Streu Surname

Jacob Streu was born circa 1720 in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany. He died at an unknown date.

Jacob lived in both Teschow and Kossow, neighboring villages in Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He and his family made use of the church in the nearby town of Cammin. He may have been the Jacob Streu of Kossow who died on May 6, 1796, aged 76.

They had the following children:

1	Christina Maria Streu was baptized on August 6, 1759 in Cammin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 9.
2	August Friedrich Streu was baptized on February 18, 1766 in Cammin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 9.

They had the following children:

3	Gustav Heinrich Streu was baptized on December 27, 1767 in Cammin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 9.
4	Hans Friedrich Streu

Hans Friedrich Streu was born in Kossow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany and was baptized on November 10, 1771 in Cammin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany ⁹. He died on November 12, 1825 in Lantow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany ⁶.

As an adult, he went by his middle name Friedrich. He was born and raised in the village of Kossow. After his marriage, he and his family apparently moved frequently. They were in Lantow, Kronskamp and Striesdorf; neighboring villages south of the area he had grown up. During this time, they made use of the church in the nearby town of Laage.

According to the 1819 census, he was born on November 10, 1771, but that was his baptism date.

Friedrich married Augusta Maria Rost on October 10, 1800 in Cammin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany ⁹. She was born circa 1781 in Kätwin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany . She died after 1819.

She went by her middle name, Maria. According to the 1819 census, she was born in December 1781 in Kätwin ⁸. And according to her marriage record, she was the daughter of Jurgen Rost of Kätwin. Given that, there are two possible baptism records for her: 1) Augusta Maria Rost, daughter of Jurgen Rost of Kätwin, baptized on February 7, 1779 and 2) Augusta Maria Johanna Rost, daughter of Jurgen Rost of Kossow, baptized on October 1, 1782. Kossow and Kätwin were neighboring villages that both used the church in Cammin. It is possible that these were the same Jurgen Rosts, yet the Cammin parish registers suggest that there likely multiple Jurgen Rosts.

1	Johann Hinrich Streu was born on January 2, 1803 in Lantow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. He died on January 10, 1803 in Lantow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6.
2	Margaretha Sophia Elisabeth Streu was born on August 5, 1804 in Lantow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. She died on October 31, 1809 in Lantow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6.
3	Johann Jochim Christian Friedrich Streu
4	Friederica Sophia Maria Streu was born on October 26, 1810 in Lantow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. She died on February 1, 1847 in Lüssow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany. She married Joachim Christian Adolph Koster on October 22, 1830 in Laage, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. They had the following children: Dorothea Sophia Maria Koster (1832-1908) md. Carl Christian Heinrich Theodor Freitag Maria Dorothea Friederica Koster (1838-?) Joachim Christian Carl Koster (1843-1922) md. Sophie Marie Johanna Zollick
5	Carl Friedrich Ludwig Streu was born on October 9, 1813 in Kronskamp, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6,8. He died on July 31, 1876, probably in Blue Island, Cook Co., Illinois. He married Sophia Catharine Dorothea Reincke on November 16, 1838 in Lüssow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany. They had the following children: Maria Sophia Friederica Streu (1839-) Carl Johann Friedrich Streu (1842-) md. Maria Sophia Dorothea Hill Maria Sophia Christina Friederike Streu (1845-) md. Johann Heinrich Friederich Hubner Johann Friedrich Theodor Streu (1847-) Heinrich Joachim Martin Streu (1850-) md. Sophia Louise Friederica Loscher

Johann Jochim Christian Friedrich Streu was born on January 21, 1808 in Lantow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany ^6,8. He was baptized on January 23, 1808 in Laage, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany ⁶. He died on July 2, 1883 in Mankato, Blue Earth Co., Minnesota ^2,13.

He was baptized with the names Johann Jochim Christian. In adulthood, he usually used the name Johann and also adopted the middle name Friedrich. In the US, he used the name John.

Johann and his family apparently moved frequently in his youth. They were in Lantow in 1810, in Kronskamp in 1813, in Striesdorf in 1819 and back in Lantow in 1825; which were all small farming villages near the town of Laage. After his marriage, he and his wife settled in the nearby village of Levkendorf, where they lived between at least 1834 and 1850. Johann was a day laborer while living in Germany. They eventually decided to emigrate to the United States. They left Hamburg, Germany on May 1, 1857 on the ship "Johannes", which arrived in New York City, New York, on June 20, 1857. The family immediately moved out west to Wisconsin. In 1860, they were living in Raymond, Racine Co., Wisconsin. In 1870, were living near Greenfield, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin. In 1871, they moved to Blue Earth County, Minnesota with the family of their daughter Sophia. John died of "heart disease" ¹³. The burial place for John or Fredericka has not been found.

Father: Hans Christian Dethloff
Mother: Anna Sophia Strucken

*She was baptized with the names Hanna Maria Christiana Dorothea and used those names on her baptism, in the 1819 census, and on her marriage record. As an adult though, she changed her name and always used the name Friederike (Fredericka in English) and sometimes also used the middle names Dorothea and Sophia.

She was born and raised in the village of Gottin and her family made use of the church in the nearby town of Warnkenhagen.

She died of "old age" ¹³.

1	Marie Dorothea Magdalene Sophia Streu was born on September 26, 1832 in Gottin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 7. She died on January 9, 1844 in Levkendorf, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. She was baptized with the names "Marie Dorothea Magdalene" and her death record provided her name as "Maria Sophia".
2	Johann Carl Christian Streu was born on September 21, 1834 in Levkendorf, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. He died on March 27, 1918 in Murdock, Cass Co., Nebraska 11. He is buried in the Murdock Cemetery, Murdock, Cass Co., Nebraska. He married Johanna Dorothea Kupke on September 21, 1864 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin 2. (She was born in December 1844 in Germany and died on August 6, 1905 in Murdock, Cass Co., Nebraska 12.) They had the following children: Amelia L. Stroy (1865-1939) md. Peter Gakemeier Emma Louise Wilhelmina Streu (1867-1882) John C. Stroy (1868-1954) md. Augusta Deusing Charles Ernst Stroy (1870-1948) md. Johanna Amanda Woitzel Mary Louise Stroy (1873-1962) md. Conrad J. Baumgartner Anna Stroy (1877-1961) John apparently came by himself to America in about 1854. Within a few years, his parents and siblings joined him in America (Wisconsin). John first lived with his wife and children in Wisconsin. In the mid-1870s, they moved out west to Nebraska, where they remained. John and his descendants all adopted the spelling Stroy for their last name.
3	Carolina Maria Sophia Streu was born on August 22, 1836 in Levkendorf, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. She died on July 30, 1843 in Levkendorf, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. When her parents emigrated to the US in 1857, they came with a Marie Streu, aged 18 or 20. However the Laage parish register clearly indicates that she died as a child in 1843. My guess is that the Marie who emigrated in 1857 was possibly another undocumented daughter, or more likely a relative (niece?)
4	Infant Streu was born and died on October 28, 1838 in Levkendorf, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6.
5	Sophia Maria Christiane Streu
6	Bernhard Johann Wilhelm Streu was born on September 4, 1842 in Levkendorf, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. He died after 1870. He was last found enumerated with his parents in Greenfield, Wisconsin in 1870. However, since that enumeration also included his siblings who lived elsewhere, it is possible he was not actually living there. It is possible that he is the same person as Benz/Bent "Benjamin" Stray, who lived in Raymond, Wisconsin and died there in 1872, leaving two children: Amelia and William Stray.
7	Wilhelm Heinrich Ludwig Streu was born on February 24, 1846 in Levkendorf, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. He died after 1870. He was last found in 1870 in Greenfield, Wisconsin; living in the household of his sister Sophia and her husband.
8	Louisa Wilhelmine Christiane Streu was born on December 28, 1848 in Levkendorf, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. She died on March 3, 1850 in Levkendorf, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6.

2nd Generation: Sophia Maria Christiane Streu was born on May 29, 1840 in Levkendorf, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 3,6. She was baptized on May 31, 1840 in Laage, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany 6. She died on March 23, 1922 in Mankato, Blue Earth Co., Minnesota 4. She is buried in the Glenwood Cemetery, Mankato, Blue Earth Co., Minnesota. Father: Johann Joachim Friedrich Streu Mother: Friederike Dorothea Dethloff Sophia spent her earliest years in the village of Levkendorf in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, where the family was probably poor. They were still living in Levkendorf as late as 1850. In 1857, when she was 17 years old, she emigrated with her family from Germany to the United States. After arriving in New York, the family soon moved out west to Wisconsin. After moving with her family to Wisconsin, Sophia was hired out to work as a servant girl to a different farming family. There is a story that the family she worked for told her that if any Indians came by, she was to give them food. On one occasion, an Indian came by when she was alone, but before he would eat any of the food, he made her taste it first so that he would know that she was not poisoning him. In 1859, Sophia married Henry Hoffman, also a recent German emigrant. In 1859 and 1860, they were living in Greenfield Township in Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin. By 1865, they had moved to neighboring Franklin Township, where they took out a mortgage. In October 1870, they moved to Mankato Township in Blue Earth Co., Minnesota. Sophia and her husband were members of the Lutheran Church in Mankato. In 1876, after Jesse James and his gang robbed the Northfield bank in Northfield, Minnesota, they passed near Mankato on their way home to Nebraska. One of the Hoffman's hired hand vowed to kill Jesse James when they passed near the farm, but Sophia would not let him, for fear that they would kill the family. Sophia continued to live on the farm near Mankato, where her husband died in 1906. Sometime during the 1910's, she moved off the family farm and into a house in the city of Mankato. She is buried in the Glenwood Cemetery, Mankato, Minnesota.

For information on their children, see his page.