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Theisen/Tyson

Stephan Theisen (1818-1906)

Stephan Theisen, a farmer in the Eifel region of Rhineland, Germany, was born on April 22, 1818. Little is known of his early life other than that he had two brothers, Johann and Nikolaus. (A fourth boy, also named Stephan, died two weeks after birth.) On October 12, 1842, Stephan married Catherine Michels in the town of Retterath. Their first child, Anna Maria, was born to the couple in 1843, and son Johann Nikolaus was born in 1848. Both children were born in the town of Oberelz, and Catherine died there of unknown cause on January 16, 1851.

On May 22, 1851, four months after his wife's death, Stephan married Gertrude Huth, daughter of Nikolaus Huth and Anna Kirstges. Gertrude was born in January, 1827, in Kaperich, Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany. This union also produced two children. Johannes was born August 17, 1852, in Oberelz, and daughter Luzia was born in 1855.

Two years after Luzia's birth, conditions in Germany and the lure of a better life, caused the Theisen family to leave Germany and emigrate to the United States. They first traveled to London, then boarded the Black X Line sailing packet Devonshire (below)for the long voyage to New York City. The Devonshire normally averaged 30 days for the westbound voyage, although the trip could take as few as 19 days and as many as 41. The length of this particular trip is not known, but the ship arrived in the New York City harbor on June 29, 1857. (Although it seems likely that Luzia and Johannes, the two youngest children, came to the United States at the same time as their parents and siblings, the Passenger Manifest for the Devonshire's voyage lists only the parents and the two oldest children.)

By 1860 the family was living in East Donegal Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where Stephan had found work as a day laborer. Anna Maria (who by now was going by the name of Mary Tyson) contributed to the family income by working as a domestic servant in the nearby home of A. H. Musselman, while Johann Nikolaus (John Tyson) worked as a laborer on the farm of Michael Musser. Johannes, who, like his half-brother, now went by the name of John Tyson, continued living at home and attending a nearby school.

By 1870, now a naturalized American citizen, Stephan was working as a repairman for a railroad. Luzia, fifteen years old, was now called 'Lizzy'. She still lived at home, and no doubt helped her mother with her five younger siblings, for Stephan and Gertrude Theisen had continued to add to their family after emigrating to America. A daughter, Catherine, was born about 1859, followed by Jacob a year later, William two years after that, Anna about 1867 and Joseph in 1870.

Mary by now had started a family of her own. She was living in West Hempfield with her husband, George Smith, and their young daughter, Margaret. Three more children, Elizabeth, Peter, and John would soon follow.

The younger John H. Tyson (Johannes) was working as a farm laborer on the farm of Henry Musser, the brother of Michael Musser, for whom his brother had worked several years earlier.

By 1880 Stephan and Gertrude, with their younger children, had moved to West Hempfield Township where Stephan had taken up farming.

Their oldest son John (Johann Nikolaus) was still in East Donegal where he lived with his wife, Elizabeth, and their newborn baby, Annie. In the next few years, three more children, Albert, Alice and Mary, would round out their family. John was working as a Coach Painter, an occupation in which he continued for the next 30 years. The younger John (Johannes) had married and was now living in West Hempfield with his family.

Twenty years later, Stephan and Gertrude Theisen were living in the home of their daughter Mary and her husband George Smith. Stephan was now working as a shoemaker.

Stephan Theissen died at the age of 88, in the town of Cordelia, Pennsylvania. The cause of death was listed as cancer.

The photo here, courtesy of George Tyson, shows the tombstones of (left to right) Stephan Theissen, Gertrude Theissen, George Smith and Mary Smith.

John H. Tyson (Johannes H. Theisen) (1852-1922)

Born August 17, 1852, in Oberelz, Germany, Johannes emigrated to the United States in 1857 with his parents and three siblings. The family located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where Johannes, now known as John, attended school. By 1870, he was working on the farm of Henry and Anna Musser, in East Donegal Township, and appears to have continued working as a farm laborer throughout much of his life. By 1910 he was farming his own property in Rapho Township, Lancaster County.

In 1873 John married Annie G. Wertz, daughter of Henry and Martha Wertz. Annie was born on December 1, 1855, and had been working as a domestic servant in the home of Henry and Barbara Bell, in West Hempfield.

Over the ensuing years, John and Annie had eight children, including Harry Wertz Tyson, born in 1874. Harry was followed by Jennie (1875), Mary (1877), Clayton (1883), Norman (1886), Cora (1889), Annie (1891) and Laura (1893). All eight were given the middle name Wertz, their mother's maiden name.

We do not know much about the Tyson children. Jennie died at the age of eight and is buried alongside her parents. Clayton was working as a broom maker in 1900, and employed as a farm laborer in later years. Norman married a woman named Leah, and worked as a farm laborer. He was disqualified for the World War I draft because of a bad spine. Laura died less than a year after she was born, and is also buried near her parents.

Annie Wertz Theisen died March 4, 1904. Johannes Theisen, Shirley Tyson Andersen's great-grandfather, lived to be seventy, dying in 1922. They are buried together in Lancaster County's Silver Springs Cemetery. By the time of their deaths they were using the name Tyson, as shown in the photo above.

Harry Wertz Tyson (1874-?)

Harry Tyson was born April 11, 1874. At some point in his youth he moved to Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, and there married Abbie J. Biddle on December 23, 1894. Abbie was the daughter of John Weichart Biddle and Catherine Sinner Biddle of Hanover, Lancaster County.

The couples first child, a daughter named Bertha, was born on June 16, 1899 but died the same day. Their only other child, John Henry Tyson, was born March 11, 1901.

Despite having an infant son, however, the marriage did not survive long, and they soon divorced. Abbie then remarried and is shown at the right, along with Edward Yeager, her second husband. The photo was taken on September 9, 1934.

Following the divorce from Abbie, neither parent wanted to keep John, who was about one year old. As a result, he was given to relatives to keep. This was an extremely hard time for John, who remembered having to wear worn-out and ill-fitting shoes that had been cast-off by the families own children, and sleeping at times in a barn.

Several years later, on November 25, 1908, Harry married Sarah Amelia "Millie" Hollowell in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. They are shown at left. Harry and Millie never had children of their own. Harry worked for over thirty years as a Moulder, at the Lancaster Foundry Company, and then Hardware Pattern Maker.

According to information gathered when he registered for the draft in 1918, he was of medium height and slender build, his eyes were blue and he had brown hair. By 1930 he and Millie owned their own home at Mount Joy, and his son John was now back living with them.

Millie died in the mid-1940's, and Harry went to live with John, who was now married and had two daughters. That lasted only a year or so, however, as the arrangement eventually caused friction in the family and Harry was asked to leave. It is not known when or where he died.

John Henry Tyson (1901-1991)

Work in progress.

Shirley Anne Tyson (1934- )

Even more work in progress.