1856

If you are ever in Wisconsin in the summer time, and interested in seeing something of historical Wisconsin, you might go to OLD WORLD WISCONSIN at Eagle - not too far from Milwaukee in the southeastern part of the state. There you can visit the home where my paternal grandmother was reared, and which in later years was the home of my mother's aunt, when I knew the house well.

Some 15-20 years ago a collection of typical early Wisconsin houses was torn down, log by log and board by board, and then rebuilt at Eagle where this outdoor historical museum was established.

From data collected by the Wisconsin Historical Society I learned much about my great-grandfather and my father's mother who died before I was born, and about whom my father never talked, so far as I can remember.

But from the Historical Society report, my great- grandfather, Charles August Schulz emigrated to Wisconsin in 1856 from the East Prussian village of Doberkow with his wife, Auguste, and five children. Three more children were born in this country, but my grandmother was one who came with him from Germany - a section that now is part of Poland.

The Schulz house in the museum, built in 1856 in the Town of Herman, Dodge County, is of an architectural style traditional in the northeastern part of Germany during the 19th Century. The half timbered building style reflected the practical consideration that timber was scarce in that region of Germany. Spaces in the panels between 8x8-inch hewn oak timbers were filled with clay and flax straw filling. This method was abandoned when the immigrants found abundant lumber available in Wisconsin. A walk-in Schwarze Kuche (Black kitchen) about 10x12 feet occupies the center of the house. I always thought this was just a smoke house - something every farm home in Wisconsin had at the time, for curing meat, but the Historical Society said it was also used by the cook.

Charles August Schulz was a prosperous farmer in his own country, and arrived in this country with a substantial personal fortune, and was involved in community affairs for four decades, but the Historical Society says, he remains a somewhat shadowy, mysterious figure.

However, they did learn these facts about him. He was born in 1814, near Daberkow, Kreis Reganwald, Pomerania. In about 1842 he married Auguste Wilhelmine Henrietta Backhausen, who was born October 20, 1823. Five children were born in "The Old Country", among whom was my grandmother, Maria Auguste Bertha, (called Auguste), born April 1, 1850 at Daberkow.

In 1856 the entire family emigrated from Pomerania to the United States, landing at the port of New York in June 1856. They went immediately to Wisconsin where on June 19th, they purchased 154 acres of land in Town of Herman, Dodge county.

The museum is supposed to represent farm steads of about 1860, and according to the 1860 census, at that time Schulz listed 60 acres as improved land and 94 acres remaining in dense maple forest.

As reported in the 1860 Census, Schulz' agricultural production reflected a grain-based economy, supplemented with modest livestock holdings, and it had a pronounced land clearing bias. He farmed with a yoke of oxen, for plowing his fields as well as skidding logs and pulling stumps. The production of three milk cows was churned into 200 pounds of butter. Nine sheep sheared to 36 pounds of wool - a good yield, averaging four pounds per animal. Five swine completed his live stock count, with a total value of $160.

Crop yields were not as large as one might expect from 60 acres of land in a bumper crop year. He harvested 150 bushels of wheat, 25 bushels of rye, and 60 bushels of oats. He also raised five bushels of grass seed, and cut and stacked 2 tons of hay. Twenty pounds of maple sugar and four gallons of molasses were boiled down from maple tree sap, a natural springtime farm industry in the Town of Herman. Forty-five dollars worth of live stock was slaughtered during 1859 for home consumption.

In 1862 war clouds hung over Wisconsin and when enlistments for service lagged, conscription became necessary. Herman Schulz, the eldest son of Charles, was drafted as a Private into the Union Army, November 17, 1862, to serve for nine months. He was mustered into Company E, 34th Infantry Regiment in Milwaukee on December 15, 1862, at the age of 20. But just two weeks later, Schulz notified the military authorities that he had hired a replacement. That was quite legal at the time, and many wealthy families hired substitutes for their sons. This fellow, John Halblein, aged 36, however crept out of the barracks at Camp Washburn one night, and was never heard from again.

In February, 1866, both father, Charles, and son, Herman, became naturalized citizens of the United States, renouncing the King of Prussia.

During this decade, the older children began to leave home and live lives of their own. Auguste (my paternal grandmother) married into another prominent local family on November 26, 1868. The bridegroom was Carl Friedrich Quandt, born in 1845 in Germany of Pomeranian parents in the Town of Herman.

In 1882 the Schulz farm passed from Charles to his son August. I don't know if this is the year my greatgrandfather died. However, August died ten years later at age 38 and his widow moved to Milwaukee, and no more could be found about that branch of the Schulz family.

The farm was later bought by my mother's aunt and her husband, Katherine and Albert Zirbel. But the house stood empty for many years then and maybe before that. But when the Zirbel's daughter married and she and her family took over the "Home place", the retiring couple rehabilitated the old house and lived in it until their deaths. That is when I knew the house very well. After the Zirbels' deaths, the house was vacant again for many years until donated to OLD WORLD WISCONSIN by the then owners of the farm.

Now it is visited every summer when the museum is open, by thousands of people.

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