Johann Diedrich Masemann (H15) (aka Moseman) was born 3 Jan 1822 in Delmenhorst, Neidersachsen, Germany. He was baptized on 13 Jan 1822 in Ganderkesee, Niedersachsen, Germany.
Diedrich married Anna Behrens (H16) on 17 May 1853 in Ganderkesee, Niedersachsen, Germany. Anna was born 5 Sep 1833 in Ganderkesee, Niedersachsen, Germany to Gerd Hinrich and Catharine (Trine) Margarete (Alffs) Behrens. Anna was baptized 15 Sep 1833 in Ganderkesee.
Diedrich and Anna had the following children:
- Cathrine Margarete Masemann - born 12 Jan 1854 in Ganderkesee, Niedersachsen, Germany. She died in infancy on 14 Mar 1854 in Ganderkesee, Niedersachsen, Germany.
- Hinrich Herman "Henry" Moseman (H17) - born 22 Jun 1855 in Ganderkesee, Niedersachsen, Germany. H died at the age of 65 in 5 Jun 1921 in Oakland, Burt, Nebraska, United States.
- Hermann F. Moseman (H18) - born 2 Feb 1858 in Ganderkesee, Niedersachsen, Germany. He died at the age of 68 on 16 Jun 1926 in Holton, Jackson, Kansas, United States.
- Arndt Ernest Moseman (H19) - born 30 Jan 1861 in Ganderkesee, Niedersachsen, Germany. He died at the age of 68 on 7 Jun 1929 in Lyons, Burt, Nebraska, United States.
- Menke Diedrich Masemann (H20) - born 27 Jul 1864 in Ganderkesee, Niedersachsen, Germany. He died at the age of 13 on 24 Oct 1877 in Oakland, Burt, Nebraska, United States.
- Bernhard Masemann (H21) - born 4 Jan 1867 in Ganderkesee, Niedersachsen, Germany. He died during the ocean crossing and was buried at sea.
- Johann H. Masemann - born 29 Jan 1869 in Emerson, Dixon, Nebraska, United States.
- Bernhard Mosemann - born 13 Feb 1870 in Nebraska, United States. He died at the age of 7 on 20 Oct 1877 in Nebraska, United States.
- Anna Mosemann - born 22 Dec 1873 in Nebraska. She died at the age of 3 on 23 Oct 1877 in Nebraska, United States.
- Alena "Lena" Masemann - born 11 Apr 1875 in Nebraska. She died at the age of 58 on 18 Apr 1933 in Oakland, Burt, Nebraska.
- Mary Betty Masemann - born 19 Jan 1881 in Nebraska, United States. She died at the age of 90 on 15 Apr 1971 in Wisner, Cuming, Nebraska, United States.
1870 - US Federal Census - Sheridan, Washington, Nebraska (Farmer)
1880 - US Federal Census - Sheridan, Washington, Nebraska (Farmer)
1880 - US Federal Census - Sheridan, Washington, Nebraska (Farmer)
Diedrich died at the age of 59 on 16 Feb 1881 in Hooper, Dodge, Nebraska. He was buried in Logan Cemetery, Winslow, Dodge, Nebraska, United States.
1900 - US Federal Census - Kerl Township, Burt, Nebraska, United States (with daughter Alena and family)
1910 - US Federal Census - Oakland, Burt, Nebraska, United States (with son Henry and family)
1910 - US Federal Census - Oakland, Burt, Nebraska, United States (with son Henry and family)
Anna died at the age of 83 on 30 Jul 1917 in Oakland, Burt, Nebraska, United States. She was buried in Logan Cemetery, Winslow, Dodge, Nebraska, United States. Her obituary was published 3 Aug 1917 in The Oakland Independent, Oakland, Burt, Nebraska, United States:
Mrs. Anna Moseman, widow of Detrich Moseman, died July 30, 1917 at the home of her son, Henry, here in Oakland. She was born in Oldenburg, Germany on September 5, 1832 and had attained the age of 84 years, 10 months and 25 days.
Anna Behrens married Detrich Moseman when she was 20 years of age. They had 12 children, 3 were born in Germany, six died in infancy and six survive.
The immigrated in 1868 and took a homestead near Admah in Washington county, NE. Detrich died Feb. 16, 1881. Surviving children are: Henry, Oakland; Herman, Holton, Kansas; Arndt, Lyons, Ne; John, Emerson, NE; Lena Von Essen, Oakland; and Mary Shaber, Wisner, NE. Burial was in Logan Cemetery.
The following biography was written by Dale Moseman and published 4 Nov 1993 in The Oakland Independent, Oakland, Burt, Nebraska:
Salute to German Pioneers By Dale Moseman Lincoln, Nebraska
My great-great-grandparents, Johann Diedrich Moseman and Anna Behrens, got married in northern Germany in 1852, living at Elmeloh.
During the winter, he was a cabinet maker, but in the summer, he was a well-paid ship's carpenter. On a summer trip to Greenland, the ocean waters froze over before the crew could return, so they waited until spring.
Eventually, they ran out of provisions, and he had to eat Eskimo food all winter long.
America-Bound In Germany, the young men were trained to be soldiers and were required to serve in the Prussian army.
The people had no voice in the government, so avoiding conscription was courageous.
The family decided to immigrate to "free land" of the American West.
Johann, Anna and their four sons--plus Anna's youngest sister, Lena--sailed across the Atlantic Ocean by ship to New York City.
They took a train to Buffalo and went slowly by boat and on to Newton, Iowa.
The trains averaged 20 mph, were smoky and sooty, and there were no sleeping or dining cars.
The Havekosts... One-and-a-half years earlier, Herman Havekost and his wife, Beta Behrens, and their two sons had come to Newton, Iowa. (Herman had also been a ship's carpenter in northern Germany, Beta was the younger Behrens sister.
After a three-week stay in Iowa, the Mosemans and the Havekosts bought teams and two covered wagons for their possessions.
They came west on the old Mormon "hand cart" trail, reaching the Missouri River over a week later.
Then they ferried across the river to Florence in the new state of Nebraska.
On the Oregon Trail to Fremont, they continued to cook and camp along the wayside until arriving in the Logan Creek area north of Hooper.
Renounced Old Country Johann and Anna settled in the Admah area in Sheridan township of Washington County, near Little Bell Creek stream.
Herman and Beta settled in Logan township in Dodge County.
Their prairie schooners served as dwellings until they could build their "claim shacks".
On March 16, 1868, in Omaha, Johann Diedrich Moseman declared his intent to become a U.S. citizen by renouncing the Grand Duke of Oldenburg and his country.
The soldiers from Ft. Calhoun provided protection to the early settlers of the territory. The Mosemans got their mail via a U.S. Calvary horseback rider from the fort until Admah's post office opened in 1874.
Built Claim Shack Johann Diedrich broke a little prairie sod and built a small "claim shack" from trees growing along the Missouri River.
This "sodbuster" plowed the tall grass prairie and cultivated 65 acres of land. The orchard was 4 1/2 acres of fruit and forest.
Mid-winter, on January 29, 1869, inside the "shack" on the settlement near Admah, Anna's first birth was to a boy--the namesake Johann.
During those cold winters, "cow chips", corn cobs, wood and even corn stalks were burned to keep warm.
When the U.S. Congress passed the Homestead Act in 1862, it opened up 40% of Nebraska's land to be claimed by homesteaders. On March 4, 1869, Johann Diedrich Moseman paid $14.00 for his homestead application at the land office in Omaha.
$800 for 80 Acres On May 15, 1869, the family moved into a house that Johann Diedrich had built.
It was a shingled one-story house, 13 X 18 feet, and it had 3 doors and 5 windows. He also built a board frame stable that was larger, 22 X 40 feet.
The 1870 U.S. Census shows that the 80 acres of land was valued at $800 and their personal property valued at $980.
Anna 37, kept house for Johann Diedrich, 48; Heinrich, 15; Herman, 12, Arndt, 9: Diedrich, 6; and Johann, 1.
The next children were born in the spring time; Bernard in 1870 and Annie in 1871.
The community of Admah had a general store, a creamery, a blacksmith shop and a barber shop by 1870.
5c/Dozen Eggs could be carried 1 1/2 miles to the store--getting 5 cents per dozen in trade.
When the post office opened in 1874, mail was brought in by horseback from Herman, Nebraska.
Two pioneer physicians from Ft. Calhoun rode the area on horseback with saddlebags carrying liquid bottled medicine that tasted horrible.
Johann Diedrich was declared a U.S. citizen on May 25, 1874, giving citizenship to his family and their descendants. He purchased 32 acres of private sod for $5 per acre and planted it to wheat.
The wheat was hauled 40 miles by team and wagon to the Renard flour mill at Elkhorn City, Nebraska.
Grasshopper Attack Anna gave birth to a girl, Lena, in the fall of 1874.
On Saturday, August 11, 1875, the corn that had reached shoulder high was eaten to the ground by grasshoppers in one day.
The slickened railroad tracks stopped trains, and farmers had to pay 60% interest to procure new seed grain.
By 1876, the 46 school districts in Washington County employed 74 teachers and enrolled 2,323 students.
Brandert country school #34 had 21 pupils in attendance in 1873-- but no privies.
2-Year Mail In October of 1877 the "New Oldenburg" church records the deaths of three children, Diedrich, Bernard and Annie.
In the winter of 1881, Johann Diedrich died of dropsy. He was laid to rest in the Logan Cemetery near Winslow on a hill overlooking the creek that had become his vision of America.
The 48-year-old widow, Anna, gave birth for the 12th time to a girl, Mary Betty, one month after her husband's death.
The final homestead patent was received by mail in Admah on April 26, 1883--over two years after his death!
Hmmmm.."free land"? by Dale Moseman