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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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Aggie Hesch in Duluth

It's time to turn our laser-like focus on Duluth Minnesota in 1923, to St Mary's Hospital in particular.  We know two of Buckman's finest worked there, probably in the kitchen.  John and Ket's daughter Aggie and her cousin Frances Dengel  were 18 that year. (Ket's brother Nick was married to Carolina Dengel, and Frances was Caroline's brothers' orphaned daughter, who came to live in Buckman at 5, I believe).



Anyway, Sue sent the above pic before the reunion.  I didn't realize at the time that the group was on the hospital roof.  Sue wrote to St Mary's to see if there were employment archives, but evidently not.  
The nun who answered her query said,"
The rooftop is definitely St. Mary's Hospital.   (It was a very popular site for fresh air for all the staff and the ambulatory patients. . . )  The "uniform" which seems to be mainly a hair-protecting cap is not any of the professional classes at the hospital so I would assume that these are people from what we would now call either housekeeping or food service, probably food service".  
Click the album pic--it blows up nice and large so you can really see the pics.  Sue offered to send other rooftop photos too, so if this topic interests you, check back.  I'll add them here when she does, ok? ☺
Posted by Marlys Hesch Sebasky at 1:09 PM
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4 comments:

  1. KathAugust 3, 2011 at 9:34 PM

    Duluth is pretty exotic for Buckmanites, no? How did they end up there?

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  2. Marlys Hesch SebaskyAugust 3, 2011 at 9:51 PM

    No idea. Sue says if it wasn't for the photo album, she wouldn't know about it either.

    I think Duluth was the alternate Minneapolis for rural kids. Even now, don't you think of Duluth as smaller, friendlier, less congested, and less dangerous than the cities? It's also 60 miles farther away than Mpls....you couldn't come home as easy from Duluth. (I bet that was the big reason...lol)

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  3. AnonymousAugust 4, 2011 at 8:07 AM

    I have to believe it had something to do with the Nuns. They needed people to work in the schools and the hospital. And of course, this created a wonderful recruitment opportunity. I have to wonder if Sr Laura (Theresa) Hesch has something to do with this...?
    Sue

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  4. Marlys Hesch SebaskyAugust 4, 2011 at 8:29 AM

    Ohhh, wow...comes the dawn! Sure, Sue--Sr Laura was big on recruitment, and the convent/hospital in Duluth was an offshoot of St Bens in St Joe, her mother house. Cool!

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