The love story of Sebastian Heußler and Maria von Boeselager, my ninth great grandparents

My maternal grandmother came from a small area in south eastern Norway where her ancestors were recorded living for generation upon generation. They lived and worked the farm Øvald in Eidanger, Telemark for hundreds of years. However a German couple once long ago became a part of our Norwegian family!

In past blogs I told of how my grandmother claimed to be descended from the German noblewoman Maria Lukretia von Boeselager. That blog post can be found HERE. Maria came to Norway as a widow. This is the story of her husband, Sebastian Heußler, my ninth great grandfather.

Sebastian Heußler was from a family of Bookprinters in Nürnberg, he was the oldest son of Leonhard Heußler. Not much is known about his youth other than that he apprenticed in the family trade and in 1599 was working as a typesetter. Upon the death of his father Leonhard in 1597, and with perhaps as many as twelve family members to care for, Sebastian took over the family business. He was married in August of 1601, to Sabina Prünsterer, marriage being a requirement to become a Master in the Guild. He was twenty years old, his occupation a book printer. In 1603 he paid 1000 Guldens for a House in the nailmakers alley, where he set up shop for himself. In the official Guild book records he was recorded as a Bookprinter from the years 1601-1603, and 1606-1607. He printed additionally, news items, devotional booklets and items for the church in Nürnberg. 1607 ended Sebastian's occupation as a Bookprinter, His name disappeared from Nürnberg Guild Books.

Since a youth he had been interested in, "the Knightly Arts of Fencing" (as Sebastian described it). Fencing was less appreciated and practiced in Germany, so he traveled in 1604/05, and from 1608 on Sebastian was in Italy, France, England and the Netherlands and took lessons from famous Fencing masters. He not only increased his skills of fencing but used his knowledge of book binding to author and publish books in Nuremberg on the theory and skill of fencing, along with engraver Gabriel Weyer (1576-1632), who drew the different fencing images. He became a fencing master of the rapier sword and dagger. The books and fencing style of the fencing master Sebastian Heußler are in use even today.

Sebastian Heußler is described as both a Kriegsmann (man-at-arms) and monatsreiter ("month-rider"), which seems to indicate that like many fencing masters he supported himself as a mercenary. Sebastian Heußler, was a major in the Royal army of Christian IV, king of Denmark-Norway. He likely held the elite position of color guard in his unit,as he would later also author a book on the art of flag-waving.

After 1608 it seems that he did not stay in Nuremberg. He moved his wife to a new home in 1615, but in 1617 when the old home was sold, his wife Sabina negotiated the deal in his absence. Sabina, died in 1628.

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Maria had been born in 1609 in Honeburg close to Osnabrück in Niedersachsen, Germany. The youngest daughter of Wolfgang von Boeselager and Anna von Kerssenbrock she grew up in noble surroundings. Around 1630 the young Maria gave birth to Sebastian's daughter. Sebastian at the time was close to 50 years old. It was written that Maria was expelled by her family in Germany. It is easy to assume that a child born by a single mother, which she most likely was, was not particularly appreciated by the elite family von Boeselager. The fact that the father, Sebastian Heussler, was 28 years older probably made it worse for Maria. Her brother-in-law, Mathias von Buchwald, married to the sister Heilwig (born 1606), wrote to Maria's father, not even having heard about the wedding; "er ist schir ein alter mann" (he is already an old man).Sebastian and Maria did perhaps have a second daughter before he died. We do know that after his death Maria lived as the widow of Sebastian in Copenhagen. Being expelled from her family she took (or stole?) some family monies and moved to Grenland Norway about 1650 bringing her daughter/s with her. There in Eidanger she found a new home and a new husband.

Her eldest daughter, whose name unfortunately is not known to us, married the vicar of the church in Eidanger, Jon (Johannes) Lauritsson Theiste. Their daughter Sophie was given a christening gift by her grandmother Maria. That gift was the family farm Øvald. The same farm on which my grandmother, seven generations later, was born in 1900.

my ninth great grandparents

Sebastian Heußler

1581-1647

Maria Lukretia von Boeselager

1609-1685

→unknown Pedersdatter→Sophia Jansdatter→Jørgen Bendtzsøn→Malene Jørgensdatter→Ole Gundersen→Johanne Elizabeth Olsdatter→Gunder Andreas Nilsen→Niels Gundersen→Dagmar Gundersen→Grace Gunhild Sevald→ME!

***abundant thanks to my second cousin once removed, Jørn Erik Øvald. He is an educator and amateur genealogist, who has researched and continues to study our German connection, freely sharing his many findings with the family.***

Mystery Young Men - Do you recognize us?

I love to wander through old antique shops, boutiques, and second-hand stores. You never know what you will find. One thing that always disturbs me. There is always a large box or pile of beautiful old family photos. Weddings, Vacations, Family groups, babies....all who were loved and photographed by their loved ones for a remembrance of them.  Those photos were most likely once displayed with great pride in the family home. Here they are abandoned because no one now alive can identify who these people, once cherished, were.

I have posted this photo before. Two young handsome men that look to be no more than older teens or early twenties. Can you identify them or do they resemble a family member of ours? Please contact me.

DEAD FRED is a genealogy website. They host these abandoned photos hoping to find a home with current family. I posted this photo on that site. I love that site and in fact found there a photo of my great grandfathers' cousin. You never know what you will find. Check out the site for yourself.

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DEAD FRED Genealogy Photo Archive - Search, Preserve. Record, Remember

And please please take a bit of time to write your name and date on the back of that great photo of you with your prize catch (and all the others too). Your great great granddaughter/son will thank you.

2003-Otto Feick-Granite Lake, Ontario,Canada

Family History Month, how I began my family history journey

October is Family History Month. Family History/Genealogy is a very popular hobby right now. I am guessing that it is a hobby mainly of those of us who are older, the huge amount of baby boomers who have seen the passing of grandparents and parents and are now facing their own mortality. Who are we and where did we come from? 

I remember as a child wanting to think of myself as strictly American. I am ashamed now to say I was a bit embarrassed of the thick accents, and what I thought friends would perceive as strange ways, foods, clothing and culture of my grandparents. Why did we not question Grandpa and Grandma? We only now appreciate the answers and knowledge they could have given us if we had only thought to ask before they left us.

Grandma Sevald. She was my reason and the one who spurred my interest in family history. My maternal grandmother, Dagmar Gundersen Sevald, left Oslo, Norway on the ship Bergensfjord in 1924. She landed two weeks later at Ellis Island where my grandfather, who had emigrated the year before, was there to meet her. She and my grandfather Paul raised a family and lived 40+ years in Chicago. After my grandfathers death she returned to live in Norway but would periodically return to Chicago to visit. After the death of my mother and uncle (her only children) I realized she was now elderly and most likely would not return. So I visited her in Norway three times. We did some sightseeing and visited some relatives but mainly we talked and talked. She told me stories of her life and her family. We looked at her photos, identifying them on the backside. She prompted me to write names, dates and places she remembered. After she passed, a cousin sent me a box that contained those photos and memories. I wasn't sure how to honor her memory or the memories/photos/stories she had entrusted to me. A local librarian first introduced me to building a family tree and loaned me a computer program to organize my box of Grandma's memorabilia. It was 1992 and I was on my way. 

I have since branched out to explore my paternal Swedish ancestry and the ancestry of my German born husband but it all began with and is dedicated to Grandma.  This is the dedication which I will always leave at the top of this blog.

Dedicated to Dagmar

Long ago I read that each of us will have, on average, ten great grandchlldren. 

Only two of those great grandchildren will even know what our name was.

She was born on a small farm in Eidanger, Norway on which her family had been crofter's since the mid 1600's. She had only a fifth grade education after which she worked as a cook on her father's boat. She lost her first true love and married a man on the rebound "because he could dance and he had a car". Her husband's dream was "Amerika". He left for America, worked hard and sent home money and two pre-paid tickets for his young family to join him. She buried her infant daughter in a paupers grave and two weeks later took a three hour train ride alone to Kristiania where she boarded a boat for America. She expected never to see her mother, father, brothers or sisters again. She arrived almost two weeks later at Ellis Island, New York. She spoke no English. She prayed that her husband would be there when she arrived. She had twenty five dollars pinned to her underskirts, one small suitcase, a train ticket and a tag tied to her coat that read "Chicago".

I want her descendants to know her name and more importantly, who she was.

She was Dagmar Gundersen Sevald from Skien, Telemark, Norway.

Dagmar, was my mother's mother. She had black curly hair and brown laughing eyes. She was not very tall but amply built. A joyous, positive woman of strong faith and spirit who never passed up a chance to tell you exactly what she thought or believed. She made me feel safe, special and loved. Before she died I visited her, living again in her beloved Norway, three times. She shared with me the stories and pictures of her life and that of our family. My interest in family history and genealogy had begun. I have dedicated all my family research to her. "Don't forget who you are" she would say. Don't worry Grandma, I won't.

Grandma, the way I remember her best.