FRANZ ANTON "Anthony" JOHN STIMMLER

Born: May 14, 1838    Wilwisheim, Alsace-Lorraine, Rhin-Bas, France
Died: November 30, 1906    Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota
Buried: December 3, 1906    St. Marcus Cemetery, Clear Lake, Sherburne, Minnesota

Parents:

Military Service:

Marriage:

Occupation:

Johann Stimmler
Mary Magdalene Schmitt

Sgt. Co. A. 21st Regiment, Pennsylvania
Jackson's Rifles

Crescentia Sohn
August 21, 1865
St. Mary's Church
Manayunk, Pennsylvania
By Rev. Father Gunder

Stone mason and farmer

Children:	Johann W.	June 19, 1866	Jan. 19, 1871
	Franciska G.	Feb. 10, 1868	Jan. 15, 1871
	Bertha Gertrude	Mar. 8, 1869	Mar. 10, 1950
	Sophia Theresa	Aug. 27, 1870	Oct. 14, 1955
	Anthony Valentine	Apr. 16, 1872	Apr. 17, 1936
	John Maxmillian	Nov. 29, 1874	May 21, 1959
	George Aloysius	Aug. 14, 1876	July 27, 1927
	Anna Maria "Mary"	Jan. 2, 1878	Dec. 8, 1951
	William Paul	Jan. 13, 1880	June 9, 1944
	Daniel Nicholas	Feb. 10, 1882	Nov. 7, 1962
	Anna Crescentia	Dec. 10, 1884	Feb. 21, 1961

Notes:

Johann and Magdalena Stimmler and their family lived in Wilwisheim, Alsace, France. They immigrated to the United States, departing LaHavre aboard the packet ship Sully under the command of Captain William C. Thompson and arriving in New York on November 28, 1839. Son Franz was 1 year old at the time [Source: N.A. Film No. M237-40, List 862]. He and his family were listed on the ship's manifest thusly:

Jean Stimler, age 48, M
Magd. Stimler, age 44, F
Magd. Stimler, age 15, F
Therese Stimler, age 11, F
Jean Stimler, age 9, M
Nicolas Stimler, age 6, M
Fransisca Stimler, age 3, F
Franz Stimler, age 1, M

With them they took two beds, a chest, a trunk and four bags.

Franz Anton came to America with his parents and siblings who settled in Manayunk, Pennsylvania in 1839. He moved to Victoria, MN in 1867; then to Clear Lake, MN in 1879; then to Minneapolis by 1900.

Franz Anton took the name "Anthony" when he came to this country. He was 5'8" tall and had light hair, a light complexion and blue eyes [Source: Declaration for an Original Invalid Pension, dated Oct. 16, 1888]. He signed up to fight in the Civil War and originally was elected sergeant. At that time people were elected to ranks above private, and many officers bought their ranks; therefore rank was not necessarily based on leadership abilities. Enlisted men who had been elected to ranks above private (as opposed to those who had bought their position) could also be voted out of rank, as was our illustrious ancestor. He served three terms of three months each. In the 1890 Special Veterans' Census he was listed as suffering from lung problems that were a result of his wartime service, and for which he was granted a disability pension.

Anthony was a stone mason and a farmer. In May of 1872 he, his brother Father Valentine Stimmler and their brother-in-law, John Kaufmann, helped build the stone St. Mary's Help of Christians Catholic Church in St. Augusta, Minnesota where Father Valentine was pastor (not only of St. Augusta but of other parishes as well) until 1875. The church's construction was finished in December 1872.

Anton Stimmler and his family arrived in Clear Lake from Carver County in a wagon convoy in 1878. The movement to Clear Lake was a natural outgrowth of the St. Augusta German Catholic community since its establishment by Anton Imholte Sr. in 1856. Most of the early Catholic Clear Lake settlers were children of the St. Augusta pioneers.

In 1880 Anthony and Crescentia were living on a rented farm in Clear Lake, Sherburne County, with their seven children.

The family farm at Clear Lake consisted of 400 acres of land on Section 16 of Clear Lake. This property had an eight-room brick residence, and a barn 46 by 60 feet with a 50-foot gable.

In 1887, Anton was one of two spokesmen (the other being Joseph Goenner) commissioned by the townspeople to petition Most Reverend Rupert Seidenbusch, Vicar Apostolic of St. Cloud, for permission to build a church in their town. They were successful, and in June 1888 permission was granted to organize a parish.

. . . [A] simple wooden structure, typical of country churches of the era, was completed. Most of the work was done by parishioners. The women of the parish donated carpets and other decorative articles for the sanctuary, and made the priest's vestments, with Mrs. John Kaufmann and Mrs. Henry Goenner who were appointed first sacristans.

Charter members Henry and Joseph Goenner, Joseph, John, Anton and Bernard Imholte, Herman Eilers, Anton Stimmler, John Kaufmann, Henry Holler, Joseph Gohman, John Haaf, John Hertel (Hartel), Wilhelm Witschen, Nicholas and Joseph Juenemann, Bernard Powers and Jesse Varley, all young men, assumed leadership for a parish community.
Church of St. Marcus: Story of a Community, by Patricia K. Witte, p. 6

On Sept. 3, 1889 Rt. Reverend Bishiop Zardetti dedicated the Church to St. Mark the Evangelist. Prior to then, the parish also had been called "St. Mary's."

By 1900 Anton and Crescentia were living in Minneapolis with two of their children -- Mary, a seamstress, and Anna, a "tobacco stripper." Two of their sons, George L. and Daniel, were hardware merchants in Clear Lake, and "among the successful men in Sherburne County" according to the "Compendium of History and Biography," written in 1905.

Anton passed away at his home at 416 - 16th Ave. N. in Minneapolis at 9 p.m. on November 30, 1906, aged 68 years. His grandson, Donald Stimmler, inherited his Merchaum pipe.

Ancestry:	The Stimmler/Stimler Line

Anthony J. and Crescence (Sohn) Stimmler, charcoal drawing by their granddaughter, Marie Dingmann.

Anthony J. and Crescence (Sohn) Stimmler
charcoal drawing by their granddaughter, Marie (Stimmler) Dingmann

Comment on above photograph:

"THIS IS A DIGITAL PHOTO TAKEN OF THE 15" X 20" PICTURE OF ANTHONY J. & CRESCENCE (SOHN) STIMMLER WHICH HANGS ON MY OFFICE WALL. I REMEMBER UNCLE GEORGE DINGMANN TAKING A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE PICTURE IN THE EARLY 1930'S. I THINK THE PICTURE WAS DONE IN CHARCOAL BY MY MOTHER MARIE DINGMANN DURING THE TIME (3 SUMMERS) SHE SPENT AT THE CHICAGO ART INSTITUTE. I THINK THE CHARCOAL WAS APPLIED OVER A PHOTOGRAPH. ANTHONY DIED IN 1906 SO I WOULD GUESS THE PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN IN THE LATE 1890'S. MOTHER SAID THAT HER GRANDMOTHER NEVER WENT OUT IN PUBLIC WITHOUT HER HAT." -- e-mail from Robert R. Mullally dated April 19, 2004.