minnesota. Among the congregation's charter members was the Kusske
family who can be found in other places on this website.
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THE KUEHN AND JACOBY FAMILIES
came from the former Prussian province of Posen, which today is a part of Poland. Carol's
great-great-great grandfather was Carl Jacoby who, according to church records, was
working as a grain miller in the village of NadM�hle near Schokken, where the family
resided when daughter (Anna) Caroline was born in 1836. When Caroline was about 23
years old, she married Christian Kuehn, a miller from
the nearby village of Kazmierzewo, in 1859. It is thought that Christian worked for
Caroline’s father at the grain mill in Neudorf M�hle. Christian and Caroline had one
child when Christian left for America in late 1861 on the Ship Elise and Mathilda,
Hamburg to New York. Early the following year, Caroline, who at the time was pregnant with
their second child, departed from Hamburg on the Bark Peter Roland to join her husband.
Their son, Gustav Frederich, reportedly was born during the ocean voyage.
The family settled first in Beaver
Dam, Wisconsin, where Carol's great-grandmother Mathilda
Kuehn was born. By 1870 they had left Wisconsin and settled in Sibley County,
Minnesota, where Christian and Caroline spent the remainder of their lives. Their daughter
Mathilde married Julius Rudolph Hahn in Sibley County in 1885. By 1900 they were living in
Chippewa County, and about 1901 they moved to Echo, Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota,
where they raised their family and spent the rest of their lives.
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CORD SPRENGELER:
".... sometime in 1859, Cord began studying for the ministry at Ft. Wayne Lutheran
Seminary at Ft. Wayne, IN. He was the first person from Minnesota to enroll and graduate
from Ft. Wayne Seminary. We can only assume that Ilse and the children accompanied Cord to
Ft. Wayne since he rented a house there.
After graduation from the Seminary, Cord was assigned work among the German settlers in
upper Canada, and was ordained and installed by Rev. Roeders as the pastor at St. Peter's
Lutheran Church in Delhi, Ontario, Canada, on February 24, 1861. We think Ilse and the
children went to Canada at this time, except for first son, Henry, who remained at Ft.
Wayne to continue his schooling at Ft. Wayne Gymnasium prior to studying for the ministry
at the Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary at St. Louis, MO."
Helena Bade Spaude, grandchild of Cord, recalled, "While they (Cord and family) were
in Canada, they must have been near some Indian Reservation. My mother, (Maria Sprengeler
Bade) used to say that when they butchered a hog or beef, the Indians would come and ask
for the intestines. The Indians would clean the intestines and then roast them over an
open fire. It was a delicacy for the Indians. Also once in a while Grandma Sprengeler
would give the Indians some bread."
According to a letter written January 1, 2000, by the Delhi, Ontario, St. Peter's Lutheran
Church archivist, Helena Bilger, Cord's last service in Canada was held on the second
Sunday in Advent, December 6, 1863. He was installed December 17, 1863, as the second
pastor at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Young America Township, Carver County (Hamburg), MN.
While Cord was a pastor at Emanuel, he was also a circuit rider in the area of Hamburg,
Green Isle and Cologne, MN. Helena Spaude also mentioned, "Sometimes Grandpa
Sprengeler (Cord) would be gone for a week or two at a time going from congregation to
congregation, maybe six to eight congregations, conducting services, baptizing babies,
giving confirmation instructions, etc. In winter when it was so cold, (he used to travel
by horse and buggy), he would take their shaggy dog along. The dog would sleep near his
feet and keep his feet warm."
From the files and history of Emanuel Church it states: "Soon after his (Cord's)
installation at Hamburg, the congregation began to make extensive improvements. On March
23, 1864, the congregation decided to build a parsonage. This parsonage had a pump inside
the building which was quite a luxury of the time. In 1869, the congregation decided to
build a new church. The new church's dimensions were 60 feet by 36 feet and was one of the
most beautiful and largest in the area." The congregation was blessed with growth
during Sprengeler's pastorate although at times he had to deal with many difficulties in
the congregation. "Cord Sprengeler also was a pastor at First Lutheran Church at Lake
Jefferson in Cleveland, MN, during the years of 1868 and 1873. He served even before the
log church was built and services were held in homes. He served faithfully with his son,
Henry, who was a seminarian then."
On December 17, 1874, Cord resigned as pastor of Emanuel Lutheran Church. Sometime in
1875, Cord, Ilse, and their four youngest children, Louise, Fred, George, and Martha,
moved to Elysian Township, LeSueur County, MN, where Cord purchased land on April 17th and
22nd , 1875. There are two parcels of land recorded, the descriptions follow: "April
17, 1875, C.H. Sprengeler bought for $231 the Southeast Quarter of Section Seventeen (17)
Township 109 North of Range Twenty-four west from August H. E. Lange." Also, on April
22, 1875: C. H. Sprengeler bought for $100 the South East Quarter of Section Seventeen
(17) Township one hundred and nine (109) North of Range twenty-four west from James Warner
and Rosa Warner." (Cord and family were not listed in the MN 1875 Census for Elysian
Township which was taken the beginning of May. Perhaps they were not on their land the day
the census was taken). Cord and Ilse's son, Henry, was called as a pastor to St. Peter's
Lutheran Church in Elysian, MN, in 1870. In 1876, Henry received a call to Trinity
Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
We do not know when Cord, Ilse, and their children, Louise, Fred, George, and Martha,
moved to Iosco Township, Waseca County, MN. Perhaps the move was made after son, Henry,
moved to Milwaukee. In 1878, Cord purchased land in Iosco Township for farming with his
two youngest sons. From here Cord served as much as possible a congregation in Wilton
Township, MN. (Elysian Township's southeast corner joins Iosco Township at Iosco
Township's northwest corner).
Cord, Ilse and daughter, Martha, moved to Mankato, MN, in 1887, perhaps when Cord and
Ilse's son, George, married his first wife, Augusta, in 1887. (Cord and Ilse's daughter,
Dorothea Brockmeyer, husband and their family had already moved to Mankato from St. Louis,
MO, in April 1885). From Mankato Cord served the congregation in St. James, MN, and later
as assistant pastor at the congregation in Mankato for several years. The History from
Emanuel Church in Carver County states that Cord also "served Elysian and
Janesville" while in this area. Cord's youngest son, George, bought the farm in Iosco
Township from Cord and Ilse on December 17, 1891.
Ilse passed away in Mankato on April 15, 1898. Cord continued to live with his daughter,
Martha, in Mankato until his death on October 10, 1903. Both Ilse and Cord are buried in
Pilgrim's Rest Cemetery in Mankato.
The farm that Cord purchased in Iosco Township in 1878, is now a Century Farm since it has
remained in the Sprengeler name for over one hundred years. As stated above, Cord's son,
George, bought the farm from Cord and Ilse in 1891. George sold the farm to his son,
Ewald, in 1938, and in 1987, Ewald's son, Loren Sprengeler bought the farm and continues
to own it as of July 2001.
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In response to an inquiry
on one of the genealogy forums, a fellow researcher
provided the following from THE 1883 HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY, IOWA:
"An entry for St.
John's Congregation German Evangelical Lutheran Church (Denver, IA, in Maxfield Township),
states that the first religious meeting for the early settlers was held in a private
building, section 18, owned by John Moehling, and was conducted by Rev. N. Volkert, who
was called from Schaumburg, Cook County, Illinois, for a special service. He prached [sic]
on Sunday, April 24, 1856, baptized ten children and celebrated the Lord's Supper. Fifty
persons were admitted, including Joh. Juehnerberg and
wife. (NOTE: One of the ten children was Maria Huenerberg, who had been born six months earlier)
There is one other reference on page 1131 regarding Maxfield Township and early settlers.
It says that the first settlements made in this township were in 1855, and with few
exceptions, the first settlers were from Cook County, Illinois, but of German birth or
descent. The following named were among the number arriving here between the years 1855
and 1860, including John Huchnerberg."
Also, from
The History of St. John's Lutheran Church Spring Fountain (Sumner, Iowa) at the
celebration of the church's 100th Anniversary in 1975:
.... We are grateful
to a few of our forefathers who in the fall of 1875 had the desires to organize St. John's
congregation and by God's will we were blessed with this beautiful house of God. The
original members were: Henry Steege, Henry Schnadt, Henry Keding, Fred Buhrow, Martin
Hunemuller, Joseph Volker, Carl Bremer, John Drier, John Huenerberg, Christian
Doss, Conrad Wilharm, Fred Volker, Theodore Hagen and William Schwake.
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Frederich Kastens,
the maternal grandfather of Esther Bartz, emigrated to America in 1851
from Hannover at the age of seventeen. In 1860 he was in Cook County, Illinois,
living on the
farm of Henrich and Maria Pehling in Rich Township. Sometime during the 1860s,
Frederich married the Pehling's daughter Elisabeth, and moved to Nicollet County,
Minnesota. Elisabeth's parents, or at least her father, accompanied the young
couple west.
Interestingly, the 1870 Census for Nicollet County lists not only its citizens, but also
lists the names of those who had died within the previous twelve months (this must have
been a carryover from Cook County, where dead people are allowed to vote). An entry
in that census states that Henry Pehling had died in December, and a note in the remarks
section indicates that he had died from poisoning resulting from the skinning of a
poisoned calf.
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