Where did he come from?
In my mission to identify and attempt to link all the Hasselbacher families of the world, I have already picked the low hanging fruit. Frankly, I never dreamed I would be as successful as I was. Now I am in the filling in-the-gaps phase and it is getting harder.
It is clear that in the United States, there were some very early Hasselbacher settlers. At least a few came before the American Revolutionary war. Some of these family lines may have died out, or at least not have passed the name down. I have not found nodes of activity or inquiry on Internet exchanges such as ancestry.com that open any new genealogical vistas. (If any of you are aware of any, please, please contact me below.)
What are we to do with John Haselbacher who appears in the 1870 federal census of Michigan, in the Second Ward of Adrian which is the county seat of, Lenawee County. It lies near the southeast corner of the state not far from Toledo, Ohio. Here are the details:
• John Haselbacher 44, a stonemason from Bavaria.
• Anna, 32, his wife from Darmstadt who keeps house.
• Susan 13, born in Ohio.
• Peter 10, born in Ohio.
• Anthony 4, born in Michigan.
• Anna 3, born in Michigan.
• John 1, born in Michigan.
Assuming that John did not marry a woman in America who already had children, this would have him emigrating to America at least 13 years before, on or before 1857. [In fact, we learn later he immigrated in 1854. See below.]
If I can find the time, I will try to trace the family further in Ohio and Michigan. If one of you would like to take on the task to speed things up, please let me know.
[Addendum: Greg Humphrey has quicky added much additional information. Rather than rewriting this page, take a look here. Because he was a Civil War veteran with a pension, there must be much more information available in the National Archives in Washington.]
