Oldest Hasselbacher and Hesselbacher Families in Illinois?

1893-plat-200
While rummaging through various data dumps, I found an 1893 landowners plat from Thompson Township, Jo Daviees County IL showing separate farms owned by Adam Hasselbacher and John Hesselbacher. A little more structured digging turned up two earlier families headed by an Adam. Both were originally spelled Hasselbacher, but the spellings later diverged. According to information in an 1855 state census and the 1870 federal census, both these families would have arrived in Illinois before the family of John Peter Hasselbacher who immigrated to Peoria in 1857. Both these families had male heirs and the Hesselbachers lived on their land continuously through at least 1987.

I have not been able to place either of these families in the family trees of Germany or America. I have high hopes that someone will come to our rescue. It has happened before!

Peter
26 Jan 2013

Leave a Reply