William Dassler

1821-1900 · Germany

Born 1821, Germany

Died 1900

Children include Henry

William Dassler was born in Germany in September 1821. His naturalization of 1856 calls him Prussian. In early life he was a miller.

He came to America, by his obituary, when he was about twenty-nine, and he went straight to New Rochelle, in Westchester County, New York. He lived there for the rest of his life. He told the census taker in 1900 that he had arrived in 1851 and had been married forty-eight years, which puts the wedding about 1852. His wife, Agnes, was born near Bremen in 1820 and had been in the United States since 1845, so the two very probably married in America. Two county histories, written from the side of their son Samuel, tell it differently: they say William married Agnes Geils in Germany and that the couple emigrated together about 1855. He was naturalized in New York in 1856, and he was paying land assessments in Westchester by April 1855.

In New Rochelle he worked as a carpenter and cabinet maker. In the last few years of his life he took up saw filing, the sharpening and setting of saws, as his trade. Both his sons followed him into building. Henry W. Dassler, born on 23 March 1860, became a carpenter and builder and one of the city's assessors. Samuel W. Dassler, born on 4 August 1862, apprenticed as a carpenter at about thirteen and built houses across New Rochelle, Larchmont and Pelham Heights from 1887 to 1916. Samuel was later chief of the fire department and the city's commissioner of assessment and taxation. A daughter married John Geils, a carpenter and builder of the town, and died before her mother.

He belonged to the German Methodist Church of New Rochelle, and his obituary called him "one of its most active supporters." In June 1900 William, seventy-nine, and Agnes, eighty, were living in New Rochelle's fourth ward with their granddaughter Beatrice, a baby of one.

William died at his home on Seventh Street on Sunday, 30 September 1900, at seventy-nine. His funeral was held from the German Methodist church on the Tuesday afternoon, and the New Rochelle Pioneer reported that the building "was crowded by relatives and friends." Four ministers conducted the service. He was buried in Beechwood Cemetery, where Agnes was laid beside him a year later. The New-York Tribune's New Rochelle column gave him two sentences, naming him as the father of Assessor Henry W. Dassler. His son had been elected one of New Rochelle's city assessors the year before. The town in Prussia he came from is not known.

Children

Henry W. Dassler 1860-1941

Sources

New-York Tribune, 2 October 1900, p. 14 (Chronicling America, Library of Congress, sn83030214).

The Standard-Star, New Rochelle, January 1941, clipping on Find a Grave memorial 262830271.

Biographical History of Westchester County, New York (Chicago, 1899), v.1 (HathiTrust coo1.ark:/13960/t1bk1zf19, seq. 427).

History of Westchester County, New York (1925), v.5 (HathiTrust coo.31924092227085, seq. 271).

The New Rochelle Pioneer, New Rochelle, N.Y., 12 October 1901, p. 5, "Mrs. Agnes Dassler" (NYS Historic Newspapers, tnr19011012-01.1.5).

The New Rochelle Pioneer, New Rochelle, N.Y., 6 October 1900, p. 8, "Obituary. William Dassler" (NYS Historic Newspapers, tnr19001006-01.1.8).

New-York Tribune, 2 October 1900, p. 14 (Chronicling America, sn83030214); 1930 U.S. census, New Rochelle (FamilySearch ark:/61903/1:1:X4G6-NYQ); obituary "H. W. Dassler, 80, Dies in Hospital" and the funeral report "100 Attend Funeral For Henry Dassler", The Standard-Star, New Rochelle, January 1941 (clippings on Find a Grave memorial 262830271); Biographical History of Westchester County (1899), v.1, sketch of Samuel W. Dassler (HathiTrust coo1.ark:/13960/t1bk1zf19); History of Westchester County, New York (1925), v.5, sketch of Samuel W. Dassler (HathiTrust coo.31924092227085); 1900 U.S. census, New Rochelle Ward 4 (FamilySearch ark:/61903/1:1:MSP7-1N9); New York naturalization indexes (FamilySearch ark:/61903/1:1:QVT7-ZMWL, 1:1:784T-6ZZM). The New Rochelle Pioneer, 6 October 1900, p. 8, "Obituary. William Dassler" (NYS Historic Newspapers, tnr19001006-01.1.8); The New Rochelle Pioneer, 12 October 1901, p. 5, obituary of his widow (tnr19011012-01.1.5).

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Cite: Heirology, "William Dassler (1821-1900)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/william-dassler-1821-1900-1fcf25.