Margaret Steckler's Ancestry
Joannes Stöckler I (b. ~ 1765-?) m. ? in Niederliebersbach Hesse
Son Joannes “Franz” Stöckler II (b. ~1789-?) m. Margaretha Stöckler (b. ~1793-?) in Niederliebersbach Hesse
Son Joannes Stöckler III (~1810 - 5 July 1876) m. Eva Maria Schmittinger (~ 1813-1850s) in Niederliebersbach Hesse
Daughter Catherine (1837-1871) m. Simon Maurer 12 August 1856
Son John IV (1838-1915) m. Appolonia Kunz 10 October 1869
Son Frank (1839-?) moved to Illinois and history is lost to date
Daughter Anna Barbara (1841-1913) m. Heinrich Willem on 10 April 1866
Daughter Margaret “Maggie” Stöckler (15 August 1846 -19 March 1888) in Niederliebersbach Hesse
“A notice was received from Niederliebersbach that at 7 p.m. on the 13th August, in the year of Christ 1846, a child was born to Citizen Johan Stöckler III and his 1st wife Eva Maria nee Schmittinger. This is their 6th child, a 3rd daughter. On the 15th of August she was baptized and named Margaretha. Her godmother was Margaretha nee Stöckler the wife of Citizen Johan Stöckler II of Niederliebersbach. This record is now signed by the father of the child and the Pastor."
Mariahimmelfarhrtkirche (Assumption Church) Birkenau Hesse-Darmstadt (Translation from Latin)
Their Immigration to America
Joannes III's son Adam (1849-1941) m. Veronica Fehrenbacher 4 November 1873. Adam Steckler was born in Dauphin, PA., after the immigration of the John Steckler family to the USA in 1848.
The John Steckler family arrived in New York City on the ship St. James from London, England, on 19 January 1848. There is no record of how they made their passage to London from Niederliebersbach. However, the ship’s record also lists three other Steckler families from Hesse-Darmstadt that travelled with them, including the Peter Steckler family who settled in Mount Carmel IL. These records reveal that they all knew each other from their home village of Niederliebersbach. Baptismal records obtained by Thomas Moorman reveal that they all were distantly related, greater than fourth cousins, since there were frequent intermarriages of the Stecklers in the church records.
It is also interesting to note from the passenger list that the George Maurer family was also on board (George age 30, Margaret age 25, Georg Franz age 25, and Simon age 22). Simon Maurer would later marry Margaret Steckler’s older sister, Catherine, on
12 August 1856.
All of these immigrants from Niederliebersbach (~8 miles from Viernheim, the Adler ancestral village) were part of the “48ers.” These were a prosperous group of Germans who sought a new beginning in America, starting with a series of emigrations from Germany in 1848.
The 22 September 1850 US Census has the John Steckler family living in Middle Paxton, Dauphin, PA. John lists his occupation as a “Farmer.”
It appears that John Steckler III’s first wife, Eva Maria nee Schmittinger, and mother of Margaret Steckler died sometime in the 1850’s. They were probably landowners in southern Indiana by this time. He then married her sister, Margaret Schmittinger, on 9 October 1859 at St. James in Haubstadt IN. They had a daughter together named Maria Steckler (history unknown) listed in the 1860 US Census.
Margaret Steckler married Nicholas Adler on 11 May 1869 at age 23 at St. James Church in Haubstadt IN by Father Seepe. Witnesses were Adam Steckler and Maria Lemmi.
Nicholas Adler had purchased his first farm in Armstrong, Vanderburgh county, in 1868. All of their eight children were born on this farm.
Catherine Adler was born on 21 August 1870
John Adler was born on 8 December 1872
Adam Nicholas Adler was born on 21 February 1874
Theodore Adam Adler was born on 24 February 1876
Henry Benedict Adler was born on 18 May 1878
Frank Simon Adler was born on 22 August 1880
Margaret “Maggie” Adler was born on 28 January 1883
Mary Appolonia Adler was born on 28 December 1885
Margaret Steckler Adler died on 19 March 1888 at the age of 41. Family lore is that she succumbed to the consequences of childbearing. She delivered eight healthy children in fourteen years. Medically, she probably died from a combination of chronic uterine bleeding with resultant anemia and/or infection three years after the birth of her last child. Her son, Adam Adler, described her to his descendants as a remarkably beautiful and intelligent woman. Nicholas Adler never remarried. It is possible that her sister, Anna Barbara Steckler Willem (1841-1913), assisted in the care of her younger children after her death since Henry Willem was a close friend, neighbor, and Civil War veteran with Nicholas Adler. Also, her brother, Adam Steckler, and his family lived close by. Adam Adler and his first cousin, John Steckler, remained best friends for 96 years.
