Sunday, January 24, 2010

Meet More Of My Ancestors Michael Cossell Born in Germany Died 1847 Coles Illinois


Isn't the Internet great. Full of information and people to meet.

I have been busy getting my family notebooks organized with new dividers with Larger tabs for my family names. I am about 1/2 done.

Need to go and buy more dividers tomorrow at office depot.

Last night I decided to take one of the family names I have done nothing with other than gather their name.

I started out going to ancestry and found some information but then went to http://www.google.com/ from their went to http://www.genweb.com/ site and found the postings of Cossel name.

Since then I have hooked up with the wife of a 5th cousin and she has been nice enough to email me information on two branches of our Cossell family.

She also sent me some interesting history on Hiram Franklin Cassell and the stories he shared with a historian for Quincy and Adams County.

The following is a copy of that history. There are probably some errors and not all information is confirmed but makes for interesting reading.


Hiram Franklin Cassell, b. August 28, 1843 d. April 4, 1923
QUINCY AND ADAMS COUNTY
HISTORY AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN
David F. Wilcox, Supervising Editor
Volume 1
The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago and New York, 1919
Page 284-286

It was in the fall of 1903, when the writer of this history met Hiram Franklin Cassell, who gave an interesting story about the genealogy of his family, which was of German origin: Michael Cassell, born Hessen-Cassell, with his wife and one son came to America in 1696. Their emigration no doubt was due to the adverse conditions existing in the country of their birth, as the result of the Thirty Years' War, 1618-1648. They settled down in what now is Washington County, Virginia, where the son Abraham Gabriel Cassell, born in the fatherland 1695, grew up, and in 1762, being in the sixty-eighth year of his life, married Miss Bessie Fleener (Fliehner?), nineteen years of age. January 14, 1763, a son was born to them, whom they named Michael; when his son was in the fifteenth year of his life, he enlisted as a fifer in The American army during the War of the Revolution, taking part in the battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777, under General John Stark. It was on this memorable occasion when General Stark, pointing at the enemy, said to his soldiers, that he would gain a victory, or Molly Stark should be a widow that night; then Michael Cassell, the youth still in his teens, picked up a gun, also taking an active part in the engagement, which resulted victoriously for the Americans. Later on he served under General William Henry Harrison against the Indians, who at that time under Chief Tecumseh were committing all kinds of depredations, killing the settlers, pillaging and destroying their settlements. He took part in the Battle of Tippecanoe, on the banks of the Tippecanoe River, November 5, 1811.
Tecumseh's brother, prophet of the tribe in the absence of the chief, who was attempting to form an alliance with tribes from the south for hostilities against the whites, demanded a parley and a council was proposed for the next day. But while General Harrison's little army, consisting of 300 regulars and 500 militia men, were sound asleep, the Indians suddenly attacked the camp at 4 o'clock in the morning. A desperate fight ensued, lasting till daylight and the Indians finally were defeated and dispersed. Michael Cassell in the course of time attained the rank of colonel. His son, John Franklin Cassell, born January 1, 1799, in Washington County, Virginia, inherited the martial spirit of his father, enlisting in the American army as a fifer during the War of 1812, and took part in the Battle of New Orleans, which was fought at Chalmette, about four miles below the city, January 8, 1815. General Jackson, in command of the Americans, with a force of 6,000 men, repulsed Sir Edward Pakenham's army of 12,000 British veterans. Pakenham lost his life, while 700 of his men were killed, 1,400 wounded and 500 taken prisoner. The loss of the Americans amounted to 8 men killed and 13 wounded. This remarkable result is accounted for the fact that General Jackson's men were entrenched, and protected by sandbags and cotton bales. Later John Franklin Cassell served in the Blackhawk war, attaining the rank of major; he also served in the Mexican was as colonel. In 1848 he settled down in Clayton, Adams County, Illinois; he was a smith and a gunsmith, which trade he learned from his father. He died March 23, 1886, aged eighty-seven years.
Hiram Franklin Cassell, a son of John Franklin Cassell, was born August 28, 1843, in Fort Des Moines, Iowa, his father at that time being in command of the post. At the beginning of the War of the Rebellion he enlisted in the Eighth Illinois Infantry, serving four years and five months to the end of the war. In 1866 he enlisted in the Third Regular Cavalry, in which he served six years and seven months, taking part in the different Indian wars. At the massacre of Julesburg, Colorado, perpetrated by Indians in 1868, he saved the life of Charles Boone, a grandson of Daniel Boone, the famous backwoodsman and trapper. In 1869 Hiram Franklin Cassell was captured by Cheyenne Indians at Plain Creek, sixteen miles from Fort Kearney; they traded him for four ponies to the Red Cloud Sioux, being held by the latter in captivity for eleven months, until General George A. Custer (Kuester) defeated those Indians at Devil's Lake, Idaho, and Cassell was rescued. (Custer's ancestor, a Hessian soldier, was paroled 1778 after Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga. His name Kuester, hard to pronounce for English tongues, was, like so many others, changed to a form of easier pronunciation. Custer was a graduate of West Point. As a commander of cavalry divisions he fought in many battles of the Civil War, and was appointed brigadier-general for gallantry. With great distinction he served in several compaigns against the Indians. But on June 26, 1876, when he with 250 men dashed into overwhelming masses of Sioux Indians, he became surrounded. In the desperate battle Custer, as well as his brother, First Lieutenant Thomas Custer, and all soldiers were massacred to the last man. The fight is known as the Custer massacre at the Little Big Horn River, Montana.)
Solomon Cassell and William Cassell, uncles, and James Cassell, a brother of Hiram Franklin Cassell, also served in the Eighth Illinois Infantry; besides these, two brothers, Abraham Cassell and Gabriel Cassell, and a nephew, Anderson N. Cassell, served in the Fiftieth Illinois Infantry. Finally a grand-nephew, Alonzo G. Cassell, served in the Forty-third United States Regiment in the Spanish-American war. Hiram Franklin Cassell took part in the twenty-two battles and engagements during the War of the Rebellion. His uncle, William Cassell, lost his life in the second battle of Jackson, Mississippi, July 7, 1864. Hiram Franklin Cassell and his only daughter are at this writing living in Kansas City, Missouri, his only son, Warren L. Cassell, is sergeant of the police force in Quincy.
After the foregoing record of old pioneers, who came to America in the early colonial days, as far as the writer of this history was able to learn that record, we now get down to those who came somewhat later.
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Makes history so much more fun to read.
Hiram is the son of John Franklin Cassell who is the brother of my ancestor Jonathan Cassell. The name is spelt many ways by various descendants some are Cassell, Cossell Cassel. So far all I know about my Jonathan was that he was
born 1812 in Washington County, Virginia.
Married Elizabeth Carmicheal in 1833 Illinois
Died January 24th 1845, Coles, Illinois which was two years before his father.
We have one known child so far, Mary M Cassell who is my great great grandmother.
And the last thing I did was to go to http://www.findagrave.com/ and did a search finding Michael Cossell gravestone. He is the father of my Jonathan Cossell. Have not found the gravestone of his wife Mary McLaughlin or son Jonathan.
Thanks For Stopping By .. Grace

3 comments:

  1. Grace,
    Don't you just love it, when things just come together --- like magic. May the magic keep on happening to you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much for sharing this story!

    Keep these ancestor stories coming!

    Bill ;-)

    http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/
    Author of "13 Ways to Tell Your Ancestor Stories"

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for your so very nice comments. Thanks to distant family members who share

    ReplyDelete

 I am nowhere  done searching for my roots. For my missing family members.  So many to fine so little time.  This has been a hard few years ...