Johannes Franz Canisius (son of Johannes Canisius and Gertrudis Kraft), born 30 April 1792 at Wuelfte (Brilon), Westphalia, Germany; died 10 April 1855 at Allendorf, Kreis Arnsberg, Westphalia, Germany; married first 13 July 1820(1) at Allendorf to Maria Theresia Freiburg who was born 06 September 1801 at Allendorf and died 20 July 1822 at Allendorf; married second 25 November 1823(1) at Allendorf to Anna Maria Wilhelmina Latterich who was born 13 July 1800 and died 04 June 1871 in Madison County, Missouri, USA. [Info from Hugo Freiburg.]
He was the schoolteacher at Allendorf.
Wilhelmina and their daughter Maria Catharina came to the U.S. on the ship Predecessor which sailed from Bremen, Germany and arrived at New Orleans on 04 November 1858.
1860 U.S. Census: Wilhelmina Canisius (widow, with son George), page 387, visit 229/229, Fredericktown, Madison, Missouri.
Children with first wife, born at Allendorf:
(Daughter), born and died 05 June 1821(1).
(Son), born and died 16 July 1822(1).
Children with second wife, born at Allendorf:
Gerdrud Josephina Canisius, born and died 25 October 1824(1).
+ Heinrich Theodor Canisius, born 02 August and baptized 04 August 1826(1). [see below]
Johannes Georg Canisius, born 31 October and baptized 01 November 1828(1); died 16 June 1862 at Fredericktown, Madison, Missouri; unmarried. He was a blacksmith. He was Naturalized as a U.S. citizen October 1858 in Madison County, Illinois (Book C3, page 304½). 1860 Census: George Canisius, page 387, visit 229/229, Fredericktown, Madison, Missouri.
Heinrich Canisius, born 02 November and baptized 03 November 1830(1).
Maria Catharina Canisius, born 11 May and baptized 12 May 1832(1). She came to the U.S. with her mother.
+ Juliana Canisius, born 17 December and baptized 18 December 1834(1); married CHRISTOPH ANTON WIEGENSTEIN.
Wilhelm Canisius, born 14 June and baptized 15 June 1838(1); died 1841 at Allendorf.
Maria Anna Canisius, born 10 October and baptized 12 October 1840(1).
Ernst August Canisius, born 27 February and baptized 28 February 1843(1).
(Doctor) Heinrich Theodor Canisius, born 02 August and baptized 04 August 1826(1) at Allendorf; died 04 December 1885 at Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA (Death Certificate #073955); married about 1851-53 probably at St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri to Emma ______ who was born about 1829 in Prussia, Germany and died October-December 1876 in Clifton, Gloucestershire, England.
He was a physician. He was an activist during the German “Revolution of 1848”, and emigrated to the U.S. later that same year.
He moved to Edwardsville, Madison, Illinois in the early 1850s. He was Naturalized as a U.S. citizen April 1855 in Madison County, Illinois (Book C2, page 049), Intent filed 1850 in Missouri.
He started the Freie Presse newspaper in Alton, Madison, Illinois in 1858,
but sold it after the second issue. He then bought the Springfield, Illinois Illinois Staats-Anzeiger,
which was the most widely read German-language newspaper in southern Illinois.
On 30 May 1859, he secretly sold the newspaper to Abraham Lincoln. He and
Lincoln signed a contract in which Lincoln kept him on as editor and manager,
under the condition that the paper continue to strongly support the Republican
Party. On 06 December 1860, Lincoln (after already being elected President of
the USA 
) wrote in an endorsement to the
original contract that Theodor “had faithfully fulfilled the obligations of the
contract”, and conveyed all of the newspaper’s property to him. [NOTE: This all
sounds as if it could be somewhat disreputable , but it’s
more likely that Theodor sincerely supported Lincoln’s beliefs. As evidence,
see the transcription of a letter from Abraham Lincoln dated a couple of weeks
before the sale.]
In August 1861, President Lincoln appointed him as U.S. Consul in Vienna, Austria. He remained there until he was replaced in 1866. He was the author of a biography of Lincoln, which was published in Vienna in 1867, and has been reprinted several times in Germany. They returned to the U.S. on the ship Deutschland which sailed from Bremen and arrived at New York City on 16 September 1867.
He served on the Republican State Central Committee in Illinois in the 1870s. He was appointed as one of the three Commissioners of the Illinois Penitentiary on 09 May 1873. He later returned to the diplomatic service and held consular posts in Bristol, England; then in Geestemünde, Germany; then in Apia, Samoa until 1884.
The street Theodor-Canisius-Weg [Theodor Canisius Way] in Allendorf was named after him.
1850 Census: Theod. Conisius (with Heinr. Klute), page 100, visit 1147/1776, St. Louis (1st Ward), St. Louis, Missouri.
1860 Census: Theodore Canisius (with James A. Waugh), page 189, visit 1361/1367, Springfield city, Sangamon, Illinois.
1870 Census: T Canisius, page 032, visit 003/003, Aurora (1st Ward), Kane, Illinois.
Known children, most born in Illinois:
Eugene Canisius, born about 1853; possibly died young.
Probably “Edla” Canisius, birthdate not known; died 13 October 1856 at St. Louis city, Missouri
(Book E, page 114). She is buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery at Edwardsville,
Madison, Illinois.
Eda Theodora Canisius, born about 1857; married July-September 1886 in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England to [? John S. Bacon]. 1881 British Census: Eda T. Canisius (“dau., head in the absence of father”), page 032, visit 139 [25 Elgin Park Hampton Road], Bristol (Westbury Ward), Gloucester, England.
Arthur T. Canisius, born about March 1861; married about 1899 at Washington, DC to Virginia ______ who was born about November 1868 in Pennsylvania. He was a clerk, working for the U.S. Government. 1881 British Census: (with sister Eda, above). 1891 Washington, D.C. City Directory: Arthur T Canisius, 1514 5th northwest, clerk. 1900 Census: Arthur T. Canisius, page 241, visit 276/316, Washington (E.D. 96), District of Columbia. 1910 Census: Arthur T. Canisius, page 183, visit 169/173, Washington (E.D. 164), District of Columbia. No children with them in 1900 or 1910.
Bianca Canisius, twin, born about May-June 1865 at Vienna, Austria. 1881 British Census: (with sister Eda, above).
Edgar Canisius, twin, born about May-June 1865 at Vienna, Austria. 1881 British Census: (with sister Eda, above).
Other Families
Home Page References
Canisius family. Last revision: 01 Dec 2007
Allendorf to America: Erner and Related Families in America.
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