Frederick Voßhagen was born in Germany in 1803. He married Dorothea Spilker in 1826. The couple and their two young sons left Germany in 1836 and survived an especially stormy, lengthy voyage. Another son was born to the couple while crossing the ocean. The family lived in Maryland and West Virginia for several years and became parents to a daughter there. In about 1846 the family started for Illinois by team and wagon to meet their friends and one of their young sons who had traveled west. A few other families traveled with them, including the Henry Kaney and Frederick Timmer families. At Cincinnati they took passage on a boat as far as Fulton and from there to Mt. Morris. These families reportedly had help crossing the Rock River when Indians put the two wheels on one side of a wagon in a canoe and the other two wheels in another canoe and rowed them across.

The family built a 15' X 20' cabin in Maryland Township (current Brush Road area) and eventually a larger house. The original cabin often housed as many as three German families in transition at one time. Mr. Fosha eventually became a naturalized citizen and a large landowner. The couple's youngest son Daniel was born in 1852 and shot to death at age 2 by a hired man while the family was away from home. The children who survived to adulthood were: Lewis, John, William, Mary (Mrs. Christian Kilker) and Henry. Mr. Fosha died in 1878 and his wife in 1892. They are buried by North Grove (Evangelical Zion) Church as are many other family members.

Note: original spelling of name may be Voshagen but Frederick's name is spelled Foshage in cemetery record. Many in family spelled it Fosha.

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