| Allied Family - Straus |
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| Written by Russell Hannush |
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STRAUS FAMILY LINE Within the winding boundaries formed by the famed River Neckar, following the highway east for but a brief distance from the ancient college town of Heidelberg, then turning south, covering about twelve miles through rugged rolling limestone quarry and Baden farm lands, you soon enter the village of Spechbach, Baden, Germany. Here you will find the quiet little village that was home to several generations of our Straus and their allied families, now traced as back as far as their records will take us. The village of Spechbach, Baden, the first settlers arriving in 1246, was officially founded twenty-one years later. It came under the authority of several German princes and states over the centuries, even gaining home rule at one point in their history. Today it comes under the State of Baden-Württemberg, within the nation of Germany. The single lane road through the center of the village of Spechbach, paved and white center-lined in the modern tradition, appears to be but a pathway guided by the barn-residences of a bygone era. These buildings may have been renewed and rebuilt several times over the years, but under that repaired face is often the shell of some ancient home. Less than half a mile into the village, the road takes a sharp right. A short distance from that turn, measured in feet rather than in miles, on the far corner of the next intersection, stands the present day business-front Roman Catholic Church. Next door the rectory. Across the street from the Catholic Church is a steep hill, ascended by way of a narrow alleyway, that leads to a church building. A second church sets at the top of the hill, as if a sentry to guard the hillside cemetery between them. Both, without denomination designation, lay strangely dormant on this Sunday morning. A predominantly Evangelical (Lutheran) town, from its origin in 1561, but competition soon came in the form of the Reformed Church. The two united in 1776. The few Catholic parishioners in the village traveled to nearby towns to attend services until a Roman Catholic Parish was established in 1707. The Straus and allied family names are common throughout the village and the surrounding area, even today. The records show connection in friendship as well as relationship with such family names as: Blattner, Frey, Honig, Knoll, Kohl, Löffler, Mundtel, Philippi, Schweiger, Schmidt, etc., all from the village of Spechbach, Baden, Germany. As you continue on your way south out of the village of Spechbach, in less distance than in your arrival, you find yourself again out into the rolling farm lands that make up most of this region. The German State of Baden had hardly recovered from their long struggle with the politics of the Napoleonic Wars, when internal agitation began to move center stage. Led by student and militant groups, demonstrations and riots began to pushed for civil rights. Some freedom of the press and courts were attained in Baden, but it failed elsewhere as the local princes kept their control of the streets. Intended or not, these were the early movements in the struggle for unification of Germany. It was during this unstable period, in Baden's history, that our Johannes Straus decided in favor of a new home across the sea.
ISAIAH CHRISTIAN STRAUS Isaiah Christian Straus was born in about 1711, and likely christened in the early Roman Catholic Church in the village of Spechbach, Baden. April 10, 1734, Christian Straus stood before the alter of the church and exchanged the vows of marriage with Maria Eva, possibly Philippia. The couple remained in the town of Spechbach where he apparently labored as a town farmer. Christian Straus died on May 19, 1772, at Spechbach, Baden.
JOHANN MARTIN STRAUS (Isaiah Christian) Johann Martin Straus was christened, May 29, 1742, in the Roman Catholic Church at Spechbach, Baden. Here he was raised to maturity, the son of a farm family. March 1, 1764, Johann Martin Straus exchanged vows of marriage with Maria Magdalene Schweiger, the daughter of Andrew and Anna Elisabetha (Mundtel) Schweiger. Martin Straus appears to have carried on in the farming occupation of his family. He died, on November 16, 1802, at Spechbach, Baden, Germany.
JOHANN ADAM STRAUS (Johann Martin, Isaiah Christian) Johann Adam Straus was christened, February 6, 1767, in the Spechbach, Baden Roman Catholic Church. He was raised to maturity in the family farming tradition in that community. On May 16, 1796, Johann Adam Straus exchanged the vows of marriage with Maria Margaretha Knoll, daughter of Jacob Knoll. The attendants: Martinus Blattner & _________ Straus." They remained in Spechbach, Baden and it appears that he continued in the family farming tradition. Adam Straus died, on February 28, 1812, and was buried, on February 29, 1812, at the age 45.
JOHANNES STRAUS (Johann Adam, Johann Martin, Isaiah Christian) Johannes Straus was christened in the Roman Catholic Church at Spechbach, Baden (Germany), on August 12, 1800, and probably raised to the age of twelve in that village. In his early teens he was apprenticed to a master and there learned the weaving profession. He returned to Spechbach where he established himself in the weaving craft, listed as a "Weavermaster" in the records, at the time of his departure. With bans posted on May 22, and May 29, 1831, and no objections found, on June 2, 1831, Johannes Straus stood before alter of the church and exchanged vows of marriage with Katherina Kaiser, the daughter of Bernard and Justina (Berdemi) Kaiser, of Waibstadt, Baden. The witnesses were Johannes Flint and Jacob Glassman. Children: 1) George Conrad Straus, b. July 5, 1832; 2) Johannes Straus, b. November 27, 1833; 3) Susanna Straus, b. November 9, 1835; 4) Christian Straus, b. January 28, 1837; 5) Michael Straus, b. September 28, 1838; 6) Philip Straus, b. April 13, 1842; 7) George Straus, b. April 10, 1844; 8) Joseph Straus, b. December 21, 1845; 9) Mary Margaret Straus, b. June 4, 1848. In 1836, with his wife and three small children (George, Johannes, and Susan), Johannes Straus left Spechbach, Baden and set sail for America. In Canada he settled his family in St. Agatha's Church Parish, Wellesley Township, Waterloo County, Ontario and resumed his profession. He was soon a landowner as well. In 1859 a two story stone house was built in Wellesley Township, a home that served the Straus family the balance of his days. Six more children were added to the family, a family that has since spread length and breadth of the province and beyond. On December 8, 1884, his wife, Katherina (Kaiser) Straus, died at Wellesley, Ontario and was buried at St. Agatha's Roman Catholic Cemetery. Three years later, on December 26, 1887, Johannes Straus died at Wellesley Township, Ontario, Canada and was buried beside his wife, December 28, 1887, at St. Agatha's Roman Catholic Church Cemetery.
SUSANNA STRAUS (Johannes, Johann Adam, Johann Martin, Isaiah Christian) Susanna Straus was born at Spechbach, Baden November 9, 1835. A child in her mother's arms, she spanned the Atlantic to be raised in the rural lands of Wellesley Township, Ontario, Canada. On October 3, 1854, at St. Agatha's Roman Catholic Church, Susanna Straus exchanged the vows of marriage with Frederick Gies, son of Conrad and Mary Ann (Schleif) Gies of Bamberg, Ontario. Children: 1) William Gies, b. December 29, 1855; 2) Johannes Gies, b. October 14, 1857; 3) Karl Gies, b. August 20, 1859; 4) Mary Gies, b. July 19, 1861; 5) Caroline Gies, b. February 20, 1863; 6) Margaret Gies, b. July 11, 1864; 7) Katherine Gies, b. November 18, 1865; 8) John Gies, b. June 3, 1867; 9) Jacob Gies, b. October 21, 1869; 10) Adelgundel Gies, b. March 29, 1871; 11) Elizabeth Gies, b. April 2, 1873; 12) Simon Gies, b. February 19, 1875. Susanna (Straus) Gies survived her husband by two decades and died December 12, 1918. She was buried beside her husband in St. Clement's Roman Catholic Church Cemetery.
* * * * * KATHERINE KAISER (Bernard, Joseph): of Waibstadt, Baden, married Johann Straus, the mother of Susanna Straus. MARIA MARGARETHA KNOLL (Johann Jakob, Johannes): m. Johann Adam Straus, the grandmother of Susanna Straus MARIA MAGDALENA SCHWEIGER (Mathew, Andreas): m. Johann Martin Straus, the great grandmother of Susanna Straus
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