Hieronymus Fäßler

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jerome Fassler alias Hieronymus Fäßler, Springfield (Ohio), 1880

Hieronymus Fäßler (born June 2, 1823 in Weiler im Allgäu, now part of the community of Weiler-Simmerberg ; † December 7, 1903 in Goldach SG , Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland), also called Ronimus and later called Jerome Fassler in the USA a major entrepreneur and technical pioneer in the design of mowers and underground railways.

Life

Parents - childhood - education - emigration

Fäßler's parents' house in Weiler im Allgäu before the demolition
Fäßler's parents' house in Weiler im Allgäu (successor building)

The house where Hieronymus Fäßler was born was called "zum Schlosser" and until the 1980s it stood on Hauptstrasse (today No. 36) where the wayside shrine leads with a bridge over the Hausbach. On behalf of the local caretaker Gerhard Zimmer, the Allgäu dialect poet, songwriter and painter Werner Specht captured the house in a watercolor before it was demolished. As a little boy, Ronimus looked after the cows of his parents Ignaz (Ignatius) and Josepha Fäßler, who ran a small farm in addition to the locksmith's shop. The family was known for generations for their mechanical craftsmanship and ingenuity; from his grandfather through his father these traits were obviously passed on to his brothers and sons. After school he learned in his father's workshop locksmith . In order to achieve the championship title, he went on a hike - as was customary at the time - and came to Wasserburg on Lake Constance, Switzerland, Baden and the Palatinate. In the economically and politically difficult time after the 1848 revolution , he decided in 1849 at the age of 28 to emigrate to America. His savings were just enough for the crossing.

Beginning in the New World

Hatch & Whiteley advertisement

Jerome came ashore in New Orleans in June 1849 and set off north with the locksmith David Schäfer, who had also emigrated. Schäfer stayed on the road in Springfield and tried his luck there, while Fäßler went on to Cincinnati , but could not find employment in the profession he had learned. He got through a tough time of privation as a tinker . In August 1850, he moved to Springfield in the state of Ohio ; he'd had to borrow the five dollars for the ride. He felt at home there from the hour he arrived in Springfield. His fellow emigrant, Schäfer, who now called himself Americanized Shafer, had opened a successful locksmith's business and hired him willingly. Hieronymus Fäßler, who called himself Jerome Fassler for the sake of simplicity , gained the trust of his employer over time and soon became his partner, but soon afterwards he joined the iron foundry and mechanical workshop of Hatch & Whiteley. After a modest start as a skilled locksmith, he became a partner in a small business, then the operations manager of a larger workshop. He eventually founded his own company for the repair and production of agricultural machines in a self-built production facility, which was then to become the birthplace of the famous Champion mower and reaper.

Development of the "Champion"

After the end of operations, Fäßler worked on the new mower in tough planning and development work. From 1851 on, his friend William N. Whiteley, whom he knew from his time at Hatch & Whiteley (this Whiteley was an uncle of William N.), was also a hard-working and determined mechanic with the Reaper and worked in every available one Free time, supported and advised by Jerome Fassler. In 1856 the two were ready and founded the company "Whiteley & Fassler" in partnership to manufacture the machine in larger numbers. Whiteley confidently called their product “Champion” , but at the time could not have known what a unique triumph this most famous agricultural machine of all time would make and make Springfield the “Champion City” for decades (still known today as a synonym).

The question of who contributed more to the development of the champion is idle. The American sources put William N. Whiteley in the foreground, the German Fäßler. In truth, it will have been a joint effort of the friendly constructors.

The champion was a complete success. The two determined partners produced at least 25 machines in their first year in two-man operation in 1856 (other sources speak of 20), but were far from able to meet the high demand. They doubled and tripled their production in the first few years, but that wasn't enough either.

The large company to produce the champion

Whiteley and Fassler had to leave the small business behind and move on to large-scale manufacturing. However, the necessary capital was not available for this. Fortunately, they met the wealthy Oliver Smith Kelly , befriended and allied with him in the following year 1857 and founded the company "Whiteley, Fassler & Kelly" with him as a third partner and investor .

How the "Champion Group" or Champion Interest developed from this company can be found in the article linked here.

The East Street Shops

The excellent business results led William N. Whiteley, the active leader of the three-party consortium, to the extraordinary planning of a huge new plant on East Street in Springfield. The two partners Kelly and Fassler considered the procedure too risky, tried to curb Whiteley and finally threatened to leave the company. Whiteley pushed through his plans and lost his loyal colleagues Kelly (1881) and Fassler (1882). Both sold their "Whiteley, Fassler & Kelly Company" shares to Whiteley and went their own business ways. Whiteley built the huge factory on East Street, but was ultimately not happy with it.

Downfall of the company

Archived newspaper reports in the New York Times show that the breakup of an extremely successful business partnership can ultimately be associated with difficulties and unsightly actions, which reported that Whiteley, Fassler & Kelly was no longer doing so brilliantly in the period that followed went as before. Banks want their money back. Whiteley tried to stop imminent bankruptcies by buying back the shares; eventually he sold to the competition.

Before Fäßler, Oliver S. Kelly left the company in 1881. Allegedly because of Whiteley's "flamboyant" lifestyle. It can be concluded from this that the earlier biographies praising Whiteley's modesty and restraint were exaggerated, flattering comments that, at least later, were no longer valid. Because of the successful name of the three founding personalities, the company continued to operate under the name Whiteley, Fassler & Kelly .

Five years after Fäßler's departure, Whiteley tried to demand money from him. However, as the report in the New York Times shows, he was able to defend himself from the attack. In doing so, however, he downplayed his railroad ambitions and activities, which - as the history of the New York subway later shows - was an assertion of purpose.

Subways

Fäßler was now almost 60 years old. He had sold all his possessions in Springfield except for the family home, was immensely rich and free and was looking for the challenge of a new field of activity, building a subway in New York City. As he did not have sufficient experience in the new field, he visited and interviewed the successful operators of underground trains in several European cities. In the end he found the ideal model for his train in the London Underground . He went back to New York and designed the first sections. P. 73

“I remember he called my hotel in New York on a Sunday and took me to the Boreal Building to see his models and plans for the subway. It was certainly a big project and Fassler was enthusiastic about it. "

- Amos Whiteley 1922 : The Whiteleys in America p. 73

The New York City Subway project, however, suffered from considerable economic power struggles and, after many preliminary projects and partial activities, combined with many losses of time and political obstacles, made difficult progress. It can be assumed that Fäßler therefore sold his planning documents for the Underground Railroad to other interested parties, who ultimately ran through the project until the New York City Subway officially opened in 1904.

Retirement in Switzerland

As a multi-millionaire, Fäßler returned to Europe after the death of his wife in 1899 and spent the last part of his life there with his niece Jeannette (von) Lingg in their posh villa complex in Mariahalde (Marienhalde) in Goldach SG on Lake Constance, Switzerland . Amos Whiteley mentions that he had some personal correspondence with Fäßler during this time, until he learned of his demise (1903). P. 74

In 1894 Jeannette Lingg had acquired the property, which was located on a hill on the old arterial road from Rohrschach towards St. Gallen and was respectable in terms of location, size and development. Before that, from 1873 to 1888 it was owned by Princess Marie von Baden , Duchess of Hamilton and then briefly her heiress Countess Tassilo Festice in Keczthely on Lake Balaton in Hungary. The existing noble main house offered space for larger social events and had enough rooms and halls for their permanent guests. The Goldacher Annalen describe Jeannette Lingg as “at times a very idiosyncratic noble lady”. Opposite the troubled Munich, in which she had previously lived, she regarded Mariahalden as her resting domicile.

Gravestone in hamlet

In 1903 the entrepreneur and pioneer Hieronymus Fäßler died at the age of 80 in Goldach and was buried in his birthplace Weiler at his request. The New York City Subway, the project in which Fäßlers was most recently heavily involved, went into operation the following year.

Gravestone plinth for Fäßler's niece Jeannette

Jeannette Lingg had a well-known cousin in the poet Hermann Ritter von Lingg and a brother in the Bishop of Augsburg Maximilian Ritter von Lingg , both of whom looked after their relatives in Switzerland from time to time. From August to November 1914, Jeannette Lingg hosted a famous permanent guest on Mariahalden, the painter Wassily Kandinsky , who had to leave Germany during the First World War .

In 1917 Jeannette left Mariahalden and returned to Munich Leben. She had spent 22 years in Goldach as a stranger among strangers. Jeannette Lingg died at the age of 86 in 1940 and was buried in her uncle's grave in Weiler.

Here rests in God / Herr Jerome Fäßler / geb. in Weiler on June 2nd, 1823 / died at Schloss Mariahalde, Switzerland / on December 7th, 1903 / RIP
At her uncle's side / slumbers in eternal peace / Miss Jeannette Lingg / * December 28th, 1853 in Nesselwang, † February 26th, 1940 in Munich / Blessed are those who die in the Lord
(inscription on the tombstone in Weiler im Allgäu)

Evaluation by contemporaries

"Mr. Fassler was a thorough mechanic, machine fitter and toolmaker with an extraordinary gift for inventing and perfecting tools and machines for metalworking. He was a pure, righteous and hardworking person. "

- Amos Whiteley : The Whiteleys in America , 1907 and 1922, p. 63

Family and environment

Son studied in Zurich

Fäßler evidently had connections to Switzerland, which is not far from his homeland, from an early age. For example, a Jerome Fassler (* 1853 in Springfield, USA) is entered in the university registers of the University of Zurich for the summer semester 1871 in the philosophical faculty under matriculation number 3951 with the information parents: Mr. Jerome F 'in Springfield, from with Gen.zgn. August 7th, 1871 and the comment: Student came to the university from Weinheim.

Family tribe list around Hieronymus Fäßler

  1. Ignatus Fäßler ⚭ Maria Josepha Sinner
    1. Hieronymus Fäßler or (Americanized) Jerome Fassler (* June 2, 1823 in Weiler im Allgäu; † December 7, 1903 in Goldach SG, Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland)
      ⚭ December 24, 1850, Hamilton, Ohio with Katharine Neiderhoefer or Niederhöfer ( * May 28, 1824 in Weiler, Germany; † January 22, 1899 in Clark, Ohio, USA).
      1. Barbara Fassler (* around 1852 in Ohio, USA; †) at the 1880 census 28 years old ⚭ on February 22, 1876 in Clark County, Ohio, USA with Charles W. Constantine (* in Ohio, USA; †), his parents came from Baden-Baden.
      2. Jerome Fassler (born March 12, 1853 in Clark, Ohio, USA; † March 30, 1939), studied in Zurich in 1871.
      3. Katherine Fassler (* around 1854 in Ohio, USA; †) ⚭ November 14, 1877 in Clark County, Ohio, USA with Oliver Warren Kelly
      4. Armin Fassler (* around 1859 in Ohio, USA; †)
      5. Rose Fassler (* around 1853 in Ohio, USA; †)
    2. Johann Heinrich Fäßler (born November 28, 1826 in Weiler im Allgäu; † unknown) also emigrated to the USA.
    3. Franz Josef Fäßler (born October 10, 1838 (or 1828?) In Weiler im Allgäu; † unknown) also emigrated to the USA.
    4. NN sister of Hieronymus Fäßler

Family tribe list around Jeanette Lingg

  1. Father of Johann Georg Lingg, descent from Unterberg in Simmerberg
    1. Johann Georg Lingg, master baker in Nesselwang, descent from Unterberg in Simmerberg
      ⚭1 Franziska Pfanner from Scheidegg († 1856) 10 children
      ⚭2 Dorothee Scholl 13 children
      1. Max Joseph (Maximilian Ritter von ...) Lingg (Bishop of Augsburg) (* March 8, 1842 Nesselwang; † May 31, 1930 in Füssen)
      2. Jeanette (Maire) (born? Lingg) (born December 28, 1853 in Nesselwang, † February 26, 1940 in Munich)
      3. Hedwig Lingg
      4. another 7 children
known cousin
Hermann (knight of ...) Lingg (poet) (born January 22, 1820 in Lindau (Bodensee); † June 18, 1905 in Munich) cousin of Maximilian von Lingg and Jeanette von Lingg
maternal ancestral line of Franziska Pfanner, Jeanette's mother
  1. Josef Anton Grüßer ⚭ Anna Miller
    1. Anastasia Grüßer (Lindenberg) ⚭ Franz Anton Pfanner († 1833) from Lindenberg
      1. Franziska Pfanner from Scheidegg († 1856)

literature

  • Roswitha Ennemoser: Important personalities (here Hieronymus Fäßler); published in Heimatbuch Weiler im Allgäu , pages 537-538, Verlag Buchdruckerei Holzer (Weiler im Allgäu, 1994), publisher: Markt Weiler-Simmerberg (on the occasion of the 1100 anniversary of the first documentary mention). Ms. Ennemoser based her work on:
    • Ludwig Scheller: Hieronymus Fäßler, 1823–1903 , Westallgäuer Heimatblätter No. 5, Volume 8
    • Archives Springfield State Ohio (USA)
  • At the beginning of the 19s, Karl Hummel had Ms. Weiss, the director of the German-American Institute in Tübingen, search for traces of Hieronymus Fäßler in the USA. She found what she was looking for in particular:
    • Benjamin F. Prince: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio , The American Historical Society (Chicago and New York, 1922) full text in the Internet archive English; Reference name = "Prince1922"
  • Josef Reck: Goldach from past days , 1979, pages 100-102, ed. City council and local administrative council of Goldach
  • Amos Whiteley: The Whiteleys in America , 1907 and 1922 full text in the internet archive English; Reference name = "AmosWhiteley1922"

Web links

Notes, details, individual documents

  1. ↑ a b see web link steel engraving portrait and short biography at ART 330 Antique Prints Plus
  2. ↑ a b c see literature Amos Whiteley: Whiteleys in America
  3. ↑ Replica of the Champion harvester on the Clark County Historical Society website
  4. ↑ a b see literature Dr. B. Prince: Springfield and Clark County; An illustrated history (Chicago, 1922)
  5. ^ William M. Rockel 1908 - 20th century history of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio and representative citizen
  6. ↑ see web link The New York Times July 28, 1887 on the rejected attempt to prosecute Whiteley against Fassler
  7. ↑ Ludwig Scheller: Hieronymus Fäßler, 1823-1903 , Westallgäuer Heimatblätter No. 5, Volume 8
  8. ↑ a b c see literature Josef Reck: Goldach from past days
  9. ↑ a b see literature Roswitha Ennemoser: Important personalities
  10. ↑ Matriculation entry of the University of Zurich  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.matrikel.unizh.ch  
  11. ↑ The census of 1880 must have taken place in the short time between May 28th and June 1st.
  12. ↑ Hence the uncertainty about the relationship between Jeanette's (niece) and her uncle Hieronymus Fäßler, which is mentioned again and again
Commons : Hieronymus Fäßler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Fäßler, Hieronymus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fassler, Jerome
BRIEF DESCRIPTION important entrepreneur and technical pioneer in the construction of mowers and underground railways
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1823
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamlet-Simmerberg
DATE OF DEATH December 7, 1903
Place of death Goldach SG , Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland