Warm Memorial Day Greetings! We remember and give thanks to those who sacrificed to make an easier and safer pathway in life for succeeding generations. Some served in the military and others served on the home-front to produce food and supplies during times of crisis.
One person who served defending our country as a soldier and as a farmer was Oscar Von Kuster. He was born July 12, 1839 in the province of Pomerania, Prussia and came to America in July of 1850 with his parents. They first settled in St. Louis and the following year moved on to the Marine Mills (Marine on the St. Croix) above Stillwater, Minnesota. He worked on the river as a lumberman until the civil war broke in 1861. At the age of 22 Oscar enlisted in Company B, First Minnesota. He was discharged because of sickness and later re-enlisted in Company C Eighth Minnesota and remained in the army until the close of the war.
In 1870 he married Margaret Rohl and in 1871 settled on the farm in the town of Troy, St. Croix County which was to be his home until the death of his wife in 1907. They had a family of ten children.
Editor’s note: I believe Oscar, Sr. lived with his son Ed and Liz (Mayer) on a farm south on Highway U towards River Falls until his death. See pictures on page 30 of my book, Aachen Roots and St. Croix Branches, the German Settlement of Hudson… Oscar was a member of the “Last Mans Club” of Civil War veterans that met in Stillwater on a regular basis.
Mr. Von Kuster died on March 31, 1914. A large number attended his funeral on April 8. Rev. Fisher of Roberts conducted the services. Members of the G.A.R., acted as pall bearers and conducted services at the grave. Burial was in the German Settlement Cemetery.
The German Settlement Heritage Society/Network Meets at River Falls
The second annual meeting of the German Settlement Heritage Society (GSHS) was held at the Meeting Room of the River Falls Public Library on May 1, 2004. The 22 who attended were mostly descendants of the pioneer families that settled in the German Settlement. Others interested in history and genealogy are welcome to join our computer network and next meeting.
Those attending the meeting were: Mark Anderson, Janet Arth, JoAnn (Schwenk) Carlson, Arlene (Johnson) & Don Croes, Leona (Von Kuster) Elden, Bob Freiermuth, Kathleen Hunter, Ruby (Roehl) Jankus, Betty Johnson, Harry & Bess Knott, Katherine Knott, Monica Lambrecht, Deb Larsen, Mary Loughney, Julie (Elden) Novak, Bruce Rohl, James Schwenk, Richard Schwenk, Margaret (Bonnes) Strehlo, and Merton Timmerman.
The GSHS group aims to research and preserve the heritage of those courageous pioneer German farmers in St. Croix County.
The next annual meeting will be April 30, 2005 at the River Falls Public Library. Those interested in the goals of the group may contact Richard Schwenk by email: ricschwenk@yahoo.com Communication is mostly via the Internet.
Tombstone Recording Customs by Richard E. Elden
“The tombstone recording custom was obviously prompted by the conversion of the calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, which occurred throughout the Western world between 1582 for many Roman Catholic countries and 1752 for English countries. For details see:
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/GregorianCalendar.html
“In 1582, 4 October was followed by 15 October, and in 1752, 2 September was followed by 14 September. Therefore, one can compare birth dates knowing the calendar system used in each country and the death date in and age in years, months and days.”
Recording Ages on Tombstones by Bill Churchill in the USA
“I don’t know why gravestones contained the age at death rather than the birth date, but prior to 1776 or so in the United States and 1837 in England there was no civil registration of births. In England parish records contained baptism, marriage and burial records, but exact birth and death dates were not recorded… In early times many people did not actually know their exact birth dates but reckoned births to some reference such as the first week of Easter in 1770, a month before the king’s coronation, etc.
“I would speculate that the giving of ages on gravestones in years, months and days simply developed into a customary practice. Very obviously, when an age at death is given down to the day, the exact birth date was known so it is logical that this simply came to be the custom.”
Tombstone Recordings by Karyl Hubbard
“I was told by a respected local historian once that the reason for putting age at death rather than year of birth was because life is fleeting and every day was counted as precious. Even more so a century or two ago, when 45 was a ripe old age. See the excellent “birthdate calculators” available, such as Ben Buckner’s at: http://web2.airmail.net/bhende19/b-date.htm “
The three articles on tombstone dating were copied in part from RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb’s Weekly E-zine Vol. 7, No. 21, 26 May 2004, Circulation: 841,215+ (c) 1998-2004 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/