Home > United States of America > Iowa > Dubuque County > Cascade > Saint Mary's Cemetery > Michael Kurt

Michael Kurt

Birth	:	15 Nov 1811 Alzingen, Canton de Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Death	:	28 Sep 1849 Cascade, Dubuque County, Iowa, USA
Burial	:	Saint Mary's Cemetery, Cascade, Dubuque County, USA
Coordinate	:	42.2990340, -91.0234540
Inscription	:	MICHAEL KURT 1811-1849 ~ MARY KURT 1844-1878
Description	:	From Kurt Ancestors by Joan Kurt Bradford: In 1848, my great-grandparents Michael Kurt and Maria Scheitler migrated from Luxembourg to Iowa with their children. Oldest of the four children was Johan — then age five — who became Grandfather John Kurt, patriarch of the large Kurt family of Iowa. Michael and Maria were born during the Napoleonic wars in what was then the French province of Luxembourg. After Napoleon's defeat, the area became part of the Dutch Netherlands and later the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a country now smaller than the state of Rhode... Read More	From Kurt Ancestors by Joan Kurt Bradford: In 1848, my great-grandparents Michael Kurt and Maria Scheitler migrated from Luxembourg to Iowa with their children. Oldest of the four children was Johan — then age five — who became Grandfather John Kurt, patriarch of the large Kurt family of Iowa. Michael and Maria were born during the Napoleonic wars in what was then the French province of Luxembourg. After Napoleon's defeat, the area became part of the Dutch Netherlands and later the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a country now smaller than the state of Rhode Island. Michael Kurt was born on 15 November 1811 in Alzingen, a farming village just outside Luxembourg City. His civil birth record, written in French, states his name as Michel Kurth and his birthplace as Alzingen, Canton de Luxembourg, Département des Forêts. It bears the seal of the Empire of France. Alzingen later became part of the commune of Hesperange in the Canton of Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Maria Scheitler was born Marie Scheuteler on 30 January 1814 in Crauthem, a tiny village in the Roeserbann group of villages a few miles south of Luxembourg City. Maria's official birthplace was also in the Department of Forests, Empire of France. It later became part of the Canton of Bettembourg and then the Canton of Esch-sur-Alzette on Luxembourg's southern border with France. Both Alzingen and Crauthem are on the Alzette River. Michael and Maria were married 28 November 1839 in Roeser, community center for the Roeserbann villages, including the village of Crauthem. They had six children while living in Crauthem. Of those six children, only four survived infancy: Johan (John), my grandfather, born 8 May 1842; Maria (Mary), born 12 September 1843; Johann Peter (Peter), born 21 January 1845; and Anna Margarita (Margaret), born 9 August 1847. The two who died in infancy were Peter, born in September or October of 1840, and Maria Johanna, born in March 1846. (A seventh child, Jacob Thomas, was born in America in December of 1849.) Like other Luxembourgers of their time, Michael and Maria were beset by political and economic pressures — the long periods of foreign rule, the unproductive land, the dwindling harvests. As pressures grew, people looked from their land of adversity to a place of opportunity in America. Families, even whole villages, moved together or in series and set up new Luxembourger communities in the United States where they could continue their own ways among their own people. Most of these communities were on the banks of the upper Mississippi River. Some of Michael's relatives and friends in Alzingen talked of a move to the new community of Cascade in eastern Iowa where other Luxembourgers had found plentiful land and good farming. Michael joined the discussions with his younger brother, Peter, and his cousins the Sauser brothers. He too had caught the dream of a new life in a better land. Michael and Maria left Luxembourg with their children in early 1848 and traveled with some of Michael's relatives to make a new home in Iowa. Michael died in a farm accident on 28 September 1849. Michael Kurt's death came suddenly and unexpectedly on his farm. He was on the top of a moving hay wagon, trying to arrange the loose hay. The driver went over a bump. Michael fell from the wagon and broke his neck. Michael's funeral service was conducted by a priest from the Catholic Mission of Garryowen because Cascade did not have its own Catholic church at that time. The devout Catholics met in homes or temporary log structures where they were served by missionary priests who came 13 miles on horseback from Garryowen. Although there was not yet a Catholic church in Cascade for Michael's funeral, there was a Catholic cemetery for his burial. Land for the cemetery had been donated by early settlers before there was money for construction of a church. The missionary priests who performed the burial services in Cascade took the records back to the Garryowen Mission, but all before 1857 were lost. Consequently, there is no church record of Michael's funeral or burial. There is a gravestone with his name in St. Mary's Cemetery, Cascade, but that stone was not put in place until many years after Michael's death. Permission for posting given by Estate of Joan Kurt Bradford L. Taylor

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Michael Kurt's memorial?
Michael Kurt's memorial is located at: Saint Mary's Cemetery, Cascade, Dubuque County, USA.
When did Michael Kurt death?
Michael Kurt death on 28 Sep 1849 in Cascade, Dubuque County, Iowa, USA
Where are the coordinates of the Michael Kurt's memorial?
Latitude: 42.2990340
Longitude: -91.0234540

Family Members:

Spouse

Mary Scheiteler Kurth Sauser

(1814 - 1897)

Children

John Kurt

(1842 - 1931)

Mary Kurt

(1843 - 1878)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Saint Mary's Cemetery
Cascade, Dubuque County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2990340, -91.0234540

2. Saint Martins Cemetery
Cascade, Dubuque County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2990000, -91.0226800

3. Cascade Community Cemetery
Cascade, Dubuque County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2975200, -91.0236200

4. Zion Reformed Church Cemetery
Cascade, Dubuque County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3465000, -91.0813000

5. Bowens Prairie Cemetery
Jones County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2821999, -91.1153030

6. Hutton Cemetery
Anamosa, Jones County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2294920, -90.9663420

7. Saint Peters Cemetery
Temple Hill, Jones County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2245500, -90.9754100

8. Johns Creek Cemetery
Farley, Dubuque County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3819008, -91.0338974

9. East Monticello Cemetery
East Monticello, Jones County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2597200, -91.1610000

10. Sand Springs Cemetery
Delaware County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3191986, -91.1706009

11. Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Hopkinton, Delaware County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3618000, -91.1478000

12. Saint Johns Cemetery
Pleasant Grove, Dubuque County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3888926, -90.9268006

13. Sacred Heart Cemetery
Fillmore, Dubuque County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3342000, -90.8715000

14. Saint Paul Cemetery
Worthington, Dubuque County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3931007, -91.1260986

15. Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery
Monticello, Jones County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2079200, -91.1420500

16. Sacred Heart Cemetery
Monticello, Jones County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2606010, -91.1905975

17. Saint Patricks Cemetery
Garry Owen, Jackson County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2882996, -90.8482971

18. Clay Cemetery
Onslow, Jones County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1721992, -90.9800034

19. Oakwood Cemetery
Monticello, Jones County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2322006, -91.1761017

20. Fairview Cemetery
Farley, Dubuque County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4339981, -91.0139999

21. Scotch Grove Cemetery
Jones County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1657982, -91.0635986

22. Worthington Baptist Cemetery
Worthington, Dubuque County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4119360, -91.1324930

23. Chestnut Street Cemetery
Monticello, Jones County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2382940, -91.1924700

24. Grand Street Cemetery
Monticello, Jones County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2369690, -91.1922590