Re: Jacob & Therese Elsasser, Cuming Co.,NE
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In reply to:
Re: Jacob & Therese Elsasser, Cuming Co.,NE
B.J. Whitehouse 1/26/02
I am related to this line of Elsassers, formerly spelled Elsaesser.I live 10 miles from Bancroft.If there is any information you seek, other than what I am printing now, please let me know.I will be glad to help.I too have photos.
"Jacob Elsaesser, early settler of Bancroft, was born November 11, 1857 at Lohr Wittenburg in the Province of Alsace Lorraine, located in southern Germany near the border of France.He came to America in 1865 with his parents Jacob Sr. and Regina, to Ann Arbor, Michigan.In 1867 he, with his parents, his brother Fred (which my husband descends from) and sister Dora (Reuter), moved to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.
As a young man, Jacob moved to Clinton, Iowa to learn the blacksmith trade from an uncle.While in Clinton, he met and married Theresa Hass, who was born May 5, 1864 in Schleswig, Holstein, Germany, near the border of Denmark.At age four years, she came to America with her parents, John M. and Dorothea C. (Westoff) Hass.The family settled first in Missouri, then Iowa.Theresa's father was a caretaker for the cemetery in Clinton, Iowa.In 1876, he was ambushed and killed while guarding a cemetery or grave.It was a practice at that time to bury personal jewelry along with the body and there were many incidences of grave robbery.
Jacob Elsaesser was united in marriage to Theresa Hass on December 23, 1883 at Lyons, Iowa.Soon after their marriage when land was opened to file for homestead claims, Jacob and Theresa moved to Nebraska where Jacob and a partner established a blacksmith shop in Bancroft, Nebraska.They lived three years in Bancroft and then in 1888 purchased a farm north of Bancroft from his sister-in-law, Emma Glissman, who homesteaded this farm.In October 1919, they returned to the town of Bancroft for the declining years of their lives.
Jacob's brother, Fred, came to the Bancroft area in 1884 and their mother, Regina Elsaesser and sister Dora lived with Fred.Fred married Caroline Belitz in 1887.They are buried at Zion Lutheran Cemetery southwest of Bancroft.Dora married Charles Reuter, and are buried at Bancroft Cemetery.In later years, Theresa's mother, Dorothea Hass lived in Jacob and Theresa's home, much of the time, especially in the winter.She would sit in her rocker by the baseburner stove, knitting or mending.She passed away February 23, 1911 and is buried in the Bancroft Cemetery.
Jacob and Theresa were members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church.Jacob was also a member of the Odd Fellow's Lodge for many years.Theresa was an active member of the Ladies Aid and Quilters.
Jacob and Theresa had seven children.They were:(Spouse's name in parenthesis) Rosa Emma Mackey (Felix), Anna Sorensen (Jeff), Florence Casey (Edward), Irene Frederickson (Harry), Jacob M. (Alice Stafford), Dora Harrison (George), and Frederick (died at age 4). "
Written in the Bancroft Heritage Book, by Denise Sorensen