Ausmus Family Pioneers
Germany to Tennessee and Illinois

last updated 05/04/08

Introduction:
I conducted this research out of the interest in knowing my heritage and because of the interesting stories that my grandfather, James Hulse Ausmus had told me about a small town in Tennessee where most of the early residents were either Ausmuses or related in some way to the Ausmuses. He called this town Speedwell, and gave me three books: Old Speedwell Families, by Lawrence Edwards,1955, Ausmus Family History 1711-1962, Harry L. Ausmus 1963 and More Speedwell Families by Joy Edwards Davis 1988.

Much of this research is based on these books and wherever possible, errors and omissions from these books and tradition have been documented.

Coupled with a fascination of history and knowledge in computers and the internet, I began searching transcripts of tax lists, church records, and message boards. The more I learned, the more I became interested. As I began my research, I constantly found boring pedigree charts which told absolutely nothing of the person or the type of life they lived. There was an unreferenced date of birth and an unreferenced date of death and if you’re lucky – a marriage date. The focus of my research was to provide these milestones, but also to uncover what happened in the world around them, and what may have provoked them to do different things. This could be accomplished by looking at the global and local politics, economy, customs and trends and even dabbling around in court records.

More importantly, I did this research to promote further discoveries of the Ausmus Family Pioneers and their kin. I owe a lot of thanks to William J. Hunter who has performed a lifetime of research on our common ancestors. I also owe a lot of thanks to the professional genealogists, David R. Smucker, both have provided me with a wealth of valuable insight and facts.

With all of the following information, there WILL be errors, please email me and let me know. My email should be at the bottom. This is a "Work in Progress".

Ausemus – without a mark, note, or stamp; Greek, from a privative, without, and sema, sematos, a sign, mark, note, stamp, Germanice; zeichenlos, ungewohnlich. [22]

According to this definition, the term Ausmus would have been used to describe a message if you had received one without any markings on it. As for how it came to be a name, it is hard to say.

Johannes – the mercy or grace of the lord
Peter – immovable rock or stone
Heinrich – a courageous man or spirited hero
Philip – a knight or lover of horses

The first recorded use of the name "Osimus" can be traced back to inscriptions on a catacomb in Rome in 394 A.D

DEP III IDVS MAII OSIMVS QVI
VIXIT ANNVS XXVIII QVI FECIT
CVM CONPARE SVA ANNVS SEPTE
MENSIS VIII BENEMERENTI IN PACE. CON
SVLATV NICOMACI. FLABIANI. LOCV MAR
MARARI QVADRISOMVM 

"Buried on 13 May, Osimus who lived twenty-eight years, who was united to his wife seven years and nine months. May the well-deserving rest in peace. He died during the consulate of Nicomachus Flavianus. Grave of the stone-mason for four bodies."

American Ausmus Roots
There seems to be a few random areas in Germany and Prussia that have church records with the surname Asmus or a similar variant. The one that has stood out the most is Rheinbischofshm and nearby Hausgereut in, Offenburg, Baden, Germany near Strasberg along the Rhine River.

The Ausmus origins in Rheinbischofsheim and nearby Diersheim and Hausgereut date back to the 16th century. The first known mention of this town of Rheinbischofsheim is in 1274. The town lies directly across the Rhine from the French City of Strasbourg and was named after a high bridge the can be seen over tributary stream to the Rheine River.

According to the Church records researched by, David Eckberg, David R. Smucker, and LDS microfilm (rolls 1189692, 1272766, 1272765 and 1272764). Please note that the original records were extremely difficult to read and errors can exist.  I would also like to thank Hilary Rauch for aiding in this research.

The following is an outline of early Ausmus families in the Rheinbischofsheim area:

1. Diebolt “Theobold” Assamus (abt 1572 - ?) of Morsberg in Lottharingen (southeast of Metz) m. Maria Eben (abt 1578 - ?) of Hausgereut, Offenburg, Baden Germany on 10 Sep 1605 in Hausgereut, Germany. She was the daughter of Hans Eben (?- 21 Jan 1600/01) and Margreten. Hans Eben’s occupation was listed as a tailor.
   1. Maria (21 Sep 1606 - ?)
   2. Johannes (Hans) (2 Mar 1608/09 - ?) of Hausgereut, Offenburg, Baden, Germany m. Barbara Koenig (Palm Sunday 13 Apr 1617 - ?) on 25 May 1640 in Hausgereut, Germany. Barbara was the daughter of Johannes (Hans) Konig (12 Jul 1584 - ?) and Margaretha Baschens or Wilhelm (9 Apr 1585 - ?)

                                                              i.      Hans (14 Feb 1640/41- ?) Bischofsheim, Germany

                                                           ii.      Margaretha (8 May 1642 - ?)

                                                         iii.      Maria (19 May 1644 - ?)

                                                         iv.      Diebolt “Theobald” Assmus (1646 – 15 Feb 1706) m Maria Sanger (14 Apr 1645 - ?) on 7 Feb 1671 in Rheinbischofsheim (LDS AFN: 1T7Q-10N)

1.      (Andreas Assmus (16 Dec 1683 - ?) m Maria Salome Schaefer (1690 - ?) on 5 May 1711 in Rheinbischofsheim.. She was the daughter of Hans Schaefer (5 Jul 1660 – 10 Jun 1720) and Brigitta Hauss (15 Nov 1663 - ?) (LDS AFN: 1T7Q-0R8)

a.      Maria Salome (10 Apr 1712-22 Jan 1782)

b.      Phillip Jacob (1 May 1714 - ?)

c.       Andreas (13 Sep 1716) m. Catharina Hennenberger on 21 Dec 1742 (LDS AFN: 1T7Q-0X9)

I. Daughter baptized 1744 [cannot read the name of the child]

d.     Hans Daniel (4 Apr 1719 - ?)

e.      Hans Philipp (19 Sep 1722 – 19 Sep 1722)

f.  Hans Georg b. 1724 pat. 14 may 1724 in Rheinbischofsheim.

f.    Hans Philipp (15 Jul 1728 - 28 May 1800) m. Margarethe Wendling on 27 Sep 1752. She was the daughter of Johann Georg Wendling . (LDS AFN: 1T7Q-0W3)

            I.  Margarethe Assimus baptized 1752

                II. Johann Phillip Asimus, baptized 1755

 

2.      Hans Conrad (14 Oct 1675 – 8 Jun 1678)

3.      Barbara (5 Dec 1680 - ?)

4.      Susanna (30 Nov 1686 – 21 Oct 1691)

5.      Hans Diebold (21 Feb 1672 – 2 Apr 1722)

6.      Magdalena (Apr 1674 – 22 Aug 1675)

                                                            v.      Jacob (20 May 1648 - ?) m. Margaretha Shaeffer (9 Jan 1649/50) in Bischofsheim, Germany. She was the daughter of Georg Shaeffer and Margaretha Konig

1.      Jacob Assmus (7 Feb 1685/86 – 10 Oct 1776) m. Anna Magdalena Weyck (31 Jan 1685/86 – 21 Feb 1748/49) on 15 Jan 1708/09 in Bischofsheim, Germany. She was the daughter of Hans Jacob Waick and Anna Magdalena.

a.      Johann Jacob Assmus (28 Nov 1717 – 4 Nov 1783) m1. Katharina Magdalena Wendling in 1744. She died 1 Dec 1747. She was likely the daughter of Hans Georg Wendling and Catharina Wabnitz. He m2 Catherina Rosina Klein (b. ca. 1718)

b.      Philipp Assimus (10 Mar 1726 - 1757) [Died at 31 years, 7 months and 8 days]. He m. Anna Maria Wendling on 3 Feb 1750. She was the daughter of Hans Georg Wendling (1689-22 May 1738) and Catharine Wabnitz (3 Aug 1693 – 29 Feb 1748)

                                                                                                                                      i.      Hans Jacob (1750 - ?)

                                                                                                                                   ii.      Hans Phillip Assimus (1752-1756)

                                                                                                                                 iii.      Anna Maria Assimus (1753 - ?)

                                                         vi.      Barbara (20 Nov 1650 - ?)

                                                       vii.      Andreas (24 Nov 1653 - ?)

                                                    viii.      Magdalena (28 Sep 1656-31 May 1661)

                                                          ix.      Susanna ((5 Sep 1658 -24 Aug 1677)

3. Margaretha Assimus (19 Apr 1612 – 13 Aug 1618)
4. Michel Assimus ( 20 Aug 1614 – 21 Feb 1632/3)
5. Georg Assimus (5 Feb 1616/17 - ?)
6. Diebolt Assimus (18 Apr 1619 - )
7. Jacob Assimus (1 Jul 1621 - ?)

Please note that the Pioneer, Philip Ausmus who settled in Pennsylvania has not been identified here as several deaths of Philips as recorded in church records appear to match with the Philips shown here. However, it is this authors estimation that Philip Ausmus of Pennsylvania and Tennessee was related to the Ausmus clan listed here.

The First Great German and Swiss Exodus
A perpetual state of war in Europe between the Protestants and Catholics during the 17th Century led to a mass exodus of tens of thousands of German and Swiss. At the invitation of Queen Anne of England in the spring of 1709, about 7,000 Palatines sailed down the Rhine to Rotterdam. From there, about 3,000 were shipped to America, either directly or via England, under the auspices of William Penn to Pennsylvania and the Carolinas. No Ausmuses were listed as passengers during the first mass exodus.

However, there were at least two Ausmuses in England as discovered in the receipts in a small battered leather bound account book from a small scale farmer named Richard Latham living in Scarisbrick, Lancashire. William Asmos is mentioned twice in the journal, once on the 16th of December 1730, and once again on the 27th of December in 1735 when Mr. Latham paid Mr. Olerhed, executor of William Asmos. Also, in August 29, 1739, James Asmos is mentioned in receipt of payment [24].

Of the 7,000 German and Swiss emigrants approximately 4,000 were sent to England or Ireland to strengthen the protestant interest. For those that stayed in Germany, or were sent back due to the overcrowding, the winter of 1708-1709 was a very cold and bleak period. Most of the German people were poor agrarian farmers and by early spring, the land was still frozen crops had been lost by the bitter weather. In addition, to pay for the war debt, the Palatines were heavily taxed and subjected to religious and political persecution.

"We the poor distressed Palatines, whose utter ruin was occasioned by the merciless cruelty of a Blood Enemy, the French, whose prevailing Power some years past, like a Torrent rushed into our Country, and overwhelmed us at once; and being not content with money and food necessary for their occasions, not only dispossess us of all support but inhumanely burnt our house to the ground, where being deprived of all shelter, we were turned into open fields, and there drove with our families, to seek what shelter we could find, being obliged to make the cold earth our lodgings, and the clouds our covering."

Emigration from one’s fatherland was not encouraged by any government. Mass emigration led to the diminishing of a nation’s protection, vital resources, and economy. Governments that could demonstrate an increase in population showed signs of wealth and prosperity, but states of depopulation wreaked signs of weakness and ineptitude. Quick to act, policy makers in Switzerland and Germany posed an emigration tax to offset these damages and imposed a campaign of propaganda with tales of death at sea by pirates and impoverished servitude for emigrants to the New World. Returning emigrants could be imprisoned and preaching praise of success stories in the American colonies where considered criminal acts. “Emigrant enticer’s” letters offering advice and planning of the journey, rumors of high wages, ample and free farmland were confiscated. Some returning emigrants with enlightening stories of their travels and adventures in the New World would gather small crowds of interested listeners.

The emigration tax failed to slow the mass exodus. Some emigrants left secretly to avoid the tax. A tendency existed to damage the reputation of those who departed at least to represent them as an undesirable class, who had better be got rid of anyway. However, as overpopulation and poverty increased, the rewards outweighed the risks and emigration increased.

The first Ausmus in America
The earliest record of an "Ausmus" in North America yet to be found is on April 8, 1762 when Anna Margaretha Ausmus was born to Philip Asmus and Anna Margaretha. She was baptized 31 days later at the St. Jacobs (Stone) Union Church in Codours Township, York County, Pennsylvania [2].

There exists no known record of Philip Asmus or his family immigrating to North America. This is not unusual but has become troublesome in determining the his origins in Germany as well as his parents and relatives. A thorough scan of ships passengers reveals no explicit listing of an Ausmus until the American Revolutionary War begin importing Hessian mercenaries in 1776. The closest name variation during this era is in 1752 when Johan Peter Issiem (later spelled Assum, Asom & Assem) stated his Oath of Allegiance to the crown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This "find" by past researchers has led many, including myself to spin our wheels for years and assume that Johan Peter Assum was Philip Ausmus' father. To complicate the matter further there was a Peter Ozmus in Virginia during this era, but Peter Assum and Peter Ausmus were two different people. Even more coincidentally Peter Ozmus, Peter Assum and Philip Ausmus lived in the same County in Virginia between 1766 and 1781.

This author has done an exhaustive study of Johan Peter Assum and several coincidences have arose, but making the leap from "Assum" to "Oss-i-miss" is troubling especially because "Assum" was an established surname in the Germany and the Netherlands - so was Asmus.

The second earliest mention of an Ausmus in North America is in 1766 when "Peter Assosmsis" [transcribed by a court recorder] is mentioned as "supernumerary" or an extra juror in Augusta County, Virginia court records [11].

Several other mentions of Ausmuses are mentioned in Virginia, these include:

1775: Gilbert’s list of Tithables for Rockingham County include the transcribed name "Peter Nasmus". On the same document is the name Michael Erhart who Philip Ausmus sells his Pennsylvania land to in 1772. Signifying a potential relationship between Peter and Philip.
1777: Tithes by William Bowyer for Augusta County, Virginia, Philip Assimaus paid tithes on one person and no land
1781: The court of Augusta/Rockingham County: "Ordered that the church wardens bind out Catherine Spoon and John Spoon, children of Conrad Spoon who has absconded to Peter Ozmus until they come of age and that he teach the said John Spoon the trade of a shoemaker". [5].[11]

Ausmus Descendants Index

I. Philip Ausmus (1728-1809)
       A. Henry Ausmus (1774-1849)
                1. Benjamin Ausmus (1801-1862)
                        a. Benjamin Ausmus (1843-1928)
                                i. Henry Franklin Ausmus (1882-1937)
        B. Peter Ausmus (1775-1861)
        C. John Ausmus (1778-1853)
        D. Phillip Jr.(1788-1856)

Other Names Index

Mordecai Price (1749-1799)
James Ellison (1778-1835)
    Henry Ellison (1831-1895)
        Berry Ellison (1863-1951)

 

Other Early American Ausmuses not likely related to the Tennessee Ausmuses:

In 1777 during the Revolutionary War, Henry Osmos took the oath of Allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania. [27]. Eleven years after the war, Henry Asmus married Maria Gelling at St. Michaels Zion and Lutheran Church on August 7, 1794 [31].

In 1778 John Assmus took the Oath of Allegiance in New Jersey [29]. Also, according to the Revolutionary War Services Records held in Roll box 60, John Asmes was a private out of New Jersey. Captain John Conrad Asimus was enlisted in Jonathan Edes's Company, Col. Crafts's Regiment and served 8 months of service from April 30, 1777, to Dec. 30, 1777; Thomas Crafts Jr. as Colonel of Regiment of Artillery [28]. John was a Gunner in Capt. Warner's Company, Col. Revere's Regiment; Continental Army pay accounts for service from Nov. 1, 1777, to Dec. 31, 1779. According to Volume 5, page 389 of "Soldiers and Sailor of the Revolutionary War", 1896-1908, compiled by the Secretary of the Commonwealth in Boston, Massachusetts, John Ausmus, born 175? in Massachusetts was a gunner. According to Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors page 708, John Osimus is listed for Return of Provisions delivered the State train of artillery commanded by Lieut. Col. Paul Revere, deted Castle Island, May 8, 1779; Capt. Warner's co.; said Osimus credited with allowance from April 15, 1779 to May 8, 1779 (21) days. According to Philadelphia 18th Century City directories, just after the war in 1785, John Asmos, a blacksmith residing in Philadelphia can found at the northeastern corner of Arch & 6th Street and on 5th street between Race and Vine Street. This would be a few blocks away from Betsty Ross' or [Elizabeth Griscom Ross Claypoole (1752-1836)]. John Osmos settled in Philadelphia as a blacksmith and possibly married Hanna (__) Osmas who could be found as a widow remarrying Johann Heinrich Koelder in Philadelphia in 1798.[32] 

According to the Revolutionary War Services Records held in Roll box 13 , David Osmes was a private out of Connecticut. David Osmun can be found in the New Jersey Census for 1805 and 1806. He was most likely related to the Osmun family of New Jersey. According to Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailor page 708, David Osmore or Osman was a private under Major's co., Col. Wesson's regt.; Continental Army pay accounts for service from March 1, 1777 to Sept. 19, 1778; residence, Brookline; reported deserted Sept. 19, 1778, also Capt. Joseph Pettingill's co., Col James Wesson's regt.; company return [year not given]; residence, Boston.

According to the Revolutionary War Services Records held in Roll box 59, Benajah Osmus was a Lieutenant out of New Jersey that along with several other men were captured by the British. Benajah Osmun was a second Lieutenant for the New Jersey Regiment [21]. This would be the Benjamin Ausmus that Harry L. Ausmus claimed was a son of Peter, and was George Washington’s herb doctor. This “rumor” probably came about because in 1803, Benajah Osmun was Colonel under Brigadier General, William Charles Cole Claiborne, the person that Claiborne County was named after. This association probably fueled the rumor. During a search of the New Jersey Supreme Court Cases from 1704 to 1844, Benajah Osmun and a family of Osmuns appear with no name variation. This soldier was not from a Pennsylvania German community and according to some of his letters after his capture, he wrote fairly well English. This person would probably not have any relation to the Ausmus family of Pennsylvania/Virginia/Tennessee.

Christian Osmus
According to the 1810 census for Penn, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Christian Osmus can be found listed between the age of 26 and 44 and married to a wife with the same age range.

According to records held in Roll Box 157 roll 602 in the National Archives, Private Christian Osmus can be found enlisting in the 1st Battalion Riflemen's (UHLEH's) Pennsylvania Volunteers.

According to the 1820 Census for Spring Garden Township, Philadelphia, PA Christian Osmus is between 26 and 44 years old. Since he was also in the same age range 10 years prior, his birth year can be narrowed down to the years ( 1776-1784).

George Osmus
According to the 1870 census for Alexandria Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, George Osmus, a farmer born in 1813 can be found born in New Jersey. His Children are: Suzie, Joseph V., Rebecca and Halloway.

Mary C. Osmus
According to Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0754010.On June 16, 1800 Mary Osmus marries John Glynn in Oxford, Massachusetts

References

22. Daniel Rupp. A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776.
11. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement of Virginia; Vol 2 pp 420-429 by Lyman Chalkley

Appendix for Rheinbischofshm Records:

Roll 1189692: indexes with baptism at the end (1582-1616)
Roll 1272766: deaths (1736-1787, 1788-1796, 1796-1809, 1810-1821, 1822-1839)
    all of these have indexes at the end but the index of the first book is quite odd -not in alphabetical order)
Roll 1272765 has baptisms (1816-1870) then (1687-1735); unfortunately the latter without an index that can't be found. It has marriages (1736-1787) with an index and marriages (1788-1800, 1800-1825)
Roll 1272764: has baptism (1736-1782)

 

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