Author: Catherine Renschler

I wrote this story in 2015 and am republishing it here for the series about our Revolutionary ancestors.

Joseph-Marie seems to us an unusual name for a male.  However, hyphenated names were popular in France in the 18th century.  The name Marie was given to boys in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Joseph-Marie Morin, son of Andre and Marie-Jeanne (Dube) Morin, was baptized April 5, 1732, at Ste. Anne-de-la-Pocatiere, Kamouraska, Québec, Canada. Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatiere is located on the south side of the St. Lawrence River, 140 km (84 miles) northeast of Quebec City. He was a French-speaking peasant farmer.  He married Marie-Louise Brigitte Saucier on June 27, 1757, at St. Louis, Kamouraska, Québec.  They had several children, including our ancestress, Marie-Louise, born in February 1765. Joseph-Marie died in 1796 and Marie-Louise in 1802.  This basic information was gleaned from microfilm copies of Canadian Catholic church records.  When Canadian census records became available online, I found Joseph-Marie Morin listed in the 1762 census of the militia companies of Kamouraska, which confirmed he had been a member of the local militia.

In the 40 years I have been researching my ancestry, I never thought there was a possibility I had an ancestor who had participated in the American Revolution.  My earliest immigrant ancestors are Peter Klein and George May, who, with their families, arrived at the port of New York on October 16, 1839, on the ship Ariosto from Antwerp, Belgium.  They had been residents of Sonderbach and Kirschhausen, villages near Heppenheim, Hesse, Germany.

Immediately upon delving into my ancestry, I learned from my Grandmother, Leona Bassett Kline, that her mother, Josephine Bergeron Bassett, was French-Canadian.  Her ancestors had arrived on the shores of what would become Canada while the pilgrims were settling what would become Massachusetts.  All very interesting, but how do we have an ancestor involved in the American Revolution?  And how was it that I only recently discovered this information?

The genealogies of most French-Canadian families have been well documented, beginning with Cyprien Tanguey’s works in 1871.  Consequently, present-day family researchers can connect to these genealogies and instantly extend their lineage back to the founders of Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island).  A thorough genealogist studies the history of the areas where their ancestors lived to “put flesh on their bones.”  However, I am unable to read French, which is the language of most histories of the French in Canada.  Consequently, my information on those ancestors consists primarily of their baptisms, marriages, and burials as recorded in the Catholic church records of their villages.

When I was doing my research, the Canadian Catholic Church records, and Tanguey’s seven-volume Dictionnaire généalogique des Familles Canadiennes depuis la fondation de la colonie jusqu’à nos jours (Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families from the Founding of the Colony to Our Time) were available on microfilm at Mormon Family History Libraries.  Now they are available digitally at the familysearch.org website.  (Research is very easy now compared to even ten years ago.)

Recently, I was perusing French-Canadian items available online and ran across the Index to French Canadian Revolutionary War Patriots, 2014 by Michael P. Gabriel and Debbie Duay.  There I found the name Joseph-Marie Morin with his wife, Marie-Louise Brigitte.   The names were correct, the time and place were right, could it be my ancestor?  I immediately ordered the book and started searching the web for information on the Canadian expedition during the Revolutionary War.  This is the story I uncovered.

In 1775, the Continental Congress sent an expedition to Canada to defend the colonies’ northern frontier against British attack and to persuade French Canadians to join the revolution.  General Montgomery captured Montreal in November.  George Washington sent Benedict Arnold, revolutionary general and later traitor, on an expedition to capture Quebec.  He led his 1,000-man army through the wilderness of present-day northern Maine.  By the time Arnold reached the Plains of Abraham, outside Quebec City, his force had been reduced by illness, lack of supplies, and desertions.  Arnold was forced to wait a month near Quebec City for General Montgomery’s army to arrive as reinforcements.  December was certainly not a good time to attack a well-armed fort.  But the enlistment of many of Arnold’s men ran out at the end of the year, and British reinforcements would be able to make it down the St. Lawrence River after the spring thaw.  Arnold believed he could not wait, and so on December 31, 1775, in the middle of a blizzard, the two armies attacked Quebec City.  The first volley from the fort killed General Montgomery and several of his officers.  General Arnold was wounded during the battle and carried off the field.  With one general dead and the other incapacitated, the rebel army retreated.

Fewer than 100 Americans were killed or injured, but 400 were captured. Refusing to accept defeat, Arnold camped below the city and again waited for reinforcements.  A few hundred did arrive over the next several months.  But, due to a smallpox epidemic, his army was still undermanned in the spring.   In March, Arnold was ordered to Montreal.  General John Thomas took command of the American army outside Quebec.  But when British reinforcements made it up the St. Lawrence after the spring thaw in May 1776, General Thomas ordered his army to withdraw.  He died from smallpox during the retreat.  The Battle of Quebec was the first significant defeat for the colonists during the Revolution.

From a study of American history many years ago, I had a vague knowledge of the Battle of Quebec.  Today, information about the British and the Americans involved is readily available on the internet.  However, none of these sites gives any details about the involvement of the French settlers known as “les habitants.”

In October 1774, the Philadelphia Congress sent an address to the Canadians inviting them to join in driving the British from the continent, and asking them not to oppose the American military.  When the Americans invaded, the British military attempted to enroll “les habitants” but encountered resistance.  The majority either supported the Americans or remained neutral.  In an attempt to keep the French inhabitants loyal to the crown, the British government passed the Quebec Act, which allowed them to govern themselves under the old French civil laws and exempted them from the detested Test Oath, which required them to renounce the Roman Catholic religion.  Additionally, the poor farm population, recently conquered by the British, could contribute only two things to the American cause: food for the invading army and a friendly countryside through which to travel.   And “les habitants” did both.

Following the departure of the invading army, the British authorities established a “commission of inquiry” which visited each parish, questioned the inhabitants, and filed a report.  The British authorities did not publicize the report titled Rapport de L’Archiviste de la Province de Québec, and it remained in the archives of Quebec.  It was published in French in 1928, but not in English until 2005.

The commission visited Kamouraska, the village of the Morin family, on Tuesday, July 16, 1776.  This is the report for Kamouraska:

   The named Ayot(te) was appointed Capt. for the service of Congress. He was one of the most infamous rebels in this province. He aided and assisted the enemies of the government in any way he could, stirred up the people, recruited for the Congress, &c. 

   Last fall, Capt. Alexandre Dionne behaved as a zealous subject of the government. He marched to Pointe Levy with several young men according to the orders that he had received to help the town [Quebec], but was unable to cross [the St Lawrence River] because all the canoes had already been removed by the town’s people. This winter he marched under the orders of Mr Beaujeu at the head of more than 30 men from his parish. Since that time, he has had the weakness to carry out the rebels orders and had his subordinate officers and sergeants do the same in obedience to Bazil Dube. In their service, he had signal fires tended and guarded, sent the search party for Mr Riverin’s mare on the orders of Bazil Dube, and had two letters delivered to pilots on the lower coast. In short, he has done all that he was asked. He is even accused of having pledged a loyalty oath to the said Bazil Dube. All these reasons considered, we have dismissed him, as well as his subordinates.

   We cashiered Benjamin Michaud, Capt. of the Second Company, for having fires built and guarded in his district, for having made several orders for corvees for the rebels, and for allowing the letters to pass [through his district].

   We cashiered Michel L’aine, lieut. only for having delivered two letters to les sieurs Riou and Beaulieu, pilots. Capt Alexandre Dionne had his sergeant, Joseph Morau, hand-deliver them with a recommendation to have the letters forwarded to the next captain. The said Michel L’aine immediately asked one of his men to carry out the order. This sole weakness excepted, he always behaved as a loyal subject of the government and had previously served under Mr Beaujeu’s command.

   On orders of Ferre, the above-mentioned Capt. Alexandre Dionne once ordered a cart through his son and, on another occasion, drove one himself.

   Names of those who enlisted with the rebels for 40 pounds per month:   14 names, including Joseph Morin. 

The British were amazingly lenient to the inhabitants who had assisted the American invaders.  The main punishment was the loss of their rank in the militia and public humiliation.  At each village, the inhabitants were required to “cheer” the King.  The British were lenient because they needed the inhabitants to remain loyal to the crown.  Imprisonments and executions would have encouraged them to join the revolting colonists to the south.

With this information and documented proof of each generation, descendants of Joseph-Marie Morin are eligible to join the Daughters of the Revolution and the Sons of the Revolution.  My cousin, Janice Morse, has joined the DAR as a descendant of Joseph Marie Morin.

In honor of the United States 250th anniversary, I will write biographies of each of my children’s Revolutionary War ancestors.  Abraham Kimball is Maxine Wymore Renschler’s 4th great-grandfather.  

Abraham Kimball, son of Aaron and Susannah Smith Kimball, was born April 18, 1742.  He was the first white child born in Hopkinton, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, and consequently received a grant of five hundred acres of pine forest from the proprietors.  His father, Aaron, had built one of the first forts in the area to shelter people from the Indians.  Kimball’s fort was about two miles east of the burying ground on the road to Rumford (now Concord).  Lieut. Aaron Kimball’s marker is the oldest memorial in that cemetery.  He also erected the first frame house in Hopkinton township.  Aaron and Susannah were among the organizers of the Congregational church, the first church in Hopkinton.  

Abraham and another boy, Samuel Putney, were captured by the Indians during the French and Indian War.  On the morning of April 13, 1753, as Abraham was driving his father’s cow from Putney’s fort to Kimball’s fort, about two miles distant, he was waylaid by two Indians and was taken prisoner.  The third day after the boy’s capture, the Indians were surprised by local men and, while escaping, left Putney behind.  Abraham was rescued by a trained fighting dog owned by one of the rescue party.  The dog seized an Indian by the neck who was in the act of drawing his tomahawk to kill Abraham. 

He married Phoebe Runnells in Hopkinton about 1760.  They were the parents of at least 7 sons and 4 daughters. His son Isaac, our ancestor, was born March 7, 1774, at Hopkinton, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. 

Early in Hopkinton’s history, Abraham Kimball built a mill on Dolloff’s brook, where the remains of the structure could still be seen in 1890.  To accommodate the mill hands, a dugout was constructed close by.   

Abraham registered for military service in 1775. It is said he was a private in Captain Gorden Hutchins’ Company at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

He was wounded above the right knee by a musket ball passing through his thigh on August 16, 1777, at the Battle of Bennington, at Walloomsac, New York.  The battle was a major strategic success for the American cause and is considered one of the turning points of the war; it reduced Burgoyne’s army in size by almost 1,000 men, led his Native American allies to largely abandon him, and deprived him of much-needed supplies. 

The following data was taken from Abraham’s pension file S-20017, which can be found in the National Archives or at Fold3.com.  

“Abraham Kimball’s account, Bennington, Aug. 28, 1777.
Hired a horse to come to Hopkinton, 130 Miles £9. 0.0
To expenses on my way home 1.14.6
To a horse 2 journes from Hopkinton to Andover 5.10.6
To nursing while at Andover 1.16.0
Expenses going to and coming from Andover 4. 5.6
Paid Dr. John Clement 12.6
Dr. Thomas Kitteridge 4.16.0
Total £27.14.6
Loss of time about six months occasioned by said wound. A true account, errors excepted,” Signed Abraham Kimball

“To the Honorable Council and house of representatives. These may certify that Abraham Kimball of Hopkinton in the County of Hillsborough was a soldier in Capt. Bailies Company, in Col. Stickney’s Regt. in the late expedition to Bennington. Being wounded at said Bennington in the Battle there.
Attest Thomas Stickney Col.  Nov 13, 1778.”

State of New Hampshire
Nov. 14, 1778.
To John T. Gilman, Officer Appointed to register wounded soldiers &c.
Pursuant to a vote of Council and Assembly, you are to register Abraham Kimball, a soldier in Capt. Bailey’s Co. Col Stickney’s Rgt, who was wounded in the battle of Bennington, and allow him half pay (Agreeable to the Resolves of Congress) two years commencing the 18th of Sept. A.D. 1777.
M. Weare Prest.”
His bill for the Doctors, nursing, etc of £27.14s.6d was allowed. On November 18, 1779, he received £10.”

Abraham signed a January 6, 1790, petition from the inhabitants of Hopkinton to the General Court of New Hampshire requesting permission to raise $1.000 by means of a lottery to build a free school.  The local inhabitants were to erect the building and maintain it. 

The Kimball family lived in Hopkinton in 1790, when Abraham, along with seven other household members, was listed on the first United States census. Abraham appeared as an invalid pensioner on a report returned by the district court of New Hampshire on December 14, 1792.  He appears on the 1800 census of Hopkinton with one woman (his wife) aged 45 or older and one male aged 26 to 44. 

In August 1805, Abraham purchased 60 acres at Peacham, Caledonia County, Vermont, from his son Isaac Kimball.  In August 1810, he and his wife, both aged over 45, appear on the census.  They are also listed on the Peacham census in August 1820. 

On February 23, 1827, at Peacham, Vermont, he applied for an increase of his pension from $3.83 to $4.16 a month.  He stated the reason for the move to Peacham was “for the purpose of living with or near his children.” 

Abraham died on May 5, 1828, in Peacham, at the age of 86, and was buried in the Peacham East Cemetery.  His wife, Phoebe, survived him and died at Peacham in 1830. 

Anecdotes of Abraham’s life were found in Life and Times in Hopkinton, N.H., 1890, by Charles Chase Lord.

 

Years ago, while attending a reunion of my Mother-in-law’s Hayes relatives, I was told by one of his grandchildren that an ancestor, Hubbard A. Phillips, born January 29, 1816, in Leyden, Franklin County, Massachusetts 1 had worked for the Pony Express.  I immediately knew that this story was improbable.  The Pony Express, operated for only eighteen months from April 1860 to October 1861, and was known to hire only thin young men.  In 1860 Hubbard was 44 years old and the father of nine living children.

The census taker for Milford, Jefferson County, Wisconsin, had found Hubbard and his large family living there on August 11, 1860².  In November 1865 Hubbard, still a resident of Jefferson County, sold land there³.  Obviously, he was not a Pony Express rider during 1860-61.

By June 1880 Hubbard and his wife, Lois (Bemis) Phillips, were living in Kearney, Nebraska, next door to their son-in-law and daughter, Hiram H. and Maria (Phillips) Kimball.  Sixty-three-year-old Hubbard listed his occupation as a farmer⁴.  I also found him recorded a second time living alone in Taylor Township, Buffalo County, next door to his son-in-law and daughter, Linus and Annis (Phillips) Nichols⁵.  The 1880 Agricultural  Schedule lists Hubbard as owning 160 acres in  Taylor Township with only 15 acres tilled⁶.  On the following line is his son-in-law Linus, who filed on a homestead in 1880 and proved up in 1885⁷.  Perhaps Hubbard also filed on a homestead but did not prove up.  I did not find him in the index to Buffalo County deeds nor in the Nebraska homestead files available at Fold3.com.

Hubbard’s wife, Lois Bemis, died May 18, 1881, at Sweetwater, Buffalo County, in the home of her son-in-law, Hiram Kimball, who was operating a grist mill there.  The only record of her death was found in a family Bible⁸.  Area newspapers for 1881 are lost, and no record of her burial has been found.

Hubbard died on December 31, 1892, at Fayette, Fayette County, Iowa, in the home of his daughter Eveline Cain⁹.  I did not find an obituary for him.  The Kearney newspapers for 1892 are lost, and the Fayette County Leader printed only a one-sentence death notice¹⁰.  I also found a brief death notice in the Dunn County (Wisconsin) News¹¹.

Years went by, and I hadn’t solved the question about the Pony Express story.  Then I visited a distant cousin, and when I asked about the story, she said she had some papers in an old family trunk.  There we found the rest of the story.  Hubbard hadn’t been a Pony Express rider, but he had carried the mail by horseback.  In August 1883, he contracted to carry the mail from Loup City to Westerville12, and in June 1884, he contracted to carry the mail from Loup City to Georgetown13.

In every story, there is a kernel of truth.  Sometimes it takes years to find that kernel.

 

1. Leyden, Massachusetts Town Records, Vol. 3, p. 19; Ancestry.com
   
2. 1860 U.S. Census, Milford, Jefferson, WI Roll M653_1413; p. 395; Family History Library Film: 805413
3. Jefferson County, WI, Deeds, 1864-1865. Vol. 46. P. 133. Register of Deeds, Jefferson.
4. 1880 U. S. Census, Kearney, Buffalo, NE. Roll: 743; Page: 262A; Enumeration District 154.
5. 1880 U. S. Census, Taylor, Buffalo, NE. Roll: 743; Page: 285A; Enumeration District: 156.
6. 1880 U.S. Census1880; Taylor, Buffalo, Nebraska; Archive Collection Number: T1128; Roll: 5; Page: 15; Line: 6; Schedule Type: Agriculture
7. Homestead File, final certificate no. 6322, Land Entry Records for Nebraska, compiled 1857 – 1908, Record Group 49, National Archives, Washington, D. C. assessed Fold3.com.
8. Phillips-Kimball Family Bible 1816-1943 American Bible Society, New York, 1849. Photocopies of Family Pages held by Catherine Renschler, Juniata, NE. Location of original Bible unknown.
9. .ibid.
10. Fayette County Leader, 6 Jan 1893, p. 3. Accessed Newspapers.com.
11. The Dunn County News – 29 Nov 1884, P. 5.  Accessed Newspapers.com
12. Certificate of the Oath of Mail Contractors and Carriers; H. A. Phillips 5 August 1883. Private Collection Catherine Renschler Juniata, NE.  Westerville is an unincorporated community in Custer County.

13. Ibid, 15 June 1884. Georgetown is a former town in Custer County with a post office from 1877 to 1922.

 

 

 

 

   Every county in Nebraska has one or more ghost towns. One of Adams County’s ghost towns is Morseville, formerly located at the four corners of sections 17, 18, 19, and 20, Township 5 N, Range 12W—currently Logan Township.
   Adams County was established in 1871 with Juniata, located in the north-central area, as the county seat. The first settlers took the more desirable lands near Juniata and along the route of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, or in Little Blue Township, where water and trees were plentiful along the Little Blue River. By the mid-1870s, settlers were filing claims in the less desirable southwest part of the county, over ten miles south of the nearest railroad depot at Kenesaw.   In 1874 and 1875 several members of the Morse and Parks families homesteaded in Silver Lake (now Logan) township. The oldest of this group was Emily Parks Morse, born about 1820 in Dearborn County, Indiana. In her Homestead Proof, for the southeast quarter of Section 20, she stated she had settled in October 1875 and lived alone in a dugout for three years. Then she built a frame-roofed sod house 14 by 20 feet. Of her 160 acres, by 1880, she had broken 55 acres and planted crops, plus fruit and forest trees.1 It was very unusual for an elderly widow to homestead alone, but Emily had many relatives close by to help her, including her son Charles N. Morse in the same section.
   In 1877 George Washington Parks, Emily’s brother,  applied for a post office located on his homestead in the southeast quarter of Section 18, naming it Morseville.2 John Z. Benson was appointed postmaster in August 1878, replacing Parks, and in 1880, R. F. Arms became postmaster. The post office was discontinued in July 1889, and mail was sent to the new town of Holstein.3
   Searching newspapers yielded the most information about Morseville. In October 1934, the Springfield Monitor published a story about the estate of R. F. Arms’ widow. “The town of Morseville was in a corner of the Armes farm. (northeast corner of section 19) One room of a sod house was given over to the general store and post office, while the family occupied the remainder. The town consisted of a store, blacksmith shop, church, and school, and has long ago become nothing but a memory. It never had a railroad and passed out when Holstein and Campbell were established.
   Mr. Armes became postmaster a year before Harry Armes was born and held the post for eight years. The mail came in weekly from Kenesaw, with a horse and cart. It was one of four towns on a star route. Mr. Armes traveled 30 miles to Hastings to wholesalers to get supplies of groceries and dry goods. As postmaster, he got a percentage of his postage cancellations.”4
   In September 1882 the Hastings Gazette-Journal reported, “Our postmaster R. F. Arm (sic) is now the only merchant in the village, and he has a pretty fair trade. P. A. Vote, however, is putting up a two-story building, the lower room of which he is going to use for a store and the upper to be for a public hall. Mr. Vote on his return from California found his peach orchard well loaded down with fruit.”5
   The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) post No. 161, named Rocky Face, was organized in 1883. The GAR was a fraternal organization for Union Civil War veterans. Members met on the first Saturday of each month in Mr. Vote’s Morseville Hall. The roster on the first quarterly report dated Nov 20, 1883, included: G. W. Parks, John F. Presley, I. W. Jenkins, D. F. Nicholas, H. C. Minnix, Daniel B. McCurdy, R. S. White, Joseph McCoy, J. P. Hartgraves, and Wesley Gross. Names added by March 31, 1884, were Nathaniel Munroe, Samuel P. Moore, D. S. Wilkinson, W. Farrer, Geo W. Bunton, Robt Chambers, and Reuben F. Armes. In 1885, John Lawler was added, and I. W. Jenkins dropped. The last report was in September 1887 when Isaac Snyder and John W. Gross were added and Wesley Gross, H. C. Minnix, and Robert Chambers were dropped.6
   1883 was a busy year in Morseville. The town was growing with the addition of a blacksmith shop built by Hugh Minnicks, an addition to Vote’s building, and a new house a half mile west of town built by D. F. Nichols. Independence Day was celebrated with speeches, picnics, and a dance.7
   The Morseville School, District 73, was established in 1885, from parts of districts 61 & 63, in the southwest corner of Section 17. The last school year was 1948-49. The school building had served as a community center, and a United Brethren congregation met there. Morseville never had a separate church building.8
   The Kansas City and Omaha Railroad was built across southern Adams County in 1887, establishing the town of Holstein seven miles northeast of Morseville.9 Being bypassed by the railroad was the death knell for towns on the plains, and Morseville, never an incorporated village, began its decline.
   However, Morseville continued to be mentioned in local newspapers. The Kearney County Democrat in February 1887 noted that “A dance will be held at the Morseville Opera house opposite R. F. Arms’ wholesale boot and shoe store; R. F. Arms, floor manager. Sampson Burkholder is building a broom corn house 16 x 100 feet. Rev. Joe McCoy preaches every two weeks at the White Schoolhouse. The coffee house is still in full blast, warm meals at all hours. Coffee and squash is all the go.”10
In April 1888, the Adams County Democrat published a liquor license notice. “Notice is hereby given that I have made application for a Druggist’s Permit to sell liquor for medicinal, mechanical, and chemical purposes in the village of Morseville. A. L. Kimple.”11 Gradually, the newspaper mentions petered out.   Today only the little Morseville Cemetery, with about 40 known graves, remains to suggest that the town ever existed.12

1. Emily Morse Homestead Proof – Testimony of Claimant, final certificate no. 2753, Bloomington, Nebraska Land Office; Land Entry Records for Nebraska, 1857-1908; Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49; National Archives, Washington, D. C., consulted at Fold3.com (https://www.fold3.com/image/295892510 ).

2. Post Office Reports of Site Locations, 1837-1950, NARA microfilm publication M1126 (683rolls), roll 357, Adams – Brown counties, Image 776, consulted at (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/68513967?objectPage=776).

3. Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-September 30, 1971, NARA microfilm publication M841, Roll 77; National Archives and Records Administration, consulted at Ancestry.com. (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1932/images/30439_065462-00028?ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=899517 ).

4. “Many Interesting Keepsakes Found in Personal Effects of Mrs. A. G. Armes” Springfield Monitor Springfield, Nebraska 11 Oct 1934, page 1 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/754746096/?terms=%22A%20G%20Armes%22%20).

5. “Morseville News Items” Hastings Gazette-Journal 21 September 1883 p. 1, col. 6 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/701348115/?terms=%22P%20A%20Vote%22%20&match=1).

6. Rocky Face Post 161, Morseville, Nebraska, Grand Army of the Republic Department of Nebraska, RG026, Series 8, Reports of the Adjutant and Quartermaster of each post, 1879-1944, History Nebraska, Lincoln.

7. “Morseville Splinters” The Juniata Herald 12 July 1883, p. 3, col. 4 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/707705085/?terms=Morseville&match=1).

8. Creigh, Dorothy Weyer. “Adams County: The Story, 1872-1972”. Hastings, Nebraska, 1972, p. 546.

9. Creigh, Ibid., p. 925.

10. “From Morseville” Kearney County Democrat, 22 February 1887, p 5. (https://www.newspapers.com/image/726601760/?terms=Morseville&match=1).

11. “Liquor License” Adams County Democrat, 7 April 1888, p. 1. (https://www.newspapers.com/image/673580395/?terms=Morseville&match=1).

12. Morseville Cemetery, Findagrave.com. (https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/100991/morseville-cemetery).

Peter Theisen 1828 – 1913

   My second great-grandfather, Peter Theisen, was born on March 19, 1828, in Bertrange, a small town about 4 miles west of Luxembourg City.  He was the sixth child and fourth son of Peter and Anna Wirth Theysen.  His father, age 33, was a farmer. Peter was baptized as Pierre (French for Peter) the day he was born.

Registres de l’état civil de Bertrange (Luxembourg), 1796-1923 accessed at FamilySearch.org

The next record I found for Peter was the 1843 census of Bertrange when he was 14 years old.   His father was still a farmer, and the family had eight living children.

Bertrange street scene about 1910.  These typical buildings would have been standing while Peter Theisen lived in Bertrange.  

Peter’s father, also Peter Theisen (Theysen), who was born at Aspelt on May 1, 1794, died at Bertrange on October 5, 1846, when Peter was 18 years old.  No cause of death is given in the record.

The December 1846 census of Everlange, Useldange (about 14 miles northwest of Bertrange), lists a Pierre Theisen, born in 1826 at Bertrange, occupation: domestic, in the household of Julien Drohm, a farmer.  Despite the age difference, this could be our Peter.  He does not appear on the Bertrange 1846 census with his family.  His older brother Joseph was a farmer, probably on the land his father had farmed.

The December 1855 census of Bertrange does not list Pierre Theisen.  His widowed mother, with his siblings Nicholas, Anne, Susanne, and Joseph, and Joseph’s wife and children, were all living in the Theisen house.

Peter Theisen and Maria (Mary Ann)  Lux were married on October 16, 1856, at Holy Trinity Church in Dubuque.  Their witnesses were Nicolaus Theisen–Peter’s younger brother, and Elisabeth Lux–Mary’s younger sister.

Holy Trinity Church, Dubuque, Iowa

When did Peter come to America?  Both the 1900 and 1910 U.S. censuses list his year of immigration as 1855.  On the 1900 census, Peter’s younger brother, Nicholas, who settled near Dubuque, Iowa, reported immigrating in 1855.  However, Nicholas is listed on the December 1855 census of Bertrange.  They were both present in October 1856 when Peter was married in Dubuque.  I searched ship passenger indexes and searched some 1855 months person by person, and have not found Peter Theisen or his brother Nicholas on any passenger list.

A brief history of Luxembourg during the early 1800s will shed some light on why Peter immigrated.

In 1815 European powers met at the Congress of Vienna and decided that Luxembourg would be a duchy ruled by King William I of the Netherlands as grand duke.  William levied heavy taxes and treated Luxembourg like his personal property.   In 1830, the Luxembourgers helped Belgium revolt; after that, both King William and Belgium claimed Luxembourg.  In 1839, Luxembourg was split, with the western French-speaking part becoming Luxembourg Province in Belgium. What remained still belonged to the Netherlands but had more independence.  Educational standards were raised, good roads were built, and agricultural methods were improved.

However, the country was still dependent on agriculture and wine production.  There was little work, and times were hard.  Harvests in 1851, 1852, and 1853 were barely adequate.  In 1854 the region along the Belgium border suffered a crop failure.  The harvest in 1855 and 1856 was far below average.

The poor economy led to the emigration of young people seeking opportunities.  Twenty residents of Bertrange immigrated to the USA in 1852, and from January through March 1854, 77 persons left the town.  On April 12, 1855, 414 persons left Luxembourg for America. These numbers came from “Luxmbourgers in the New World”  Vol. 1 by Nicholas Gonner, published in 1889.

An emigration record may exist in Luxembourg, but unfortunately, those are not available online.

 

 

 

 

The majority of early 20^th-century Adams County residents were farmers, but while searching for postcards of Juniata, Nebraska, I found two cards showing the Norris Skunk Farm.  That piqued my interest, so I decided to see what I could learn about Mr. Norris and skunk farming in the area.

Osea D. Norris was born in December 1868 in Illinois to Ira M. and Laura A. (Adams) Norris.  The family moved to a farm in Juniata Township, Adams County, in 1880.  Osea married Laura Belle Lancaster in 1893.  She died in 1907 and is buried beside her parents in the Juniata Cemetery.  They had no children.  He died May 6, 1949, and is buried beside his parents in the Juniata Cemetery.

The Hastings Daily Republican of January 17, 1914, carried the following story on the front page.

Race of Odorless, Domesticated Skunks Developed by Local Farmer

   “Osea Norris, Adams County farmer residing near this city, has bred a race of odorless skunks with which he is developing an industry which promises him a fortune.  The domesticated mephitis mephitica as they are technically known are docile and affectionate making pets which children of the household play with the same as the ordinary cat or dog.  The animals are omnivorous but will fatten on food on which dogs or cats would starve to death rather than eat.  In the fall of the year, regardless of scanty food supply, they will lay on fat which together with their skins make them most valuable.

  Starting with a pair of thoroughbred skunks, Mr. Norris removed the small sacs containing the objectionable fluid with which Mr. Skunk makes life in the immediate atmosphere unbearable, and after repeated experiments has succeeded in developing a race free from odor.

   Last fall he butchered those not wanted for breeding purposes, removing the pelts and frying out the oils.  Disposing of the pelts readily at $5 each and the oil at $4.00 per gallon, Mr. Norris has left a net profit of several hundred percent.

   Though the pure food laws may possibly object to the sale of the meat for food purposes, there is another possible source of revenue on an article of food said to be quite as delicious as young chicken.

   It requires but little capital, the business grows rapidly and of course, I have as yet no competition.  The pelts, according to their size, color, and stripe, vary in price from $3 to $6.  I raised over seventy this year and this is only my second season.

   Drouths or wet seasons are said to have no effect on the new industry on which Mr. Norris realized more profit last season than from his entire farming operation.  He said the longer hair of the furs was sought by hat manufacturers and that the fur itself was highly prized by fur manufacturers who dispose of their goods to the discriminating society women under popular names.”

I wonder if the “discriminating society women” knew that their hats and furs were made from skunks.

On January 2, 1915, the Hastings Daily Republican reported that Art Beard, a young farmer living southwest of Hastings, had imported some “star-faced breed” skunks from Spencer, Indiana.  Evidently, the skins “commanded $8 on the fur market.”  He reportedly had been in the skunk-raising business since “last year” when he caught a couple of skunks along Elm Creek.  He fed his skunks dead poultry, which he got from the Hastings poultry businesses. Skunk raising must not have been as profitable as anticipated, as the James Arthur Beard family disappeared from Adams County in 1917.   He died in May 1959 at Spokane, Washington, and is buried in Greenwood Memorial Terrace

 

The oldest child in a large family, Matt Trausch began farm work at a young age.  In mid-1891 when Matt was 13-years-old his father Thomas broke his leg and Matt took over the farming operation. (1)  Later in the 1890s, Matt worked for Henry Hagemann a carpenter who constructed many buildings in the Holstein and Roseland area.  It was Hagemann who taught him the carpenter trade.  However, the area still hadn’t recovered from the devastating mid-decade depression and drought, and there wasn’t much demand for new buildings. (2)

Matt was in his early 20s and needed dependable work. His father had a large family to support and didn’t pay Matt wages for his farm work which helped support the family.  The  Adams County Democrat  carried the following news on April 28, 1899:  “Frank Hennigan received word to put on five section men Tuesday and now Ben Coday, Matt Trausch, John Linen, and Geo Hennigan besides foreman Hennigan are at work.” (3)

During 1887, the Kansas City & Omaha Railroad was built across southern Adams County, establishing the towns of Pauline, LeRoy, Roseland, and Holstein.  Matt began his railroad career working as a section hand on that line.  Section hands maintained a section of track in the years before the work was done by machines.

How Matt learned about the jobs available at the Burlington Railroad’s  Aurora, Illinois repair shops is unknown.  It may have been through correspondence with his relatives in Aurora.  In 1857 the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB & Q) built a large roundhouse and repair shops in Aurora. Over the years, the facilities were expanded, and large brick buildings were constructed.  For a history of the Aurora shops and roundhouse, see  https://www.historic-structures.com/il/aurora/cbq_railroad_roundhouse2.php

In January 1900, Matt and his friend Peter Konen made a “pleasure trip” to Aurora. (4)  Matt remained there, and on June 8^th, the census taker found him living with the John and Katherine Burscheid family.  Katherine Trausch Burscheid, born April 7, 1865, in Stolzembourg, Luxembourg, was Matt’s first cousin.  Also in the household were four Burscheid children and Margaret Pauls Trausch, Katherine’s mother. (5)  Matt paid room and board to Katherine. In later years, Matt would not eat cooked cabbage because it was served to him nearly every day for two years.

   Information about Matt’s time in Aurora came from family interviews.  “Then Matt went to Illinois to work in the railroad shops.  He sent every cent home, and they got the farm debt paid.  Matt always figured he was going to be an engineer on the railroad.  Then they had that terrible wreck, and men and cows were killed.  Matt had enough, he wrote home for his Dad to buy him a farm.” (6)

“He worked in the railroad shops in Aurora, Illinois. They repaired railroad cars in the shops. If they needed more cars, they even built them.  There was a crew on each corner working in teams. When there was an accident, the crews were called out to help.” (7)

In February 1901, the Adams County Democrat reported that “Matt and John Trausch have gone to Aurora, Illinois to work.  Matt has been there for the past year, but had been home on a visit, and his brother John went along expecting to find work.”  (8)

The 1902 Aurora City Directory lists John, Matt, and Margaret Trausch (their aunt) all living at 494 Kane Street, the Burscheid family residence.  John and Matt are both listed as carpenters for the “Q”—the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.  (9)

In November 1901, a CB & Q stock train collided with a freight train near Walnut, Illinois.  Matt was sent out to help clear the wreck.  That experience had a profound effect on him.  “There was a whole trainload of cattle. The cattle were all killed and injured. Dad had to go out and work on the cleanup. Cattle were bellowing and hollering. People were crowding around to see. Dad said they would throw pieces of cow livers to make the people leave. Some people were killed in the wreck, too. Then the train caught fire, and some cattle burned. That wreck went against him so, that was one reason he quit the railroad.” (11)

After the train wreck, Matt wrote to his father asking him to buy a farm so he could come home.  While working in Aurora, Matt and John had saved the money used to purchase the farm.  In January 1902, Thomas Trausch purchased the NE ¼ of Section 10, T6, R11 (Roseland Township) for the sum of $6,400 or $40 an acre.

“When Matt and John came home from Illinois, on the way out, they bought a binder in Hastings before they ever got to the farm.  The wheat was ready to harvest when they got here.  Their Dad, Thomas, had hired someone to plant the wheat for them in the spring, and they kept working to make a little more money.  Then, when their folks wrote that the wheat was about ready, they quit their jobs and came home to harvest it.”  (12)

“ That was a self-tying binder they bought. It tied bundles, then when five or six bundles were on the carrier, there was a foot trip; you tripped the bundles off in windrows. Then you came along and shocked them by hand. That was a great improvement. You didn’t have to carry the bundles along until you got enough for a shock. The first binders didn’t do that. The shocks were all in a row and when you threshed you drove along with a hay rack, the team (of horses) would go by themselves, and you stood there and pitched them on the rack, say git-up to the team, and go to the next shock.” (13)

The farm Thomas purchased for his sons was located two miles east of Assumption, which was the center of the German-speaking Catholic community.  Eventually, John sold his share of the farm to Matt.  Matt lived on the farm that his railroad wages helped purchase until his death in 1958.

 

1.  Juniata Herald June 24, 1891  “Roseland Reporter”
2.  Ed Trausch  October 26, 1982, interviewed by Catherine Trausch Renschler
3.  Adams County Democrat  April 28, 1899 pg 2 “Roseland Items”
4.  Adams County Democrat  January 19, 1900, page 7 “The South Side”
5.  1900 Census taken June 8, 1900, Aurora Ward 6, Kane County, ILL  house 494 Kane St.  pg 138A   https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4113770_00037?pId=813337
6. Catherine Kaiser Trausch June 1972, interviewed by Catherine Trausch Renschler
7.  Ed Trausch  October 26, 1982, interviewed by Catherine Trausch Renschler
8.  Adams County Democrat February 8, 1901, page 6, “The South Side”
9. Aurora, Illinois City Directory 1902, page 484 https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/4562033?ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=1233339531
10. 1898 photo of repair shops https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/2016/02/cb-roundhouses-in-aurora-il.html
11. Bert Trausch October 26, 1982, interviewed by Catherine Trausch Renschler
12. Edna Kline Trausch September 1984, interviewed by Catherine Trausch Renschler
13. Bert Trausch September 1984, interviewed by Catherine Trausch Renschler

My great Grandfather, Thomas Trausch, was born 179 years ago on May 5, 1844, in the small village of Stolzembourg, Luxembourg located on the Our River which separates Luxembourg from Germany. His father, also named Thomas Trausch, operated the grist mill in Stolzembourg and Thomas was born in the attached residence.  His mother Marguerite Weiler, aged 36, was a native of the nearby village of Putscheid, Luxembourg.  Thomas was their tenth child, but four of his older siblings had died in infancy.

Thomas was baptized on May 6th.  His godparents were Thomas Weiler, his uncle, a farmer of Putsheid, and Magdalena Trausch, his sister age 12, of Stolzembourg.  Thomas was almost five years old when his father died in April 1849.  His mother remarried in March 1852 to Anton Scheiffen a farmer of Stolzembourg.

Very little is known about Thomas’s life in Luxembourg.  His stepfather continued the mill operation.  Sylvester Trausch, the youngest son of Thomas, told that his father’s job was to pick up grain and to deliver flour to surrounding areas.  Thomas hid a bottle of Schnaps under the sacks.  The best customers always got a “schluck” out of the bottle.

In July 1870 war broke out between France and Prussia which controlled Luxembourg.  Thomas age 26 and unmarried left Luxembourg to escape conscription into the Prussian army.   He sailed from Liverpool, England on the Red Star Line in September and landed in New York City on October 14, 1870.  He then went to Aurora, Illinois which had a large Luxembourg settlement.

At least two families from Stolzembourg were living in Aurora in 1870.  The John Bausch family who are buried at Assumption and the Nick Rausch family whose daughter Elizabeth married Nick Konen and is buried at Assumption.  Thomas declared his intention to become a US citizen in October 1872 at Aurora.

The Peter Schifferns family was living in Naperville, DuPage County, Illinois in 1870.  Naperville is about 10 miles east of Aurora.  Apparently, Thomas moved to Naperville sometime after October 1872 as on his March 31, 1876 application to buy land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad he stated he had just arrived in Nebraska and his last residence was Naperville.

Thomas signed a contract to purchase the northwest quarter of section 17, township 6, range 11W (now Roseland Township) from the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad for $5.00 an acre, a total of $800 on ten years credit.  He paid $48 down, which included his railroad fare.  He requested that his contract be sent to John Bush at the Juniata post office.  The CB&Q  Railroad deed to Thomas is dated March 2, 1885.  He had paid a total of $1015.13 for the farm.   According to Thomas’s daughter, Mary Trausch Williams, he worked for Peter Schifferns his first year in Nebraska.

On October 29, 1876, Thomas married Anna Marie Schifferns, the oldest daughter of Peter and Susanna (Pauli) Schifferns.  She was 18 and Thomas was 32 years old.  They were married by Father Lechleitner from Crete in the Busch school house which was located one mile west of Assumption.  In 1876 Assumption church and village had not been established.  There are no known photographs of Thomas and Anna as a young couple.

After their marriage, Thomas and Anna set up housekeeping in a dugout that was excavated in the west slope of a draw near the northeast corner of the farm. Their oldest son, my grandfather Mathias, was born in the dugout on September 29, 1877.  He was baptized in Juniata by Father Lechleitner as the church hadn’t been built.   Between 1877 and 1905 thirteen children, eleven sons and two daughters were born to Anna and Thomas.  Their fourth child, a son Peter, was born and died in 1883 and is buried in the Assumption Cemetery in an unmarked grave.  Two other sons, Edward 1888 – 1896 and Anton 1898 – 1907 died in tragic accidents which is another story.

The 1880 Adams County assessment record gives us a glimpse of the Trausch farm operation.  Thomas had 130 acres under cultivation, 80 acres in wheat, 25 acres in corn, 11 acres in oats, and 2.4 acres in potatoes.  Inexplicably the Trausch farm is missing from the Federal 1880 and State 1885 Adams County Agricultural Censuses.  Roseland Township’s 1895 Assessment Book lists the following for Thomas: 6 horses, 4 cattle, 14 hogs, 2 carriages or wagons, and 1 sewing machine.

Finally, in 1883, the Catholic farmers in northern Cottonwood (now Roseland) Township scraped together the money and settled their differences about on which side of the lagoon to build their church.  It must have been a blessing for Thomas and Anna to have their church just one mile north and one mile east of their home.

On November 2, 1889, Henrietta and Abraham Loeb deeded the southwest quarter of Section 17 to Anna Trausch for $2,000.  That same day she and Thomas mortgaged the land for $1,000, apparently having paid half in cash.    The 1880s had been good years for Adams County farmers; rainfall was adequate, and grain prices were profitable.  In 1889 wheat was around .40 and corn .18 a bushel.  Hogs were about $3.00 a hundredweight, and chickens were .07 a pound.

In 1886, the village of Roseland was established just two miles south and one and a half miles east of the Thomas Trausch farmstead.   Many of Thomas and Anna’s descendants have lived in and near Roseland ever since.

On 24 June 1891,  The Juniata Herald newspaper copied the following from The Roseland Reporter:  “Thomas Trausch who lives three miles northwest of town, met with a serious accident yesterday afternoon.  While digging a cellar under his house, the wall caved in and broke his leg in two places above the knee and upper third of the thigh.  Dr. Bacon of this place and Dr. Ackley of Juniata reduced the fracture.”  Later, his crutch slipped on a potato peel on the kitchen floor, and he fell and broke the leg again.  Complications from the break disabled Thomas for several years.  While he was incapacitated, Matt, age 14, and John, age 12, did the farming.  That is also a story for another day.

Rather than Gay Nineties, the term Grim Nineties better describes the decade in Adams County.  The financial panic of 1893 was caused by speculation, silver from new mines flooding the market, and the failure of large banks causing runs on smaller banks.  The price of corn dropped so much that it was cheaper to burn corn rather than coal for fuel.  Then the devastating drought of 1894 struck.  Almost no crops were raised in Adams County, farmers couldn’t pay their mortgages, and local banks failed.   Those who could left, going either back east or to the West Coast.    My ancestors didn’t leave.  The Trausch and Schifferns families had no one back east to take them in, and they didn’t have the money nor the desire to return to Europe.  The Kaiser and Kline families didn’t want to give up their homes and managed to scrape by paying only the interest on their mortgages.

By 1900 the economy was turning around.  In January 1902 Thomas purchased the Oscar Wood quarter section two miles east of Assumption for his sons Matt and John, who were working in the Burlington railroad shops in Aurora, Illinois.  The boys came home, repaid their father for the land, and went into farming.  In March 1902 Thomas sold 2,000 bushels of wheat to J. H. Pope in Roseland.  The market price was about  .60 a bushel.  In early 1904 Thomas built a large addition to his farmhouse, then painted it green, and in December he surprised his children with an organ.  In 1905 Thomas and Anna took a trip to Canada to see the country and visit her brother Matt Schifferns who had moved to  Windthorst, Saskatchewan.  Their last child, Sylvester, was born in November 1905.  Anna was 47, and Thomas was 61 years old.

The Roseland Brickyard was established by Thomas’s sons John, George, Peter, and Will. In November 1911 Thomas bought lots in block 10 of Roseland for $500.   In January 1912 Thomas retired from farming and sold his livestock and machinery at an auction.

In March 1912, construction of a new house for Thomas and Anna began using brick from their sons’ brickyard.  In June the Roseland correspondent to the Adams County Democrat called it the “most beautiful residence in town.”

A disastrous fire in August 1913 destroyed a block of business buildings on the west side of Main Street.   Thomas and Anna’s brick house was west across the alley, and they were afraid it would catch fire.  Their sons threw water on the roof and hung wet blankets over the large east window to keep it from breaking.

In May 1914 Thomas and Anna traveled by train to Aurora, Illinois, where they spent several weeks visiting friends and relatives.

The U.S. entered World War I in April 1917.  The war was devastating for older people like Thomas and Anna who did not speak English well.  There was a lot of anti-German sentiment, and their thick accents made their nationality obvious. Speaking German in church, school, or over the telephone was outlawed.  Additionally, they worried about their son Joe, who was drafted, and about the sons of relatives and friends.

On August 24, 1921, after 45 years of marriage, Anna Schifferns Trausch, aged 63, died at her home in Roseland.  The cause of her death was colon cancer.  Thomas continued to live in the Roseland house with his sons Joe and Sylvester and daughter Margaret.

Thomas died at his home in Roseland on February 19, 1926, at the age of 82.  The body was prepared by the undertaker, then laid out in the parlor for the wake, which traditionally involved family and friends keeping watch over the body of the dead person.  His funeral was held in the Roseland Sacred Heart Church, and he was buried in the Assumption Cemetery beside his wife and children.

During several interviews with my Uncle Ed Trausch, Thomas’s oldest grandson, and my father Bert Trausch, we talked about their grandparents.  These are their memories of their “Grosspa” Trausch.

What do you remember about your Grandpa Trausch?

Ed:  “He was short, I’d say about 5 feet, 7 inches. We got our height from the Schifferens. He grew a beard. He liked kids. He was quiet and friendly, but not aggressive in carrying on a conversation. You ask him a question; he’d answer it. But he wouldn’t take the initiative. Grandma talked more.

Bert:  He lit his pipe in the morning, and it was red hot until he went to bed.  He smoked from morning to night.”

Ed:  “I remember Grandpa telling that he had lived in Illinois for a little while, then he came to Juniata and traveled, I don’t know how, out to Schifferens farm.  He worked for old Peter Schifferens the first year. I remember Grandpa telling that when they first came here, food was so scarce they made a trap to catch snowbirds to eat. They set up a board, put seed under it, then when the birds came to eat, they pulled the string and caught the birds. The first winter they lived on birds and rabbits. They lived in a dugout when they were first married.  Later they built a frame house. After the house was built, Grandpa dug a basement under the house. That’s when he broke his leg. Then Dad had to do the farming while Grandpa was laid up.”

Did your Grandparents talk to you in German or English?

Ed.  “Grandpa Trausch couldn’t talk English until during the First World War, some time.  When he was forced to talk English, he would stagger through it.  At home he talked German.  We did too for a long time.”

Bert.  “I remember Grandma Trausch would call us, and Mom wasn’t in the house, and I’d talk German to her on the phone.  They always talked German; they didn’t understand English very well.  We talked German at home too.  When Grandma talked on the phone, I’d say “Nicht Verstehen” (I don’t understand).  She didn’t talk loud enough.”

What did your Grandpa Trausch say when he cussed?

Bert.  “I never heard him cuss.”

Ed.  “He would say ‘verdammen.’

Could he read and write?

Ed: “Ya, in German. In Luxembourg, he worked in the family flour mill, carried sacks of grain, and dumped them in the mill. He came to America to stay out of the German army.”

Did your Grandparents go to Hastings much?

Bert.  “Not that I know of; everything was in Roseland then: grocery store, shoe store, doctor, everything.”

 Were there dances around the community?

Ed:  “Oh yes, in the early days there were barn dances. I remember going to Grandpa Trausch’s to a square dance.  John Pittz did the calling.”

Did your Grandma and Grandpa Trausch have a car?

Bert.  “No, Grandpa used to come over to our house driving Daisy.  He had a pretty good buggy.  Grandpa Trausch never owned a car.  Pete and George and Joe had cars over there, but not Grandpa.”

Do you remember when they built their house in Roseland?

Bert  “Ya, don’t remember the year; it was bricks from the Roseland brickyard. The kitchen was on the south side, dining room in the northwest corner, living room on the northeast. I think the stairway was enclosed. They had a bathroom; I don’t remember where it was. They had a well and a pump jack. Aunt Maggie lived at home until she married Frank Kaiser. She was older when she got married; it was after her mother had died. Pete’s first wife died, and Maggie raised Marcella. Vet, Maggie, and Joe lived there with Grandpa. Vet was only fifteen when his mother died.”

You were old enough by World War I to be aware of politics. What did your grandparents say about the war?

Ed: “They were for America. In fact, Grandpa left Luxembourg to stay out of the German army. They never mentioned being concerned about fighting their relatives in Europe. My uncles on both sides went to World War I, both Trausch and Kaiser.”

Did they ever mention the bad feelings against them because they were German?

Ed:  “Oh, ya. Mostly the Ku Klux Klan. They were active here. They had meetings in the Kendall draw that runs through south of the Schiffler place. [One mile south of the Matt Trausch farmstead.] There was a lot of persecution against the Germans, mostly Catholics. They never attacked us physically, just through pamphlets and publicity. They burned the Kaiser in effigy around here. We weren’t permitted to speak German. We had to quit having German services in church and German grammar in school. The old folks who couldn’t talk English had to have their children do their trading for them. All German newspapers were banned. It was difficult for the folks. They felt persecuted.”

Bert:  “The old folks were scared to go to town. If they spoke German, they got beat up. Grandpa couldn’t speak English until the First World War when he was forced to stagger through it. You know when Grandpa Trausch got here, he could have picked out level ground, but he picked out draws and hills because of the water in them. The poorest farm ground was settled first on that account.”

What did your Grandpa Trausch die from?

Bert.  “I don’t know, he was old. I remember going to the wake at the house in Roseland.  The funeral was in the Roseland church, then they brought him to Assumption to bury him. The hearse was an auto one.”

Do you remember your Grandparents’ funerals?

 Bert:  “What I remember is that Williams took pictures of them in their coffin.  Years ago, when they took a picture, they set off about a pound of powder to make a flash.  I remember the doors even puffed out on that room from the flash.  Williams, my uncle, took that picture; he was a photographer