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BIOGRAPHY OF ANTON SPARWASSER
1847-1911
Son of Johann Anton and Christina Kern Sparwasser
by Charlet Cook Pemberton
Great Granddaughter
2006
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the Fall of 2005, my husband and I visited Monroe County, Illinois, and Cloud County, Kansas to research the history of Anton Sparwasser and his father Johann Anton. There are many people who contributed to this biography, to whom I am deeply grateful. First and foremost, I appreciate my dear husband Jack who is my long-haul driver, photographer, graphic designer, and editor. He took all the color photos that appear here. My grandmother, Louise Caroline Sparwasser Frazier saved family photos and artifacts from the early 1900s. My mother, Della Louise Frazier Cook identified family members in photographs, which she entrusted to me.
Jerry Koehlers research of the Sparwassers in Illinois provided much of the background for Antons early life in Wartburg. The Sparwassers still living in Wartburg welcomed us during our stay there while researching graveyards and libraries.
A very special thanks is given to Eudora Petersen, genealogy librarian at the Frank Carlson Library in Concordia, Kansas, who directed us to archives and county histories, to the Cloud County Recorders office, the last place we would have looked for school records, and to the County Recorders office for a copy of Antons will. She also explained the significance of my grandmothers graduation certificate, and directed us to the building where she sat for her final examination.
The Cloud County Recorder cheerfully located school ledgers stored in his office and allowed Jack to photograph records pertaining to the Sparwasser family. Thanks to Cloud County offices that located the plat map and deed to the Anton Sparwasser farm. The Clerk of the District Court responded immediately to my phone call requesting Antons file with his will and probate records, and took the time to give pertinent information that was needed to complete this biography.
BIOGRAPHY OF ANTON SPARWASSER
1847-1911
The rich land of southwestern Illinois is gently rolling, carved with ravines and water courses. Maple, pecan, black walnut and oak trees densely forest the land except where it has been cleared for farming. The rolling land slopes down to limestone bluffs carved by the ancient Mississippi River. Below the bluffs lie black soil bottom lands, prone to floods. Today the land of Monroe County sustains extensive farms of wheat, soy beans, alfalfa and corn. The soil stays moist, requiring no additional irrigation. What grand enticements would ever induce a man to leave this verdure for the treeless windy grasslands of Kansas? Read the story of Anton Sparwasser to learn how one man prospered in that choice.
It was in Monroe County, Illinois that Antons father, Johann Anton Sparwasser, had built a log home, followed by a three room frame house and had established a prosperous farm of 160 acres on Ahne Road to support his 7 children. Anton was the next to last child born to Johann Anton and Christina Kern Sparwasser. He came into the world in a small settlement of German immigrants called Wartburg, (now Waterloo) Illinois on a spring day, the 6th of April 1847. By the time Anton was born, his half-brother Fred was 10 years old, and his half-sister Mary Katherine was 9. His sister Johanna was 7, Philip 5, and Caroline was 2. Two years after his birth, the last child, Dorothea, joined the family. Historically it was a time of wagon trains rolling west to settle the Oregon Territory and California. Men were seeking fertile land to homestead; land to compare with the rich farm his father already owned.
In the 1850s, rural children commonly attended neighborhood one room school houses as weather and farm responsibilities permitted. The local school house Anton attended was built next to the old log church across the Baum-Salem road from the Sparwasser farm. Children in those days had chores before and after school in the barn, the stable, and the hen house feeding and watering the horses and cows and chickens, gathering eggs, and milking. Cats and dogs were important to keep the ground hogs from digging holes in the smooth barn floor, and to keep the mice and rats away. Black snakes also ate rodents, and werent dangerous like the copperheads and rattle snakes that lived in the woods. They were shy and slithered away when they heard someone coming, but still, people had to be cautious.
In the summer every hand was needed to work in the garden and the large fields of crops. Even youngsters could carry water to the workers driving the horses pulling the farm implements in the fields. The heat and humidity caused sweat to trickle down their backs. In the fall there were sacks to fill with pecans and walnuts from the woods. Wild grapes festooned the trees and bushes. Deer lived in the woods, and all a hunter had to do was build a stand and wait for them to walk by.
Anton grew to manhood in such a setting as this. He was 15 years old when the Civil War broke out. Surely he knew boys and men a few years older than he who enlisted in the Union Army from the State of Illinois, home of President Lincoln. Second generation immigrants generally were against slavery, and fought for the Union. He fell in love and married Anna Buck, the girl next door. Anna was born the 15th of January, 1850. When Annas parents, Daniel and Rebecka Buck emigrated from Lambstedt, Hanover, Germany, with her, they bought land adjoining the Sparwasser farm, which lay on both sides of Ahne Road. Anna Buck was 21 years old and Anton was 24 when he married her in the white Mississippi limestone Baum Salem Church that was built on ground his father had donated to the church. The bell in the steeple rang for the happy couple on the 7th of May, 1871. Their daughter Katharina was born the 3rd of September, 1872. She lived less than 2 years. About the time this little girl died, another daughter, Caroline, was born. She was destined to be the only surviving child of Anna Buck. Two years later Anton and Anna were blessed with twin boys. Heinrich and Dietrich were born on the 20th of September, 1876. Anna never recovered from the birth, passing away when the twins were six days old.
A loving close-knit family helped Anton take care of his youngsters. Young nieces, Emma and Anna Buck were among those who cared for them. (living memory of Sparwasser descendants still living in Wartburg, 2005). At the age of 29, Anton was a widower with a 2 year old daughter and twin newborn sons to care for along with farm responsibilities made heavier by the failing health of his father. Both of Antons parents passed away in 1877, leaving him and his brother Fred all of the farm land, with provisions for their sisters. Antons share came to over 120 acres. However, Fred remained on his own farm near Millstadt while Anton farmed the entire Ahne Road holdings.
Wedding bells rang again in the Baum-Salem Church on the 14th of July, 1878 for 31 year old Anton and his new 20 year old bride Louisa Caroline Pape. Her father, Karl Heinrich Pape owned a 40 acre farm which lay in the bend between Koch Road and Maeystown Road, only a few miles from Wartburg. The family home still exists there, and the original stone cellar was visited by the author, through the graciousness of the current owners. Maeystown is a small village built almost entirely from hewn limestone blocks, and has a distinct European air. Many Papes lie buried in the Maeystown Cemetery.
Within the first 8 months of her marriage to Anton, Louisa had to deal with the serious illness of one of the twins. Little Heinrich died the 14th of March, 1879 at age two and a half years. Her first child, whom they named Henry, came into the world on Christmas Eve, 1879. The following spring, little Deidrich went looking for his twin, fell from a bridge and drowned. He was only age of three and a half.
Antons marriage to Louise was a fruitful one. She bore 6 sons in the first 9 years of marriage. Their first son Henry was followed by Herman, Fred, George C. (who died in early childhood), Anton, and August. The log cabin and house on the Ahne Road farm were bursting at the seams with 6 growing boys and a little sister, Emma.At age 43, Anton made the decision to sell his holdings in Illinois and pioneer an entirely different style of farming in Kansas. He left behind all of his Sparwasser relatives, who called him Uncle Tony, to join his wifes sisters and their families in Cloud County, Kansas.
Many other settlers were streaming westward onto the prairies during this period of history. After the Civil War, railroads began pushing all the way across the United States, linking the country from north to south and east to west. Settlers were enticed to prairie states like the Dakotas, Kansas and Nebraska. Railroads made a fortune shipping the tons of corn and wheat, hogs and cattle that these settlers produced. The Union Pacific Railroad had reached Glasco, Kansas, in 1878. The Depot was built soon after, followed by a post office and newspaper, the Glasco Sun. Bridges were opened over the Solomon River in 1884 and 1899, bringing growth to the town. Glasco was incorporated as a 3rd class city in 1886. In Cloud County, Kansas a County Fair Association was organized in 1883 with the object of convincing Easterners that Kansas was civilized. To this end, advertisements were sent abroad touting the advantages of the state as a productive and good stock raising country. A fair grounds was purchased near Concordia and one of the best horse racetracks in northwest Kansas was built there.Prairie land was attractive to Eastern farmers who had felled trees, pulled stumps, and fought sprouts to make a living from the forested lands of Illinois. Flat land was much easier to plow, plant, and harvest. Louises sister Caroline Margaret had already moved to Kansas with her husband, William Charles Berneking. Another sister, Ernestine Gerber also moved, and soon all three sisters were located in Cloud County, Kansas. Still, the move to Kansas may have been difficult in several ways for Louise and Anton. Five year old George C. had died the year before and was laid to rest in the graveyard behind the church. There is no record of Antons daughter by his first marriage, Caroline, moving with the famiily. She was 16 years old and would be married at 18 to Philip Ritzel, a man from neighboring Valmeyer down in the rich Mississippi bottom land. Even though many miles separated Caroline from the rest of her family, ties were strong enough to sustain a correspondence that lasted until the death of Antons youngest daughter, Louise Caroline Sparwasser Frazier.
With the siren song of better opportunities in Kansas, the decision to move was finalized. By the autumn of 1890, Louisa was in the last trimester of pregnancy. With Emma only a year old, she may have been fortunate enough to have taken the train from St. Louis to Glasco, Kansas, with the littlest ones. That would have been much more tolerable than the jolting 500 mile wagon trip that most likely would have taken six weeks to transport the household goods. At eleven years of age, Henry would have been old enough to travel ahead with Anton and the wagon.
With proceeds from the sale of the Illinois farm, Anton purchased 160 acres two miles south of Glasco. Louise was delivered of another daughter, Louise Caroline, known in her school days as Lucy, born on December 27, 1890, in Glasco, Kansas at about the same time the farm purchase was recorded. Later, two more sons, Edward and Philip, would be born there.The house Anton built is no longer there, but the property can be located today on the corner of Acorn Road and 50th street, about a half mile from one of the many meanders of the Solomon River. It is a pleasantly shaded stream, not very deep or swift, a place for picnics on hot summer days. However, the placid river went on the rampage about every 10 years. The History of Cloud County, Kansas, published by the Cloud County Historical Society and the Cloud County Genealogical Society at Concordia, Kansas, page 146, gives the following history of the Solomon and Republican River flood of June 1902. During the latter part of the month of June, 1902, scores of fields adjacent to the rivers and creeks were submerged under water caused by the heavy and continued rainfalls, seriously damaging the corn and many of the wheat fields. As the injured grain ripened, the fields were in such a muddy condition it was impossible in many instances to garner the grain. Both the Republican and Solomon rivers were higher than they had been known for years.
How well did Anton prosper on his new farm? The Kansas State Census of 1895 records the Anton Sparwasser farm as having cultivated 50 acres of corn, 45 acres of winter wheat, 8 acres of oats, 6 acres of rye, 2 acres of sorghum, and 1 acre of Irish potatoes. Seven tons of prairie (grass) was cut, and 5 acres of prairie grass were fenced. Cash value of farm implements was $125, farm and improvements $4,000. There were 240 rods of wire fencing enclosing 20 acres. Total acres were 160. Trees were listed as 1 cottonwood, 12 apple and 6 peach trees not yet bearing, 1 pear and 6 apple trees that were bearing. Value of animals slaughtered that year was $100. Livestock was enumerated as 6 cattle, 3 milk cows, and 5 horses. Two hundred pounds of butter were produced. The value of poultry and eggs sold was $25. Fifty bushels of corn were on hand.
Antons wife Louisa passed away at 44, on 4 October 1902, at Glasco, Kansas. At the time of her death, she left 6 children under the age of 17 in addition to 3 adult sons. The housework, cooking, cleaning, and laundry fell to her two daughters Emma and Louise ages 13 and 12. The care of two younger brothers also became their duty. Life was hard for the two sisters. Trips to town were special events to be looked forward to with great anticipation. Shops and stores, even with limited goods for sale, were a real treat. Emma particularly coaxed her father to let her go along on trips to town, hanging onto the wagon as it lumbered down the road until he finally relented and allowed her to ride to town. These excursions left her younger sister to manage the chores by herself.
A year after his wife died, the following article was written and appears here as a transcription from E.F. Hollibaugh's Biographical history of Cloud County, Kansas biographies of representative citizens. [n.p., 1903]
ANTON SPARWASSER.
Anton Sparwasser, an industrious German farmer of Solomon township, is a fair representative of his thrifty and enterprising countrymen. Though Mr. Sparwasser is American born, the German largely predominates and he can scarcely speak the English language. Illinois is his native state, born in Monroe county, in 1847. His father was Anton Sparwasser and his motherbefore her marriage was Christine Kern, both natives of Nassau, Germany. They came to America in 1834, and settled in Monroe county, Illinois. The father died in the spring of 1877, and the mother the following autumn. Mr. Sparwasser is one of seven children, six of whom are living. They are all residents of Monroe county, Illinois, except himself.
Mr. Sparwasser came to Kansas in the autumn of 1890, with a capital of $2,500. He bought two hundred and sixty acres of land (the Turkeson homestead) for a consideration of $3,000, and built a house at a cost of $1,000; he also bought teams, farm implements, two cows and a few calves. The famous possibility of a Kansas farmer had been recited to him and Mr. Sparwasser had no hesitancy in becoming involved. He, with his sons, farmed one hundred and sixty acres of rented land in addition to his own and fortunately had a large yield of wheat and corn that year, which he fed to cattle and hogs and doubled his investment; another illustration of the hundreds of farmers who have done likewise.
Mr. Sparwasser has been married twice. He was married in 1871, to Anna Buck, who died, leaving four children, only one of whom is living, Caroline, wife of Philip Ritzel, a farmer of Illinois. In 1878, he married Louisa Pape (a sister of Mrs. Berneking) their family consists of the following children: Henry, a bright and intelligent young man who has just attained his majority, is interested with his father in farming. He is a member of the Order of Woodmen, at Glasco. Herman, Fred, Anton, August, Emma, Lucy, Edward and Philip, are the other members of the family.
Mr. Sparwasser is a Democrat, but cast his vote for McKinley. The family are members of the Lutheran church at Glasco.
The children attended school in District 42, Prairie View School, built on land owned by E. M. Olson. The school house where all of the children attended stood on Acorn Road, about a mile from their house. It was wood frame, and no longer exists. In 1911 Ollie Mann was the teacher at $49.00 a month for a 28 week school term. The students numbered 17, and among them are listed Ed and Lucy Sparwasser (History of Cloud County, p. 147). Ed was 18 years old, and Lucy was 21. She was a school teacher in her own right by this time, and may have been assisting Ollie Mann.
Glasco continued to grow and improve. Telephone service came in 1900. A picture of Main Street taken in 1904 shows several two story buildings, with smaller shops on both sides of the street. The town purchased land for the first city park in 1900. It is located on First Street between Fisher Street and Railroad Avenue. Glasco High School was built in 1906, an imposing brick edifice of two stories and a full basement. The Sparwasser children did not attend this school, because the rural schools were not closed until 1945. Several churches graced the community, in addition to the Lutheran Church the Sparwassers attended, there were the Christian Church, St. Marys Catholic Church, and the Adventist Christian Church. Ed Sparwasser apparently converted to the latter, where he was listed as a member in 1914. The principles of the church as set forth by the founding evangelical minister were to promote scriptural piety and all Bible truths, especially the personal coming of Christ, fulfillment of prophecy, conditional mortality, and the establishment of the promised kingdom on earth. The church building was completed in 1905. (History of Cloud County.) Speculation in oil and gas swept the town in 1907, but faded out within a few years when none was found. The city hall, electricity and city water came in 1911.
The year before Anton died the United States Census of 1910 shows Anton as head of the household, living in Solomon township, with son Herman and his wife Nellie, along with their two year old daughter Roberta, and Antons young son Eddy occupying the home with him. The oldest son, Henry was living with his wife Ella in Nash, Muskogee, Oklahoma. Fred was still single, also living in Mukogee County, Oklahoma. Louis Anton and August are listed as partners living with a family in Paradise, Rooks, Kansas. Emma was married to John Frazier, living in Salina, Kansas. Efforts to locate where Louise was living have been unsuccessful. Family tradition passed down from her daughter Della, that she went batching with her brothers in western Kansas, provides a clue that she may have been living with Louis Anton and August in 1910, or this may have been the period of her life when she lived with Emma and her husband John Frazier. No record has been found eithr for the residence of young Philip, who most probably was living at home with his father.
Anton died 1 June 1911, at the age of 64, and was laid to rest next to his wife Louise in Glasco City Cemetery, which had been enlarged since its inception in 1868 when the first settlers, killed by Cheyenne Indians, were buried there. His last will and testament entered probate on June 5, 1911. His estate was to be divided among his 7 sons and 3 daughters. The appraised value of his property was $20,000, and his debts amounted to $46.
Anton, a second generation American, born of German immigrants, raised 10 children to maturity. His life was touched by sorrow common to his era. He lost his first wife in childbirth, four children to illness and accident, and was again widowed later in life with young children still at home. Youngest son Philip would later die in World War I. He built on the legacy his father left him of land and skill, and added his own determination and wisdom to achieve the American dream. Leaving Illinois to join the westward expansion of the United States, he proved successful in his prairie venture. His life spanned the era of wagon trains, Indian raids, and slavery, the establishment of railroads, the discovery of electricity, the invention of the telephone, telegraph, and mass production of automobiles.
Photograph Appendix
Baum-Salem Church, Wartburg, Illinois |
Sparwasser Cabin, Wartburg, Illinois |
Heinrich and Dietrich Sparwasser Headstones |
Anna Buck Sparwasser Headstone |
George C. Sparwasser Headstone |
Children of Carolina Sparwasser and Philip Ritzel |
Early Glasco, Kansas Main Street and Post Office
History of Cloud County, Kansas, published by the Cloud County Historical Society
and the Cloud County Genealogical Society at Concordia, Kansas
Plat Map of Glasco with Antons Farm Highlighted in Yellow
Front and Back of Christmas calling card of Anton Sparwasser
L to R Herman, Anton, and Fred
L to R Emma, August, and Louise ( authors grandmother)
Edward
Children not shown: Edward Henry, George (deceased), and Philip
Glasco, Kansas Cemetery
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View of house and fields from Maeystown Road
Original basement foundation wall still in use
Some original floor joists (bark is still on the logs)
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Last update: Sunday, 27-May-2018 01:31:06 EDT