By Julie Huebel, Pierce County Historical Association
ELMWOOD, WI – Jumping right in… G is for Gasteyer. John Phillip Gasteyer was born in 1823 in Hessen Nassau, Germany, he married his wife Anna Mary Weber in New Jersey in 1854 where he worked as a millwright for eight years.
From there, they lived in Illinois for one summer and the family then settled in Eau Galle Township of Dunn County in 1861 or 1862 which was very much a wilderness at that time. There, they purchased government land, and per the History of Dunn County (published in 1925): “When they took possession of it they had to walk to it along a blazed trail from the village of Eau Galle. Mr. Gasteyer made a clearing and built a log hut with a “shake” roof; also a log stable with a straw roof. The first winter he cut some timber, which he burned, making a clearing in which to plant corn and potatoes for the use of the family.
This planting he did in the spring, and not yet being provided with the necessary agricultural implements he had to chop holes in the ground with an axe to receive the seed. But, little by little, he got the tools and machinery he needed and kept on improving his place until he had about 50 acres cleared. The little log house in which he and his wife began housekeeping was in time replaced by a dwelling of hewed logs, with a surface measurement of 18×26 feet, and he also put up a granary and other buildings and bought 80 acres more land. At the age of 65 years he ceased active work and in 1906 he died.”
On September 27, 1864, just a couple years after settling in Wisconsin, John was drafted for service into the Civil War and served in Company K of the 17th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment as a Private. He was involved in Sherman’s march to the sea from November 15th to December 21st 1864 and then in the Campaign of the Carolinas from January 1st to April 26th of 1865. His regiment participated in the Battle of Bentonville from March 19th to 24th, a Union victory, and the last large-scale battle of the Civil War.
With the end of the Civil War, his regiment participated in the Grand Review of the Armies in Washington, D.C. which was a military procession and celebration in late May of 1865. He would soon be discharged, heading home in June.
John passed away in 1906, his wife Anna passed in 1908, they are both buried in the Weber Valley Cemetery in Eau Galle Township. They had four children: Edwin, Lena (Mary Magdelena) Pauly, Peter, and Anna Gerard.
I could not find a link myself with my limited time researching, but another researcher online shows John’s parents as Philipp Gasteyer Jr. born in 1800 and Juliana Kramb in 1799, both in Nassau, Germany. They stayed in Germany, their son came to the U.S. as an adult. Going back another generation, Phillip Sr. (b. 1775) and Marie Magdelena Himmel (b. 1776). They have Philipp Sr.’s parents as Johann (b. 1739) and Maria Eleonora Kalteyer (b. 1743). This family seems to have deep roots in Schonborn, Nassau, Germany which is located between Koblenz and Frankfurt.
Please do share early photos of John and Anna and their children and home if you have them!
