M I C H A E L & P H I L I P P I
N A
S T R A U S S
Compiled by Robert Buecher,
5400 Pernod Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63139
rgb7847@aol.com
[Revised: 7 April 2009]
[This information corrects and
updates the family sketch that was published on page 533 of the HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, IL, VOLUME 1,
published in 1988]
____________________________________________________________________________
Michael STRAUSS was born ca.
1795 in Schrollbach, Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany, a son of Adam STRAUSS and his
wife, Eva Elisabetha, nee KURTZ. He was
married to Philippina ULRICH at Niedermohr (a neighboring village) on 25 May
1815. She was born at Niedermohr on
Sunday, 17 Aug. 1794, the first child of Daniel ULRICH and Maria Katharina, nee
NICOLAI.
Schrollbach is a tiny
village in the Rhineland-Pfalz area that lies about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles)
southeast of Niedermohr and about 20 kilometers (12 1/2 miles) west of
Kaiserslautern. The village is so small
that it does not have its own postal code number and instead shares the same
one of 66879 with Niedermohr. The
Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, has filmed the Civil Records
["Zivilstandsregister"] for this town from 1799-1875 with those missing
for 1800-1818.
Niedermohr is a small
village in the Rhineland-Pfalz that lies about 20 kilometers (12 1/2 miles)
west of Kaiserslautern and 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Kusel. In July 1993 after the reunification of
Germany, its postal code number was "66879 Niedermohr". The Family History Library in Salt Lake
City, Utah, has filmed the Civil Records ["Zivilstandsregister"] for
this town from 1799-1957.
Both Michael and Philippina
STRAUSS resided in Niedermohr but were members of the Reformed Church of
Spesbach, a neighboring village whose minister served several surrounding
towns. The couple had nine (9) children
(6 sons and 3 daughters) born to them in Niedermohr between 1818 and 1834. The couple's first child, a son, died in
Oct. 1818 at the age of about 5 weeks.
Their last child, Elisabetha, was born in April 1834, about 3 months
before the death of Michael.
Michael STRAUSS died at
Niedermohr at 9 o'clock in the evening on 12 July 1834. He was 39 years old.
His widow, Philippina, emigrated
to the United States in 1847 on the ship “Splendid” which sailed from Havre, France and arrived in New
York City on 24 May 1847.[1] She brought with her 6 of her children: Jacob born 1824; Daniel
born 1826; Carolina born 1828; Catharina born 1830; Karl/Charles born 1832; and
Elisabetha born 1834. Her oldest living
son, Nicolaus, who was born in 1820, remained at Niedermohr where he married,
raised a family, and died in Jan. 1901.
Her son, Peter, and his family emigrated to the United States in 1853,
six years after Philippina. Peter's
family immigrated on the ship the "Heidelberg" which sailed from
Havre, France, and arrived at the port of New York on 22 August 1853 [2]
Philippina STRAUSS and
family settled in Millstadt, then called Centreville, in St. Clair County,
Illinois. One of her daughters,
Catharina, died there on 18 July 1849 during a widespread cholera epidemic that
summer. Philippina probably chose
Millstadt to settle in since two of her younger sisters had previously settled
in the area. They were Charlotte
(1804-1881), wife of Henry MUSKOPF, who emigrated with her family in 1836 and
settled here in 1837. The other sister
was Elisabetha (ca. 1807-1881), wife of Daniel WAGNER, who settled in the
Millstadt area in Sept. 1834.
Philippina STRAUSS was a
member of the Zion Evangelical Church at Millstadt. In fact, three of her children [Jacob, Catharina, and Karl] were
buried from this church before her own death in 1888.
The various United States Census enumerations list Philippina
as:
1850 Census; Microfilm roll 126; St. Clair Co., IL;
District 11 Centreville [Millstadt area]; printed page # 406 (back); family #
2171; taken 26 Nov. 1850
AGE OCCUPATION NATIVITY
STRAUS, Philabena 54 F Germany
Daniel 24 M Labourer Germany
Jacob 26 M Wagoner Germany
Charles 19 M Labourer Germany
Caroline 21 F Germany
Note that
"Philabena" has $500 listed as "Value of Real Estate owned"
and that some of the ages are off by a year or two.
**************** *************** *************** ***************
1860 Census; Microfilm roll 224; St. Clair Co., IL;
Millstadt; page 42; family # 305; census taken 12 June 1860:
AGE OCCUPATION NATIVITY
STRAUSS, Philippina 66 F Bavaria [Note]
Eliz. 24 F Bavaria
Note that her "real
estate" is valued at 600 and her "personal estate" at 100.
Her son, Daniel STRAUSS (age
32) and wife, Cath. (age 22), are listed as family # 307.
**************** *************** ***************
***************
1870 Census; Roll # 280; St. Clair County, IL;
Centreville [Millstadt]; handwritten page 24; printed page 597 back; family #
193; census taken 18 June 1870]:
AGE SEX OCCUPATION NATIVITY
STRAUS [STRAUSS], Peter [NOTE]
45 M Carpenter Bavaria
Catharine 42 F Keeping
house Bavaria
Nicholas 20 M At
home Bavaria
Catharine 14 F At
home Illinois
William 10 M At
home Illinois
Jacob 9 M
At home Illinois
Louisa 6 F
At home Illinois
Mary 4 F
At home Illinois
Elisabeth 6/12 F
At home Illinois
Philppi [NOTE] 71 F At
home Bavaria
NOTE: "Philppi" should be Philippina who was born in August 1794 and should have been 75 or 76 in 1870. Peter was her son, who was born in Jan. 1822 and his age should have been 48 in 1870.
**************** ***************
***************
***************
1880 Census; Roll # 247; St. Clair Co., IL; Millstadt;
page 26 ??; dwelling # 5; family # 7; census taken 16 June 1880:
AGE OCCUPATION NATIVITY
STRAUSS,
Phillppina 84 F
mother privat life Bavaria
Charles 48 M son
saddler Bavaria
NOTE: her age should have been 85 in the 1880 census.
**************** *************** *************** ***************
Apparently Philippina
STRAUSS was skilled in needlework, according to the following item that was
published in the 1884 Millstadt news column of a Belleville newspaper [3]
:
§
Mrs. E. Strauss [should be P. for Philippina], the oldest lady in the
county, was at the Fair last Tuesday.
She is 89 years old and is still able to do all kinds of needlework.
Last year she exhibited at the fair some specimens of her work.
She moved to Belleville in 1885
where she lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Carolina and Valentine
WEISMANTLE/WEISSMANTEL. Philippina
STRAUSS died from "dropsy" at the home of her daughter, Carolina, on
Wednesday afternoon, 11 July 1888 at the age of 93 years, 10 months, and 24
days. She was buried from the home of
her son, Peter STRAUSS, at Millstadt on Friday, July 13. The funeral was conducted by Rev. Andreas
MUELLER of Zion Church, Millstadt, with burial in Freivogel Cemetery, south of
Millstadt. No tombstone can be found
for her.
An obituary was published
about her in the German newspaper of Belleville [4]. The following is an English translation by
Robert Buecher.
§
Mrs. Philippine Straus, who was in her 94th year, died
Wednesday afternoon at the residence of her son-in-law, Mr. Valentin
Weismantel, No. 8 second North, between Illinois and Spring street, after a
lengthy illness from dropsy. The
deceased was born in the year 1794 near Kaiserslautern, Rheinbayern and
emigrated to America with her children in the year 1847, after the death of her
husband who died many years before. She
resided in Millstadt until 3 years ago.
The surviving children are 4: a married son in Germany, Mrs. Peter Straus
in Millstadt, Mrs. William Plate in St. Louis and Mrs. Caroline Weismantel in
Belleville. The deceased also leaves 31
grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.
The body was brought to Millstadt on Thursday and at 10 o’clock on Friday morning was taken from the
residence of her son, Mr. Peter Straus to her final resting place in Freivogel
Cemetery.
The following 9 children
were born to Michael Strauss & Philippina Ulrich:
1.) Peter
STRAUSS
born: 25 August
1818 in Niedermohr, Rheinland Pfalz
died: 3 October
1818 in Niedermohr
2.) Nicolaus
STRAUSS
born: 11 March
1820 in Niedermohr, Rheinland Pfalz
died: 15 January
1901 in Niedermohr
married: Louisa
GRUEB on 20 April 1843 in Muenchweiler, Rheinland Pfalz
3.) Peter
STRAUSS
born: 24 January
1822 in Niedermohr, Rheinland Pfalz
died: 8 June 1897
in Millstadt, Illinois
married:
(#1.) Catharina BARTH on 5
February 1845 in Niedermohr
(#2.) Mrs. Katharina Weygandt,
nee VOGT on 30 Aug. 1855 in Millstadt, IL
4.) Jacob
STRAUSS
born: 5 December
1824 in Niedermohr, Rheinland Pfalz
died: 5 March 1860
in Millstadt, Illinois
married: Mrs.
Christina Maria KROPP, nee BALTZ on 8 July 1856 in St. Clair Co., IL
5.) Daniel
STRAUSS
born: 15 August
1826 in Niedermohr, Rheinland Pfalz
died: between
1870 & 1880
married:
(#1.) Catharina WAGNER on 25 May
1856 in Millstadt, IL
(#2.) Elisabeth DIEDRICH on 11
April 1869 in Millstadt, IL
6.) Carolina
STRAUSS
born: 3 June 1828
in Niedermohr, Rheinland Pfalz
died: 29 January
1896 in Belleville, Illinois
married:
Valentine WEISMANTEL on 8 November 1851 in Millstadt, IL
7.) Catharina
STRAUSS
born: 22 April
1830 in Niedermohr, Rheinland Pfalz
died: 18 July
1849 in Millstadt, Illinois
8.) Karl/Charles STRAUSS
born: 29 April
1832 in Niedermohr, Rheinland Pfalz
died: 22 February
1884 in Belleville, Illinois
never married
9.) Elisabetha
STRAUSS
born: 26 April
1834 in Niedermohr, Rheinland Pfalz
died: 2 September
1904 in Saint Louis, Missouri
married: William
PLATE on 9 June 1861 in Millstadt, IL
[1] Glazier, Ida A., editor; Germans to America - Series II, Volume 4, Nov. 1846 - July 1847; page 195; published by Scholarly Resources, Inc.
[2] Glazier, Ida A., & P. William Filby; Germans to America, Volume 5, May 1853 – Oct. 1853; page 298; published by Scholarly Resources, Inc., Wilmington, DE. 1989
[3] Belleville, IL, Weekly Advocate, Friday, Sept. 19, 1884, page 3, column 1
[4] Belleville, IL, Zeitung & Stern (weekly
edition), Thursday, 19 July 1888, page 7, column 3.