I will be attempting to tell the story of John Christian Kassel today. Plenty of Kassel’s have populated the areas of East Perry County and also Cape Girardeau County over the years, and I believe John Christian Kassel was one of the original Kassel’s to show up on the scene around here.

John Christian Kassel was born on February 11,1841. At least that’s the date of birth that is found on his death certificate. However, his gravestone looks as if it has the birthdate of January 11th. The birth record shown below from the Alsace-Lorraine area of France/Germany confirms a date of February 11th as his birthday. This document spells the surname as Cassel. It appears to me that the Kassel spelling took over after this family had been in America for a while. I am no expert on this topic, but I wonder if Cassel is more of a French spelling, and Kassel is more of a German spelling.

John was the son of Philippe and Caroline (Hoffmann) Kassel. The Kassel family came to America in 1845 aboard the ship, Raritan. We see this family on that ship’s passenger list below. Today’s character is called Christian on this form, but he is mostly called John during his life. He was 4 years old when he came to this country. The Kassel family was said to be from France.

John is found in his first United States census entry in 1850 at the age of 10. His father was a farmer in the Cape Girardeau Township. John’s mother had died in 1846, and her father had then married Fredericke Bultmann in 1847. Kassel is spelled Castle in this entry.

John is next found in the 1860 census at the age of 19. He is called Christian on this entry, and he is said to be a laborer.

John served in the Union Army during the Civil War. His military record below says he was a musician. His later obituary said he was part of the fife and drum band and played the fife. This is the first document on which I found his surname spelled with a “K”.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become John’s first wife. Her name was Sarah Seraphina Bedford, who was born around 1849 in Missouri. Seraphina was the daughter of Augustus and Hannah (Schatte) Bedford. She is found in the 1850 census at the age of 1. Her family was living in Cape Girardeau, and her father was a blacksmith. I think the census taker left off the family surname of Bedford on this entry, making their family look like the Augustus’s.

In the 1860 census, the Bedford’s are found in the Randol Township, and Seraphina’s father was a farmer.

It is the wedding of John Kassel and Seraphina Bedford that led me to tell this story today. They were married on July 6, 1865, so that couple would be celebrating their 159th wedding anniversary today. I found a few civil records of this marriage from Cape Girardeau County. They were married by a justice of the peace.

Here is a second image of this couple’s marriage record.

This Kassel couple had 2 children, both daughters. In the 1870 census, we find the Kassel household with one child, a daughter named Emma. John was a farmer in the Randol Township.

A second daughter was born in 1873, but at some unknown time after that, Seraphina died. I am not sure when her death occurred or where she was buried. Then, John Kassel married Margaret Zent on March 3, 1878. Let’s take a quick look at Margaret.

Margaret Zent was born on July 28, 1854, the daughter of John and Barbara (Gerber) Zent. All indications are that the Zent’s were a Catholic family. Margaret is found in the 1860 census at the age of 6. The Zent family lived in the Union Township of Bollinger County where her father was a farmer.

Next, we find Margaret in the 1870 census as a teenager.

As said before, John Kassel married Margaret Zent in 1878. Here is a civil marriage record for this wedding which took place in Marble Hill, Missouri.

No additional children were born to this pair. We find the Kassel’s in the 1880 census, with John still living in the Randol Township.

The next census we would be able to view is the one taken in 1900, but I was unsuccessful at finding the Kassel’s in that year’s compilation. The 1910 census had John and Margaret living in Cape Girardeau where John was a music teacher at the age of 69.

The last census in which we find John Kassel is the one taken in 1920. Neither John nor Margaret had an occupation.

John Kassel died in 1925 at the age of 84. His death certificate below gives another different occupation for him. It says he was a chair repairman.

An obituary for John is pictured here. It says his funeral took place at an Evangelical church, but he was buried in a Catholic cemetery. Several other details about his life are found in this article. It says John was born on a trans-Altlantic steamer, but that does not fit with other documents in this post.

Margeret Kassel is found living by herself in Cape Girardeau in 1930.

Margaret Kassel died in 1940 at the age of 85. Her death certificate below says she died of a stroke.

We can also view an obituary that was published for Margaret.

John and Margaret Kassel are each buried in the St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Cape Girardeau. It sure looks to me like John’s date of birth on his gravestone says Jan 11, 1841.

This is one of those stories in which it describes someone who must have been a man of many talents. Most indications along the way describe John as a farmer, but then we later see evidence of him being a music teacher and a chair repairer. He must have been an interesting person. I would love to have had the opportunity to sit with him and have him tell his stories of playing a fife during the Civil War.

Not long ago, a lifelong resident of East Perry County, Wernold “Cowboy” Kassel died. He was known as the person who knew all there was to know about the Kassel family tree. His famous Kassel binder is temporarily located in our museum. I got a chance to look at it before publishing this post. I was surprised to find very little information about John Christian Kassel in his binder. I think I even discovered a few new things that Cowboy could have added to his binder.