This is the tombstone of Marie (Kessler) Mueller, located in row 1 of St. Paul’s UCC Cemetery. The cemetery is on the corner of Wabash and Oregon Roads in Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The gravestone is inscribed Marie Mueller, geb. Kesler, Ehefrau von Johann Mueller, Geb. 9 Dec 1811, Gest. 26 May 1886, Alter 75 j, 4 m, 15 t. When translated the marker reads: Marie Mueller, born Kesler, wife of Johann Mueller, born 9 Dec 1811, died 26 May 1886, aged 75 years, 4 months, 15 days. It is so very helpful when a woman’s maiden name is inscribed on the tombstone.
Marie Kessler Mueller was my great-great-grandmother. I descend from her son Johann “Jacob” Mueller/Miller and his wife Christina Rueck.
Marie Kessler was born in Walsheim, Kingdom of Bavaria, to Johann Georg Kessler and Catharina Schwarz. She married Johann Mueller on 2 October 1838 in Walsheim. Johann and Marie had three known children: Katherine (1839-1913), Johann Jacob (1843-1918), and Margaret (1847-1924). Katherine married Jacob Linn (1838-1919) and Margaret married his brother Philip Linn (1841-1920).
Marie’s husband Johann Mueller died in 1870 and she immigrated to America with her two daughters and their families in 1872. They sailed on the ship Hannover and arrived in New York on 28 May 1872. Her son Jacob had immigrated to America in 1871 and was already residing in Mercer County in 1872.
It was probably no coincidence that the Muellers and Linns came to Mercer County to live. Marie’s brother Christian Kessler and his family came to America in 1849 with the Christian Kable family. The Kesslers and Kables settled in Liberty Township, near Chattanooga.
According to the 1880 US census, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, Marie Kessler Mueller was living with Philip & Margaret Linn, her daughter and son-in-law. She was a widow, aged 68.
I was able to trace my Kessler ancestors back to the early 1600s in Bavaria by using microfilmed records that I ordered at the local Family History Center. I traced the family back as far as Ludwig Kessler and his son Zacharias Kessler (c1687-1777).
It is interesting to note that Marie Kessler’s birth record and the birth records of some of her siblings were recorded in civil records that were written in French. That part of Bavaria was under Napoleon’s rule in the early 1800s. My French Dictionary came in very handy for that project! (sources of information available upon request)
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