The Hyphen Family Lineage

Note: Carl L. Stargard

Carl L. Stargardt's known life seems to begin in his early thirties; he was one of many Germanic Prussian immigrants to come to America to seek a new life. Searches to try to determine his place of birth and family origins have not turned up much. His obituary and his headstone each give his date of birth as 25th Jun 1823, though finding records to confirm this have found more than one possible candidate. The two most likely each were born and christened in different city districts of Brandenburg, Prussia. The only sure determination from the searches was that the Stargardt name was relatively common, stemming from regional names for both a few villages and a small city in Prussia.

Carl's immigration is not a solved question at this point; I believe that he came to America on his own as an adult. I had initially believed he travelled to Hamburg and boarded the ship Snap Dragon, and disembarked at Castle Garden Immigration Inspection in lower Manhattan on 14th Apr 1856, but closer inspection of the records index shows that Carl Stargard seems to have arrived with a wife and children. The age lines up relatively closely, but there has been no indication that our Carl Stargard was married prior to about 1860 in Wisconsin. (It is possible that he was married and lost his family to illness, as was common at that time, but there's been no indication of that kind of history for our Carl Stargard.) Whether he arrived alone as an adult, or at any age with family (be it his parents or a household of his own) is unknown at this time. From his arrival in America he seems to have made his way west - presumably following friends or possible family, or perhaps just heading where other Prussian immigrants were going.

He lived briefly in Waterville, Waukesha Cty, Wisconsin, and by 1860, he was found farming in Ixonia, Jefferson Cty, Wisconsin. The federal census records for that year show he was married (to Augusta Schoen) with a new daughter (Louise). He made some attempts to become more "American," at times calling himself "Charles" and simplifying the anglicized spelling of his surname to "Stargard," without the final "t," when dealing with the English-speaking population. In church, on records, and when dealing with the other German speakers around him, he seemed to have been strictly Carl Stargardt. By the time of his death his descendants still bearing his surname finally and permanently adopted his new spelling, and even Carl's headstone bears the surname "Stargard."

Like many of the other Prussian families settled between Oconomowoc and Watertown, Carl farmed for his livelihood, eventually on his own land. He and his wife raised six children in all - four boys and two girls. After eldest daughter Louise followed daughter Amelia, son Julius, daughter Helen, daughter Wilhelmina, and youngest son Carl. The family was Lutheran, like many of the other Germans and Prussians around them, and worshipped at Cross Lutheran in Ixonia, which his wife's parents had helped found.

By the time of his death in 1903, at the age of eighty, Carl had been confined to his bed for several months due to poor health. His death left his wife, all six of his children, and twelve surviving grandchildren at that time. Carl was buried with a family monument he would share with his wife after her death, in the parish cemetery at Cross Lutheran Church in Ixonia.

[Obituary for "Charles Stargert" from the Oconomowoc Enterprise, 25 Sep 1903.]

Charles Stargert [sic] died on Sept. 20 at his home in the Town of Ixonia, after an illness of many months, having been confined to his bed since Jan. 1, of this year.

He was born in Germany on June 25, 1823, and came to Amerca [sic] in 1855, coming to Waterville and later to the farm in the Town of Ixonia where he has since resided. He was married 43 years ago to Miss Gusta Schoen, also of Ixonia, who with six children are left to mourn his loss.

The children are: Mrs. Fred Brady, of Columbus; Mrs. Charles Weber, of Loyal; Julius Stargert and Mrs. Henry Kitzrow of Oconomowoc, Mrs. George Sennhenn, of Reeseville, and Charles Stargert at home. Mr. Stargert and his wife were the victims of the assault and robbery which occured nine years ago next month. The funeral was held on Thursday afternoon from the residence to the Lutheran church in Ixonia with burial in Ixonia cemetery.

Note: Researching the daughters of Carl and Augusta (Schoen) Stargard

Carl and Augusta (Schoen) Stargard had four adult daughters who married and had families; establishing their identities has been a minor challenge, as they were frequently named in family obituaries by their husband's name. This, combined with the common German tradition of multiple first and middle names (many of which were used in common), and the choice of used name or nicknames changing over their lives, has made it difficult to determine which daughter married whom. The daughters were all called by the following given names in early census records:

Louise (or Louisa), b. 1860
Emilie (or Amelia), b. 1861
Helena (or Helen, or Lena), b. 1864
Minna (or Wilhelmine, or Wilema - sometimes mistranscribed as Maria), b. 1866

The earliest obituary for the family was for father Carl Stargard, from 25th Sep 1903; in it, the daughters are named:

Mrs. Fred Brady of Columbus
Mrs. Charles Weber of Loyal
Mrs. Henry Kitzrow of Oconomowoc
Mrs. George Sennhenn of Reeseville

The first identity to become established was Mrs. Kitzrow, as there was quickly found a birth record for her daughter Laura Kitzrow which named her parents as Henry Kitzrow and Helen Stargard. Further census records searches show a Henry Kitzrow household in Oconomowoc with either a Lena or Helen Kitzrow as his wife. Henry and Helen are each buried in La Belle Cemetery, very near to where her brother Julius (and his wife, Mathilda) are buried.

The next family death was mother Augusta (Schoen) Stargard, and her obituary from 10th Oct 1913 names the same children, but with a different spelling for Mrs. Fred Brede, and placing Mrs. George Sennhenn in Columbus. The obituary also mentions that Mrs. Weber, along with the younger Carl Stargard, lived "at the home in Ixonia."

The second identity to become established was Mrs. Brede. Census records searches for both spellings (Fred Brady and Fred Brede) show a German-born Fred, born about 1856 or 1857, with a wife Louise or Louisa (born about 1860) with sons Louis and Leonard in the census records from US Censuses from 1900-1920, and in the WI state census of 1905. All of these census records place the family in either Columbus (WI) or in Elba on the east side of Columbus, in Dodge Cty, Wisconsin. I have not yet located burial sites for either Fred or Louise.

The first of the siblings to pass away was the youngest brother, Carl. His obituary names one of the surviving sisters as Mrs. Amelia Weber, "with whom he made his home" in the town of Oconomowoc. This was the first definitive naming of one of the sisters seen in an obituary, and the first instance I'd found of that spelling in connection with this sister. The use of her given name with her title, along with the residence differing from that given in the previous family obituaries, indicates the likelihood that she was widowed by 1920. There is an Amelia Weber buried in the same section of La Belle Cemetery as several other members of this family, with birth and death dates of 1861 and 1932, respectively. Further confirmation that this grave is Amelia Stargard's is the obituary for brother Julius Stargard, who died in 1934; in it, there is no mention of a surviving sister named Mrs. Weber, implying she preceded her brother in death. There is also a death record for a Chas. August Weber (b. 5 Feb 1851, d. 1902) that names his spouse as Emilia Stargard, and their place of residence as Lowell, Dodge Cty, Wisconsin. (Lowell and Loyal, where her father's obituary mentioned she lived, would be easy phonetic mix-ups, to my thinking.) Charles Weber (sometimes called Carl August Weber) is buried in Lowell, Dodge Cty, Wisconsin, with his first wife Anna, who died in 1898. He married Amelia in 1900, and he himself died in 1902.

By process of elimination, that leaves the youngest sister Wilhelmina as the wife of George Sennhenn. There is a marriage record for a Wilhelmine Stargard (parents "Karl Stargert" and "Augusta Schoen") to a George Sennhenn (born in Hellenville, Jefferson Cty, WI) on 30 Nov 1893. A further search for George Sennhenn turns up US Census records from 1910 to 1930 that show him (as "George F.") with wife "Wilhelmine E.," age 44 in 1910, and "Wilema," age 52 in 1920. The 1930 record reports them as "Geo. F.," age 62, and "Willamena," age 64. The initial reference I had that names her Maria is the transcription of the 1870 US Census record for her parents' household, and inspection of the record would suggest the name Maria was a misreading of the handwriting. One of the sons that appears in George Sennhenn's household in the 1910 US Census, Clarence, has his parents named on his birth and christening index record as Wilhelmine Stargart and George Sennhenn. I've not yet located burial sites for either of them, nor do I have death dates.

Note: Possible parents, siblings, birthplace and childhood homeland of Carl L. Stargardt

While searching through some indexed records of other individuals bearing the Stargard surname and living in Wisconsin in the 19th century, some preliminary research led me to searching the indexed records from Brandenburg in Prussia from the earlier part of that same century. In the course of reviewing some potential candidates, I believe I may have found Carl's family in various christening and death records from the city of Berlin.

For reference, it should be noted that Carl's birthdate is believed to have been 25 Jun 1823; this was the date reported in his obituary in 1903 in the Oconomowoc Enterprise, and the same date is engraved on his headstone (albeit in German, as "25 Juni 1823").

The first record appears to be a christening of Johann Carl Stargardt on 27 Jul 1823 in Luisenstadt, the southeastern stadtteil ("quarter") of the city of Berlin, in the state of Brandenburg in what was then the Kingdom of Prussia. This record names the parents Carl Friedrich Stargardt and Johanna Maria Maske.

The second record, chronologically, is another christening - this time of Johanna Maria Stargardt on 1 Apr 1825, also in Luisenstadt; the indexed record names the same parents, though this time the mother's surname is spelled Maeske (likely written originally as Mäske).

The third record is a christening for Henriette Wilhelmine Augusta Stargardt, also in Luisenstadt, on 22 Feb 1829; the father's name is reported the same, while this time the mother's name is given as Johanna Maria Ernestine Maeske.

The fourth record is a death record for a male Stargardt child on 5 Jan 1835, this time in Sankt Georgen ("Saint George's"), likely the neighborhood around the church that stood in the Königsstadt quarter of Berlin, just north of Luisenstadt. This record gives only the father's name, Carl Friedrich Stargardt. I would expect that this was a stillborn child, though I cannot confirm this suspicion from the information immediately available.

The fifth record is a christening and death record, both with a date of 26 Apr 1836, for Christian Friedrich Stargardt, again in Sankt Georgen, with the father named, as before, Carl Friedrich Stargardt and the mother listed as Johanne Marie Meschke. There appears to be an accompanying burial record for the 30 Apr, this time giving the boy's name as Christian Friedrich August Stargardt.

The sixth record is a christening of Agnes Albertine Stargardt on 22 Oct 1837, again in Sankt Georgen, with the father named as before and the mother listed as Johanne Marie Maske.

It would appear, then, that our Carl may have been the oldest of several siblings, followed by sister Johanna Maria, sister Henriette Wilhelmine Augusta, a stillborn brother, brother Christian Friedrich (also apparently an infant death), and sister Agnes Albertine. This would indicate that Carl was not just the oldest child of the family, but also possibly the only surviving son and more than a decade older than his youngest sister, Agnes.

Carl's life and livelihood as a young man in Berlin are unknown to us now, but it seems possible that his emigration to America may have been spurred by the conditions in Berlin during the time period - industrialization and political upheaval had led to a great deal of economic troubles and worker riots, along with crowding, pollution, and other challenges. In early 1854, it seems likely his mother died - there is a death record on 29 Mar 1854 for a Friederike Meschke (b. 1793), the spouse of Johann Carl Friedrich Stargardt, in Berlin. This very event may have been what spurred Carl to seek his fortune overseas, as he is believed to have come to America the very next year. (I must note here that I have been unable to determine a death date for the elder Carl Stargardt - with the possibility in my mind that he may have preceded his wife in death.)

Two more deaths in Carl's immediate family followed in that same time period - there is a death record for Johanna Maria Ernestine Stargardt Beyer (wife of Carl Wilhelm August Beyer) on 14 Oct 1855 in Berlin, with her age noted as thirty (and a presumed birth year of 1825). This death seems to have come only a handful of months after the birth of her son Richard Leopold August Beyer, who was christened and buried on 6 May 1855 at Sankt Markus near the central part of the city of Berlin. (Her son lived only a handful of months after the death of his mother, as he died 4 Mar 1856 and was buried two days later.) I have not found a marriage record for Johanna Maria and Carl Wilhelm, nor have I determined if they had other children prior to her death. Carl Wilmhelm, though, appears to have remarried and had further children prior to his death in 1874 in Berlin, at the age of forty-four.

The second death in Carl's immediate family appears to have been his youngest sister, Agnes Albertine, who died in Berlin on 10 May 1856 at the age of eighteen. She appears to have been unmarried at the time of her death, and likely had no children.

With Carl's father's fate unknown, all of this appears to suggest that the only surviving member of his family was his younger sister Henriette Wilhelmine, who had married Carl Eduard Ehringshausen prior to 1850. She was named as the mother on three christening records: Henriette Amalie Ehringshausen (26 May 1850), Marie Wilhelmine Ehringshausen (14 Nov 1852), and Carl Eduard Ehringshausen (13 Aug 1854), all in Sankt Georgen. I have not found further record of Henriette Wilhelmine after the birth of her son, though there is a death record from 25 Feb 1855 (In Berlin) for a Carl Eduard Gustav Ehringshausen, with his father named as Eduard Ehringshausen. Whether any other members of her household survived is unknown at this time.

All of this suggests that, by the time Carl married in 1859 in Wisconsin, he may have been the last of his family. All of what I have written on this particular line of thinking is speculative, but it does seem to line up - Carl had no known family in the area at the time of his death, and appears to have come to America alone. Some of his daughters' names line up with those of his sisters, as well - and his youngest son, Carl F. Stargard, may well have been named for our Carl's father. It seems unlikely that I would ever be able to prove this connection, so for the time being I will not add his parents or siblings to the tree.