John Peter von Stein

VON STEIN, ROSSLER, BLUMENSCHEIN, KLUH, KLOCK, SEUTTER, BRUHN

Posted By: Misty Christner (email)
Date: 5/22/2018 at 12:48:18

Source: The History of Johnson County, Iowa Biographical

VON STEIN - ROSSLER

John Peter von Stein was born at Neunkirchen, Germany, December 28, 1819, and died at Iowa City, Iowa, December 13, 1903. He was the elder son of John William von Stein, who was born December 14, 1782, at Neunkirchen, Germany, and died March 3, 1835, at Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. The latter was married May 8, 1814, to Anna Barbara Blumenschein, of Winterkasten, Germany, who was born February 28, 1787, and died February 24, 1855. They, with their five children, planned to go to Canada, but changed their minds and bout 1827 settled in Pennsylvania. Of the five children, two, John Peter and John Phillip, came to Johnson County, Iowa; Marie Katharine died in childhood; Mrs. Marie Barbara Kluh and Mrs. Marie Katharine Klock remained in Pennsylvania. John Phillip enlisted in the Union army during the Civil War and gave his life for his country, in the battle of Cedar Creek.
John Peter von Stein outlived his brother and sisters. He was eight years old when his parents came to America. In 1838, when he was eighteen years of age, he left Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and went with a family of his acquaintance to St. Louis, Missouri. That being a "dry" year and the Ohio river low, the trip was made in a flatboat from Pittsburg. He remained six months in St. Louis, during which time he was employed in a boot and shoe establishment. At the end of that time he returned to Chambersburg and there, later, conducted a boot and shoe business of his own. His arrival in Iowa City was prior to the advent of the railroad, and it was while he was associated with Jacob Ricord in the boot and shoe business that the first iron horse awoke the echos on the Iowa river. The Pennsylvania Hose was his boarding place in these primitive days. Pending the arrival of the railway, however, John Peter von Stein was not idle, for in 1850 he was the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land near North Liberty, in Penn township, to which he later turned his practical attention, adding to his holdings until he was the owner of two hundred and ninety-nine acres in that township. On April 5, 1858, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Friedricke Rossler, daughter of John George Rossler. The young people improved their farm in Penn township and made it their homw until 1893, when they sold it and removed to Iowa City, where they built a home in 1894.
Mr. von Stein's ancestors have been adherents of the Lutheran faith since the Reformation. Both he and his wife were descendants of families that stood for good citizenship and the betterment of mankind. The von Stein family formerly came from Switzerland, and later went to Germany. It is said of the progenitors of the von Stein and Rossler families that they were trustworthy, deserving people, and frequently held official position in the Fatherland.
John Peter and Mary Friedricke von Stein were the parents of five children: Anna Catherine, Mary Charlotte, George William, Sarah Elizabeth and one daughter who died in infancy. George William also died in childhood. The remaining children reside on the Iowa City homestead. Sarah Elizabeth was formerly a teacher in the public schools of Iowa City. Mr. von Stein was a firm believer in the principals of democracy and gave his active political support to the democratic party.
Mary Friedricke Rossler, who became Mr. von Stein's wife, was born December 9, 1827, in Wurtemburg, Germany. Her maternal grandfather was Gottlieb Emmanuel Ebersard Seutter, a native of Germany, who came to America in 1830 and died about the age of sixty-three years and was buried near Columbus, Ohio. He married Marie Dorothea Weingartner, who was born and died in Germany. Katherine Dorothea Seutter, daughter of this couple and mother of Mrs. von Stein, was born at Grossglattbach, Wurtemburg, Germany, September 10, 1800. She became the wife of John George Rossler, who was born in Germany February 13, 1796, and died at his home in Sharon township, Johnson County, August 5, 1859. The parents of Mr. Rossler were Christopher and Marie Agnes Rossler, both natives of Germany. John George Rossler, with his wife and seven children, came to America in 1830. Mrs. Rossler's father accompanied them on the ocean voyage, which occupied thirty-five days, in a sailing packet or mail vessel. The travelers went up the Hudson river to Albany, thence to Buffalo and Cleveland, and then on to Columbiana county, Ohio, where they located. After remaining there four years, they moved to Warren county, Ohio. Disposing of their land there in 1840, they started for Iowa. Their arrival at Iowa City occurred on July 3, 1840, and the following day was deeply impressed on their memories from the fact that it was the day of the laying of the cornerstone of the new capitol building, as well as the second Fourth of July celebration in Iowa City. Iowa's capitol city at that time contained about forty or fifty families.
After spending about eighteen months in Iowa City, John George Rossler and family settled in Sharon township and began to improve his farm, in the fall of 1841. In 1856 he sold his farm of five hundred acres and located in the same township south of the farm which later became the homestead of his son Jacob. There Mr. Rossler spent his last days. Some years later his widow took up her abode next door to her son Jacob and this was her last home. She died when in her seventy-ninth year, January 27, 1879.
Five of the ten children of John George and Katherine Dorothea (Suetter) Rossler lived to old age. The dates of their births and deaths are as follows:
Christopher Samuel, born December 26, 1819, died November 3, 1893; Gottlieb Friedrich, born March 19, 1821, died May 10, 1889; John Jacob, born October 4, 1822, died February 10, 1911; Marie Katherine, who married John Bruhn, was born July 1, 1824, and died March 19, 1887; Mary Friedricke von Stein, born December 9, 1827, died on July 5, 1999. All of these mentioned were born in Germany, became residents of Johnson County, and there spent their declining years.
These pioneer families were among many who contributed largely to the transformation of Johnson County and the surrounding country. They built comfortable homes, and their hospitality was extended to all. They reared families who, like themselves, are casting their influence for all that is up lifting in their communities.
The Rossler and von Stein ancestry having been Lutherans, it was not surprising that John Peter von Stein and his wife should have taken a deep interest in the affairs of the church. Both were charter members of the English Lutheran church at North Liberty and were active in all departments of its work. They left an appreciable good influence in the neighborhood where they were early settlers and all who knew them revere and cherish their memory.