<strong>Meier</strong> <strong>Family</strong> <strong>History</strong> Ancestors of Peter Fidelius Lorsung Cont. p. 16 Peter J. Lorsong b: 28 Feb 1797 d: 16 Feb 1860 Joseph L. Lorsong b: 20 Jan 1758 d: 20 Mar 1821 Anna Sprengler b: 17 May 1767 d: Johannes Nikolaus Lorsong b: 15 Oct 1725 d: 27 Dec 1763 Barbara Dreistadt b: 04 Apr 1722 d: 31 Dec 1781 Clemens Lorsong b: 1695 d: 30 Jun 1760 Anna Marie Remarque b: 1698 d: 19 Feb 1763 Johannes Dreystadt b: 05 Nov 1676 d: 02 Feb 1732/33 Johanna Renner b: 1682 d: 07 Jul 1745 Casparius "Caspar" Lorsong b: 1669 d: Marie Wilert b: 1673 d: 1725 [1] Johannes Remarque b: 1675 d: 08 Jun 1713 Marie Bourbon b: 02 Sep 1676 d: 1725 Anton Troisville Dreystadt b: 1669 d: Margarethe Gottienin b: Abt. 1673 d: 15 Apr 1715 Johann Renner b: 30 Oct 1676 d: 1693 Margarethe Hess b: 07 Jul 1661 d: 17
<strong>Meier</strong> <strong>Family</strong> <strong>History</strong> Peter Fidelius Lorsung & Millerville, Minnesota “The early days of Millerville did not differ very much from the early days in any other part of West Central Minnesota. All found the country to be one of extreme climate change; some finding it to be intolerable and did not stay for long. Many who came to file homestead claims, did not remain and abandoned Minnesota. It was easy to dispose of any improved homestead and thereby receive up to $10 per acre for it. A log cabin, shanty or even a “sodie” which was merely a cave in the hillside, were considered “improved land” The excitement and urgency of the 1860’s in Minnesota can only be vaguely imagined. Possibilities seemed endless to these farseeing men and their families, with the realization that so much was free for the taking. Such families left their footprints so deep, that this fertile land is still in the same care of many of those families today. It was usual for immigrants to arrive in groups, sharing the same faith and speaking the same language. They knew that in union there was strength. This cooperation among neighbors made it possible to survive the rigors of the climate as well as the dangers of travel, where there were no roads and bridges, and the nearest market place was St. Cloud. Life on the frontier was serious every minute of every day.” (Our Founder’s Legacy) In 1858, Minnesota was made a state. Settlers began to stream in over the railroad until August of 1862, when an Indian outbreak made the settlers flee for their lives. The Indian scare was so widespread that for a while, the new state was almost abandoned. In the fall of 1862 a military post was established near Alexandria, with troops placed there. People began to return slowly; but it wasn’t until the end of the Civil War that settlers began to stream back into Minnesota. (C.M. Klein’s <strong>History</strong> of Millerville pg.1) The Lorsung history is traced back to the German towns of Freidrichweiler and Ludweiler, with a Parrish that is called Ludweiler-Warndt. Ludweiler and Freidrichweiler are both west of Saarbrucken near the French border. On the one map these two towns are on a line that would be west of Saarbrucken, southwest of Volkingen, and south of Saarlouis. Those three cities are on the Saar River and Ludweiler and Heilstaate Freidrechweiler and between the Saar River and the French border. This region is the Saar area of Europe, and is close to the meeting point of Germany-France-Luxembourg. The family's original name is spelled Lorson, and sometimes recorded as, Lorsong. In tracing the family history in Europe, the earliest record is Casparius "Caspar" Lorson born 1669 in Anery, France near the German border. Caspar married Marie Wilert. Their son was Clemens Lorson, born in 1695 in France. Clemens married Anna Marie Remarque, August 29, 1719 in Germany. Anna Marie was the daughter of Johannes Remarque and Marie Bourbon of the Royal French family. The <strong>History</strong> of Friedrichweiler has Caspar and his wife, Maria Wiliert, visiting Clemens and his wife Anna Maria Remarque in Friedrichweiler, their origin being Anery, France. Clemens and Anna Marie had a son named Johannes Nikolaus Lorsong who was born in October 1725 in Germany. Johannes Nikolaus married Barbara Dreistadt in 1745. Their son was born, Joseph L. Lorson in 1758, Germany. Joseph L. Lorson married Anna Sprengler, in January of 1786. Their son was Peter J. Lorson who was born February 1797 in Germany. Peter J. Lorson married Johanna Remarque, September 1827. Two Lorsons’ were married to Remarque women, both Clemens, who married August 29, 1719; and did his great grandson, Peter J. Lorson. Remarque is the French spelling of this family name; the German spelling had been changed to Remark. Peter J. Lorson his wife Johanna Remarque left their home in Ludweiler, Germany in 1841, traveling to America with four children. Upon their arrival, they settled in Bastrass, Pennsylvania. Of the four children, only three boys can be identified; Peter Fidelius, Joseph P. and Johann, who never married. (This history has been compiled from information researched by Msgr Peter A. Lorsung and given to Norman and Patricia Lorsung around 1980. Some of it comes from a few German book, 250 Years of Freidrichweiler, Germany (Published in 1975) and extracts from the <strong>History</strong> of the Catholic Parish Ludweiler-Warndt) After reaching the port, the Lorson name would be misspelled through American documents becoming Lorsung. Peter J. Lorsung and his wife and family settled into a German community in Bastrass, Pennsylvania. Here, the family met the Millers and other families that would eventually make up a new community in Minnesota. After a long illness, Peter J. Lorsung died, February 16, 1860 in Bastrass, Pennsylvania. He was buried in the cemetery in Bastrass, on the eve of the Civil War. 18
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