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BIOGRAPHY OF JOHANN ANTON SPARWASSER
1810-1877
by Charlet Pemberton, great great granddaughter
First published 2005
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to Jerry Koehler and his wife Sue for their research of Sparwasser documents which brought me to Illinois in the first place, to Richard and Marlene Sparwasser Buettner for preserving the Johann Anton Sparwasser cabin, to Sharon Sparwasser for the plat map of the Baum Salem Cemetery, and for introducing me to interested relatives, and to Steve and Mary Wheat for allowing us to park on the Baum Salem Cemetery driveway and supplying our trailer with water. But most of all, thanks for the welcome we received. A special thanks to Heinrich Sparwasser of Eppstein, Germany for his research on the Sparwasser family tree dating back into the 1600s, and to Roberta Sparwasser Hotz for recording the early Sparwasser history in America.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The village of Eppstein, near Frankfurt Germany has been the ancestral home of the Sparwassers since the 1600s. The first Sparwasser came there with the kings entourage as a baker. My son Ethan, husband Jack and I visited Heinrich and Emke Sparwasser, distant cousins, in their home in Eppstein at the conclusion of Ethans LDS Church mission in November, 1997. Heinrich gave us a family tree of the Sparwassers dating back to the 1600s from research he had been compiling for many years. Heinrich had kept in touch with Sparwassers who had emigrated to America. The ancient family crest is a two headed goose looking forward and behind symbolizing eternal vigilance.
Emigrations tend to come in waves. The Napoleonic Wars are credited for causing a wave that lasted until 1835. The first German settlers in St. Clair County, Illinois, came in group of 7 families from the Rhineland on the 4th of September, 1834. They were followed by another group of 5 families that same year. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, they disembarked at New Orleans, Louisiana. From there they traveled up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, thence to St. Clair County, Illinois. They settled in the Millstadt area on the 30th of November, 1834. A second group of five more families joined them later that same year. This nucleus of a dozen German families attracted over 60 more families to the Millstadt area over the next 5 years.
Our ancestor Johann Anton Sparwasser was one of those original 60 families who emigrated to the Millstadt area from Eppstein. His life was marked by grief from the untimely deaths of his mother, his first wife, and three children in their teens. This pattern is common in pioneer history before the advent of modern medicine. Childbirth was hazardous and early childhood diseases took many youngsters. Farm accidents were many, and remedies few. We dont know the particular circumstances, so we are left to read between the lines.
Church records in Eppstein were kept in a book titled Das Evangelische Kirchspeil Oberliederbach. This book records the births of four sons of Philip and Helena Katharina Mueller Sparwasser. These sons came to the couple fairly late in life. Helena was 32 and Philip 39 when their son Johann Ludwig was born in 1802, followed by Johann Philip a year later in 1803, Johann Simon in 1807, and our ancestor, Johann Anton in 1810. By the time Anton was born, his mother was 40 and his father 47 years old. Antons mother passed away when he was only 2 years old. His father lived for another 27 years after her passing.
When Anton was 24 years old he emigrated to America with his bride Christina Katherina Schaefer. Family tradition is that he emigrated in 1834, and settled in 1835. Anton and Christina have not been found on the Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s -1900s, which is a very comprehensive list. An F. Sparwasser was found on the ship Brigit Ferdinand which sailed from Bremen harbor in 1834, bound for Baltimore, Maryland. Further research done by Roberta Hotz indicates that on board the ship were Friedrich Sparwasser, a shoemaker from Nordenstadt, his wife Christina Kern, and their daughter Justine, 4 years of age. Christina Kerns second child, a baby boy named Heinrich, was born on board the ship the 26th of May,1834, three weeks before they landed in America. Heinrich Kern and his wife Maria Elisabetha Fischer were also passengers, and probably related to Christina Kern. Family history research is filled with as many questions as it has answers. Was Friedrich an older brother of Anton, but not listed in the Church Book? If so, he represented Anton in the ship records as head of the household.
The year 1837 was a milestone in the life of Anton and Christina (Schaefer). This is a picture of their first farm taken in October, 2005. They bought a 62 acre parcel two and a half miles west of Millstadt in Sugarloaf Township for $68.75. This picture was taken from Bluffside Road. The north boundary is Kropp Road. An early plat map shows the house situated at the center of the far clearing, under the power lines now existing. They were blessed with a son, Johann Georg Friedrich Wilhelm on 19 June 1837, baptized at the Zion Evangelical Log Church on 6 August 1837. He was followed by a daughter Maria Katharina (later known as Mary Catherine) born 25 October 1838 and baptized in the same log church on 26 December 1838. Within a year after the birth of her baby daughter, Christina passed away. A search of cemeteries and death records in St. Clair and Monroe Counties has not revealed her resting place or date of death, however it is probable that her funeral services were held at the little log church and that she was buried in Freivogel Cemetery.
The Legend of Zions Little Log Church, by Merton Baltz
A pamphlet found at the Belleville, Illinois Public Library
The Caption for the picture reads:
A Model of Zion's Little Log Church, Millstadt, Illinois
Erected in 1837
Commemorating the 150th Anniversary year of the Church's Founding on January 17, 1835
January 1, 1985
In the spring of 1837 the building of the church was begun on a plot of ground donated by Johannes Freivogel. After a few months it was completed and on a beautiful summer day, on June 26th, the dedication services were held, a large congregation of Evangelical Christians in attendance. The property was situated 1 1/4 miles south of Millstadt. That the members of Zion loved their place of worship and delighted to visit the House where Gods Honor Dwelt is certain, according to the testimony of their pastor. He writes of the church, From the days of dedication to this time it has been a house of blessing for the fathers, mothers, youths, maidens, and children, who all attend it in large numbers.
Beginning with the year 1840, services were held in Zion on every Sunday.
The writer recalls the old Salems church referred to in Pastor Limpers accounts and has a vivid picture of this log church from his boyhood days when his father took him for visits to the old church yard. He estimated Zions log church was about 36 feet long, 24 feet wide and about 12 feet to the eaves. The pitch of the roof was about 45 degrees to insure a leak-proof roof as it was made of native white oak split shingles. The walls were made of hewn oak logs, notched at the corners. The space between the logs was chinked with clay bound by straw. The inside walls were whitewashed to reflect the greatest light. We presume the lighting was by candles or fat lamps. The building rested on a foundation of rock pillars and was elevated about a foot off the ground. Wild animals could prowl under the floor. The roof rafters and floor joists were of hand hewn oak logs. The floor was of native white pine rough planks. Whether or not glass was used in the six windows is not known. Since the Freivogel cemetery was just down the road 1/8 miles, a sign showing the direction to the cemetery was posted. There was no steeple or belfry and in order to identify the building as a church a small wooden cross was hung over the entrance. Also, a hand lettered sign stating Evangelichen Zions Kirch, 1837 er Baut hung over the door.
It was estimated the log church seated about 85 worshipers. The center aisle was about three feet wide to permit movement of caskets. No aisles were provided at the outside walls to preserve space and building costs. The bench pews (seven rows) were not attached to the floor so they could be moved about in order to sweep the rough plank floor. The pulpit was raised about two feet so all could see the pastor while preaching. The altar was probably a simple table that could be moved freely. The lectern was of simple design to support the Bible. To the rear of the pulpit hung two shields on which were posted the hymns to be sung at the worship service. A small wooden cross no doubt hung above the altar to remind all of Christs supreme sacrifice for mankind. Probably there was no organ. A small bench or chair graced the chancel near the lectern and to its left stood the large wood burning stove with a black stove pipe rising into the chimney. Two collection plates hung on the wall just inside the entrance doorway which the ushers passed from the center aisle. Their handles were long enough to reach the outside walls. On the back and side walls were wooden pegs driven into the logs on which wraps could be hung. Since there was no bell tower, it is presumed the congregation was called to worship by one or two hand bells.
[A map showed] the exact location of Zions first log church built in 1837 in the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 21, Township 1 South Range 9 West of the Third Principal Meridian about 1 1/4 miles due south of Millstadt. It was in the log cabin farm home of farmer Freivogel that the congregation was formed on January 17, 1835 and in whose home it held its worship services until the log church was completed. The church stood on the west side of Saxtown Road and faced due east. Its location is shown in the St. Clair County plat book published in 1901.
On November 1, 1925, the 90th anniversary year of the founding of the congregation, a handsome granite marker designating the site of the first church was erected and dedicated on what was then known as the Dan Werner farm.
The inscription on the marker reads as follows:
Rev. J. J. Riess
Founded Zions Congregation Here
The Oldest Evangelical Church In
Existence in Southern Illinois
in 1835
After the death of his first wife, Anton began buying property in nearby Monroe County. He bought and sold property over the next 15 years or so, until the main farm consisted of 160 acres bounded by Ahne Road and the Old Baum Church Road as they are currently designated. His last purchase was 54 acres of rich Mississippi River bottom land several miles beyond the bluff from the main farm in the Valmeyer area.
On the 25th of July, 1839 Anton bought the first parcel of 80 acres for $100, near Wartburg in Monroe county. The village was later disincorporated and the area is now part of the Waterloo community. At times it was referred to as Bluff Precinct because of its proximity to the bluffs above the Mississippi River. Three months later he bought another 40 acres for the sum of $50.00 in the same location, a month before his marriage to Christina Kern. She was three years older than he, the widow of Friedrich Sparwasser. She was a resident of the Millstadt area and from Nordenstadt near Eppstein, Germany as well. She and Anton were married in the Zion Evangelical Church in Millstadt on the 18th of November, 1839. Their combined family consisted of her children Heinrich age five and Justine age nine and Antons children Mary Catherine age one, and Friedrich age two and a half.
Anton built a one room log cabin on Ahne Road with a loft above the whole of the main floor which housed his growing family. It had a large overhanging roof all across the front, sheltering an area almost as large as the 15 x 18 foot cabin. The added shelter from sun and rain would have enhanced the work space available for household tasks. Anton and Christina were blessed with 5
more children, making a total of 9 children they raised in a log cabin with less than 600 square feet. Their daughter Christina was born about a year after they were married, followed every two to three years by two sons and two more daughters. Our ancestor, Anton, was their fourth child together, born the 6th of April, 1847.
The cabin stood for 150 years on the farm which is in Sparwasser possession to this day. In recent years it was disassembled and moved to a wooded location about 20 miles away, toward Maeystown, where it was reconstructed by the Richard and Marlene Sparwasser Buettner family. The overhanging porch roof was extended around all four sides to protect the logs. The original chinking of limestone shards, horsehair, and mortar was replaced with cement. The original bark covered rafters still support the roof.
Anton had raised Christinas two children from her first marriage from the time they were five and nine years of age. He became the legal guardian of Justine and Heinrich on Saturday the 21st of March, 1846, by the Monroe County Probate Justice of the Peace. Justine was present and chose Anton as her guardian. The two witnesses who testified to his good character were Fredrick Nesenbum and John P. Hoffman. Later that year Anton received another reward for diligent work. United States citizenship was granted to Anton the 17th of September, 1846.
Another little log church was built in the Sparwassers new community. The German speaking families in Wartburg met in the home of Philip Baum on May 11, 1845 to organize an evangelical congregation. They built the first Evangelical Church in Monroe County in 1845. They never had a minister in residence, but were served by a circuit minister from Millstadt, Maeystown, or Waterloo and their records can be found in these several places. The log church was located on a six acre parcel donated by Heinrich Mueller and Philip Hoffman. Later the school house was erected on the same plot of ground. It served the children of the community until recent times. There are people living the the area today who attended school there. It has since fallen into disrepair and is no longer standing.
A doctor was called to treat Heinrich for a serious ailment before he passed away at the age of 13, on the 26th of May, 1848. His sister Justine met an untimely death as well. After her marriage to Jacob Doerr, she gave birth to a son who died in infancy. She also died within six months of the childs death, at the age of 20 years, on the 18th of august, 1850. She and her brother Heinrich are buried under the same headstone in the Baum Salem Evangelical Church cemetery on the Old Baum Church Road. Also named on the headstone and lying next to them is Philip, the son of Anton and Christina Kern. He died in 1858 at the age of 16. Next to the Sparwasser headstones is the Doerr family plot containing an obelisk including the name of a child Jacob Doerr born the 7th of February, 1850 who died the 14th of March 1850. It is probable that this is Justines son.
When the old log church fell into disrepair, Anton deeded a corner of his farm for the building of a new church which was constructed of native limestone. It was erected in 1853. As the community dwindled, it was finally closed to 1928. A fire later destroyed the roof.
On the 17th of April, 1876, Anton signed his last will and testament. He passed away almost exactly one year later on the 27th of March, 1877 at the age of 67 years. The cause of death was kidney problems and dropsy. His wife Christina Kern died 8 months later, before the settlement of his estate was completed. He seemed to anticipate in his will that she would not long outlive him. They were survived by 7 children.
At the Monroe County Courthouse, in the Book Index to Estates A the will of Anton is found. The executrix of his estate was his wife Christina., who made the first settlement 21 June, 1877. Henry Henke, husband of his oldest daughter by Christina Kern, became the administrator. Antons assets were $2,357.69. Named as securities for the payment of claims were his son Anton and son-in-law Henry Lerch. Excerpts from the will give a sense of the prosperity Anton had achieved as well as his devotion to his wife and the fairness with which he treated all of his children.
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ANTON SPARWASSER
excerpted by Charlet Pemberton
I, Anton Sparwasser, of the County of Monroe and State of Illinois do hereby make and declare my last will in manner and form following to wit:
. . . . I give, devise, and bequeath unto my beloved wife, Christine, all my personal property of whatever nature and kind . . . . I give, devise and bequeath to my beloved wife, Christine, my houses, garden, yard, orchard, vineyard, outhouses, stables, and barns standing and being situated on my homestead where I now with my said wife reside for and during her natural life in case she should survive me. . . . . I give, devise and bequeath to my sons, Frederick and Anton Sparwasser . . .equal shares the following described Real Estate to wit: (142 acres) subject to the rights as above willed to my said wife and their mother for and during her natural life in case she survives me and on condition that my said sons . . . pay and deliver to my said wife their mother one third of all the crops that may be raised on said Real Estate punctually and all in marketable condition and at the time when such crops mature for and during her said Natural life in case she survives me.
I give devise and bequeath to my son ANTON SPARWASSER . . . about fifty four acres, on condition that he . . . pay to my daughters and his sisters, MARY K. KERN, JOHANNA C. HENKE, CAROLINE LERCH and HELENA DORTHEA REHLING fifty dollars (i.e., $840 in 2005) each in one year after my decease . . .
Jerry Koehlers Summary If his wife, Christine, dies before Anton does, then all of his personal property goes to his 4 daughters: MARY K. KERN, JOHANNA C. HENKE, CAROLINE LERCH and HELENA D. REHLING, in equal shares. Johanna C. Henke and Carolina Lerch will receive their share outright while Mary K. Kern and Helena D. Rehling will not be paid. Instead, their share shall be loaned out at high rate of interest and their interest earned shall be given to them on January 1 of each year for the rest of their lives. If any of his daughters dies, then this arrangement passes on to their heirs.
And lastly: I do hereby appoint my said wife Executrix of this, my Last Will, and in case my said wife shall not survive me then I appoint my son, FREDERICK SPARWASSER my Executor of this my will . . .
Anton Sparwasser
According to Jerry Koehler, The original Last Will and Testament of Johann Anton Sparwasser written in 1876 can be found in the section of metal boxes marked, Wills. Antons document is in the metal box marked with the letter, S. These boxes are in the Probate Court office of the Monroe County Courthouse in Waterloo IL. See page 575 of the probate Journal Book J.
Friederich and Anton, sons of Johann Anton Sparwasser
After Johann Antons passing, the farm was lived on and worked by his son Anton, whose biography will be published in 2006.
THE END
Charlet Pembertons e-mail address is
Additions, corrections, and comments are welcome.
Apologies, but the page you requested could not be found. Perhaps searching will help.
Last update: Sunday, 27-May-2018 01:31:08 EDT