A Friese family arrived in America in 1834 and settled in the area near Friedheim. They came to this country aboard the ship, Phoenix. We see them on the passenger list for that ship shown in 2 images below.

One of the main characters in today’s post is the 9 year-old child on that list whose name was William August Friese. William was born in Germany on September 1, 1826, the son of August and Nora (Kannegieser) Friese. His Family Search entry says he was named Christian Wilhelm and born in 1825, not 1826, but it is 1826 that we find on his gravestone. The Friese’s are found in the 1840 census living in the Union Township of Cape Girardeau County, but individual names of children are not listed in that year’s census.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become William’s wife. Her name was Elizabeth Seabaugh, who was born on February 5, 1826. Yes, that means she would be celebrating her 200th birthday today. She was the daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Statler) Seabaugh. Some family trees on Ancestry.com say that Elizabeth was born in North Carolina. However, her entry on Family Search says that she was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The Family Search entry includes 2 tax documents for the early 1820’s for a man named Jacob Seabaugh, so I lean towards Elizabeth having been born in Missouri. However, I will say that the Seabaugh ancestors did live in North Carolina for some time. Regardless of whether Elizabeth was born in North Carolina or Missouri, I think Elizabeth is the first character to show up on this blog with a bicentennial birthday in which the person was born in the United States, and not in Germany or Austria.

Elizabeth’s family is found in both the 1830 and 1840 censuses living in Cape Girardeau County, but as said before about William’s 1840 census, these census entries do not name the children or the spouse, only the father.

On September 21, 1847, William Friese married Elizabeth Sebaugh. There is no church record for this event because they were married by the Justice of the Peace, Christopher Hahs. I can display 2 different civil marriage records from Cape Girardeau County for this couple.

Our German Family Tree lists 6 children born to William and Elizabeth, but their Family Search information says they had 7. The first two children were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. I failed to find the Friese couple in the 1850 census, although I can tell you that I found each of their parents in that census living very near one another.

I did find an interesting church record that documents an event that took place in 1850 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. Our German Family Tree includes this description behind the name of Elizabeth (Seabaugh) Friese. It seems to indicate that Elizabeth was baptized on August 15, 1850.

Not far down the page, you can also find this reference to their son, Jacob Friese being baptized at Trinity on the same day.

Unfortunately, I went to the museum to find these records in the Friedheim church books, but I failed to find any such record. I will say that the early Friedheim books are quite difficult to navigate and read. Perhaps I will make another effort to find this record some other time.

In the 1860 census, we find the Friese’s with 5 children. William was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

In the 1870 census, there were 6 children in the Friese household. Their oldest child, Caroline, had gotten married earlier in 1870, so she is no longer living with her parents.

Elizabeth Friese died in 1875 at the age of 48. I suspect the later baptisms and church records for this Friese family are found in the books of Sargent’s Chapel Lutheran Church in Sedgewickville. Then the 1880 census became the last entry in which we find William as a widower. His mother was living with him and his family, which at that point included 4 children.

On January 29, 1885, William married again. His second wife was another Elizabeth and had the maiden name of Elizabeth Hahs. Prior to marrying William, Elizabeth had been married to Jacob Hartle, but he had died prior to 1885. By the way, Elizabeth was the son of Daniel Hahs, who was the brother of Christopher Hahs, who was the Justice of the Peace that had married William and his first wife. Below are two civil records for William’s second marriage. This wedding was also performed by a justice of the peace. This time it was Henry Hahs who performed the wedding, and he was Elizabeth Hartle’s brother.

William almost made it to be included in the 1900 census, but he died in September of 1899 at the age of 74. His second wife did not die until 1916. I have included her death certificate below.

William and both of his wives are buried in the Sargent’s Chapel Cemetery in Sedgewickville. His second wife was buried with the name, Hartle, on her gravestone.

The Friese surname certainly has a presence in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim, but that name is also very much a name associated with Sargent’s Chapel Lutheran Church in Sedgewickville. That congregation’s cemetery has 66 grave sites that include the name, Friese.