The Harsch Family

Nicholas Harsch came to the United States from Kuebebur, Luxembourg. Kuebebur is in the County of Echternach about six miles southwest of the city of Echternach. He arrived at the Port of New York on the ship "Matilda" from Antwrp on 15 May 1856. Temporarily staying in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, he later moved to St. Donatus in Jackson County, Iowa. Nicholas joined the many Luxembourgers settling in Jackson County around St. Donatus. His sister Anna Harsch Beckius was also living in St.Donatus.
     The immediate family of Nicholas joined him in America. His family included his sister Anna Barbara Harsch [Beckius]. Anna Barbara, according to her obituary, also immigrated in May 1856 with her parents from Kuebebur to St Donatus. In St. Donatus, on 1/11 November 1856, she married John Beckius. The rest of Nicholas's family included his mother Barbara [Harsch] [Thill] whose maiden name is unknown, his stepbrother Nicholas Thill, and his step sister Barbara Thill [Kalmes]. The children, Nicholas Thill and Barbara Thill [Kalmes], are obviously from her second marriage to John Thill.
     Considering the birth of Anna Barbara Harsch [Beckius] in 1830, and the birth of Barbara Thill [Kalmes] on 14 Jan 1837, Nicholas Harsch's father died between 1830 and 1836. The re-marriage of Barbara (maiden name unknown) [Harsch] [Thill] to John Thill probably occurred about 1836 based on the birth of Barbara Thill [Kalmes] on 14 Jan 1837.
     Nicholas remained in St. Donatus until 1862. In St. Donatus, he followed his trade as a stonemason. A Harsch Family story is Nicholas helped place the stones for the catholic church at St. Donatus in 1858.
     Based on the obituary of his sister Anna Barbara Harsch [Beckius], Nicholas's family joined him in St. Donatus. In addition, at the baptism of his sister's first child on 28 Aug 1859 in St. Donatus, his step-sister Barbara Thill [Kalmes] was present as a sponsor.
     In 1862, Nicholas moved to the Town of Glen Haven in Grant County, Wisconsin. A 1868 Plat map of the Town of Glen Haven shows the farm he purchased consisted of 80 acres in Section 26. The farm was about 3 miles southeast of Glen Haven. It is the first farm to the south of the Charlotte Cemetery. By 1877, he had increased his holding to 160 acres.
     Nicholas married Helena Hinkel in 1867. Their six children were all born on the farm. By 1900, only his son Leo and his two daughters Agnes and Emma were still living on the family farm.
     Some of the immediate family of Nicholas joined him in Glen Haven. His step-sister Barbara Thill [Kalmes], who married Jacob Kalmes in St. Donatus on 24 December 1860, farmed in Glen Haven until at least 30 Aug 1867. At least two of their children, Barbara, 14 Aug 1866, and Peter Jacob, 30 Aug 1867, were born in Glen Haven. They moved to Rollingstone, Minnesota sometime after 1867 but before the death of her sister Anna Barbara Harsch in 1887.
     Nicholas's step-brother Nicholas Thill married Louisa Aprath of Glen Haven in Glen Haven on 2 Jun 1874. They had four children in Glen Haven. The last was John who was born on 1888.When Nicholas Harsch died in 1910, his brother Nicholas Thill was living in Pasadena, California with his spouse Louisa, their daughter Edith and their son John.
     Nicholas's sister Anna Barbara Harsch Beckius remained in St. Donatus for the remainder of her life. and bore ten children in St. Donatus. She died at an early age on 17 Jun 1886 and her husband John Beckius quickly followed her in death seven months later on 4 February 1887. Their younger children, including Louisa, mother of Pete Frank, were sent to live with the Aunt Barbara Thill [Kalmes] in Rollingstone, Minnesota after the death of their parents.
     Barbara (maiden name unknown) [Harsch][Thill] and John Thill are probably buried in Charlotte Cemetery. There is a tombstone in the cemetery marking the grave of a a Barbara and John Thill. The dates clearly fit the probable times Barbara and John would have lived and died. The headstone shows Barbara died on 1 Jun 1875 at the age of seventy-five and John died on 13 February 1876 at the age of sixty-five. Since most of their children were living in Glen Haven there is reason to believe they would have joined their family.

Peter Joannis Rauch was born on 27 December 1823 in Niederehe, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. The Catholic Church records of Niederehe show he was the third child of Joannis Rauch and Gertrude Niederehe. Niederehe is a small German town near the Belgium border. Peter was actually baptized as Joannis Peter Rauch, but as was the German custom his first name was simply a baptismal name and was dropped in favor of Peter. Peter married Susan Hass in Niederehe on 12 Feb 1851.
     Peter and Susan came to America in 1854. They settled across the river in Guttenberg, Iowa until their house was completed in Glen Haven in 1855. The house was built of stone and was the first stone house in the Glen Haven area. The house was habitable until 1975 when it was destroyed in a fire.
     When Peter Rauch arrived in Glen Haven his youngest brother Peter Joseph Rauch and his sister Catherine Rauch
[Ackermann] were already farming in Glen Haven. Catherine was married to Joseph Ackermann.. Peter's younger moved from Glen Haven before 1880. His sister Catherine died in Glen Haven sometime before 1880. Joseph, in his later years after the death of his wife Catherine, married the widow Margaret Waldbillig [Petry]
     Peter and Susan's four children, Kathyrn, Joseph Peter, Casper, and Jacob were all born in the stone house. Their oldest son and second child, Joseph Peter was born on 10 Oct 1856. Joseph Peter remained with his parents on the farm until his marriage to Margaret Petry on 24 Aug 1885.
     After their marriage, Joseph and Margaret also farmed in the Glen Haven area until their deaths. They second daughter, Margaret Helen Rauch [Harsch] was the mother of Adele Harsch [Johnson].
     An interesting story concerns part of the farm owned by Joseph Peter Rauch and Margaret Petry [Rauch]. Joseph Ackermann, in addition to being Margaret Petry [Rauch]'s stepfather was Joseph Peter Rauch's uncle. How? Joseph Ackermann's deceased first wife Catherine was Joseph Peter Rauch's aunt. Catherine was his father's sister. Therefore, Joseph Ackermann's nephew Joseph Peter Rauch married his step-daughter Margaret Petry.
     Margaret received a portion of land from her step-father Joseph Ackermann. Joseph had purchased this land from his first wife Catherine's youngest brother Peter Joseph Rauch. Therefore the land actually transferred from Joseph Peter Rauch's Uncle Peter Joseph Rauch to his Aunt Catherine Rauch [Ackermann] to his wife Margaret Petry [Rauch].

Margaret Waldbillig [Petry] and her two children, Mathias and Margaret, immigrated from Nittel, Germany to Glen Haven, Wisconsin in 1879. Nittel is a town on the Mosel River south of Trier, Germany. The Mosel River in that area divides Germany from Luxembourg.
The records from St. Martin's Catholic Church of Nittel show she was born on 12 Dec 1825. Her parents were Dominic Waldbillig and Francis Maria Ronck.
According to the records of St. Martin's Catholic Church, Margaret married Nicholas Petry of Korrig on 19 Jan 1860. Korrig is a town very close to Nittel. According to the Catholic Church records of Korrig, Nicholas was born in Korrig at 10 o'clock to Mathias Petry and Margaret Holbach on 31 Jul 1832. Nicholas died on 30 Mar 1869 in Nittel.