| Arrived in St. Louis, Mo. in 1891 from Stockheim, Rhine Province; Kingdom of Prussia |
Johann Franz Maurer Family History
Maurer
1848 St. Louis
1897 St. Louis
1904 St. Louis
1907 St. Louis
| Definition: mason -- der Maurer Surname Origin: German German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a builder of walls of stone or brick, from an agent derivative of Middle High German mure, German Mauer ‘wall’ (from Latin murus ‘wall’, especially a city wall). In the Middle Ages the majority of dwellings were built of wood (or lath and plaster), and this term would have specifically denoted someone employed in building defensive walls, castles, churches, and other public buildings. |
| TEN Generations from Germany to the U.S.A. - DE1. Samuel Maurer, (b. in (?) Kauserlauten, Rheinland-Pflalz; d. (?) in Gersweilerhof , Rheinland-Pflalz). His parents died in Sapmmer, Holland. Holland is a region in the central-western part of the Netherlands. Holland is a former country of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the Count of Holland and later the dominant province of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces (Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Provinciën, 1581– 1795). Married: (?) Katharina Kinzinger, (b. Kaiserlautern, Rheinland-Pfalz; d. Gersweilerhof, Rheinland-Pfalz ) They had 2 sons, their oldest was Johannes Maurer DE2. Johannes Maurer (b. 1786 in Grünstadt, Rheinland-Pfalz; d. 28 Sep 1850 in Mehlingen) Married 24 Jan 1809 in Mehlingen, Rheinland-Pfalz. Katharina Eyer, (b. 1786 in Mehlingen, Rheinland-Pfalz; d. 28 Sep 1824 in Mehlingen.) They had four boys and four girls, Johann Maurer was the third child. DE3, Johann Maurer (b. 19 Mar 1813 in Mehlingen,Rheinland-Pfaltz; d. ?) Married? They had two sons and two daughters, Johannes Maurer is oldest DE4. Johannes Maurer (b. 25 Juli 1837 in Neukirchen in Grevenbroich, Nordrhein- Westfalen;; d. ? in ?) Married on (?) in (?) To (?) They had three boys and one girl, not sure where Johann Franz Maurer is in sibling order nor sure of the names of the two brothers and one sister or their dates of birth. DE5/US1. Johann Franz Maurer (b. January 23, 1863 in Stockheim, Rhein Province, Kingdom of Prussia; d. July 12, 1934 in St. Louis, Mo). Came to St. Louis in 1891 Married in 1891 in St. Louis, Mo. Ursula Esswein (b. 1873 in Buehlertal, Grand Duchy of Baden; d. 1942 in St. Louis, Mo.). They had 15 children and John Anthony Maurer, Sr., was their 7th child. US2. John Anthony "Jack" Maurer, Sr. (b. December 19, 1900 in St. Louis, Mo; d. March 10, 1977 in St. Louis, Mo.) Married on October 3, 1928 in St. Louis, Mo. Marie E. Schilly (b. August 14, 1904 in St. Louis, Mo.; d. February 21, 1972 in St. Louis, Mo.) They had four children and John Anthony Maurer, Jr., was the second child. US3. John Anthony "Mick" Maurer, Jr. (b. 1932 in St. Louis, Mo) Married on June 21, 1952 in St. Louis, Mo. Margaret Mary Morgan was born in 1933, St. Louis, Mo. They had six children and John Anthony Maurer, III was the second child. US4. John Anthony Maurer, III (b. 1954 in St. Louis, Mo.) Married on August 3 and August 4, 1973 in St. Louis County, Mo. Pamela Anne Siems (b. 1953 in St. Louis County, Mo.) They had three children and John Anthony Maurer, IV was the oldest child. US5. John Anthony Maurer, IV (b. 1977, St. Louis County, Mo.) Married on May 17, 2002 in Colorado Springs, Co. Kasey Elisabeth Barton (b. 1977, Colorado Springs, Co.) They have on child, Desmond Barton Maurer. US6. Desmond Barton Maurer (b. 2007, Bouldar, Co.) |
| For a larger version of this map of the cities that the Maurer's are from in Germany |
John A. Maurer, III, with John A. Maurer, Jr., and
John A. Maurer, IV in 2006.
John A. Maurer, IV in 2006.
Johann Franz Maurer & Ursula Esswein married in 1891, St. Louis, Mo.
| Johann Maurer's son, Johannes Maurer, appears to be the father of my great-grandfather Johann Franz Maurer. Johannes was born 25 July 1837 in Neukirchen. Neukirchen where Johannes Maurer, father of Johann Franz Maurer, was born is a small town in the Grevenbroich district of Nordrhein-Westfalen. He would have been about 26 years old when my great-grandfather Johann Franz Maurer was born. But Great Grandfather Johann Franz did not leave or give much information to his children about his time in Germany, other than he had two brothers and one sister. Or if he did give this information it was not recorded by any of them from what I have found so far. Family lore is that one brother moved to Montreal at the time he came to St. Louis, and his sister and the other brother remained in Germany. |
| My Great-Grandfather Johann Franz Maurer (b.1- 23-1863 in Stockheim, Rhein Province; Kingdom of Prussia; d. 7-12-1934 in St. Louis, Mo.) in 1891 he came alone to the U.S.A. On the boat coming to America in 1891 he meet my Great-Grandmother Ursula Esswein (b. 4-16-1873 in Buehlertal, Grand Duchy of Baden; d. 8-10-1942 in St. Louis, Mo.). She was sailing to the U.S.A. with her parents and her five siblings. She was 18 and Johann was 28. The Esswein boys became friends of Johann and through them it seems he met Ursula Esswein whom he later married. As far as we know Johann had two brothers and one sister. We believe her name was Irene ,and that she became a Sister of the Good Shepherd Order in Germany. Johann's daughter Sr. Mary Julitta, C.PP.S. remembered receiving a holy card from her at least once in the mail. After World War I Johann received a letter and a picture from one of his nephews in Germany asking for passage money to come to the U.S.A. These were depression days, and even his son, my grandfather, John A. Maurer was unemployed. Johann could not afford to send any money to Germany on account of the large number of children for whom he had to provide. It is uncertain if the whole family wanted to come or only the son. It is believed that they later heard that the son had gone to Canada (maybe to Montreal to where the other brother was alleged to have moved). After the Second World War his daughter Mary J. (Maurer) Eichorn corresponded with one of his brothers still in Germany to whom she sent CARE packages. Suddenly the letters stopped coming and it was presumed he had died. Johann worked in the boiler room as a fireman at Anheuser-Busch. He shoveled coal into the boilers. During Prohibition when it was forbidden by law to manufacture alcoholic beverages he worked for a casket company making caskets. After Prohibition he returned and eventually retired from Busch. He was a very intelligent man, well read and self-educated in the English language. He learned to read English by himself which he spoke very well. His wife Ursula had more difficulty with the English language due to the fact that she did not have all the outside contact that her husband had. They were married in 1891 in St. Louis and had 15 children:
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| Nordrhein-Westfalen, usually shortened to: NRW. NRW is boardered on the West by the two countries The Netherlands and Belgium, on the North and East by the state, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), on the South and East by the state Hessen (Hesse) and on the South by the State, Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate). Since borders have fluctuated and territories have changed over the years, it will be useful to study these areas too. For many people North Rhine-Westphalia is synonymous with industrial areas and agglomerating cities. But the largest part of the state is covered with forests and fields. The southern parts of the Teutoburg Forest are located in the northeast. In the southwest, Nordrhein-Westafalen shares in a small part of the Eifel, located on the borders with Belgium and Rheinland-Pfalz. The southeast is occupied by the sparsely populated regions of Sauerland and Siegerland. The northwestern areas of the state are part of the Northern European Lowlands. The most important rivers that run at least partially through North Rhine-Westphalia include: Rhine, Ruhr, Ems, Lippe and Weser. The Pader, which runs only through the city of Paderborn, is considered the shortest river in Germany. |
SC 248456 - Infantrymen of Company F, 18th Infantry
Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, U.S. First Army, move
through the town of Stockheim, Germany, as artillery
lays barrage on next objectives. 2/27/45. Photographer:
T/5 Ernest Braun.
Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, U.S. First Army, move
through the town of Stockheim, Germany, as artillery
lays barrage on next objectives. 2/27/45. Photographer:
T/5 Ernest Braun.
Stockheim, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Nordrhein-Westfalen
Nordrhein-Westfalen
Flag of
Nordrhein-Westfalen
Nordrhein-Westfalen
Reichsbanner
chapter Stockheim
chapter Stockheim
| Ursula Esswein (Frank's wife) was born in Buehlertal, Grand Duchy of Baden on 4-16-1873. She was the daughter of John Esswein,Sr. and Catherine Sachs. With his first wife he had two sons (John Esswein, Jr. who married and came to the U.S.A. The second son is thought to have emigrated to Australia) before her death. Catherine was his second wife with whom he had seven children. Ursula was their fourth child. |
St. Louis Levee in 1919
Neukirchen, NRW
1893 St. Louis
Johann Franz Maurer
John A. Maurer, Jr.
John A. Maurer, Sr.
| The Johann Franz Maurer Family. Back row left to right: Victor, Petronella (Ella), John (Jack), Frank (Jinx), Otilla (Tillie), Louis, Mary, Sr. Mary Andrew (Klara), C.PP.S. Front row left to right: Caroline (Carrie), Mother: Ursula Esswein, Father: Johann Franz Maurer, Henry, Sr. Mary Julitta (Barbara), C.PP.S, Dorothy. Picture taken in the 19Teens. |
NordrheiN-Westfalen,
Deutschland
Deutschland
Buehlertal
Wurtemberg,
Deutschland
Wurtemberg,
Deutschland
St. Judas Thaddäus, Stockheim
Stockheim
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| They lived in a section of the city of St. Louis known as Benton Park West. Benton Park West is the neighborhood west of Benton Park, bounded on the east by South Jefferson Avenue, roughly on the south by Cherokee Street and by Gravois Boulevard on the Northwest. There is a three-block area from Compton to Potomac then to Gravois that is also a part of Benton Park West. Many of the homes on the north side of Potomac face Gravois Park. While Benton Park West does not have a "Park" of it's own, there are two city parks which border the neighborhood. These two parks are Benton Park and Gravois Park. "By the mid-1860s, the St. Louis neighborhood of Benton Park West was already a community that could provide for the basic needs of its residents. There were carpenters, builders, stone masons, dairymen, gardeners, market owners, grocers, saddle and harness makers, a blacksmith, a midwife, and two saloons to serve the area of about 50 city blocks. Benton Park West was considered a working-class neighborhood and a German community. While most of the residents were working class, many owned their own businesses. There were also come very prominent residents. Many of the beautiful homes the working class immigrants built remain in their architectural grandeur today." (Re-published with the permission of Edna Campos Gravenhorst, author of Images of America: Benton Park West). |
| The older section of this area, north of Meramec Street, contains a high percentage of two and four family flats with pockets of single-family dwellings. Generally, these structures are of brick construction and show an obvious Germanic influence in their architecture. The earliest ones date from the 1870's, while the majority was erected in the period between 1890 and 1910. To the south of Gravois it is an area of smaller one and two family dwellings, which are generally owner occupied and well maintained. Large houses may be found on a few streets running eastward from Grand. East of this district as far as Jefferson Avenue is an area of single family houses with a scattering of a few flats that were built between 1890 and 1910. Benton Park, originally known as City Park, was created by ordinance on June 25th, 1866. The park was later renamed in honor of Thomas Hart Benton, a distinguished Missouri senator from 1821 to 1851. Its initial use was that of the City Cemetery which occupied the site from 1842 to 1865. Covering 14 acres, the park grounds were steadily improved by noted horticulturist Edward F. Krausnick, who landscaped the undulating surfaces using rare trees, shrubs and beds of flowers. Utilizing a greenhouse, rustic footbridge and two ponds, the park was used for botanical instruction as well as traditional community activities. City Parks Commissioner Eugene Weigel noted in 1881 that "in general design and in beauty and composition of its varied flower beds, it stands unsurpassed even by its aristocratic rival, Lafayette Park". During the 1850s the city began selling the Common Fields, a large tract of undeveloped pasture land outside the western boundary of the city limits, then at 18th street. With this sale of land following the platting of subdivisions and neighborhood. Located within the Commons, the Benton Park neighborhood attracted those who anticipated the city's expansion westward from the early riverfront settlements. By 1875, this area is shown in the Compton-Dry Atlas to be a semi-urbanized district noted for the many breweries, sinkholes and natural limestone caverns which honeycomb the vicinity. Of particular interest is the English Cave which is said to run underneath Benton Park all the way to the Lemp Brewery located three blocks to the south and four blocks to the east. It was this system of caves and their constant 55 degree temperature (ideal for beer storage) that encouraged brewers to settle in the area. All cave entrances, including the one in Benton Park, are now sealed. With the breweries came a large influx of German immigrants and the architecture of this neighborhood owes much to the imagination and skills of its German masons. Many of the buildings are the work of German-born and trained architects who were heavily patronized by middle-class German residents. The majority, though, were built by south Saint Louis builders and contractors of German descent whose superb craftsmanship and command of materials are still evident. Most prevalent is the wide variety of ornamental brickwork that defines cornice lines, parapets, windows and doors as illustrated in buildings of all size and values. The Benton Park neighborhood contains many buildings designed in Queen Anne, Romanesque and Classical Revival styles, illustrating one of Saint Louis' finest and most complete inventories of ornamental detailing in terra cotta, pressed brick, stamped metal and cast iron materials produced by local industries. By the early 20th century, Benton Park exhibited all the characteristics of a well developed urban immigrant neighborhood - public and parochial schools, ethnic churches, large breweries, beer gardens, corner saloons, groceries, bakeries and brickyards along with many other smaller industries. While the predominantly German in ethnic character, numbers of Czechs, Serbs, and Irish also lived in the area. 20th century changes began in the neighborhood with the Prohibition Era in 1919 as the end of the well established Lemp Brewery drew near. The massive brewery complex at the intersection of Lemp Avenue and Cherokee Street was sold to International Shoe-Company in 1922 for less than 10% of its pre-prohibition value of $7 million. Prohibition was the first of two consecutive depression eras for the neighborhood because of the area's dependency on the well-being of the breweries located there. |
| St. Agatha Parish |
| In the late 1800's, the Bohemian community of St. Louis was growing beyond the capacity of St. John Nepomuk Parish. Thus in 1895, our parish and school was established under the title of St. Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia. Rev. Charles Pekar was appointed temporary pastor with Rev. B. H. Faitlik, being appointed first permanent pastor in March of 1896. On September 3, 1895, the school was opened with two school Sisters of Notre Dame and 76 students. For the first year, the sisters traveled by streetcar from the convent at St. John Nepomuk's. One day as the sisters were cleaning their classrooms, Father Faitlik warned them of bad weather predictions. Five minutes after they left, a terrible cyclone hit, blowing over the fence and knocking the Church bell to the ground. |
| In 1871 St. Agatha Church was organized by Rev. J. A. Stroomberger as a German language parish in the Anheuser Busch Brewery area. Early priest include Henry Leygraaft (1871-1874) and William Hinseen (1874-83). Construction of the red brick church, under the leadership of Rev. Henry Schrage, began in 1884 but wasn't completed until 1899. Located at 3239 South 9th Street at Utah Street, (63118) in the Soulard area. |
John A. Maurer, IV, John A. Maurer, III and
Desmond Barton Maurer in 2007
Desmond Barton Maurer in 2007
John A. Maurer, III and grandson Desmond Barton Maurer in 2007
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January 2008 Margaret Morgan Maurer; John A. Maurer, Jr.; John A. Maurer, IV
holding Desmond "Dezi" Barton Maurer, and John A. Maurer, III in St. Louis, Missouri.
holding Desmond "Dezi" Barton Maurer, and John A. Maurer, III in St. Louis, Missouri.