Although his descendents know him as J. Heinrich Klusman, his name is listed in the church record books in Buer as Caspar Heinrich Klussmann. Elsewhere in those books his name is listed as Johann Heinrich, his last name is spelled Klusman, and his birth date is 1810. So I have called him Johann Casper HEINRICH Klussmann. Roger Klusman refers to him as J. Heinrich and believes he died in 1873 or 1875.

J. Heinrick was married twice, first to Clara Elisabeth Depner. They had three childern. After Clara's death, he married Maria Elsabein Brandhorst and they had seven children. After his death, Maria may have come to the USA and passed away on Sept. 29 1905, possibly in Illinois.

In 1976, Elsa and John Windh, with Rolf and Maria, visited Buer where Elsa’s great grandfather J. Heinrich Klussmann was born. And her grandfather, Charles Friedrich Klusman.

A Visit to Buer - August 11, 1976

Buer is a quiet farming village of about 2000 people located 5-6 miles northeast of the larger town of Melle, related to Buer somewhat like an American county seat. These are decidedly not tourist towns. Little English is spoken here. Both towns are 50-60 miles west of the modern metropolis of Hanover, a city of a half-million in Lower Saxony in north Germany. Elsa’s mother vaguely said her father was from Hannover but had documents showing his birthplace as “Buer Amt Melle Stadt Hannover” which really meant he was born in the village of Buer in the township/county of Melle in the German state of Hannover, not in the city of Hanover.

The church in Buer is a lovely, large, typically Lutheran-looking building and fairly new, built around 1852. It sits on a shady square, surrounded by old buildings and a hotel, some of which are half-timbered. Over time, many church cemeteries in Germay have been cleared periodically, in effect recycled, including the one in Buer, most recently about the time of WWI. In the older part which was not leveled then, we could find no Klusman grave markers.

The local pastor, who spoke a little English, was happy to look through church records with us to locate Elsa’s grandfather, Charles Klusman, who was born in Buer on August 11, 1863, exactly 113 years earlier to the day. We saw the page where the birth of Charles’ father, Elsa’s great grandfather, was recorded in 1810 as Caspar Heinrich Klussmann (known as Heinrich). Here’s what we learned:

Caspar Heinrich Klussmann
born July 20, 1810 (here in Buer) and died (here) Dec. 8, 1873.
his father was Johann Friedrich Klussmann, a “heuerling” or landless farm laborer, born in Buer in 1779.
his mother was Maria Elisabeth Knepper or Knäpper, also born 1779

Caspar Heinrich married twice
(1) first to Clara Elisabeth Depner on Oct. 21, 1836, in Buer.
She was born August 23, 1810, in Düingdorf, 1-2 miles from Buer.
Her parents were Johann Heinrich Depner and Catharina Elisabeth Steffes.
The records did not mention any children or the date of her death, though we’ve seen elsewhere she had three children and died February 1, 1849.
(2) then quickly to Maria Elsabein Brandhorst on May 5, 1849, in Buer.
She was born Jan. 23, 1821, also in Düingdorf.
Her parents were Heinrich Wilhelm Brandhorst and Clara Maria Hambürger.
Elsewhere in these records, Maria Elsabein is named Maria Elisabeth and born January 3, 1824.
Elsewhere Caspar Heinrich is named Johann Heiinrich.
Other sources suggest Maria Brandhorst died Sept 29, 1905 in Illinois.
Caspar Heinrich and Maria Brandhorst had three sons, William, b. 1850, Fredrick, b. 1861, amd Charles, b. 1863. And two daughters, Karloline, b. 1857, and Margaret, b. 1859.
We saw and documented only Charles’ birth.
Freise family records show another son, Johann, b. 1852, and another daughter, Catharina, b. 1854, who assumedly lived and died in Germany.

Others
We spent four hours in Buer, two of them with the pastor, who found the names and addresses of these three possible Klusman relatives. He gave us a map to help us find the first one, Heinrich, but we were unsuccessful.

Heinrich Klussmann
Buer #342
born 1911
wife Ida, born 1913
children Helmut (b. 1940) and Ingrid (b. 1951)

Karl Klussmann
Wetter $69
born 1914
wife Joanne, born 1916
son Erich, born 1943

Karl Stratemeyet (of the Brandhorst family)
Düingdorf #31