Obit: Tessmer, Minnie (1834 - 1932)

Contact:  Stan

Surnames: TESSMER FRASER HOFFMANN RISCH RUDOLPH DEBUR HEGG KOLANDER WHARFIELD ROSINSKI DETJENS JONES BREED SMITH LEONHARDT RUDWOLF OLSON

----Sources: COLBY PHONOGRAPH (Colby, Clark County, Wis.) 6 Oct 1932

Tessmer, Minnie (24 May 1834 - 1 Oct. 1932)

Mrs. John Tessmer, age ninety-eight, one of the earliest settlers of this section and head of 132 descendants, succumbed to the infirmities of old age at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Allan Fraser, at Phillips Saturday night, October 1st, and funeral services were held at the Zion Lutheran church in Colby on Tuesday afternoon, Rev. O. Hoffmann officiating, and internment was made in the Colby cemetery. The choir sang "Nearer My God to Thee" and "Asleep in Jesus." The deceased’s grand sons acted as pall bearers and were Edwin Tessmer, Tomahawk; Wm. Tessmer, Colby; Aug. Tessmer, Spencer; Archie Fraser, Mosinee; Arthur Risch, Milwaukee; John Tessmer, Colby. The flower girls were Sylvia Tessmer, Spencer; LaVerne Tessmer, Colby; Martha Rudolph, Medford; Bernice DeBur, Milwaukee; Elaine Hegg, Phillips; Alma Tessmer, Colby; Raberta Hegg, Phillips; Hazel Kolander, Milwaukee; Jewel Wharfield, Marshfield.

Mrs. John Tessmer, (nee Minnie Rosinski), was born on May 24th. 1834, in the Providence of Vice Preston, Germany. She spent her childhood days on the farm owned by her parents and received her education in the school of Vice Preston and later attended college in Berlin. In 1855, at the age of twenty-one, she was united in marriage to John Tessmer of Vice Preston at the home of her parents. They lived on the groom’s farm for eleven years and where the following children were born: William, Gottlieb, Augusta, Minnie and Edward. In 1866, eleven years after their marriage, they left for America, embarking upon a sailboat at Amsterdam, Holland, and it required nine weeks and three days to reach New York City. From there, they went to Sheboygan where they lived for two years and where August was born. Then they moved to Lansing, Mich., taking a boat across the lake, where they lived for a year and then returned to Wisconsin, settling on a farm near Lomira, Wis., where Charley was born. In the year of 1873, they moved to Colby and settled on a wild track of land which is now the Victor Frane farm, two and one-half miles southwest of Colby.

At the time of their arrival here, this was still a vast wilderness and they followed Indian trails to their land which they homesteaded. The first year, they erected two large log buildings. They cleared about forty acres of land on the homestead, selling the pine timber to the saw mills at Colby for $3.00 a thousand. There were but few buildings in Colby and the railroad only extended as far as Medford. The following children were born on the homestead: Bertha, Lena, Herman and Amelia. The children received their education from their parents, there being no school in this vicinity. In December, 1899, they held an auction and moved to Colby, making their home with their son, Gottlieb.

On Feb. 22, 1900, Mr. Tessmer passed on to the Great Beyond at the age of sixty-nine years. The following children have passed away: William of Colby in 1923; Edward of Bloomington, Cal., in 1929; August of Rhinelander in 1924.

The deceased is survived by eight children, thirty-six grandchildren, sixty-nine great grand children and nine great-great grandchildren. The children are Mrs. Fraser (Bertha), and Mrs. Lena Detjens, also of Phillips; Mrs. Minnie Risch, Milwaukee; Mrs. Amelia Jones, Clifford; Mrs. Augusta Breed, Everett, Wash., and Charles, Gottlieb and Herman Tessmer, Colby.

The deceased was a faithful member of the Lutheran church and walked a mile to church and back until about two years ago when her health began to fail. She was of a congenial and generous disposition and never forgot the hospitable ways of the early pioneer. The past several years she made her home with her son, Gottlieb, in Colby, and her daughter, Mrs. Allen Fraser, in Phillips.

Those from out of town here for the funeral were Mr. and Mrs. Archie Fraser and son, Mosinee; Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Smith, Marshfield; Woodrow Tessmer, Stevens Point; Mr. and Mrs. John Leonhardt, Medford; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rudwolf, Medford; Mr. Oscar Leonhardt, Medford; Mr. August Tessner and daughter, Sylvia, Spencer; Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Jones, Clifford; Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Olson, Ogema; Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Wharfield and family, Marshfield; Mr. and Mrs. H. DeBuhr and son, Lavere, and daughter, Bernice, Milwaukee; Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Risch and son, Milwaukee; Mrs. Paul Kolander and daughter, Hael, Milwaukee; Mr. and Mrs. A. Fraser and daughter, Merie, Phillips; Mr. and Mrs. O. A. Detjens, Phillips; and son, Phillips; Mr. Edwin Tessmer, Tomahawk; Mrs. Minnie Risch, Milwaukee.