My great-great-grandfather Jacob Stahler was born about 1807 in Nassau, Prussia.
There is considerable disagreement about how the last name Stahler was originally spelled. It appears as Stahler, Staller, Staeller, Steller, Staeler, Staler, and Staehler. Even the marriage certificate (80K) for my great-grandparents Clara Stahler and James Tillotson presents both "Staller" and "Steller" in different lines. At least one of Clara's sisters, Elizabeth Stahler Rossman, used Stahler, which is the spelling which appears in the birth certificates for Elizabeth's children. Clara's daughters, my grandmother and great aunt, also spelled the name Stahler. Older relatives remember the name pronounced both as "stay-ler" and "shtay-ler," presumably depending upon which German dialect the speaker used. The name appears as Staehler on my grandmother's delayed certificate of birth. The original form appears to have been Stähler. Some descendants of Jacob and Catherine still use the Staehler spelling.
Jacob Stahler married Anna Maria Rill about 1830. She was the daughter of Johann and Apollonia Rill. Jacob and Anna had at least three children.
Catherine Stahler was born about 1832.
Margaret Stahler was born about 1836.
Jacob Stahler, Jr. was born March 30, 1839 in Nassau, Prussia. Jacob married Katherina Sänger, widow of Nicholas Hentges (also spelled Henches). They had six children.
Anna Maria Rill Stahler died between 1839 and 1845. It is possible she died while giving birth to her son Jacob. Jacob Sr. then married Catherine Turk who was born about 1817. Jacob, Catherine, and their children emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York City on December 23, 1846 aboard the ship Archimedes.
Catherine's name is also spelled several different ways in different documents. Clara's daughters, my grandmother Eva Jane Tillotson and her sister Jennie May Tillotson, spelled their parents' names as Jacob Stahler and Catherine Turk. For convenience, those are the spellings I use below. The original spelling of Catherine's name was probably Katharina.
Jacob and Catherine had the following children. All of these names appear in multiple spellings.
Katharina Julia Stahler was born in Nassau, Prussia on May 22, 1845. She died December 5, 1920. Katharina is the first child we know for certain was a daughter of Catherine Turk. She is clearly a different person that the Catherine/Katharina born in 1832, who was still living in 1850. Giving children the same first name with different middle names was a German custom of the time. Katharina Julia Stahler married Mathias Theisen.
Mary A. Stahler was born June 9, 1847 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was the first of the children born in Wisconsin after the Stahlers moved to the United States. They eventually settled in Fredonia. Mary married Joseph August Gross.
Elizabeth Stahler was born February 23, 1850 in Koller (Little Kohler) within the town of Fredonia, Wisconsin. She married Henry Clay Rossman.
Clara Stahler, my great-grandmother, was born August 6, 1852 (or 1853), probably in Saukville or Fredonia, Wisconsin. She married James Francis Tillotson. While 1853 is the date my grandparents used, her baptismal certificate states she was born in 1852. Clara was baptized at Mater Dolorosa Church (Mary of Sorrows) in Koller, an unincorporated area within the town of Fredonia, Wisconsin. Later the area was known as Little Kohler.
Christina Stahler was born February 15, 1854 in Fredonia, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. She married Mathias Schladweiler.
An infant child, name and gender unknown, was born September 13, 1857 and died the same day. Catherine Turk also died that day from complications in childbirth.
Stahler family portrait.
Standing left: Elizabeth Stahler Rossman.
Standing right: Clara M. Stahler Tillotson.
Seated left: Mary Stahler Gross.
Seated middle: Probably one of the older sisters, Catherine or Margaret.
Seated right: Katharina Julia Stahler Theisen.
Catherine died in childbirth on September 13, 1857. She was buried September 15, 1857 in Little Kohler within Fredonia, Wisconsin. Jacob Stahler Sr. died in 1865 and is buried with Catherine.
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Last modified by pib on August 2, 2010.
