Johannes SCHOESSLER

• Sex: M
• Born: 12 AUG 1839 in Walter, Frank, Volga, Russia
• Died: 29 OCT 1910 in Ritzville, Adams Co, WA
• Buried: OCT 1910 in Zoar (Cong'l Church), Menno, WA
• Reference: 10.
• Notes:

  Johannes Schoessler was born in Walter, Russia on August 12, 1839 to
  Jacob Schoessler and Catherine Benner. Johannes had one brother Jacob,
  and five sisters, Anna, Elizabeth, Lena, Katherine, and Lizzie.
  On September 5, 1859, when Johannes was twenty years old, he married
  Anna Katherina Boekel. From the year 1861 to 1880, John and Anna
  Katherina had eight children, Henry, Katherine, Magdalene, George, Anna
  Katherina, John, Katherina Elizabeth, and Marie Elizabeth. All children
  eventually immigrated to the United States except Marie Elizabeth who
  remained in Russia.
  Johannes drove stage coach from Walter to Saratov and back
  regularly. The stage was a two-seated "Troika" rig drawn by three
  horses. Mail, passengers, and staples like sugar, salt, tea, and coffee
  were transported by stage. The distance from Walter to Saratov was 80
  miles and the trip took 4 days one way. Johannes would rest overnight in
  Saratov, then make the return trip. After a two day wait in the
  village of Walter, Johannes would head again for Saratov on the Volga
  River. In the winter a "Troika" sleigh was used. Johannes' eldest son
  Heinrich would travel with his father in the winter. At times it was
  necessary for Heinrich to drive the horse and Johannes to fend off
  hungry wolves. One reason for the use of a third horse up front was
  that if the lead horse was taken down by wolves, the horse could be cut
  loose and sacrificed to the wolves and the other two horses would
  continue one with the sled. 1
  The story is told that Johannes caught a whiff of tobacco smoke as
  he was driving the coach toward a small bridge. Before crossing the
  bridge he investigated, and spied a band of robbers waiting in ambush.
  Somehow he was able to foil their plans and elude them. 2
  In the year 1876, when Johannes was 37 years old, his brother Jacob
  and wife, Elizabeth Walter, immigrated to the United States and farmed
  in Nebraska for five years. In 1883, brother Jacob joined sixteen other
  families and migrated by covered wagon to Ritzville, WA. In 1886
  Johannes brother Jacob homesteaded, prospered, and in 1901 was elected
  Adams County Commissioner.
  It seems that all of Johannes' and Anna's children (except Marie
  Elizabeth) had already crossed the Atlantic. Daughter Anna Katherina
  who married Conrad Walter died in Lincoln, NE in the year of 1905.
  Johannes, at the age of 67 in 1906 immigrated to the new world with his
  wife. They stopped briefly in Lincoln, NE, and then moved on to
  Ritzville, WA. They were taken in by their son John who was leasing a
  farm from the Ferriers about twelve miles east of Ritzville. 3
  Johannes lived only four years in the new world. He died on October
  29, 1910 of tuberculosis. His funeral was in the German Congregational
  Church of Menno and he is buried in the cemetery where the church once
  stood. The grave site is in the middle of a wheat field, and is in
  disrepair. Only two cement gates posts are standing, no head stones or
  markers exist and the graves have been burrowed into by wild animals.
  Johannes Schoessler has returned to the dust and rests with others in
  the midst of one of the Big Basin's wheat fields.
  1 "Unsere Leute von Walter" by Jean A. Roth
  2 ibid
  3 Interview with Amelia Schaffer, Ritzville, WA

• Married: 5 SEP 1859 in Walter, Frank, Russia

1. Heinrich Henry SCHOESSLER, b. 20 JAN 1857 in Walter, Frank, Saratov, Russia
2. Katherine Margaret SCHOESSLER, b. 20 AUG 1864 in Walter, Frank, Saratov, Russia
3. Magdalena "Marie" SCHOESSLER, b. 3 FEB 1867 in Walter, Frank, Russia
4. George SCHOESSLER, b. 17 MAR 1871 in Walter, Frank, Saratov, Russia
5. Anna Katherina SCHOESSLER, b. 12 FEB 1873 in Walter, Frank, Russia
6. Johnnes John SCHOESSLER, b. 2 MAR 1875 in Walter, Frank, Russia
7. Katherine Elizabeth SCHOESSLER, b. 15 APR 1879 in Walter, Frank, Saratov, Russia
8. Marie Elizabeth SCHOESSLER, b. ABT 1881 in Walter, Frank, Saratov, Russia

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