My European Heritage
My Stintzi family was from Colmar, Alsace, France. Alsace-Lorraine, France was seized by Germany in 1871, during the "Unification of Germany." The area was returned to France following the end of WWI.
The patriarch of this immigrating family was Matheus Stintzi. He was "a soldier in one of the armies of the old Napoleon, and an enthusiastic admirer of the 'little corporal', whose fall at Waterloo he witnessed. He retained vivid memories of the thrilling times, when the name of Bonaparte, was the glory of France, and the terror of European monarchies."At the age of 58, in 1851, he came to the U. S. on the ship Samuel M. Fox. The ship's passenger list shows Matheus Stintzi, his wife, Elisabeth, and his children: Magdalena, John, Mathias, and Eugene. (Here is a partial list from the Samuel M. Fox )
A year before, in December 1850, Matheus Stintzi's two eldest sons, Mathew and Joseph emigrated to the U. S. on the ship William Tell.
Eventually they all settled in Sauk Co., Wisconsin. Later, Mathew, Joseph, and John Stintzi, relocated to LaCrosse Co., Bangor, Wisconsin. Magdalena relocated to Eau Clair Co., Wisconsin.
It was a common occurance "back then" that siblings in one family married siblings in another. But what happened between the Stintzi and Welschinger families is very surprising. Mathew, Joseph, Magdalena, and John Stintzi, the children of Matheus Stintzi, married Magdalena, Katherine, Joseph, and Francisca Welschinger, the children of Joseph Welschinger.
Joseph Welschinger immigrated to the U. S. from Germany in December 1850, with his family, and the two eldest sons of Matheus Stintzi, Mathew and Joseph. They arrived in the port of New York on the ship William Tell. The other family members were Joseph, Franscisca, Marianne, Louise, Magdalena, and Catherine. ( Here is a partial list from the William Tell )