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First Generation
1. Frederich LUHRSEN1 was born on 19 Jan 1811 in Esperke, Kreis Neustadt, Hanover,
Germany.2,3,4 An Amicable
Gathering.
It is not every mortal's privilege to enjoy the lapse of time as allotted by
the Psalmist, of three score years and ten. Our fellow townsman and honored citizen,
Mr. Fred Luhrsen, Sr., has been granted this and more too. Last Sunday, surrounded
by all his children and many grandchildren, he celebrated his 85th birthday.
His sons living here arranged the surprise, and it proved to be a complete surprise.
Most of the party assembled at Mr. Henry Luhrsen's home and kept in hiding until
4 o'clock p.m. Then all present went over to Mr. August Luhrsen's, with whom
the venerable gentleman is staying. After offering their congratulations and
gifts the party sat down and partook of a sumptuous repast. The celebrator was
particularly well pleased with a congratulation sent by his granddaughter, Miss
Clara Luhrsen, of Chicago. Mr. C. E. Marr, who was present, couched and offered
his sentiments in verse. Those present from abroad were: Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Luhrsen,
of Weldon, Ill.; Mrs. Fred Wilkins, of Riverdale, Ill.; L.C. Volberding, of Del
Rey. Mr. Fred Luhrsen, Sr., is still in robust health and is honored and respected
by all who know him. We join his friends in hoping he will be able to reach the
century mark. He died on 1 Oct 1905 in Buckley, Iroquois County, Illinois.2 Esperke is the village Frederick
was born. The nearest village with a church was Mandelsloh. The church was St.
Osdacus [St. Osdag] where christenings, marriages and deaths were recorded. These
villages were in Kreis [county] Neustadt, in Hannover [state], in Prussia [country].
In 1900 the area became under Germany control and was no longer known as Prussia.
Frederick Luhrsen was a stone mason by trade, and thus provided for his family
in Germany. He came to America in October 1857 on the ship, ADONIS. From
New York the family settled in Addison Township, DuPage County, Illinois [next
to Chicago]. He took out his citizenship papers there in 1862. For 12 years he
farmed rented land in DuPage County. He also became owner of a small tract of
land in that county, and later selling it and moving to Iroquois County, Illinois
in 1869, settling about 2 miles west of the village of Buckley, IL.
In Iroquois County he owned 80 acres of land upon which he resided for 6 years.
He then made his home in Buckley with his son August until he passed away 1 October
1905 at the age of 94 1/2 years. He had long survived his wife Charlotte, who
died in 1880 in Addison Township [DuPage County], Illinois at the age of 57 years.
Frederick and Charlotte made a visit to Addison Township, she got sick there,
died and was buried at Addison Township. NOTE: The Addison Township, DuPage County,
Illinois cemetery index shows Charlotte nee Luhrs Luhrsen 1822 - 1880. That information
does not agree with the family tree dates and age for Charlotte.
Frederick and Charlotte had 11 children with six being born in Germany and five
born at Addison, IL.
Frederick Luhrsen, Sr. had a half brother, George Rittmueller who came to America
settling in DuPage County, Illinois in 1856. Frederick Luhrsen came to America
in October 1857 and also settling in DuPage County, Illinois.
The ship manifest shows: Luerssen, Friedrich, 46, farmer, from Hannover, to Chicago;
wife Charolotte, 34; Friedrich, 24, son; Georg, 7, son; Wilhelm, 7, son; Heinrich,
6, son; August, 9 months, son; arrived in New York on the ship, ADONIS,
3 October 1857 from Bremen. [Film reference: Passenger Lists of vessels arriving
at New York 1846 - 1897; Microfilm # M237 : Roll 179 that covers August 25, 1857
- September 16, 1857]. There were 228 passengers on the Adonis. The Luerssens
traveled in "Second Cabin Class". NOTE: Luerssen is the spelling from
the manifest.
The ADONIS was a wood hulled sailing bark, built in 1853 at Bremen, Germany,
owned by the F. Best & Company. The Adonis sank off the New Jersey coast
8 March 1859 in bad weather, no casualties.
Don and I (Linda Rahdert Knopf) got some of the information from the Bensenville,
Illinois library and from Zion Lutheran Church in Bensenville when we visited
there while in the Chicago area. Most of the family was told that the Luhrsen
relatives came from Addison. I along with others in the relationship thought
that Addison meant, the village of Addison. That is NOT true because the town
of Addison did not exist at that time. IT WAS ADDISON COUNTY -- big difference!
The town of Bensenville was the only village in Addison County at the time when
our relatives settled there.
The information about the ship "Adonis" was from the Internet and from
ship's records sent from the Mormons in Salt Lake City. We knew that the relatives
had come on this ship from Germany through notes that Martha Rust (my grandmother)
had given to my mom (Rosalind Rust Rahdert Osmun) many years ago along with other
choice bits of family information. My grandmother thought that the Adonis was
an Italian ship, but it was actually built in Bremen which is along the North
Sea. I suppose the name did not sound very German -- Ha! Apparently is was a
small sailing ship.
We will have a bit more info on that when my mother's "story" is completed.
We Rust cousins through Benita Poppe Maynard are getting a family book together.
Benita wanted all of us cousins to tell a story about our relationship to Martha
Rust, etc. My mom is the only living aunt from the Rust-Luhrsen side, so she
is trying to tell "lots of stuff" to all of us that none of her sisters
wrote down or told their children -- big job, let me tell you! Frederich LUHRSEN
and Charlotte LUEHRS were married about 1843. The name Luhrsen in
this family has gone through some spelling changes. It is believed that the
spelling originally was Lührsen. The family then began to use the Anglicised
spelling Luehrsen - adding the "e" to compensate for the lack of an
umlaut in English spelling. The "e" was eventually dropped and the
name became Luhrsen again, but without an umlaut. The tombstone for Albert and
his wife Edna has the spelling Luehrsen.
There are two default sources for information on the Luhrsen family. One is the
Krumwiede Family Reunion Book as begun in 1941 and maintained with updates annually
at the Krumwiede Family Reunion in Buckley, Illinois. The other is a file of
Luhrsen and Sprehe Family information provided to me by Frederick Riley and last
updated for me at a Luhrsen Family Reunion in 2000. Charlotte
LUEHRS was born on 28 May 1822 in Germany.2
She died on 7 May 1880 in Addison, Illinois.2
Frederich LUHRSEN and Charlotte LUEHRS had the following children:
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