Just thought I would share more about John Sebastian TRARES and his family.

John Sebastian TRARES was born 27 Dec 1835 in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. He died in Sept. 1922 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a druggist and a very successful businessman in Edwardsville, Illinois.

He married Josephine M. GERBER on 24 Sept 1863 in Edwardsville, IL. Josephine was the daughter of Martin and Elizabeth GERBER. Josephine was born about 1845 in Missouri and died 27 Nov 1884 in Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois.

John Sebastian and Josephine had six children:

• Bertha TRARES, born 6 March 1868 in Edwardsville, IL. Bertha never married and continued to live with her father. She died 9 May 1959 in St. Louis, Missouri after falling and breaking her hip in a nursing home and contracting pneumonia. She was 91 years old.
• Annie TRARES, born 15 Jan 1872 in Edwardsville, IL. She married a man named SAWYER. I don’t know his first name (yet). If I can get a copy of her obituary, I can probably find out, though. She died 19 Dec 1954 in Houston, Texas.
• John Augustus TRARES, born 8 Feb 1874 in Edwardsville, IL. I have seen his name as John Augustus and Augustus John. I guess he went by August, however. Anyway, he was a druggist like his father in St. Louis, Missouri. He, too, like sister Bertha, never married. He died 21 March 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri. The cause of death was due to first-, second- and third-degree burns covering his entire body as a result of a house fire. The fire was caused (according to his death certificate) by an overheated coal stove in the kitchen of his home located at 3413 Shenandoah Avenue in St. Louis. His death was ruled an accident. He was a retired druggist at the time of his death at age 77.
• Josephine T. TRARES, born 31 Aug 1875 in Edwardsville, IL. She married Thomas BELL, who was born 29 Dec 1865 in Detroit, Michigan. Thomas was the son of Robert BELL, born in Scotland, and Ellen MANOR, born in Ireland. Josephine and Thomas BELL lived in St. Louis, Missouri. Thomas BELL died of cancer 31 May 1920. Josephine died in April 1968 in St. Louis. She was 93 years old.
• Frank Trares, born 18 Feb 1879 in Edwardsville, IL. He was a lawyer in St. Louis. He married Mary SCULLY. He died 18 May 1943 of an apparent heart attack in St. Louis. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis.
• Mark TRARES ( I believe) was born in 1884 and died in September 1909. There is a Mark E. TRARES buried in St. Louis in the same family plot with John Sebastian and family. He was only 25 years old when he died. I don’t know yet what happened to him, as I haven’t gotten a copy of his death certificate.

There are still a lot of John Sebastian TRARES descendants living in the Edwardsville, IL and St. Louis areas. Henry TRARES, John Sebastian’s nephew, also born in Ohio, stayed in Edwardsville and there are many of his descendants in the area as well. In fact, I have run across references to a judge named TRARES that I believe is one of Henry’s sons.

I would really like to have a photo of John Sebastian TRARES. If anyone out there from the TRARES clan has a photo, please share it with us. I have to admire this man’s courage and determination to succeed – leaving home at age 14 – to make his way in the world. And succeeding amazingly well, from what I have learned.

I am hoping maybe some of the Western branch of the TRARES family may see this post and provide more information.

Back in those days, when people moved West, people lost track of family members. It was still a frontier, after all. We are fortunate that we have a number of ways today to stay in touch – even when loved ones are on the other side of the world!