Christian DERSCHEID

DERSCHEID, BLOSSER, KALLSTED, HOUGHTON, MASSEY

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/30/2009 at 19:30:08

2 July 1834 -- 5 March 1922

CHRISTIAN DERSCHEID PASSED AWAY

A German by birth, a teacher in France, five years service in the French army, a resident for a couple of years in Chicago, three years with the Union army during the Civil war, a pioneer farmer first at Eagle Grove, Iowa, and later at Osceola, South Dakota, and an invalid for a number of years during retirement at Iroquois, South Dakota, is briefly the story of the life of Christian Derscheid. The first sixteen years of his life were spent in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, where he was born July 2, 1834. His parents died when he was quite young. He had no remembrance of his father. He was educated in Germany and in France, and in the last named country he taught school for a time. He enlisted in the French army and for five years he saw service as a soldier in Africa and in Russia during the Crimean war at Sevastapol. Having received honorable discharge from the French army at the end of his fifth year as a soldier, he set out for the new world, and arriving in the city of Chicago, he found employment in a sugar refinery in that city.

Here he met Katherine Blosser, a young woman 18 years of age who had come from the land of his birth but a short time before. They were married August 12, 1860. Two daughters were born to them while they lived here, Minnie, now Mrs. Paul Houghton of Osceola, and Lizzie, long since deceased. The war of the Rebellion coming on and a Mercantile battery being organized in his part of the city, he enlisted as a soldier of the Civil war, and saw service at Vicksburg, Port Gibson, Champion Hills, Jackson, New Orleans, De Crows Point in Texas and at Sabine Cross Roads, Louisiana, where they lost the largest number in killed and wounded they lost at any time during the 3 years they were in the war. His battery was mustered out at New Orleans, June 8, 1865, and with an honorable discharge he returned with the members of the battery to Chicago to join his wife and family. The following year they left Chicago and moved to the new west, which was just then opening up and settled on a farm near the spot where the town of Eagle Grove, Iowa, now stands. For 17 years they lived near Eagle Grove, and here the remaining children of the family were born except the youngest, Mrs. Kate Massey.

In 1883 they came to Dakota Territory at the time that new settlers were coming in goodly numbers to this part of the country, and having pioneer experiences. Mr. Derscheid settled on a farm a few miles northwest of the place where the town of Osceola now stands. His wife and some of the family came the following year. Here they lived and endured hardships such as are incident to pioneer life until about 20 years ago, when they moved to Iroquois and retired from the farm. Christian Derscheid lived up the the good name which was given him at his birth. He was raised a Lutheran but in America he was a German Methodist, although he did not find this denomination represented in all the communities where he resided. He conducted Sunday school and class meeting at Eagle Grove and did similar work in the Evangelical denomination which he afterward joined at Osceola, where the services were held in a school house. It was in this last named denomination that he and his wife, who passed on only last December, held their membership when they died.

Three of their eleven children have died. Those still living are Charles, Peter, Fred, George, August and Wm. Derscheid, Mrs Minnie Houghton, all of Iroquois and Osceola, Mrs Kathryn Massey of DeGray. Besides the eight children there are 27 grand children and 23 great grand children. For more than 3 years the deceased has been confined to his bed, and only twice during that time was he dressed and out of the house, the occasions being a ride which his son gave him to the cemetery on Memorial day. When he died on March 5, deceased was 87 years, 8 months and 3 days old. His going was peaceful and without a struggle and in his departure from our midst we note that he died as a true christian soldier faithful unto death and that in his going the last of the veterans of the Civil war living in this community has gone to his reward.

[Parents - George and Christina (Kallsted) Derscheid]