SYLVESTER HESCH BORN & DIED OCT 31 1915
Sue contacted the Franciscan Sisters in Little Falls, and the answer came yesterday. In part:
"The two women with veils in the photo: The one wearing the white veil is a Novice and the next step for her would be First Profession or First Vows where she would receive her black veil.
The woman standing next to the gentleman is a "Postulant" who would not have the title of "Sister" as of yet"......
"Loretta Anna" Hesch
Parents: John & Catherine Hesch; Birth November 10, 1909;
Entered: November 10, 1926 (she was 17);
Reception: August 12, 1927;
First Profession: August 12, 1929"....
"Sr. Whilomina received her "Black Veil" at her First Profession on August 12, 1929".
I think the picture was taken BEFORE the First Profession ceremony that day in August, 1929.
A special thank you to Judi Welle, Director of Archives, Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls!
"In 1936 or about, Val and Lena purchased about 140 acres in section 35 of the town of Montana (about a mile from their farm). This property had 2 houses on it as it originally consisted of two farms. In 1937, they rented this farm to Ted and Edna (Hesch) Weaver. In 1942, Ted Weaver died and Edna continued to farm with her brother Leonard until 1943 when he married. Leonard purchased the personal property from Edna. At this time, Edna and her two boys moved back on the home farm and lived with her brother Rudy until his marriage to Lucille (Dworschak) in 1947.Meanwhile, Rudy had purchased the personal property on the home farm from his dad, Valentine. Val had been renting out the extra home he owned on Leonard's farm, and in June 1946, died at that site while showing it to a couple from Winona who wanted to purchase it. He died of a heart attack; his grandson Roger was with him at the time of death".
BTW, in 1936, Lucille was 13, Rudolph was 26, Edna was 25 and Leonard was 16, so Elizabeth would have been 10. And look--the guys already have "Hesch hands"!
From newspaper accounts of their life together, we know they had lots of parties and gatherings at their house...or else, they knew the local reporter, too...lol
This is 38 years later, in 1945. Do YOU see any "Hesch" in him? When you compare him with his brother John, in the family picture below, his profile is stocky where John's is taller. Seems like Val took after his dad, and John took after his uncle Paul...
On the 16th of May, 1877, in the 102nd year of the Independence of the United States, my great-great grandfather became a citizen....thereby making his wife and offspring citizens, too.
This photo of Mathias (left) was taken about 1926, so he would have been 77, an age Paul never attained. Paul would have been about 50 here.
I transcribed what Roger wrote above and below the photo. I'm assuming this was their farm house near Waumandee, Wisconsin. Agnes (standing next to her dad, left) didn't move with them to Pierz, but Rose did, and she's not pictured. Rose died in Pierz in 1917 and may already have been an invalid by this time....or, maybe she took the picture.
And HERE is the much-awaited family portrait:
Roger included who each one married, just so we're clear. And, he sent along a note saying he wouldn't be able to be at the reunion because they have to be at a Hesch wedding in Arcadia that day: Valentine's great grandson, Joel. Continuing the line is a good thing, right? But I REALLY wanted to meet Roger and his wife, Mary.
Oh, and even if Roger is computer-phobic, I have to say
THANK YOU, ROGER!!!
(Disclaimer: This is a page from our Bohemia to Buckman tree on Family Tree Maker software. I think it's substantially correct, but there could be mistakes, ok?)
Second from left is the woman mentioned up there...and here's her obituary. Obviously, they didn't know her birth name...
THIS is the doctor who attended Paul Hesch after he fell from the wagon and broke his back.
Here's a picture of some of the dads, sons, uncles, brothers and husbands who've influenced us in the past 140 years: not all are technically fathers, one or two aren't related, only three were perfect, and I'm certainly missing quite a few, but they've all taught us stuff--like German words, how to drive a nail or a car, how to go fishing, what makes a beer (or a joke) good. They've laughed with us and at us, they held us close, they wiped our noses and changed our diapers, and they were/are VERY proud of us (or should be...lol).
(I'm CONSTANTLY amazed by what Larry finds...lol)
We went to the cemetery because at the time, we thought maybe Johann and Maria were there...but no, they're buried in Pierz, which was as much "home" as Waumandee to them.
Kathy knew there was a "Hesch Valley Road", so she showed me...lol It's beyond the town, halfway to Montana, Wisconsin.
(BTW, I have it in pdf, if you're interested. Then you can read every glowing word!)
(Quiz at the end of the hour...lol)
So when Larry found this next clip, KULIG stuck out. Dorothy, daughter of Simon...hmm, that needs investigating....Yup, Simon was Alexander's brother, so he was Gene Kulig's Uncle Simon...and Dorothy was Gene's first cousin:
She married a Dworschak from Arcadia...lol...practically a suburb of Waumandee, and a name we've seen before here on Hesch History.
Pretty neat!
Update: Heres an article called the Polish Silesian Settlement in Central Minnesota. It gives reasons why people left Silesia (and Europe) in the 1860s, and there's a list of very familiar names at the bottom, including Kulig. The author says those folks came from northeast of Opole. (Otrembas came from just southwest of Opole). He also mentions the other major settlement of Poles--Independence, Wisconsin!
In my head, I know who was who's kid, and that it was Thanksgiving the year after Val died. I have faces in my imagination, and they look vaguely like us...lol With any luck, we'll find out for sure in August, at the reunion!
According to the back of the photo, (from left ), 1 is Agnes (Mueller) Braun, Ket's sister, 2 is her daughter Adella Braun at 17, and 3 (hidden) Pete Braun, then 4 Girlie, 5 Johnny Boy, 6 is the postulant Laura, 7 Ket, 8 ?? and 9 Andrew Suess. We're working on filling in information...but the only one we DON'T know now is the girl between Ket and Andrew!
Looks like convent life didn't work out for Laura (but genealogical sleuthing works for ME!).
If you look at a map, the store is at the intersection of Lakin, Morrill, Mt. Morris and Hillman townships...lol In records, the name's spelled a dozen ways (Gottwald, Gotvald, Gottwaldt, Gotwald, Gotwalt....and here, GOTVILD) but usually pronounced Gut-walt.
LOL...sounds like a fun person, too! 
This took place 67 years ago, yesterday. We'll have to do more research into the Mischkes now..
Isn't that COOL?
Here's Elizabeth's obit from after a whole lifetime we didn't know about:
Whew! The issue was national news, partly because we weren't the ONLY state dealing with it:
The controversy dragged on for more than fifty years, when dynamite was again left for the priest, and a parishoner was excommunicated in Pierz. These days, there's a public and a parochial school in town serving a wide area, and sadly, no nuns.
A Hesch birth in 1917, with no name. That would have been after the twins in 1915, and before Fronie, in 1919. It has to be the missing child everyone has debated for years, huh?
Here's another thing we've noticed: The pin Lena was wearing on her sister Elizabeth's wedding day. It was 1910, well before there was any other meaning to it except luck and German solidarity.
And...a man who could very well be related: He was born in Elbeteinitz, a German village about 40 miles east of Prague, or 50 miles from Oberschlagles. He was a famous bass, born in 1860.
Go to THIS PAGE to hear him sing (Scroll to the bottom).
LOL...I'll add more fun stuff as we find it!
MORE THANKS to my favorite researcher, Larry!
Sue sent the obit and funeral card last night. Adam and Elizabeth Mueller were Ket's parents. (Ket married John Hesch).
BTW, the U with two dots above it is pronounced UE in English, so when the German letter isn't available in typeface, those letters are substituted for the U....hence, MUELLER. Still, in German, the name is pronounced "Miller" and seems to be interchangeable when written back then. Sheesh.
Can you identify any others? They'd be 9 and 10...so born around 1930 or 31...awww! BTW, Sue has her mom's shoulders!
Funny, I see only one couple there, the Mischkes, but which Mischkes? You'd think that notary would have KNOWN them...lol
Did John Schmolke own the NE fourth of Buckman? Most of the time, there's a tiny square on each person's land to indicate where the house is, like on Brausens or Denzens there. We know John was a leading citizen and businessman in Buckman. Maybe he lived in town and farmed the land? Could be that two lots of the six marked here were lots he no longer owned....? And see? The church and school were originally opposite of the way they are now.
Good thing that house was big.
