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.

: : : : : : : : : : : :

Thursday, January 29, 2015

The Neuhaus "White Lady"

Ooooo--A ghost story! From an article in an Ohio newspaper in 1871.  Larry found it on the Library of Congress website (fifth column). No, it probably wasn't breaking news to anyone in Urbana, Ohio that March, but it would have been a good story, and if you were practicing your English, the connection with Europe would have been interesting.
More than likely, the original Pawel Hesch and his son Martin (and his son Johann) knew about the legend and probably believed there was a White Lady who roamed the castle.  Did they tell the story to our great grandfather Paul, and did he take it with him to America?  Was it maybe something he told his own kids  on the homestead west of Buckman?
I find it really odd that the author says it was the SAME White Lady haunting castles all over Europe.  Couldn't central casting find any other disgruntled dead women to haunt their own castles?
(BTW, Neuhaus was the German name for Jindrichuv Hradec, the larger town less than 5 miles from where our ancestors lived...)
THANKS, LARRY! ☺

1 comment:

  1. It is pretty annoying how “generic” some of the best legends become. "One size fits all!"

    ReplyDelete