Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner (1810-1885)

Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner was born on 19 Oct 1810 in Posen, Prussia as the child of Friedrich August Aschbrenner. We know nothing about his mother or his childhood. When he was born, there was no country named Germany. The area of his birth was a part of a country named Prussia.

When he was about 26, he married Wilhelmina Mathwich, daughter of Daniel Mathwich and Anna Marie, about 1837 in Hansfelde, Posen, Prussia. Hansfelde is now called Gieczynek, Wielkopolskie, Poland.

Poland

Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner and Wilhelmina Mathwich began their married life in Prussia and had the following children:

1. Gustav Edward Aschbrenner was born on 21 Sep 1837 in Hansfelde, Posen, Prussia. He married Johanna Fenhaus on 27 Jun 1866 in Town of Berlin, Marathon, Wisconsin. He married Emilie Friedricke Caroline Graveen on 19 Sep 1867 in Town of Berlin, Marathon, Wisconsin. He married Johanne Caroline Wilhelmine Kluender on 16 Feb 1871 in Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin. Gustav Edward Aschbrenner died on 13 Apr 1907 in Easton, Marathon, Wisconsin.
2. Frederick Wilhelm Aschbrenner was born on 14 Feb 1839 in Hansfelde, Posen, Prussia. He married Anna Teske on 07 Mar 1866 in Marquette, Wisconsin. He married Bertha Auguste Henriette Kluender on 03 Mar 1871 in Town of Berlin, Marathon, Wisconsin. His brother, Gustav had married Bertha’s sister just a month earlier. Frederick died on 29 Dec 1935 in Stratford, Marathon, Wisconsin.
3. Adolph Friedrich Wilhelm Aschbrenner was born on 13 Jun 1841 in Hansfelde, Posen, Prussia.  He married Friedrike Mary Wilhelmine Woller on 15 Mar 1875 in Marathon, Wisconsin. He died on 16 May 1913 in Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.
4. Herman August Ernest Aschbrenner was born on 29 Sep 1843 in Hansfelde, Posen, Prussia. He married Wilhelmina Henrietta Louise Prechel on 18 Dec 1868 in Town of Berlin, Marathon, Wisconsin. He died on 18 Sep 1909 in Merrill, Lincoln, Wisconsin.
5. Mathilda Alvine Aschbrenner was born on 13 Aug 1847 in Hansfelde, Posen, Prussia. She married Johannes Casper Fenhaus on 27 Jun 1866 in Town of Berlin, Marathon, Wisconsin. She died on 20 Jan 1939 in Wausau, Marathon, Wisconsin.
6. Albertina A. Aschbrenner was born on 19 May 1855 in Hansfelde, Posen, Prussia. She married Ferdinand F. Quade on 18 Oct 1877. She died on 13 Mar 1916 in Wisconsin.

Encouraged by August Kopplin, a relative who had immigrated to the United States, Friedrich and Wilhelmina sold their Prussian farm for less than it was worth and brought their family to America. They sailed on a ship called the Shakespeare and landed in New York on 20 Aug 1856. Their children ranged from 18-years old to less than one when they made the voyage. Their children later claimed that Friedrich and Wilhelmina sacrificed so that their children could have farmland. They would have not had that opportunity if they had stayed in Prussia.

The family traveled by train from New York to Milwaukee and from there to Beaver Dam. Then in 1857, traveled over crude roads to Marathon County. With the help of his sons, Friedrich cleared land and set up a farm. The first winter, the family lived in a dug out. The next spring, they built a log house. They also built a barn for their  yoke of oxen, cow, and chickens. Ten years later they purchased a horse. But, before they owned a horse, Friedrich became a land owner. On 10 Aug 1859, his 320-acre land purchase was confirmed at the land office in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He celebrated his 49th birthday that year.

The second son, Frederick Wilhelm Aschbrenner, farmed the land that Friedrich had originally obtained. So, Friedrich and Wilhelmina got to live next door to their son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner died, at the age of 75,  on 09 Dec 1885 in Town of Berlin, Marathon, Wisconsin. He was buried there in the Friedenshain Cemetery.

Where is he in the tree?

How do I learn more?

The Aschbrenner Family book is available.

The Aschbrenner Family

 

Selected Sources:

Alice Aschbrenner, “Aschbrenners Came to Marathon County With the Pioneers: Born in Germany in 1839, Frederick Aschbrenner Came to U.S. in 1856,” Wausau Daily Herald (Wausau, Wisconsin), 20 Aug 1932, page 3, Newspapers (https://www.newspapers.com/image/272909324/?terms=Aschbrenner : accessed 11 Feb 2018).

Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006), www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year: 1856; Arrival: New York, United States; Microfilm serial: M237; Microfilm roll: M237_165; Line: 50; List number: 819.

“Berlin Memories,” p. 10 ( http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/WI/WI-idx?type=turn&entity=WI.Berlin.p0012&id=WI.Berlin&isize=M&q1=Aschbrenner : accessed 19 Oct 2018)

General Land Office Records, US Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land Management ( https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=WI3420__.398&docClass=STA&sid=3fyn2qcr.jjb#patentDetailsTabIndex=0 : accessed 19 Oct 2018)

“History of Germany: Every Year,” YouTube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N98TfKiiCe8 : accessed 19 Oct 2018)