More Mischke Info

OK, lets see if I can explain these Mischke generations, with the help of Gerry who sent info earlier, and three photos this week (!)  He also sent a couple pages of who-begat-who, which I just finished entering on my family tree. It mostly all fits now ☺.       

If you recall, this couple is Joseph Mischke and Mary Otremba, the original immigrants to Buckman.  Their kids were Franz, John, Clara, Mary and Paul. They look more substantial here than in the next pic, but it's surely them.

 Since Joseph died in December, 1901, the latest this photo could have been was that summer. By the apparent ages of the boys tho, I think it may have been 1887 or so.  I'm assuming the sons are Franz and John.

Ok, next generation:  Franz was Frank, Sr. who started with a livery, and later the Hardware store.

 John married Theresa Peschel and had 11 kids: Joseph, Ida, Carl, Hermina, Mary, Agnes, Jack, Leo, Hildegard, Benno and Fridolin.

Their oldest, Joseph, married Margaret Theis, and they had four kids: Maurice, Marie, Bernard and Marjorie (below).  Click to enlarge the pics. That's little Bernard with Gramma.  He looks about four.

                                                        I suspect this photo was taken when Bernard made his vows at Crosier.  From the left, Marge, Maurice, Margaret, Joe, Bernard and Marie Mischke.   (I know, the names are below the pic, but this makes em googleable).  

Next generation: Gerry, who sent the pics and info, is Maurice's son.      

    Thanks, Gerry!                                             

(Gerry thinks the men might be his uncles Carl and Jack, but he has no idea which aunt/sister it is.  The chickens were Tillie, Cluck, and Shimel).

Mischkes, Schmolkes, Otrembas, Zenners and Kapsners

Here's an article that was published in the Buckman News column of the LFH a whole month after St Michael's church was dedicated.  There are some interesting facts in the article, as well as some major goofs.  There'd been a wonderful front page article the month before, but evidently some of the "local color" was left out.  If that pissed people off, this article didn't do much to make up for it.

BUT, there are interesting incidentals listed, too.  For instance, there are the origins of four movers and shakers in town (Frank Mischke, Math Zenner, John Kapsner and John Schmolke), and the fact that three of the four came from the same area the Otrembas came from (within 6 miles of Opole, Poland). Also, look who con-celebrated the mass at the dedication:  Bishop Trobec, of course, and about twenty five priests showed up to help, not to mention three local bands.  A priest we've mentioned before,  Fr. Bernard Richter, gave the sermon, so we know he did have an actual connection to St Michael's (see previous post, for one ☺).  I imagine there were another couple dozen townsfolk who "should have been mentioned"...

BTW, I corrected many of the typos and wrong info, but you can click the article to read it yourself, or go to the original copy on the Library of Congress website:

From the Little Falls Herald on October 2, 1903

BUCKMAN

"Sept 304--Tuesday was the greatest day in Buckman's history.
In spite of a very disagreeable and
heavy wind, which stirred up the dust
all day, several thousand people atten-­
ded the dedicatory services of the new
St. Michael's church. Bishop Trobec,
assisted by about twenty-five priests,
officiated. Father Richter of Melrose
preached the sermon, which was a

 scholarly and interesting address.

Visitors were present from all the
neighboring parishes and many from
Stearns and Benton counties. The
bands of Buckman, Pierz and Agram
rendered music throughout the day.
In the old church the ladies of the
parish served dinner, and for hours
the hungry throngs filled the tables.
The good things were plenty, how­
ever, and all were satisfied.

Bishop Trobec and several of the
clergy made short addresses, in all of
which the good work of the people
and their good pastor was highly com­
mended. The visitors expressed great
admiration at the sight of the immense
edifice the people of Buckman have
erected, a temple of God which will
stand long after the builders have
passed to their reward, and which will
be a lasting monument to the faith and
good will of the parish of Buckman,
and the energy and persistence of
their pastor. The day was a great one
for Father Lange and his people.

The earlier history of the settlement
of the village and town of Buckman,
is told by Frank Mischke, one of the
leading merchants of the village. Mr.
Mischke's father, Joseph Mischke,
was the first person to settle in the
town, going there in 1871.
Mr. Mischke Sr. was born in Shidlow, 
Falkenberg, Prussia. He was
married to Miss Mary Otremba on
September 15, 1861, and of that union
there were born six children, Frank,
John and Mary of whom are still
living. The Mischkes came to United
States soon after the Franco-Prussian
war and settled on the present home­
stead in the town of Buckman. At
that time there were no settlers be­
tween St. Cloud and the Mischke
homestead, except the Rices of the
present village of Rice. The family
endured great hardships during the
first few years they resided in Buckman

and for an entire year were un­able

to procure salt for any purpose.
About three years after C. B. Buckman, 
now member of congress, settled
on the present Brookdale farm.
The church building, which is re­
placed by the handsome edifice dedi­
cated Tuesday, was built in 1880. The
earlier history of the Buckman parish
is not clear, as in the earlier years of
life of the church the parish was or­
ganized as a mission and the records
are vague. Rev. Ignatius, O. S. B.,
who was in charge of the Pierz par­
ish, first ministered to the Buckman
organization and was succeeded by
Rev. Pankratz O. S. B. who was fol­
lowed by Rev. Maryhofer, who re­
mained eight years. Rev. Father
Lager, since deceased, followed, re­
maining one year, Rev. John Beck
was at the head of the parish two
years and was succeeded by Rev.
Father Lange, the present priest and
builder of the new church.
There are at present about one hun­
dred and fifty families connected with
the church, where only thirty-two
members existed at the time the old
church was built and the parish or­
ganized.
Matthew Zenner, one of the direc­tors
 of the church, was born on April
25th, [1857] in Luxembourg, and came to
America with his parents in 1860,
who settled in St. Wendell in Stearns
county. Mr. Zenner worked on a
farm and saved his money until he
was able to purchase a farm of 200
acres in the town of Buckman where
he now resides. He was married on
November 28, 1882, to Miss Mary
Maus of Luxemberg, Stearns county.
John Kapsner, who is a member of the
directors, was born February 8, 1857, in
Dambrau, Prussia, the eldest of 18
children. His parents came to America­
 in 1874 and settled near the village
of Pierz. Mr. Kapsner was married ­
November 7, 1882, to Miss Maria Kopka.

John Schmolke, president of the
village and member of the board of
directors of the church, was born May
8, 1863, at Shidlow, Prussia. He
came to America in 1871 with his parents,
who settled in Buckman. At
that time there was no church or
school at which Mr. Schmolke could
receive the benefits of an education
and he attended a night school, con­
ducted by Mr. Hepperly, for one 
month. Mr Schmolke opened the village 
blacksmithy and later engaged in
the mercantile business. He was 
married in 1887 to Miss Mary Kalnabe" [actually, Hedwig Peschel].

Wanted : MISCHKE DNA

Frank Mischke c 1925

This is neat: We received a note from Joy yesterday concerning her links to the Mischke family.  Remember, she sent pictures and information last November...and she's looking for the assistance of a triple M: a Male Minnesota Mischke descendant to take a DNA test:

"I wanted to let you know that one of the Mischke descendants (my mother's 1st cousin Jim Mischke) has agreed to do his paternal line "Y-DNA" testing at FTdna (FamilyTreeDNA).  Do you know if anyone else from the Minnesota Mischke line have done any DNA testing?  If so, it would be interesting to compare and see if they are in the same Haplogroup.  You might put out the word on your blog, and find out if there are any volunteers for the Y-dna test.  I would be willing to sponsor it".

So there ya go!  If you happen to google MISCHKE and end up here on HH, and you're a Mischke guy (or know one) who'd want to scrape a few cheek cells,  email me and I'll contact Joy, ok?
(marlysky at gmail dot com)   Thanks, Joy!

Evidently comments aren't working right now, but here's what Joy would have added ☺ :

Thanks Marlys!  Hopefully someone will be interested in doing the Y-dna test for a comparison of the two Mischke lines.  We all should have descended from George Miszke and Catharina Kubin, ca1700's, Ellguth-Tillowitz, Kr. Falkenberg, Schlesien.  Jim Mischke was very excited about the idea, especially since there are some family legends that might be proved - or disproved - by the test results.  Warm regards from cousin Joy

Three months later, an email from Joy--August, 2014:

"Hi Marlys,

I'm not sure if you've seen my update posted in your blog [as a comment, below] about the DNA test of my Mischke cousin.  The Y-dna results only ruled out that we do not have a paternal line to the Baron at Niederrathen (which was a family myth), but the "Autosomal Test" revealed more.  It turns out that a connection was found between my cousin, Jim Mischke, and Timothy Michael Schmolke as "4th to 5th cousins".  Timothy descends from Jacob Schmolke and his wife, Catharina Mischke.  Their son Johann married Hedwig Peschel, and that is Timothy's line - from Minnesota. 

This would also mean that we are related to your line via Joseph Mischke (brother of Catherina Mischke) who was married to Maria Otremba, and many many more from the MN clan.

So a family mystery solved thru DNA technology!!  YAY!!"

Isn't it COOL that DNA testing is getting more specific and useful?  

What a deal ☺

THANKS, Joy! 

Mischke Mysteries ☺

November, so far, has brought a veritable wealth of new old information to Hesch History, for instance: Joy, from Nevada, found mention of Mischkes here on HH and wrote because she realized her relationship to Frank* and his family in Buckman.  Ok, so it's hardly a CLOSE relationship, but it's fun to know how far back people are able to trace relatives.  Besides, no doubt the Mischkes, Otrembas and Rauschs knew each other for hundreds of years in Falkenberg, Silesia, in the area that would become Poland.

So, Joy's tree includes "Joseph Mischke (father of Frank Mischke in your blog) was the grandson of Anton Mischke and Rosa Rademacher.  Anton "Miszke" b. 1765 was the brother of my 3rd great-grandfather, Franz Miszke.  Here is a diagram of my line:

Hans George Miszke and Catharina Kubin, parents of

|

Franz Miszke (1770 - 1850) - brother of Anton *1765 - and Maria Zirz (1757 Tillowitz -1858 Ellguth), parents of

|

Johann Mischke (1819 Ellguth - ) see attached photo

|

Heinrich (Henry) Mischke (1861 Schwammelwitz - 1907 NYC) see attached photo

|

Isabella Angelica Mischke (1898 NYC - 1993 Roseville, CA)"

...then her mother and herself.  We (Joy, me and Larry, by extension) have been perusing the pictures she sent, and debating whether the military photo of Johann Mischke could really be...well, the years don't make sense.  We believe the military pic was taken about 1866, but if he was born in 1819, then  he would have been 47, when he looks 30ish. The formal photo looks about the same age, tho the photo is much better quality.

Turns out Johann was the coachman for a local Baron, and he was possibly the burgermeister, or mayor.  Joy said..."The..photo is the last
known image of him with his wife.  It must be 1895 or later because that is when the photographer established his business, according to my research". (Man, genealogists gather FACTS, huh?) That would make Johann 76 years old.

     :   :   :   :   :   :

We're pretty sure these three pictures are of the same man.  Sure, it's possible that Johann joined the army when he was, say, 25 (military pic) but that would have been 1844 when photography was still being discovered: 

"On 7 January 1839, Daguerre announced this first complete practical photographic process to the French Academy of Sciences, and the news quickly spread." Still, it took 20 more years to get the bugs worked out of the process.  1844 would have been VERY early for a portrait, I think. 

Then, there's the suit coat Johann's wearing in the formal portrait.  Remember the Kapsner post we did last year? ('Course you do!) The stylin' pic of August Kapsner and his buddy August Janorske was taken in Pierz in 1883.  They were wearing the same style coat with only the top buttons fastened...just like Johann in his formal pic.  We know the current fads in Europe were copied here in America, but not immediately.  Even if it took 3 years for that style to get here, Johann would have posed for it in 1880 or so...when he was 61.  Conundrum!

Just for fun, Joy sent two pictures of Heinrich Mischke, who was supposed to be Johann's youngest child...OR possibly his brother.  

    With any luck, we'll figure this all out, someday.

THANKS for the pics and information, Joy!

 Later:

A Mischke family photo taken about 1900.  I assume the woman pictured here is the same as grandma in the last pic on this post, so of the two sons, one would have been Frank.

COOL, huh?

Mischke Hardware Tokens

There's a website for just about every collectible, I think.  This weekend, Larry asked if I remember a pencil from grade school with an eagle on it, and a red stripe around the metal part?  I've always preferred using pencils but rarely cared about brands, ya know?  Still, I remembered the red stripe...and pretty soon, we were googling to find one.  WOW, there's a site called "Pencil Community" as well as blogs like Fred's Pencils.  How cool!

And of course, there are collectors of trade tokens.  We've linked to one before because John Hesch used them in their store in Buckman in the early 1920s, HERE and HERE, but Larry found that Frank Mischke did too.  Here's the Minnesota part of the website.  It's fascinating, but it loads really slowly, just so ya know.

Anyway, here are the Mischke Hardware tokens which were in every coin denomination, but I didn't screen cap the penny one...lol (Sorry, it looks pretty much like these, well, except for the amount ☺)

As I was looking thru the tokens there, it occurred to me that an odd shape made the token more memorable and easier to find among change in your pocket.  Neat, huh?

Another fascinating photo

Early photos can be so evocative of a certain era that they stay in a person's mind for months...like this one did.  We didn't know what year it was taken or the circumstance that made 'em do it that day, or even WHO was posed together there in the street.  I found the picture in the Morrison County Atlas, probably the 1970 edition.  It's definitely Buckman, Minnesota and the house on the right is Frank and Anna Mischke's house with the livery stable and 20 regular good customers hanging out on the left. 

Larry and I have deduced a whole slew of facts about it, of course, or we wouldn't be posting about it ☺.  To begin with, it was summer, 1901, and the dog's name was Shep...lol

How did we arrive at 1901?  Well, we know that Frank Mischke's parents Joe and Mary both died in late 1901(#4 is Mary Otremba Mischke) and she's included.  Perhaps Joe was inside the open door of the house, hm?  We know their son Frank (#1) died in 1913, so the pic had to be within those years. The children are another parameter.

#1 was Frank, of course, and #2 was his wife Anna holding the current youngest kid in their family.  By 1901, Frank and Anna's kids were Clara b 1891, Frank Jr b 1896, Marie b 1898, and Emma b 1899, so # 3 is probably Emma.

The two other women holding babies (left) almost had to be related.  We figured one was Frank's sister Mary with her son August (probably #7 & 8) and Frank's sister-in-law Theresa, wife of John Mischke, with their current youngest,  Mary (#5 & 6).  By apparent ages of the kids, we figured #9 was probably Frank Jr and # 14 was most likely his older sister Clara, with #10 being their younger sister Marie.  #11, 12 and 13  are probably John and Theresa's kids, but their family in 1901 consisted of Joseph, 7, Ida, 6, Charley, 4, Herminia, 2, and Mary, born in 1900.  We have one too many girls here...if you know, email me or leave a comment, ok?  
The rest of this story is that the elder Frank was starting a hardware and implement business (located across the road, behind the photographer).  You can see plows lined up in front of their house, too.  When Frank died in 1913, young Frank had to learn his dad's business quickly, at 17 years old.  He probably didn't take over right away because Anna was still listed as owner in the 1920 federal census, but by then he was 24 and much more involved, no doubt.

Ha! we guessed at the name of the dog...

Serendipity

I'm rifling the Atlases again this week, since I know some treasures were missed the first time I paged thru, especially photos of people I didn't immediately recognize.  You may not find these pictures all that interesting, but someone will.  Be sure to enlarge each one (the detail's amazing, considering how tiny each pic was in the books).

I particularly love this one, of "James Foss, John Kieffer & Tom Czech". Obviously friends, they might have been illustrating the most usual clothes for men in Buckman in the 1920s--Tom was comfortable as the farmer in overalls (his 'look' for all 98 of his years).  John in his dress shirt, suspenders and tie would have been the store owner, the local businessman.   James was the city slicker, the man about town, maybe the  rum runner?  Check the jaunty angle of  their stoggies ☺.

I know this building looks like  Mueller's Bar and Hardware Store, but no, it was Schmolkes General Store, with the annex on the far side serving as the US Post Office, I believe.  It was located kitty-cornered from Muellers and Mischkes stores.  Competition in Buckman must have been fierce.  Wouldn't you love to know who all the people were on the porch?  Probably John Schmolke and Pete Blake, for sure, and any boys who were out running around that day.

This must have been the wedding of a Stangl grandkid--one daughter is wearing a corsage too, see?

The Frank Stangl family is notable to me because of the two "kids" on the left.  Recognize either one?  Seated is Marie (Stangl) Pohlkamp, wife of Lambert and long time neighbor of Roman and Emily Dehler...and he's Fr. Alfred Stangl, chaplain at the St Cloud hospital, who also says the televised mass many Sunday mornings.  My Sunday client loves him ☺.

Remember hearing about "Pinky Suess" when we were kids?  I don't recall meeting him, but I've always been curious about that nickname.  The photo looks like he and John Mueller had a great day fishing.  This was probably in the late 40s or early 50s.
(No, there was no Pinky Quess).












Here's an individual  portrait of Mary Mischke,  but I don't know how she fits.  We know the immigrant Mischke couple was Joseph and Mary, but they were in their 60s in 1900, and this photo looks to be from about that time--1890 to 1910, so this Mary is much younger.
Wait--I bet this was August's mother, the daughter who lived with Joseph and Mary in the 1900 census, huh?  One of three living children, sure.  She was 20 in 1900.

Mischke Family Photos

Joseph Mischke and his wife Mary Otremba came to America in 1871.  He was 30 and she was 24.  These pics came from the Pictorial Atlases so I'm drawing conclusions with info from Federal censuses.  In 1900, when Mary was 63, she said she had 6 kids, 3 living.  One of them, daughter Mary, was part of their household, with her own son, August.

 John (below) was their son and arrived with them in 1871 when he was 4.

Isn't this a great photo?  A large prosperous family with kids ranging in age from about thirty down to five, looks like. It's John Mischke and his wife Theresia Peschel.  Ok, I need to go find them on Family Search.

Right, in 1910: Dad's 43 and mom's 38.  Kids are Ida (16), Joseph (15), Charley (13), Hermina (11), Mary (9), Agnes (6), John (4), Leo (2), and Hildegard (3 months).  Obviously the eldest offspring are the four in the middle of the back row and son in the wicker chair. Since there are 2 younger kids in the pic and Ida looks to be at least 30, I think this portrait was taken about 1925, even if their clothing seems much older.  Anybody have better info? (Btw, this is the 2 priests, 2 nuns family, and those two little boys became priests, eventually.  Sorry, I don't know which two girls became the nuns).

I wonder if this Livery Stable pic is the same Mischke family?   Wait, we know Frank Mischke lived here when he started the hardware store across the road (behind the photographer, here).  Since that looks like Mary Otremba Mischke among the family group in front (see?), then perhaps Mary & Joseph Mischke's third child was Frank.

My goodness, it can get complicated, huh?

Mischkes

 

Larry and I have been researching a family, without knowing WHO they were, since May 2009.  What tenacity!  You might recall photos of a priests' ordination where we were mostly concerned with the kids who acted as a miniature bride and flower girls?  

The post here on Hesch History was in May, 2009.

Turns out these Benedictines and Crosiers were four of eleven kids 

born to John and Theresa Mischke.

 They are  Hermina Mischke, Fridolin Mischke, 

Benno Mischke and Mary Mischke.

If the photo was taken the day of Fridolin's ordination, then it was 1937.

 The woman in the hat is most likely Theresa (Peschel) Mischke, their mom.

Hermina and Mary were born in 1899 and 1900, while Benno and Fridolin were the  youngest of the brood, born in 1912 and 1916.

Ok, so how does this family connect to us?  The Mischke clan came to America from the same area of Poland as the Otrembas, Schmolkes, Przybillas, Jendros and Rauschs.  

Did you notice the couple way at the top of the post?  

They were John Mischke and his wife Theresa Peschel.  

Our link is thru John's mother Mary Otremba, a sister to 

Anton Otremba, our great great grandfather.

For sure, pics like this were taken on special occasions when all the kids were home.  It might have been Theresa's 70th birthday maybe, in 1942.
 Looks like she's wearing a corsage ☺.

I think, by their look and dress, the pic below was snapped

after Theresa's funeral, in October, 1945.

(The new old pics were found on Ancestry.  Yup, by Larry!)

A tale of two Mischkes and more

A few years ago, if I'd seen this article (from the Princeton Union newspaper), I would have recognized only two of the men, even tho Kelsomberg is a mis-spelling (and so BTW, is Segum). 

"H" was most likely Hubert Kelzenberg (1870-1958), who was married to Anna Roos  (1885-1919), and Frank Mischke is certainly familiar to us as the owner of the hardware store in Buckman.  This Frank had to be the original one who died suddenly 10 years later.    

Edward Seguin M.D. was the Buckman town doctor.  I assume "J.E.Dufort M.D." was a professional friend.  Does anybody recognize "G. Knot"?

I have no idea why men from Buckman were lollygagging in Princeton "for some time" in the spring of 1903, unless they were fishing (?) at "the lake".  

And don't you wonder which doctor was the  "little Doctor"? 

And here, from the Bemidji Daily Pioneer in 1908, is a Mischke who's not familiar.  The setting in Fredrichschafen, Germany was a town Larry and I found lately loosely connected with mom's family, the Jansons, not Heschs.  

Whoever "Captain Mischke" was, it was assumed that readers were aware of him, it looks like.  For sure, the world became aware of the Zeppelin airship. 

Oh, and here's Friedrichschafen.  

(More tidbits that were saved because of a Buckman name searched online.  

THANKS to the normal thankee ☺)