This branch of the Austrian Hesch family is descended from Johann Hesch and his wife Marya (Schlinz) Hesch, who came to America from Oberschlagles, Bohemia with three sons: Paul, Mathias, and Anton. +++Johann & Marya settled in Buffalo County, Wisconsin but moved to Pierz, Mn in about 1885. .+++Mathias settled in Waumandee, Wisconsin and moved to Pierz in 1911. +++Anton never married but farmed with his dad in Agram Township, where he died in 1911.+++And Paul, my great grandfather, settled five miles away, in Buckman, Minnesota. He died there in 1900.

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Saturday, November 28, 2009

The mysterious Hesch in New Mexico

Since we've been researching the family, we've often come across mention of a Phillip Hesch who built a staircase in a convent church in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Articles about it are HERE and HERE.  (BTW, Phillip came from the German Hesch family who emmigrated to Canada.  IF there's a connection, it was many, many generations ago, but we share his name, so it's close enough).

The staircase really is a beautiful work of art, but the legend around it far exceeds what probably really happened.  If you read the articles carefully, Phillip is credited with building the railing, not the spiral staircase itself.  (And for heavens sake, WHO would build a winding staircase without a railing?  Evidently, St Joseph himself, the joker.)  Still, it's neat to be associated with something so lovely and famous, even tangentially.  This morning, my sister invited me to join the HESCH CLUB on facebook....and there, one of Phillip's descendants explains that he added the railing "without pay"--in exchange for tuition to the Academy for his daughters.
THAT sounds more like it!
Posted by Marlys Hesch Sebasky at 9:28 AM
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