Descendants of Henry Cassel - gleeson.ca

Descendants of Henry Cassel
Generation No. 1 – Henry Cassel and Annie Schwartz
HENRY 1 CASSEL was born 1812 in Germany. Surname formerly Kessel, and died April 4, 1884. He
married ANNIE SCHWARTZ 1850. She was born 1820 in Germany, and died February 22, 1894. Henry
Cassel is buried in Macton, ON. Annie Schwartz is buried in Hesson, ON.
Henry, born in Germany in 1812, came to Canada with his wife in 1850 at the age of 38. The surname
was known in Germany as Kessel and in English translates to Kassel. Later on the name was changed to
Cassel, possibly between 1850 and 1896.
In the 1850's, there was a lot of confusion in Germany with several countries wanting to dominate,
especially Sweden, Russia and Britain. Finally, the land occupied by the Kessel family was divided up
and called Mecklenburg. Mecklenburg was bordered on the north by the Baltic Sea and on the east by
Russia.
Mecklenburg was a rich country and mostly all large estates until it was taken over by Russia in the
Second World War. Then it was broken down into small farms.
The main industries were fishing, boat building and farming.
Around 1850, Henry Kessel married Annie Schwartz in Germany and then came to Canada, settling near
Linwood, Ontario on Lot 5, Concession 9 or as it was know at the time: Blind Line, west of town.
Henry Deckert and Leo Diebold moved into the area and also lived on this road.
From this farm, Henry and Annie moved to a farm on Lot 7, Concession 12 and from there moved to a
farm on the northeast corner in Hesson around 1883. Henry died there April 4, 1884 and was buried in
Macton - there was no cemetery yet in Hesson. Annie died in February 22, 1894 and was buried in
Hesson.
In November 1885, Joseph Henry Sr. Cassel married Teresa Biesinger and built a house west of the
store in Hesson, which was then owned by Clara Haid. Two of their five children were born here:
Katherine and Joseph Henry Jr. Joseph Henry Jr. was baptized by Fr. Hietman.
From Hesson, Joseph Henry Sr. moved to a farm north of Hesson where Thomas, Herbert and Martha
were born. From there they moved east of Dorking in 1904 and farmed until 1916. Joseph Jr. took over
the farm with Herbert farming there until 1919 and his parents, Joseph Sr. and Theresa Biesinger, lived
there. They sold the farm to Albert McLaughlin and moved to Linwood, across from the old flax mill,
Wilf Walter's place.
In 1928, Joseph Sr. had an unsuccessful prostrate operation and he died January 11, 1930. Teresa
Biesinger died February 28, 1944. Both are buried in Macton Cemetery, ON.
Andrew, Thomas and Joseph owned property in Hesson in 1888.
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