Maximim Gruss' Family

Maximim Gruss and Anne Marie Biehler's Family

Maximim Gruss, son of Dominique, was born on June 3, 1819 at Guémar, France. He died on September 15, 1876 at Guémar, France. He was a tile-maker (tuilier) by profession.

Joseph Gruss, his son, reported that Maximim worked on the building of the railroad from Bâle to Strasbourg about the year 1848 . In 1849, George Farny offered to lease to Maximim the family tile factory for two hundred (200) Francs a year, with the promise to advance Maximim the funds necessary to keep the enterprise running. In 1860, the factory passed to Jean Farny and the lease was increased to seven hundred fifty (750) Francs per year. In 1876, Maximim suffered from a heart condition. This and his fight with alcoholism lead to his death

Maximim married at Guémar, France on November 15, 1843 to Marie Anne Biehler, daughter of Maximim Biehler and Elisabeth Witz. Maximim was twenty-four year and six months and Marie Anne was twenty-three and four months of age at the time of their marriage. The witnesses to their marriage were: Maximim Biehler and Martin Biehler, Marie Anne's two brothers, Leger Vogel, Maximim's brother-in-law and Antoine Lasche, Maximim's first cousin. Marie Anne was born on July 25, 1820 at Guémar, France. Joseph Gruss reported that Marie died in 1892 at Bergheim, France.

Maximim and Marie Anne had eleven children, all of whom were born at Guémar, France. Two of the children were stillborn.

Louise Gruss was born on March 5, 1844 at Guémar, France.
Louise married at Guémar, France on April 27, 1868 to Louis Baechler, son of François Joseph Baechler and Thérèse Leiby. They had entered into a marriage agreement on April 8, 1868. The witnesses to their marriage were: Joseph Leiby, Louis' uncle; Jean Baptiste Biehler, Louise's uncle and Jean Baptiste Gruss, Louise's cousin. Louis was born on September 24, 1843 at Guémar, France. He was a butcher (boucher) by profession.

Louise and Louis had at least two children:
1. Marie Louise Baechler was born on April 4, 1869 at Guémar, France. She died on October 15, 1869 at Guémar, France.
2. Charles Baechler was born on November 3, 1870 at Guémar, France. He died on July 19, 1871 at Guémar, France.
Josephine Gruss was born on June 6, 1845 at Guémar, France. She died on February 1, 1921 at Guémar, France.
Josephine married at Guémar, France on June 9, 1869 to Jean-Baptiste Beysang, son of François Joseph Beysang and Anne Marie Ley. They entered into a marriage agreement on June 4, 1869. The witnesses to their marriage were: Louis Baechler, Josephine's brother-in-law, Maximim Gruss, Josephine's brother and Antoine and Leger Beysang, Jean-Baptiste's brothers. Jean-Baptiste was born on November 8, 1842 at Guémar, France. He was a farmer (cultivateur) by profession.

Josephine and Jean has at least two children.
1. Josephine Beysang was born on March 12, 1870 at Guémar, France. She died on February 6, 1940 at Guémar, France.
2. Eugene Beysang was born on December 16, 1871 at Guémar, France. He died on December 10, 1948 at Guémar, France. Eugene married on November 12, 1904 at Guémar, France to Élise Grollemund, daughter of Adolphe Grollemunde and Marie Ursula Umbdenstock. Élise was born on November 19, 1879 at Guémar, France.
In his memoirs, Joseph Gruss reported that Josephine had five children: Eugene, Joseph, an unnamed child, Josephine and Marie. He reported that Josephine, the daughter, married Mr. Jehl and that Marie married Mr. Untereiner.

Pierre Marck, a research from Guémar, France, also reports five children as being born to Josephine and Jean Baptiste. He provided the following information:
1. Josephine Beysang born March 3, 1879 and died on June 2, 1940.
2. Eugene Beysang born on December 19, 1871 and died on December 10, 1948
3. Marie Beysang born on June 5, 1873.
4. Leo Beysang born on May 17, 1876.
5. Joseph Beysang born on August 7, 1879 and died on August 19, 1859.
Maximim Gruss was born on November 29, 1846 at Guémar, France. He was a tile-maker (tuilier) by profession and lived in Bennwihr, France. In two of the four birth registration of his children, Maximim is referred to as Maximilian. All of the birth registration indicate that Maximim and Josephine were Catholic by religion.
Maximim married on February 3, 1875 at Ostheim, France to Josephine Muller, daughter of Anton Muller and Magdalaine Krammeregel. Josephine was born on December 3, 1850 at Ostheim, France. At this time, the dates and places of the deaths of this couple are unknown.

In his memoirs, Joseph Gruss reported that in 1867 Maximim drew a low number in the draft and was called into active service in 1868 for a period of seven years. He served in the 3rd Hussands Regiment at Thionville, France. After six months of service, Maximim's parents paid a replacement two thousand five hundred (2,500) Francs. However in 1870, with the outbreak of war with Prussia, Maximim was recalled to active service, participating in the battles of Dijon and Autun.

Maximim and Josephine had four children, all of whom were born at Bennwihr, France.
1. Caroline Gruss was born on 26 January, 1876. She died on 21 January 1965 at Thann, France.
2. Albert Maximilian Gruss was born on April 15, 1877. He died on January 1, 1966 at Thann, France.
3. Stillborn child was born and died on December 15, 1878.
4. Marie Gruss was born on April 15, 1880. She lived just a few hours and died the same day.
Charles Gruss was born on September 4, 1848. He died on December 4, 1852, at Guémar, France.
Marie Anne Gruss was born on December 16, 1850. She married on February 12, 1873 at Guémar, France to George Hirn. George was from Illhausern, France. He was a soldier by profession.
Joseph Gruss was born on September 6, 1852 at Guémar, France. He died in November of 1932. Joseph opted for French citizenship on August 20, 1872 in the presence of the Mayor of Clichy, France. He is described in his military records as having light brown hair, grey eyes, an ordinary forehead, medium sized nose and an oval face. He was about five feet ten or eleven inches in height.
Joseph was a soldier by profession. He spent his military career in various artillery regiments. Joseph joined the French army on March 4, 1874 and was discharged on May 19, 1919. He served in the Expeditionary Corp in Africa and at Tunisie from April 13, 1881 to September 14, 1882. He fought against the German army during World War I from April 9, 1914 to April 9, 1919. He was the military commandant at the Palace of the Chamber of the Deputies from April 2, 1912 to April 9, 1919. He held the ranks of brigardier, marshall of logistics, lieutenant, captain, chef de Escadran and lieutenant colonel. He received the Colonel Medal of Tunisie and the Order of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

After obtaining the army's permission on October 22, 1888, Joseph married on January 24, 1889 at Strasbourg, France to Elisa Lucie Berthe Roth. There is presently no information concerning Elisa Lucie Berthe. However, based upon her age, twenty-eight, at the time of the birth of her son, she was born about 1865. She died in September of 1932.

Joseph and Lucie had two children.
1. Maurice Gruss was born October 28 1889. He died on July 28, 1917 at Verdun, France. He was a soldier by profession, having served as an artillery officer in the French army.
  Maurice married Yvonne DuMont. Yvonne was born on November 15, 1887 at Paris, France.
  
  Maurice and Yvonne had one child.
  1. Josette Gruss was born on June 13, 1917.
    Josette married Michel Roubertie. Josette and Michel were divorced on April 8, 1994. Josette and Michel had five children.
2. Adrien Pierre Raymond Gruss was born on November 16, 1893 at Epinal, France. He died on May 11, 1970 at Colmar, France. He was buried on May 15, 1970 in St. Hélène Cemetery at Strasbourg, France. Funeral services were held at Saint-Paul's Reformed Church. He was a soldier by profession, having attained the rank of general in the French army. In February of 1945, Raymond, as a colonel in the French First Army, participated in the liberation of the Town of Ensisheim. He served as the military governor of Strasbourg, France from 1947 to 1950. In 1948, he hosted Sir Winston Churchill at a state diner in Strasbourg.
  Raymond married on March 8, 1923 at Niederbronn-les-Bains, France to Cecile Germaine Warnery, daughter of Emile Warnery and Marie Schlumberger. Germaine was born May 5, 1895 at Teny, France. She died on January 26, 1993 at Paris, France. She was buried in St. Hélène Cemetrey at Strasbourg, France on February 3, 1993. She was the founding president of the Bas-Rhin chapter of the Association for Mutual Aid for war-time widows and orphans.
  
  In 1950, Raymond purchased the estate of Léonardsau from the Dietrich family. He sold the property in 1970 to the Town of Obernai.
  
  Raymond and Germaine had two children.
  1. Philippe Maurice Gruss was born at Paris, France. He was a legal counsel by profession. By 1994, he had retired.
    Philippe married on October 9, 1948 at Paris, France to Beatrice Machegay.
    
    Philippe and Beatrice have two children.
    - Etienne Gruss was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. He was baptized on June 27, 1953.
    - Jean-Manuel Gruss was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. He was baptized on June 19, 1960. He is a doctor by profession. Jean-Manual married on September 19, 1985 to Sylvie Tomczyk. They are divorced.
  2. Pierre Joseph Emile Gruss was born on October 21, 1932 at Boulogne-sur-Seine, France. He died on November 28, 1988 at Paris, France. He is buried at Strasbourg, France. Pierre was a bank executive.
    Pierre married for the first time on October 17, 1960 at New York, New York to Jane Fraser, daughter of Malcom Fraser and Charlotte Osterhout. Pierre and Jane met in 1960 during a cruise from Scotland, Great Britain to Norway. They were divorced in 1973. Jane was born at Memphis, Tennessee. She lived in Paris until 1982 when she and her children returned to the United States. Jane married a second time to Joseph Fulcher. Joseph is a lawyer by profession.
    
    Pierre and Jane had two children.
    - Jean Fraser Raymond Gruss was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Jean is an editor with the Gulf Coast Business Review, a weekly newspaper that covers business news from Tampa to Naples on the west coast of Florida. He is a director of the Stuttering Foundation of American.
      Jean married on April 3, 1993 at Russellville, Alabama to Sandra Hester, daughter of Hal Hester and Barbara Carpenter. Sandra was born at Russellville, Alabama.
      
      Jean and Sandra have two children.
      - Sophie Hester Gruss.
      - Samuel Fraser Gruss was born at Washington, D.C.
    - Celia Charlotte Germaine Gruss who was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
    Pierre married for the second time on September 11, 1976 at Nantederry, Wales, Great Britain to Flavia Ann Marie Stampa.
Caroline Gruss was born on December 1, 1854. She died on July 7, 1884 at Guémar, France.
On May 6, 1879, Caroline married at Guemar, France to Sebastien Munck. He was employed by the railroad. Sebastien was from Matzenheim, France.
Charles Gruss was born on October 28, 1856 at Guémar, France. He was a tile maker by profession.
Charles married at Guémar, France on February 2, 1879 to Thérèse Jehl.

Charles and Thérèse had at least three children.
- Henri Gruss was born about 1887. He married in 1911 at Colsa, France to Dolore Pierre.
- Joseph Gruss was born about 1890.
- Henriette Gruss was born about 1893.
Unnamed daughter who was stillborn on June 8, 1859.
Louis Gruss was born on February 17, 1861. He died on March 27, 1868 at Guémar, France.
Unnamed son who was stillborn on December 20, 1862.

Sources

Civil records, birth, marriage and death, from Guémar, France as microfilmed by the Mormon Church.
The civil marriage records at Ostheim, France as microfilm by the Mormon Church.
The civil birth and death records at Bennwihr, France as microfilm by the Mormon Church
Emigration Records of the French government. (Order #785 and Order #784)
Letters dated March 20, 1993 and July 17, 1994 from Hervé Patry of Guémar, France.
A letter dated December 5, 1994 from Philippe Gruss of Paris, France.
Death notices furnished by J. Y. Mariotte of the Archives of Strasbourg, France.
Military service records provided by the Service Historique de l'Armée de Terre of the French government.
Birth registrations for the year 1893 in the Archives Municipales of Epinal, France.
Nouveau Dictionnaire de Biographies Alsaciennes (Copy of Page 1312 furnished by J.Y. Mariotte of the Archives of Strasbourg, France.)
Copy of Joseph Gruss' memoires provided the author by Jean Gruss, grandson of Joseph.
Information posted by Pierre Marck on his web site. See http://pmarck.free.fr.
The May and June, 2002 edition of Bersa, a Bulletin de la Sociétè d'Histoire de Boersch-Klingenthal et Saint-Léonard, written by Jean-Marie Gyss. This was provided by Jean Gruss.
Biographical sketch of Adrien Pierre Raymond Gruss found on Pages 1312 and 1313 of the Nouveau Disctionnaire de Biographies Alasciennes. This was provided by M. Mariotte of the Archives at Strasbourg, France.
Death announcements of Raymond Gruss and Cecile Warnery.
Birth registration of Raymond Gruss, which was provided by the Mayor of Epinal, France.
Marriage registration of Raymond Gruss and Cécile Warnery, which was provided by the Mayor of Miederbronn-Les-Bains, France.
Letters from Jean Gruss of Tampa, Florida dated January 15, 1995 and March 12, 1995.
Emails from Jean Gruss of Tampa, Florida dated May 11, 2000, May 28, 2000 and December 7, 2000.

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Written and Edited by Harry Gruss.
Revised February 13, 2008.