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Maria Klaers: the First Generation

FAMILY OF MARIA KLAERS

Family of Maria Klaers and Michel Freichels

1. Maria Klaers was born on Aug. 9, 1824 in Burg Reuland, Belgium. She

was the daughter of Johann Klaers and Anna Barbara Arens. Her full name

at birth may have been Anna Maria, the name which appears on her Min-

nesota tombstone. Maria married Michel Freichels on Dec. 13, 1853 in

Burg Reuland. Michel was born on Sept. 12, 1831 in Stoubach, Belgium, a

town located just a few miles southeast of Burg Reuland. He was the son

of Johann Freichels and Susanna Fackard. Michel probably died before his

wife and children left for the United States in the spring of 1883.22 Maria

and her four surviving children, along with a dozen other members of her

extended family, arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania aboard the S.S. Zee-

land on May 16, 1883. She made her way to Minnesota, perhaps joining her

brother Joseph at his farm in Independence Township. Other than her

tombstone, no records survive documenting her whereabouts during the

brief six months between her arrival in the United States and her death at

the end of 1883. She died on Dec. 9, 1883 and was buried at SS. Peter and

Paul Cemetery in Loretto, Hennepin County.

Children of Maria Klaers and Michel Freichels:

m i. JOHANN FREICHELS, known as John in the United States,

was born in Burg Reuland, Belgium on Sept. 8, 1854. He

left Burg Reuland for Minnesota in 1883 with his mother

and siblings. Johann, who was unable to hear, never

22 For more information about the 1883 passage, including copies of the ship’s passenger

manifest, see From Germany to Minnesota, second edition, pages 64-67.

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married. The 1900 census shows that the four Freichels

siblings lived on three different farms in Lone Tree, Min-

nesota, about ninety miles west of the Klaers’ farms in

Independence, Minnesota (see page 161). Johann’s un-

married younger sister Margarette shared his home,

presumably taking care of the house and doing the usual

chores of a farm wife. His recently married younger

brother Lorenz lived on another nearby farm with his wife

and first two children. Johann’s youngest sister Maria also

farmed in Lone Tree, where she lived with her husband

Leonard Miller and nine children.

By the time of the 1905 State of Minnesota census,

Johann and Margarette were back near their Klaers rela-

tives in Medina, living on a farm which was also home to

younger brother Lorenz’ in-laws: Lorenz’ widowed father-

in-law, Geert Ameln, and sister-in-law Lena Ameln, who

had arrived in the United States in 1903. Five years later,

Johann was living with the family of his younger brother

Lorenz, who had moved to a farm in Medina.

Johann’s deafness ultimately cost him his life when he

was run over by a train he would never have heard com-

ing. He died in Medina, Minnesota on March 2, 1911 and

was buried at SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery in Loretto on

March 6, 1911.

f ii. MARGARETTE FREICHELS, also known as Gretchen, was

born in Burg Reuland on Nov. 8, 1856. She left Burg Reu-

land for Minnesota in 1883 with her mother and siblings.

She lived with her brothers until at least 1910. Unfortu-

nately, we have been unable to locate any records of her

between the 1910 census and her death more than twenty

years later. She does not appear in the households of her

siblings in either the 1920 or 1930 census listings.

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Margarette died in Medina on Nov. 5, 1932 and was bur-

ied at SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery in Loretto.

+ 2 m iii. LORENZ FREICHELS was born in Burg Reuland on Aug.

22, 1858.

m iv. NICOLAS FREICHELS was born in Burg Reuland on June

7, 1860. He died in Burg Reuland on June 20, 1863.

+ 3 f v. MARIA FREICHELS was born in Burg Reuland on May 5,

1862.

Records of Nicolas Freichels June 7, 1860 birth (left ) and his June 20, 1863 death (right) at

the age of three, as recorded in the civil register of Burg Reuland. The record on the left has been

computer enhanced to reduce the shadows and blurring of this microfilmed record.

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Record of Maria Klaers Aug. 9, 1824 birth (civil register of Burg Reuland)

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Record of the marriage between Maria Klaers and Michel Freichels on Aug. 9, 1824 (civil regis-

ter of Burg Reuland)

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Record of the birth of Maria’s oldest son, Johann, on Sept. 20, 1854 (civil register of Burg

Reuland)