Peter Klaes

1780 — 1870

Creek in Sauk County in 1856. Frances Beischel’s obituary states that her family first came to Jefferson, Wisconsin, and then to Roxbury, Wisconsin. She and Wilhelm Klaes were married by Father Adelbert Inama in Dane County on 4 November 1852. Sometime between 1853-1856, Wilhelm and Frances moved to Honey Creek, Sauk County. We do know that Franz and Anna Maria Staeler lived in Roxbury in 1855 by the census, and we do know that Wilhelm and Frances lived in Roxbury in 1853 when their first child was born.

This speculation is important because they lived in the largely German Catholic Township of Roxbury, Dane County, and this would point to the likelihood of Peter Klaes being buried at St. Norbert Catholic Cemetery, Roxbury, Wisconsin, where he lived most of the time after immigration, with his daughter Anna Maria Staeler. Wilhelm Klaes was married by Father Inama at St. Norbert Catholic Parish. Franz and Anna Maria’s daughter Agnes Staeler Nettekoven died at age 23, and is buried at St. Norbert. Their daughter Christina Staeler Lamberty died at age 33 and is buried at St. Norbert. The Catholic Church and the St. Norbert Cemetery were important to the family.

Wilhelm and Frances Klaes would have nine children. It was Wilhelm and Frances who moved to Honey Creek, Sauk County, in 1856. They would live in nearby West Point Township, Columbia County, Wisconsin. They would move to Missouri, which they did not like. They moved back to West Point Township and back to Honey Creek, Wisconsin, and eventually to Hebron, Nebraska, where they spent the remainder of their lives. They are both buried in a Catholic Cemetery in Hebron, Nebraska.

Heinrich Klaes: No record is found regarding the fate of their youngest child Heinrich Klaes, who immigrated with the family in 1845. According to the 1850 census, we know he was living in the Township of Berry, Dane County, Wisconsin, with Peter, Agnes, and unmarried Wilhelm.

Census Information and Plat Maps

The 1855 Census for the Township of Roxbury, Dane County, Wisconsin, for Francis Staler (Franz Staeler) indicates that Franz was living in the township of Roxbury, Dane County. Three males and 5 females were living with him and Anna Maria. This would most likely be Franz, Anna Maria, their daughter Agnes, their daughter Christina, their son Henry, their daughter Gertrude, and Anna’s parents Peter Klaes and Agnes (Burngardt) Klaes. Four individuals in the household were foreign born: Franz Staeler, Anna Maria (Klaes) Staeler, Peter Klaes, and his wife Agnes (Bungardt) Klaes.