Sauter/Falknes 1800'2
My gggrandfather was Frederick Sauter (French) he married Ernestine Falknes (German) aboard ship from Europe to North America in the early (1830's?). They were from the Alsace-Lorraine area between Germany and France. Reportedly they ran away to get married because parents disapproved.
It is understood that they had three sons in the U.S. before returning to the Prussia area of Germany. After returning to Germany a daughter (Ernestine/Lena?) and another son, Erwin were born. Then somewhere around or before 1850 they returned to the U. S. with their two youngest children. The three oldest sons stayed behind as part of the Prussian army. At least one child was born after their return, my ggrandfather Franklin Sauter in Ann Arbor, Michigan on April 6, 1851.
There is the possibility of a name change to Sauter from (?) to make it sound more German when the family went back to Prussia in the late 1830's/early 1840's.
Frederick fought in the U.S. Civil War and may have been injured? After Frederick's death, Ernestine would go back and forth between Germany and the U.S. every two years to collect (military?) pensions in both countries taking her piano back and forth with her. Franklin worked on ships on the Great Lakes and crossing the Atlantic before his marriage in 1890. On one of the Atlantic trips he met his French Grandpa who talked to him about being part of Napoleon’s army and going into Russia.
None of the dates are proven facts for Ernestine or Frederick. This is just an approximant working time line that we have been able put together based on the stories that have been passed down and the only two names of Ernestine Falknes and Frederick Sauter children that we know for sure are Erwin and Franklin.
If this sounds in anyway familier to you please contact me at [email protected]. We understood Erwin's family was in Penn.
Would like to find birth place for Frederick & Ernestine as well as their other siblings and their additional children.