52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #3 George Vossler

Amy Johnson Crow is doing a wonderful service to the genealogy and blogging communities by compiling a weekly list of the many 52 Ancestor blog postings. Amy reports that connections have already been made between readers and it's barely week three.

When faced with a brick wall ancestor, making a connection may break down that wall. So I'm going to share some of my brick walls this year. I'll start with one that is familiar to my steady readers.

If you're as tired of George as I am, pop over to Amy's blog and see if you can find a connection of your own. Or check out this heritage scrapbook page showcasing only records -- no photos.

Quick page from Count the Ways, Joanne Brisebois for Scrapper's Guide (now Digital Scrapper), Feb, 2012

A handful of records are the only evidence that my great-great-grandfather ever existed. George Vossler or Vosseler or Vosseller is one of those ancestors who suddenly appears full-grown and then suddenly disappears. I have only the following records for George :

• 1862 Marriage to Elizabeth Breitwacher/Breitweiser/Breitsprecher, Macon County, Illinois
• 1864 Naturalization, Macon County, Illinois
• 1866 Marriage to Elizabeth M Childers Wilson, Macon County, Illinois
• 1870 Census, Decatur Township, Macon County, Illinois
• 1875 Newspaper articles, Decatur, Macon County, Illinois

In the 1870 census, George Fassler is listed as 60 years old, born in Wuerttemberg. His two young children are John, age 2, and Mary, 4 months. The 1875 articles about the children finding gold refer to George as an old German tenant farmer with poor English skills.

His stepsons, the children of Elizabeth Childers Wilson, passed down a family legend that George and Elizabeth went to Missouri and disappeared. The Wilson boys went to relatives in Arkansas in January, 1875. John and Mary Ellen supposedly were taken in by family in southern Illinois, but I can't find them in the census of 1880.

If this sounds like your family members, please leave a comment or send me an email! Also, please check the tag cloud for other posts on this family.

When I visited Macon County, I was unable to accomplish the tasks I had planned. Next steps are to contact the genealogical society and arrange for some research hours. Record sets to look at include naturalization, school records, guardianship and probate.