Waumandee heard from!

Whoa--I just got off the phone with Mathias' son Valentine's daughter Edna's son, Roger. He's a FONT of Hesch Genealogy, from the Waumandee perspective, while I see the Hesch clan from the Minnesota perspective. We made connections like crazy...lol

He and his wife Mary winter in Florida, but once he gets home in April, he'll send pictures of his great grandparents (!) and his grandparents, so I'll post pictures of Mathias & Agnes' family, as well as Valentine & Lena's. BTW, he said Mathias always wore a big black beard, and had curly black hair and brown eyes.

In exchange, I told him about the CESKEARCHIVY and finding both our great grandfathers' birth records there. I'll send him copies of the pages where they appear, with the translations, AND the reunion invitation. Sounds like they just might show up...lol

He's about 10 years older than I am and has been at this for years--finding relatives and connections the hard way, without the internet. Whew! He said the next time I'm in Winona, he'd show Kathy and me around Waumandee: the original homestead where Johann & Mary settled, where Math & Aggie settled, etc., and the Hesch Land Trust there, out on Hesch Valley Road.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was missing two of Mathias' daughters, namely Lillian and Anna, right? He said Lillian married William Block, and Anna married John Rauch. Odd, there are people he knew who are only tombstones to me, but they're related to us both.

Oh, and he knew exactly who Hunzie Hesch was!