The first Stehlin in St. Louis?

I am of the belief that Paul Stehlin is the first ancestor to arrive from Germany (technically he would have come from the Duchy of Baden as Germany was not a country yet). According to church records, Paul was born on the 29th of June 1840. His mother’s name was Agatha Stehlin, there is no record of who the father was. Interestingly, there are two other birth records with Agatha Stehlin listed as mother and no father. Both girls with the 1st girl being born in 1837 and the 2nd girl born in 1843. Agatha goes on to marry Josef Früh in 1851. They have two children together (the records list Josef as father and Agatha as mother).

But how can we be sure this is the same Agatha? Fortunately there are not too many other Agatha Stehlins in the church records, and she is the only one alive and of child bearing age at the time of the births. Agatha would have been around 20 during the birth of her first daughter and 35 when she married Josef. This leads me to wonder, are Paul and his sisters born out of wedlock? The records would indicate so. I was able to find the records in the following collection: Birth, Marriage, & Death, Germany, Baden, Church Book Duplicates, 1804-1877.

I am not sure when, why or how Paul immigrated to the United States but it was assuredly before 1860. I wonder what the journey must have been like. Was he travelling alone or with a group? Did he walk out of Baden or take a river boat down the Rhine? Unfortunately we will likely never know his exact journey but by examining history, we can gather certain hints about what his experience might have entailed! I think he took a river boat down the Rhine river to the city of Rotterdam. From there he got on a steamboat and sailed across the Atlantic. The ship likely docked in New Orleans, Louisiana. I created a map of what his journey may have looked like. If you would like to know more about this topic, there are a few videos and many more articles that go over the reasons Germans immigrated and how. New Orleans was a popular port of entry for German immigrants.

In 1860, he married Victoria Maurer in New Orleans, Louisiana (see marriage certificate below, note that Victoria’s name is misspelled as ‘Victora’). Victoria was born in 1844, also in Baden (she is listed in the church records mentioned above) and her parents are Xaver Maurer and Stefania Zeiser. Paul would have been around 20 and Victoria 16 when they got married. This leads me to wonder did Paul and Victoria travel to the United States together? Or did they just happen to meet each other in New Orleans without prior knowledge of the others existence.

At some point after getting married, they move to St. Louis. I am not sure of the exact date but it was likely before the start of the civil war. Whenever it was, Paul enlisted in the 32nd Iowa Infantry on the 12th of December 1863 in St. Louis. The 32nd Iowa Infantry was involved in a lot of important campaigns and sieges, including Sherman’s March to the Sea (here is a song I enjoy about the event). Unfortunately (depending on how you want to look at it) Paul was not apart of these events as he deserted a little bit after joining! Shortly after joining, Paul was mustered to Island No. 10, which is a small island in the Mississippi river between Missouri and Tennessee (here is the location, be prepared for some border gore!). On the 20th of December, Paul was given permission of leave to visit St. Louis to take care of his family. He did not return…

If you are wondering how I know these details, the National Park Service has a database with Civil War soldier records. I was able to find Paul in the database and information about his unit. There are a few websites with stories and rosters of the 32nd Iowa Infantry which include dates (like date of desertion, death, capture, etc). I also requested documents from the National Archive. After more than 3 months of patiently waiting, I received the documents! I had trouble reading them, so I had to use an application that converted the old cursive writing to plain text. A transcription of the letter is below it.

Kusquatus H S Forces

Island Ten Tenn

Dec. 20 1863

 Col. Shaw, candy Post

Columbus Ky

See,

 The leaver Paul Stehlin is a new recruit who has just enlisted in Cs. H. 32nd Iowa Inf. He wishes permission to visit St. Louis to look after his family and arrange his business. I respectfully recommend that he be allowed ten days leave of absence & permission to visit St. Louis where his family is staying.

I remain

respectfully your obst suot,

RW. Bansan Capt. Co. H. 32^nd Iowa Inf. Tuft

Comdg .  Post.

**Text in red are words I am unsure of

After deserting, he just went on with life! It does not seem that he faced any repercussions for deserting as far as I am aware. He appears as Stealen Paul in the 1865 City and Business Directory. And yes, Paul was a basket maker. He appears in future versions of the City and Business directory and is always listed as a Basket Maker.

Since I think we have answered the question of the first Stehlin in St. Louis, this will be the end of Paul’s story for now. If there are any questions you have or topics you would like me to cover, please feel free to create an account and comment on the post or submit a form here.

In my search for the first Stehlin ancestors to arrive in St. Louis, I discovered that there are other “Stehlins” in St. Louis. However, these Stehlins spell their name as Staehlin and Stahlin. Of course, all these names are derived from the German word for steel, ‘stahl’. Interestingly though, they also come from Baden, lived in the same areas that Stehlins historically did, and are buried in the same cemeteries as Stehlins. There are 59 Stehlins buried in Missouri, compared to 38 Staehlins and 27 Stahlins (according to findagrave.com). They appear in the censuses much earlier than any Stehlins. Could they have been related to our Stehlin ancestors? Why does the spelling of their name differ? Was the spelling also different in the original German? As interesting as the subject is, it makes answering the question of who was the first Stehlin in St. Louis more challenging. So, for simplicity’s sake I did not consider these other Stehlins. More research could be done to see if there are any possible connections.