Casper Strothman was born on Nov 21, 1821. His daughter, Mary, married Walt’s second great uncle Eustace Link.
Casper was born to Joseph and Mary Anfanger Strothman in Reitberg, Germany (listed as Prussia on the census). The family came to the United States around 1840. They spent time in St Louis, Missouri, then moved to Lee County, Iowa.
Casper married Catherine Witte on January 20, 1847. Some documents show Catherine’s last name as Lutkewitte, which was her father’s last name. Catherine was also born in Germany.
The 1850 census finds Casper living on his parents farm in Lee County. We find Casper, Catherine, Casper’s younger sister Elizabeth and a Herman Strothman, aged 70, living with Joseph and Mary. I would guess the Herman is a sibling of Joseph, but I have not found anything to confirm that.
Casper and Catherine had six to eight children. I have found differing reports but have not been able to find anything definitive. Catherine died in April of 1865.
In 1867, Casper married Mary C. Fullenkamp. I wrote more about her in this post. Casper and Mary’s first daughter, Mary, is the one who married Eustace Link. Together, Casper and Mary had 12 children. I don’t have information on all of them. Casper continued farming well into his life. I find him with Mary and 9 of their children living on a farm in West Point township in the 1900 census.
Casper died on May 17, 1909 at the age of 87. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in West Point, Iowa.
You can read more about Eustace in this post and another of Casper’s children in this post.
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