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 click on any
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Biography or Obituary to read those,
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Family Tree branch |
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Family
Tree for Benjamin James Steffens
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Nicholas
Steffens
Born 1739
in Ernster, Luxembourg
Died 1-17-1804
in Ernster, Luxembourg |
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married
1760 |
Antoinette
Hardy
Born 1740
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Nicholas was listed in records as a "farmer of a better class"
Nicholas and Antoinette had 1 known child (1 son)
Jean-Baptiste
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Jean-Baptiste was the only child to Nicholas and Antoinette
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Biography
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Jean-Baptiste Steffens
Born 10-8-1761
in Ernster, Luxembourg
Died 11-23-1839
in Heinstert, Luxembourg |
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married
9-19-1785
Junglinster,
Luxembourg |
Marie Elizabeth Charneaux
Born 6-11-1764
in Bourschied, Luxembourg
Died 6-1-1834
in Hachy, Belgium |
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Jean-Baptiste was a farmer working/managing the Chateau
Chibourg estate lands, married Marie, and later established
his own very successful farm in Bois Rond, Luxembourg.
Jean-Baptiste and Marie had 4 children (3 daughters, 1 son)
Joseph, Charlotte, Marianne, Ambroise
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Joseph
was the first child and only son to Jean-Baptiste and Marie
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Biography |
Joseph
Hubert Steffens
Born 1-24-1786
in Chibourg, Luxembourg
Died 8-28-1868
in Appleton, WI
Buried in Appleton, WI
at St. Mary
Cemetery |
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married
5-24-1815
Luxembourg |
Marguerite-Josephine
Mathelin
Born 1-31-1793
in Neufchateau, Luxembourg
Died 8-4-1872
in Appleton, WI
Buried in Appleton, WI
at St. Mary
Cemetery |
Biography
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Joseph was a farmer, forester, and school teacher. He
helped his father on the Bois Rond farm for many years.
He served in the military campaigns of Germany and Poland
under Napolean from 1805-1809, was wounded in the knee in the
battle of Wagram, spent a year in the hospital recovering, and
was honorably discharged with a yearly pension. He was
appointed the position of Forester in Bois Rond, before the
decision to emmigrate to America in 1849. He and
Marguerite settled in Wisconsin and established their own farm
in Freedom. He and Marguerite are responsible for the
Steffens family heritage in America.
Marguerite was a member of the Belgian royal family.
Upon her marriage to Joseph, she was disinherited by her
family (losing her royal status) for marrying below her rank,
and as a result given a yearly pension as compensation.
Joseph and Marguerite had 10 children (5 daughters, 5 sons)
Alexandrine, Leocadie, Edouard, Leopoldine, Joseph, Theophile,
Alfred, Aphasie, Auguste, Leopold
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Joseph
was the fifth child and second son to Joseph and Marguerite
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Biography
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Joseph
Jerome Steffens
Born 1825
in Hachy, Belgium
Died 5-4-1886
in Freedom, WI
Buried in Freedom, WI |
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married
12-27-1858
Little Chute,
WI |
Katharina (Eva Catherine)
Herb
Born 4-19-1836
in Baden, Germany
Died 5-6-1892
in Osborn, WI
Buried in Freedom, WI
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Joseph worked various occupations in and around Appleton,
settled into being a farmer, and was an assessor for Black
Creek township naming the township after a creek that runs
though it's northwestern corner
Joseph and Catherine had 5 children (3 daughters, 2 sons)
Albert, Amelia, Alexander, Pauline, Mary
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Albert was the first child and son to Joseph and Catherine
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Biography |
Albert A
Steffens
Born 5-21-1859
in Freedom, WI
Died 4-1931
in Freedom, WI |
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married
10-28-1888
Freedom, WI |
Matilda
Johana Huven
Born 4-12-1863
in Freedom, WI
Died 2-27-1953
in Freedom, WI
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Biography |
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Albert was a grain farmer, raised stock (hogs, cattle and
horses), and marketed dairy products in Freedom, WI
Albert and Matilda had 7 children (1 daughter, 6 sons)
Joseph, Johannah, Henry, Lawrence, Leo, Fred, Paul
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Lawrence
was the fourth child and third son to Albert and Matilda
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married
6-24-1919
Freedom, WI |
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Lawrence served in the Army during World War I. He was a paper mill worker at Appleton Coated Paper
for 27 years. He retired in 1959 after a large stack of
rolled paper fell on him, he sustained very serious injuries,
taking many years to recover, and was permanently disabled as
a result of that.
Dora was a mother/homemaker, an exceptional baker, and later worked at St. Thomas
More Catholic Church and Monte Alverno Retreat Center with her
daughter Mary as a housekeeper. She made the most
wonderful rolls (in batches of 60 at a time), the smell of
those baking would fill the house, and have us all flocking to
the kitchen.
Lawrence and Dora had 9 children (3 daughters, 6 sons)
Cecelia,
Edward,
Charles,
Marjorie,
Florian,
Mary,
Lawrence,
Eugene,
Kenneth
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Charles
was the third child and second son to Lawrence and Dora
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married
8-27-1949
Appleton, WI
St. Marys |
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Chuck graduated from Appleton High School in 1941, graduated
from Kaukauna Vocational School in 1941 with a mechanics
license, was a office manager in the Army (1942-1945),
graduated from the Business Institute of Milwaukee (1946-1948)
with a AA in Cost Accounting, was an accounting clerk for
Western Condensing (1948-1955) and an accountant and data
processing manager for Kimberly-Clark (1955-1986). Chuck
loved to fish, play cards, bowl, was talented handyman, and
enjoyed building things (playhouse off the garage at their
Rankin St house, pontoon boat, canoe, a dock at a lot they had
on a lake in Ohio, and he spent a lot of time helping Ken
build his house in the 90s).
Betty graduated from Appleton High School in 1943, was a
secretary for Kimberly-Clark (1943-1950), a mother/homemaker, an executive
secretary for Southwestern University (1963-1968), Manpower
(1968-1969), NCR (1970-1977), and Kimberly-Clark (1978-1986).
Betty remarried in 2006 to Denton Engstrom and they still
reside in Appleton. Betty enjoys playing cards, cribbage,
knitting, and visiting with family.
Chuck and Betty lived in Appleton, WI (1949-1956), Memphis, TN
(1957-1968), Dayton, OH (1969-1977), Appleton, WI
(1978-present), and Punta Gorda, FL (1986-2013)
Betty was remarried to Denton Engstrom on May 13, 2006 in
Appleton, WI and for 7 years they split their time between
Appleton, WI in the summer and Punta Gorda, FL in the winter.
Their Punta Gorda condo was sold in 2014, and they still live
independantly in Betty's Appleton duplex.
Chuck and Betty had 3 children (3 sons)
Bruce, David,
Alan
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Bruce
was the first child and son to Chuck and Betty
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Bruce
Charles Steffens
Born 10-6-1950
in Appleton, WI |
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married
8-21-1971 |
Catherine
Louise Greene
Born 1-29-1951
in ???
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Bruce graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from
University of Dayton in 1974. When he was younger he
took flight training on his own initiative and put that to
use after college enlisting in the Coast Guard and was an aircraft and helicopter pilot
for many years and later an aircraft
maintenance manager for them. He went back to school in and
earned a Masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering at
Purdue in 1982 after which he left the armed services. He then
worked as a composite materials
engineer, a stress analyst, and is currently a mechanical
analysis section manager for Lockheed Martin through all their
many acquisitions and name changes. Bruce is a scout
leader with the Royal Rangers and is very active in his
church.
Cathy was a mother/homemaker, a media specialist for ???, a cataloger
librarian for the University of Central Florida and a
database manager and bookkeeper at Nathaniel’s Hope
(non-profit)
Bruce lived in Appleton, WI (1950-1956), Memphis, TN
(1956-1968), Dayton, OH (1969-1973)
Cathy lived in ??? (???) and Memphis, TN (???-1971)
Together they lived in Cape May, NJ (1973-1975), Anchorage, AL
(1976), Traverse City, MI
(1977-1979),
West Lafayette, IN (1980-1982),
St. Louis, MO (1983-1985) and Orlando, FL
(1986-present)
Bruce and Cathy had 2 children (2 sons)
Jeremy, Benjamin
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Ben
was the second child and son to Bruce and Cathy
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Benjamin
James Steffens
Born 9-15-1978
in Traverse City, MI |
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married
6-22-2002
Lakeland, FL |
Kristina
Lynn Nance
Born 5-13-1982
in Tyler, TX |
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Ben graduated with a Bachelors in Church Ministry (minor in
Business) from Southeastern University
in Lakeland, FL in 2002. He was a youth minister for
Glad Tidings Church
in Omaha, Tri-County Assembly in Cincinnati, in insurance
sales for Overby-Seawell in Columbus, GA, and is currently a
youth pastor in Griffin, GA. Ben is a
very talented musician and played guitar in a Christian
music-based rock band during college.
Kristi also went to the Southeastern University from 2000-2002. They married the summer after Ben graduated and
moved to Omaha. While in Omaha, Kristi finished up her
college degree graduating with a Bachelors in Business
in 2005 from Southwestern University (Georgetown, TX)
through an
online/classroom program.
Kristi sold real estate for CBS Homes and started Fresh Start
Cleaning (her own
construction cleaning company) in Omaha, worked in jewelry
sales for Premier Designs Jewelry in Columbus, as well as being a mother/homemaker.
Ben lived in Traverse City, MI (1978-1979), West Lafayette, IN (1980-1982),
St. Louis, MO (1983-1985) and
Orlando, FL (1986-2002).
Kristi lived in Tyler, TX (???) and ???
Together they lived in Omaha, NE (2002-2005), Fairfield, OH
(2006-2008), Columbus, GA (2009-2012), and Griffin, GA
(2013-present)
Ben and Kristi had 4 children (4 daughters)
Aniston, Avery, Ayden, Abigail |
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