Anna Katherina SCHOESSLER

• Sex: F
• Born: 12 FEB 1873 in Walter, Frank, Russia
• Died: 8 APR 1905 in Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska
• Buried: APR 1905 in Wyuka, Lincoln, Nebraska
• Reference: 5.
• Notes:

  Anna Katherina Schoessler was born to Johannes Schoessler and Ann
  Katherina Boekel, on the 12th of February 1873 in the village of Walter,
  Russia. When Anna Katherina was born her brother Henry was twelve, her
  sister Katherine Margaret was nine, her sister Magdalena was six, and
  her brother George was two. Anna was baptized in the village's large
  brick church with a tall steeple topped with a gold cross, with a bell,
  with a pipe organ, and with an interior which had a balcony all around.
  On a set Sunday, Anna would have been baptized with other infants all
  dressed in sparkling white dresses. In the year of Anna's first
  birthday, 1874, the Russian Czar Alexander II introduced universal
  compulsory military service. This shift in policy became the concern
  and conversation in all the village homes.
  Anna's village was on the hilly side (west) of the Volga River about
  70 miles from Saratov Russia. Her village was built along the Medwediza
  River. Some 5900 persons lived in the self sustaining agricultural
  community. She was a descendant of the original 99 settlers of 1767.
  The Schoessler house was made of wood logs split and chinked with clay.
  Anna would have cozied up to the centralized wall oven on wintry days to
  enjoy the warmth.
  When Anna was about 8 or 9, she would have attend the one room school
  house with classes separated by partitions of curtains and wood panels.
  Her language studies would have been both in German and Russian, and all
  the math would have been in Russian.
  Anna's father Johannes was a stag coach driver covering the route
  between Walter and Saratov. Anna and family must have worried every time
  Johannes drove the coach to Saratov through the robber and wolf infested
  regions. Anna was the fifth born. When Anna was two years old her
  brother John was born. Her uncle Jacob Schoessler sailed for America
  when she was three years old. When Anna was six years old her sister
  Katherine Elizabeth was born, and when she was eight her sister
  Elizabeth was born.
  In 1891, when she was a young lady of eighteen, her older brother
  George left Russia for America (the dread of every family was to have a
  brother, son, or husband drafted into the Russian Army). At the age of
  twenty, Anna married Conrad Walter, also of the village. It seems that
  they were married the 3rd of January in 1893. Marriages were performed
  once a year (usually during the Christmas season) in Walter with,
  sometimes, from 15 to 70 couples married at one time. It was common for
  wedding celebrations to last for 3 or 4 days. Her first born son she
  named John who was born the fourth of December 1893. Her second born was
  a daughter, Katherine, who was born the 10th of March 1896. She was 23
  years old then. At the age of twenty-five, Anna gave birth to her
  second son, Conrad, the 1st of June 1898.
  Anna Katherina (Schoessler) Walter left Russia for America with her
  husband and three children, a seven year old, a three year old, and a
  year old. As many others before them, they made the agonizing decision
  to leave the land of their ancesters, their parents, many of their
  brothers and sisters and relatives.
  Anna would have been faced with what she must pack and what she must
  leave behind. The final solemn hour would be a last communion and a
  farewell prayer from the pastor. Up the Volga River by boat and then by
  rail through Russia and Poland, they would travel some 1500 miles before
  reaching the Port of Hamburg, Germany.
  They left the old country behind for the new from the German port of
  Hamburg, four days before Christmas, December 21, 1899. Anna was three
  months pregnant. The trip across the Atlantic took only twelve days,
  but the smells and boat movements must have been difficult for Anna.
  The family landed in New York, January 2, 1900. The view of the Statue
  of Liberty must have brought tears to the immigrants eyes. Ellis Island
  was brand new, but the fear of standing before immigration and health
  inspectors was a frightening ordeal. It must have been no small chore
  to keep an eye on three small children and deal with their questions and
  impatience.
  Anna must have been relieved to have a German speaking
  representative meet them as they landed on Manhatten Island and directed
  them to railroad services which would take them to Lincoln, Nebraska.
  They were immediately settled in Lincoln, Nebraska. They joined the
  other Germans from Russia immigrants who settled at the west edge of the
  city that dips into the salt flats. Anna and Conrad became members of
  the Zion Congregational Church located at 4th and F Street. That June of
  1900, on the 10th day, son George was born. Anna was twenty-seven years
  old that first year of their arrival in the new world. The following
  year, the year of 1901, Anna Katherina posed a faint smile, with her
  husband and her four children. With her hair combed back, with a high
  collared dark dress, and with her hand touching her husband, she
  presents a picture of a young immigrant woman, just one year into her
  new life in the new world.
  At the age of twenty-nine, Anna gave birth to her fifth child Daniel
  on the 14th of October in 1902. Her sixth and last child was Martha born
  the 20th of August 1904. In the year 1902 and 03, that area with
  Lincoln's immigrant residents was heavily flooded. I wonder how many
  times Anna thought about whether or not she and Conrad made the right
  decision to come to the new world. Husband Conrad got a job with the
  railroad shovelling coal at the round house. Her father and mother,
  Johannes and Anna Katherine, still in the Village of Walter decided to
  join their children in America. Anna must have anticipated their coming
  and prayed fervently for their safe arrival.
  Anna's sixth and last child was Martha born the 20th of August 1904.
  Anna was unable to regain her strength after the delivery. On April the
  8th, of the year 1905, 12.05 a.m. Anna Katherina died of embolism. The
  Sunday State Journal, April 9, 1905, has the notice that "Anna Walter,
  wife of Conrad Walter, died at 12:00 Friday night at 621 G Street, age
  33 years. The funeral will be held at 4:00 o'clock this afternoon in the
  church at 4th and F Street. Interment at Wyuka Cemetery."
  Surely, she left her husband and children reluctantly, but in the
  faith that she was in the hands of her Savior Jesus Christ. In that
  year, in November, Conrad remarried: life must go on. It was the
  following year, 1906, that Anna's parents, whom she was so anxious to
  see and greet, arrived in Lincoln. With tears in their eyes, they must
  have stood by her grave, a few months too late to embrace and see her.
  Anna's grave remained unmarked. Her husband and children, a new
  unit of second marriage and step relationships, moved to Billings,
  Montana. All who loved her and knew her best, also moved from Lincoln.
  Her unmarked grave probable would not be visited for many years. On
  September 28th 1989, workmen laid a marker at her grave to serve as an
  everlasting and loving tribute. On the marker, next to the engraved
  cross and Easter lilies, is the name "Ann Katherina Walter 1873 --
  1905." For some reason and error the headstone maker failed to spell
  her name "A-N-N-A." Anna Katherina Schoessler Walter
  born 12 February 1873 in Walter Russia, married 3 January 1893 in Walter
  Russia, died 8 April 1905 in Lincoln, Nebraska USA.

• Married: 3 JAN 1893 in Walter, Frank, Russia

1. John WALTER, b. 4 DEC 1893 in Walter, Russia
2. Katherine WALTER, b. 10 MAR 1896 in Walter, Russia
3. Conrad Jr CooneyWALTER, b. 1 JUN 1898 in Walter, Russia
4. George WALTER, b. 10 JUN 1900 in Lincoln, Lancaster, NE, USA
5. Daniel WALTER, b. 14 OCT 1902 in Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska
6. Martha WALTER, b. 20 AUG 1904 in Lincoln, Lancaster, NE, USA

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