Tombstone Tuesday–Margarethe Kessler

Margarethe Kessler, Kessler Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2013 photo by Karen)

Margarethe Kessler, Kessler Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2013 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Margarethe Kessler, located in Kessler Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

KESSLER
Margarethe
Frau von
C. Kessler
Geb
25 Juli 1816
Gest
8 Sept, 1862
Alter
46J. 1m.  14T.

Translation: KESSLER, Margarethe, wife of C. Kessler, born 25 July 1816, died 8 September 1862, aged 46 years, 1 month, 14 days.

According to the Familienregister [family register] in the records of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Margarethe Kable was born 25 July 1816 in Fechingen by Saarbrucken, Rhein, Bavaria. She was the daughter of Christian and Elisabeth (Müller) Kable. Margarethe married Christian Kessler in May 1841 and they had three children in Bavaria before the family immigrated to America in 1849. Three more children were born to them in Mercer County. Margarethe Kessler died 8 September 1862 after a short illness.

Margarethe Kessler, Kessler Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2013 photo by Karen)

Margarethe Kessler, Kessler Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2013 photo by Karen)

Margarethe’s widower husband Christian Kessler married widow Marie (Koch) Drewes on 20 April 1865 in Mercer County. [1] Christian died 25 January 1892 and he and his second wife Marie are buried in Kessler Cemetery, seven rows away from Margarethe. Christian and Marie were featured in last week’s Tombstone Tuesday post.

Christian and Margarethe (Kable) Kessler had the following children:

Margarethe, b. 19 September 1842 in Fechingen
Christian, b. 19 November 1843 [tombstone calculation] or 15 September 1845 [church records], in Walzheim
Ferdinand, b. 22 May 1847 in Fechingen
Magdalena, b. 18 October 1850 in Mercer County
Johann Georg, b. 28 August 1852 and d. 28 April 1853 in Mercer County
Jakob, b. 1 March 1856 in Mercer County

Christian, Margarethe and their four children were living in Liberty Township, Mercer County by 1850. Christian was a farmer and their youngest child was a month old and unnamed. [2] She would later be given the name of Magdalena .

By 1860 the Kessler family had grown, with five children now in the household. Their son Johann Georg was born and had died since the 1850 census. He is buried in Kessler Cemetery, next to his mother Margarethe. [3]

There was an additional child, Mary, with the Christian Kessler family in the 1880 census. She was born about 1862. Could this have been another child of Christian and Margarethe or was she Christian’s step-daughter, one of Maria (Koch) Drewes daughters from her previous marriage? This answer to this question will require more research.

 

[1] “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994,” Index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:MM9.1.1/XZGF-PLK : accessed 8 September 2013), Christian Keshler and Maria Drewer or Kazh, 1865; citing Vol. 3:85.

[2] 1850 US Census, Liberty, Mercer, Ohio, p. 286B, line 1, dwelling 7, family 8, Christian Kesler;  digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 September 2013); from National Archives microfilm M432, roll 710.

[3] 1860 US Census, Liberty, Mercer, Ohio, p. 359, line 21, dwelling 1016, family 1021, Christian Kessler; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 September 2013); from FHL film 805009, from NARA microfilm M653, roll 1009.

1 comment

    • Waldo on September 18, 2013 at 12:29 pm
    • Reply

    Given the difficulty with child bearing in these days (several of our own family men from this time period having two or three wives due to deaths from child birth) and the extreme time and discomfort with long voyages, it is really hard to imagine what would motivate all these German folks to leave their home land and family to come to the US, especially a young woman with tiny children and the full likelihood for being pregant during or immediately upon arrival where she would be alone and with much less skilled medical help, facilities and knowledge.

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