Margaretha Agatha Straub was born on October 13, 1824 in Beiringen, Gemany to Markus and Margaretha Trufner Straub. Margaret is Walt’s 4th great aunt.
Margaretha sometimes went by Agatha, as did her mother. Many records list her as Margaret. Markus was a farmer in Germany and decided to bring his family to the United States. Records say that they started the journey from Wurtenburg on May 13, 1832. They arrived in the Port of New York on August 22, 1832, aboard the ship Manchester.
The family moved to Ohio, living as farmers in Columbiana County, between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Akron, Ohio. Markus brother Erasmus brought his family over in 1843. You can read more about them here. The two families lived nearby each other. On October 26, 1844, Margaret married Erasmus’ son Kaspar (Casper) in Ohio (some records say October 24).
Life in Wisconsin
Casper and Margaret moved to Ashford, Wisconsin, shortly before the 1850 census was taken with their eldest son named Casper Joseph. A daughter was born in 1950, and they went on to have 6 more children. They we successful farmers.
In 1870, we find the family still in the area. There are 5 children living at home. At this time, their eldest son is going by Joseph and a younger son is going by Casper.
Margaret’s husband Casper died in July of 1874. I found his will and it is very detailed about how his property is to be divided amongst the family. Joseph and his brother Casper we to divide the farmland, and there were specific instructions for the care of their mother and the three daughters still unmarried and at home.
We find Margaret living with her son Casper and her daughter Mary in the 1880 census. Margaret died on March 31, 1897.
This family is one which we see a number of variations and spellings. You can see Stroup on several documents and Strobe on the ships manifest. I talked some about that in this post about her sister Ann, Walt’s 3rd great grandmother.
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