Michael Friedrich Sasse, son of Martin Sasse and Rebecca Loest
- born 29 September 1797, Nahausen, Brandenburg,
- married 29 November 1827, Nahausen,
- died 5 July/August, 1875, Fayette Co., IL
- buried St. Paul Cemetery, St. Paul, Illinois. Gravestone
Maria Dorothea Juhr, daughter of Adam Jure/Juhr and Dorothea Fäehrpahl
- born 15 July 1805, Grueneberg, Koenigsberg Neumark, Brandenburg
- died 4 May 1890 Fayette Co., Illinois.
- buried Immanuel, Fayette Co., Illinois. Gravestone
Maria's application for pension in 1885 gives Michael's death date as 5 August. Probate records of December 1875 say 5 July.
Michael and Maria were our immigrant ancestors. We don't know much about their lives in Nahausen, except from what we can deduce from the memoirs of J. Fred Fellwock. His comments lead me to believe that the Sasse family owned some land that they were able to sell before emigrating, and that they were among the few (of my ancestors, anyway) for whom poor economic conditions were not the main reason for moving to a new country.
They arrived in New York, September 15, 1846, on the barque RUSSIA, along with the Johann Friedrich Fellwock, Friedrich Jagow, Friedrich Stein, and Carl Friedrich Schwan families. (How did they keep all those "Freds" straight?) They settled first in Dodge County, Wisconsin, where they were part of the Immanuel Lutheran community east of Mayville. Their farm was just across the road north of the "River Church," and was a gathering place for discussions on Sunday afternoons, according to Fred Fellwock's memoirs.
According to land records in Wisconsin, Michael purchased 480 acres of land in Town (township) of Theresa, T12N R17E, Dodge County, Wisconin.
Census records show that, though many of the other families from their group had moved to Illinois within a couple years after the Civil War, Michael and Maria were still in Dodge County, Wisconsin, until after 1870.
Michael and Maria's youngest son had been killed in the Battle of Peachtree Creek, Georgia, and after Michael's death, Maria applied for a pension due her because of the death of her son. We learn a little more about them from Maria's pension application where we read that for the last 14 years of his life Michael was unable to do any manual labor. He had "bad coughing spells and lung trouble and on that account could do no manual labor. We know the above facts as we were neighbors of claimant in Dodge Co., Wis, and Fayette Co., Ill. They never employed any doctor in Wisconsin to treat said Michael Sasse for his disease nor in Fayette Co., Ill. till 1873, and that said Michael Sasse died in Fayette County, Ill., on or about the 5th day of August, 1875, of Lung Disease or consumption." (Signed by Friedrich Malchow and Christian Knospe.)
Maria's signature from the pension application.
Michael was buried in the St. Paul cemetery, and has a large stone. Maria's grave in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery at Augsburg has a new stone to mark her grave, as the original stone, if there had been one, had been vandalized, removed or was totally deteriorated.
Probate of Michael Sasse's estate.
-
Children of Michael and Maria Sasse:
Michael Frederick Sasse, Jr., born 20 September 1828, Nahausen,
- died 1868 Illinois; his will was signed on 4 November 1868
- married Ernestine Henriette Fellwock, daughter of J F Fellwock and Maria C Sasse- Martin Friedrich Sasse, born 20 September 1830, died 11 November 1837 Nahausen.
- Fred (Johann Fr.) Herman Sasse, born 14 October 1833 Nahausen,
- died 21 June 1904 Fayette Co., Illinois
- married Ernestine Amalie Fellwock, daughter of J F Fellwock and Maria C Sasse - Ernestine Wilhelmine Sasse, born/died 9 November 1834, Nahausen.
- Carl Eduard Sasse, born 22 January 1836 Nahausen,
- died 9 March 1860, buried Immanuel, Mayville, Dodge County, Wisconsin
- married Dorothea Louise Fellwock daughter of J F Fellwock and Maria C Sasse - Wilhelmina Amelia Henrietta Sasse, born 26 October 1837, Nahausen,
- died 24 November 1877, Fayette Co., Illinois
- married Fred (Johann F.) Fellwock, son of J F Fellwock and Maria C Sasse
Fred wrote his memoirs that are the source of much of our information about the families' emigration, the early days in Wisconsin, and the subsequent move to Illinois. - Maria Wilhelmina Sasse, born 11 February 1841, Nahausen,
- died 5 March 1921, Buffalo Co., Nebraska
- married (1) Frederick Schukar, son of Peter Schukar & Henrietta Grawunder.
- Wilhelm Sasse, born 8 December 1842, Nahausen, died 20 July 1864, Peachtree, Georgia
- 1860 census, farm laborer in household of the Louise, widow of his brother Carl.
William died at the Battle of Peachtree during the Civil War. His mother's pension application states that he had never married nor had any children. He enlisted 17 September 1862, served as a Pvt. with Co. B 26th Wisconsin Infantry. Accompanying the papers was an affidavit by Fr. Malchow and Chr. Knospe who said they had been neighbors of the Sasses in Wisconsin and Illinois. There is a plaque at Immanuel Lutheran Church, "River Church", near Mayville, Wisconsin in memory of the three young men from that congregation who were killed in the Civil War, one of whom was Wilhelm Sasse.
Layout and HTML coding © 1999-2005 MJH