meet the pribils…

My grandma was 6 years old when her mother, Anna Pribil, died and 9 years old when her father, Joe Plaschko, married Anna’s younger sister, Julia Pribil. This was the great-grandma I knew, we called her Grandma Julie. I remember when I was young, I found the whole thing very confusing…I would think about how my grandma’s aunt became her step-mother and how her (half) sisters were also her first cousins. It was unusual but I thought it was intriguing as well. Anna and Julia Pribil were two of the ten children of Wenzel and Maria Pribil. Like Mansuet and Anna Blaschko, Wenzel and Maria left Bohemia in 1891 and settled in St. Paul, Minnesota. They came from Furstenhut, a village located in the Bohemian Forest (which is now called Sumava), near the border of Bavaria. Meet the Pribils…

Jakob Pribil was born in Furstenhut, Bohemia in 1746. He married Katharina (born around 1760, maiden name unknown) and they had at least 4 children – Johann (1790), Josef (1791), Theresia (1799), and Augustin (1804). Jakob died of dropsy on July 20, 1831 at the age of 85. His wife, Katharina, died of tuberculosis on November 27, 1836 at age 76.

Johann Pribil was born in Furstenhut, Bohemia in 1790 to Jakob and Katharina Pribil. On August 14, 1814, at age 24, he married Maria Elisabeth Michetschlager. Elisabeth, born in Elendbachl, Bohemia, on August 22, 1793, was the daughter of Anton and Anna Maria (Herzog) Michetschlager. After Johann and Elisabeth were married, they lived in Furstenhut and had at least 9 children, including twins, Josef and Rosalia. According to records in the Czech archives, Johann owned a small house and worked as a lumberjack. Elisabeth died on May 30, 1845 of dysentery at the age of 51. Five months after her death, Johann married a woman named Maria (maiden name unknown) on October 27, 1845. Johann died of senility/old age in Furstenhut on July 30, 1864 at the age of 74.

Josef Pribil (along with twin sister, Rosalia) was born on August 13, 1818 in Furstenhut, Bohemia to Johann Pribil and Maria Elisabeth Michetschlager. When Josef was 26, he married Juliana Graf on October 21, 1844. After Josef and Juliana were married, Josef became what was called a ‘cottager.’ This meant he would have probably owned a small house and some land, between 5-25 acres, for a small garden and a few farm animals. The land would not be enough to make a living off of so he would have worked as a day laborer or farm hand as well. Josef and Julianna had at least 9 children, including their youngest, Wenzel. Josef died of tuberculosis at age 59 on February 6, 1878.

grandpa joe…

My great grandpa, Grandpa Joe as we called him, died when I was in high school. He lived to be 93 and, at the time, that was the oldest person I’d ever known. I remember feeling lucky that on my mom’s side not only did I have my grandparents, I had a set of great-grandparents as well. They were at holidays and family gatherings, and we would visit them at their high-rise apartment on Montreal in St. Paul. Back then, I had no idea what his life had been like and what he had gone through. Now that I know, I hope that his long life had been mostly a full and happy one.

Joseph Daniel Plaschko was born on March 14, 1893 in St. Paul, Minnesota to Mansuet Blaschko and Anna Friedl. He was baptized on March 19, 1893 at the Church of St. Agnes and his godparents were Daniel and Johanna Plaschko. When he was 2 years old, Joe lived at 472 Blair Street with his parents and older brother, Rudy. In 1896, the family moved to 460 Lafond with the addition of baby Frederick. Joe’s older brother, Rudy, died of pneumonia at age 7 in 1898. His parents had 3 more children – Francis in 1899, William in 1901, and Marie in 1904. In 1910, Joe still lived with his family at 460 Lafond and worked as a bookbinder at a publishing company. When I searched for Joe and his family and found them at 460 Lafond, I also noticed that Joe’s future wife, my great-grandmother, Anna Pribil, grew up on the same street at 440 Lafond.

Mansuet Blaschko family living at 460 Lafond (top of page) and Wenzel Pribil family living at 440 Lafond (bottom of page), June 30, 1905, Minnesota, Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905, St. Paul, Ward 8, Ancestry.com

Anna’s family lived there from when she was around a year old until she was 20. Joe lived on Lafond until 1911, when his family moved to 582 Edmund. Joe was 18 at that time and working as a driver for L Eisenmenger Meat Co. In 1915, he was still at 582 and worked as a clerk for Lindeke Warner & Sons. On July 11, 1916, at the age of 23, Joseph married Anna Pribil at the Church of St. Agnes in St. Paul. Witnesses were his brother, Frederick Plaschko, and Anna’s sister, Mary.

Joseph Plaschko and Anna Pribil Wedding, July 11, 1916 – left to right: Frederick Plaschko, brother of groom, Anna Pribil, bride, Mary Pribil, sister of bride, Joseph Plaschko, groom, unknown, Andrew Kelbe, cousin of groom

When they were first married, Joe and Ann lived at 515 Fuller Street where daughter, Anna Marie (my grandmother), was born on July 3, 1917.

Anna Marie Plaschko, born 1917

During this time, Joe worked as a clerk at Weiskopf Paint Co. They briefly lived at 698 Edmund in 1918 and then at 885 Edmund with Ann’s family in 1919 where daughter, Agnes, was born in January.

Agnes Theresa Plaschko, born 1919

In the census for 1920, Joe and Ann lived at 462 Edmund with their daughters, Anna (2½ years) and Agnes (1 year). From mid-1919 to early 1920, Joe worked as a chauffeur for Lewis C. Stebbins. According to St. Paul city directories, Stebbins was president/treasurer of Mutual Hail & Cyclone Insurance Company and his family lived in one of the luxurious apartments at the exclusive Aberdeen Hotel.

Letter of recommendation for Joseph Plaschko, LC Stebbins, January 14, 1920

After his job as chauffeur ended, Joe worked as a bookbinder at EA Moeller Co with his brother-in-law, Frank Pribil. He was working there in 1922 and living with Anna and their girls at 456 Lafond when their third child, Joseph Daniel Jr., was born in November of that year.

Joseph Daniel Plaschko, Jr., born 1922

Things would soon take a turn for the worse. In April 1923, Joe and Ann’s 4-year-old daughter, Agnes, became ill and died of tuberculous meningitis (the most severe form of tuberculosis) on April 19. Later that year, their 11-month-old son, Joseph, died of tuberculosis on October 26, 1923. Ann was also sick with tuberculosis at the time of her son’s death and was not aware that he had died. Ann died the following Spring on March 8, 1924 after suffering from tuberculosis for 10 months. She was only 30 years old. The family of five was now two – Joe and his oldest daughter, Anna, who was only 6 at the time. Joe was unable to care for Anna on his own so my grandma said she was passed between her two grandmothers until they decided they were too old to care for a young girl. She was then sent to live with the nuns for a while where her uncle, Fred Plaschko, was a priest in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. In July 1925, Joe married his wife Ann’s younger sister, Julia Pribil, at the Church of St. Agnes. Witnesses were Julia’s siblings, Frank and Emma.

Joseph Plaschko and Julia Pribil Wedding, July 16, 1925 – left to right: Emma Pribil, sister of bride, Julia Pribil, bride, Frank Pribil, brother of bride, Joseph Plaschko, groom.

After they married, Joe and Julie finally sent for Anna to come live with them. They all lived at 849 West Central Ave with Julie’s mother, Mary, her 2nd husband, Stephen, his son, Fred, and Julie’s siblings Frank, Rose (until her death in April 1926, also from tuberculosis), and Emma. Joe and Frank Pribil were working together at this time at Plaschko Bindery at 618 Edmund (the home of Joe’s cousin, Frank Plaschko). A year after they married, Joe and Julie had a son, also named Joseph Daniel Jr. and called Sonny, on July 19, 1926.

Joseph Daniel Plaschko Jr. (Sonny), born 1926

In January 1927, Joe, Julie, Ann, and baby Sonny lived at 827 Aurora and Joe worked as an agent for Prudential Insurance Co. Later that year, on December 9, 1927, Joe and Julie lost Sonny, who died of bronchopneumonia at 17 months old. In 1930, Joe, Julie, and Ann lived at 832 Sherburne Ave and Joe still worked as an insurance agent. Their daughter, Beverly, was born on June 18, 1930. Over the next few years, Joe, Julie, Ann, and Beverly lived at 848 Lafond, 908 Lafond, and 931 Bayard Ave. Anna lived with them on Bayard until her marriage in August 1936. In 1938, Joe and Julie had another daughter, Marilyn. Joe and Julie lived with their daughters, Beverly and Marilyn, at 994 Lexington Parkway in 1940 and at 696 Van Buren in 1941 and Joe worked as a bookbinder for Augsburg Publishing House. From around 1950 until at least 1961, Joe and Julie lived at 665 Aurora with Beverly, until her marriage in 1959, and Marilyn, until her marriage in 1961. Joe and Julie eventually moved to 1085 Montreal Ave, where they lived for many years. Joe died at St. Mary’s Home on November 13, 1986 at the age of 93. Causes of death were listed as cardiac arrest due to heart disease of unknown cause, hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2 & permanent pacemaker. He is buried at Calvary with second wife, Julie, and her sister, Emma.

 

aunt marie…

Mansuet and Anna’s youngest child was their daughter, Marie. She was my great-great aunt but as I’ve said, she was Aunt Marie to all of us. I have endless memories of her – holidays and family gatherings, birthday luncheons at Fabulous Fern’s on Selby, dinners at the Lexington on Grand Avenue, visiting her at her house on Juno, her dancing at my wedding when she was 94 years old and serving my girls ice cream in fancy china bowls when they came to visit. She loved to have visitors and she always made you feel special when you were with her. She really was one of a kind.

Marie Agnes Plaschko was born on January 9, 1904 in St. Paul to Mansuet Plaschko and Anna Friedl. She was baptized at the Church of St. Agnes on January 17, 1904 and her godparents were Daniel and Johanna Plaschko. One of my favorite photographs is one of Mansuet and Anna with their children and Mansuet’s mother, Anna. Aunt Marie is just a baby and everyone is dressed so fancy (those outfits on the younger boys!)…

Anna Blaschko, Joe, Fred, Mansuet, Anna holding Marie, Frank and Bill in front

And here is another family portrait, taken a few years later. Again, so fancy and formal.

Bill, Mansuet, Joe, Marie, Frank, Anna, and Fred

As a child, Marie lived at 460 Lafond with her parents and brothers. In 1911, the family moved to 582 Edmund. At age 15, Marie worked as a stenographer at GT Daly. At 18, she was a stenographer at Morphy, Bradford & Cummins. In 1923, at 19, she worked as a stenographer at Great Northern Railway. Marie married William “Jay” McTeague on June 16, 1924 at the Church of St. Agnes. Marie’s brother, Father, performed the service and her brother, Bill, and Jay’s sister, Florence were witnesses. After they married, Marie and Jay first lived at 790 Blair and Marie continued to work at Great Northern. By 1928, they had moved in with Marie’s parents and brother, Bill, at 582 Edmund. Marie and Jay were listed as living at 582 in the census records for 1930 and Marie was still working for the railroad. Marie and Jay divorced sometime after that but I’m unsure when this occurred. Marie then met Martin Lyden. They were seeing each other when Pearl Harbor happened on December 7, 1941. Marty enlisted right away and they married on December 11, 1941.

 

Marie and Marty Lyden, December 1941

 

Marie and Marty also lived with Marie’s mother, Anna, and brother, Bill, at 582 Edmund. According to the 1950 census, they were living there and Marty was working as a lawyer at 641 University Ave. Soon after, they bought a home at 1607 Juno Ave and Marie’s mother, Anna, and brother, Bill, moved there with them. Marie’s mother, Anna, died in 1954 and her brother, Bill, continued to live with them until his death in 1975. After suffering from Alzheimer’s for several years, with Marie taking care of him, Marty died in 1989. Marie lived alone on Juno for years until she no longer could. She lived briefly at The Wellington Senior Living Home in St. Paul and died on March 18, 2010 at the age of 106. Her service was at Holy Spirit Church and she was buried with Marty at Resurrection Cemetery.

 

father, frank & bill…

So Mansuet and Anna had six children and lost their firstborn, Rudy, when he was a young child. Out of the other five, I knew Joe (my great grandpa, Grandpa Joe) and his sister, Marie (my 2nd great aunt, who we all called Aunt Marie). Their brothers, Fred (who everyone called Father because he was a priest) and Frank, died before I was born, and I was too young to remember Bill. Here’s what I discovered about the Plaschko brothers…

Frederick (Fred or Father) was born on October 21, 1895 in St. Paul to Mansuet Blaschko and Anna Friedl. He was baptized at the Church of St. Agnes on October 27, 1895 and his godparents were Daniel and Johanna Plaschko (they were godparents to all the Plaschko siblings). Soon after his birth, his parents and older brothers, Rudy and Joseph, moved from Blair Street to 460 Lafond. The family lived there until 1910, including parents, Mansuet and Anna, brother, Rudy (until his death in February 1898), Joe, Frank (born in 1899), Bill (born in 1901), and sister, Marie (born in 1904). In 1911, the family moved to 582 Edmund and 16-year-old Fred worked as a clerk at Great Northern Railway. I’m not sure how long he lived at 582 with his family because he didn’t show up in the city directories after that for several years. This must be when he attended St. Thomas Academy, St. Thomas College, and the St. Paul Seminary. On June 10, 1922, at age 26, Fred was ordained as a priest.

Rev Frederick Plaschko

He served at a number of churches throughout his career and I was able to place him at some of them through various documents. He started as assistant pastor at St. Mary’s in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, and then at St. Matthew’s German Catholic Church in St. Paul from around 1929-1932 (based on city directories). I know he then became the first resident pastor of the Church of the Japanese Martyrs in Leavenworth, Minnesota in December 1934. By 1942, he had left there for St. James Church in Nassau, Lac Qui Parle, Minnesota.

U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, Ancestry.com

He was at St. Joseph’s in Miesville, Minnesota in 1947. I’m not sure how long he’d been there but he was there at the time of the 25th anniversary of his ordination.

He left St. Joseph’s that same year and became pastor at Holy Trinity in Winsted, Minnesota, where he served until his death. Father died on October 11, 1960 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul. He died of cancer which started in the lung and metastasized to the neck, spine, and pelvis. He was buried at Calvary.

Francis Joseph (Frank) was born in St. Paul on July 23, 1899 to Mansuet Plaschko and Anna Friedl. He was baptized at the Church of St. Agnes on July 30, 1899 and his godparents were also Daniel and Johanna Plaschko. As a child, he lived at 460 Lafond with his parents, brothers, Joe, Fred, Bill (born in 1901), and sister, Marie (born in 1904). In 1911, the family moved to 582 Edmund. Frank began working at about age 16 as a clerk for Great Northern Railway and was still there when he was 19 as seen on his WWI draft record from 1918.

U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Ancestry.com

Frank lived with his family until around 1925 and married Lucille Niemczyk sometime around 1926. They had two sons, Robert in 1927, and Eugene in 1932. They lived all over St. Paul, including 895 Edmund, 169 West Isabel Street in the 1930 census, 90 W Winifred and 733 Aurora, each for a couple of years, and 507 Charles Street in 1940. Besides working as a clerk for Great Northern, Frank also worked as an accountant for Stearns Railroad and a driver for the St. Paul Milk Company. Frank died on April 23, 1966 at the age of 66. Cause of death was listed as unilateral hydro nephrosis and adenocarcinoma of the prostate. He was buried at Calvary with wife, Lucille.

William (Bill) was born in St. Paul on November 5, 1901 to Mansuet Plaschko and Anna Friedl. He was baptized at St. Agnes Church on November 10, 1901 and Daniel and Johanna Plaschko were his godparents as well. As a child, he lived at 460 Lafond with his parents and brothers, Joe, Fred, Frank, and sister, Marie (born in 1904). In 1911, the family moved to 582 Edmund.

William Plaschko, First Holy Communion

At 16, Bill began working first as a messenger and then as a clerk. In the census for 1920 and in city directories for 1922-1927, he was listed as working as a clerk for Minn Trans. In the 1930 census, he was living at 582 with his parents, sister, Marie, and her husband, Jay, and working as a yard clerk at Stearns Railroad. His father, Mansuet, died the following year and the family continued to live on Edmund. By 1940, Bill was working as a clerk at a banking institution. According to the 1950 city directory, Bill lived on Edmund with his mother, Anna, sister, Marie, and her 2nd husband, Marty, and worked at First Bank Credit. They had all moved to 1607 Juno Ave by 1954 when Bill’s mother, Anna, died on May 9th. In 1959, Bill was still living at 1607 Juno Ave with Marie and Marty and was department manager at First Bank. He lived with Marie and Marty until his death on March 22, 1974 at 73. He died of a rupture of thoracic dissecting aneurysm. His service was at Holy Spirit Church in St. Paul and he was buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.  

mansuet and anna…

When Mansuet, Anna, Rudy, and Mansuet’s mother, Anna, arrived in St. Paul in 1891, they first lived at 445 Blair and Mansuet worked as a laborer. I found this information in the 1891-1892 St. Paul City directory on Ancestry.com. These directories were a great way for me to track people between the census records. And Manzet is one of the many variations of Mansuet I ran into over the years…

RL Polk & Co’s St. Paul City Directory, 1891-1892, p. 290, Ancestry.com

By 1893, they had moved to 472 Blair where their son, Joseph (Joe), was born on March 14th. The family lived there until 1895 when son, Frederick (Fred), was born. In 1896, they moved to 460 Lafond and Mansuet began working as a laborer/molder at Union Brass Co. That’s where they were living when Rudy died of pneumonia on February 3, 1898. Mansuet and Anna had two more sons, Francis (Frank), in 1899, and William (Bill), in 1901, and a daughter, Marie, in 1904. The family stayed at 460 Lafond until 1910. I have to mention the 1910 Census…when I found the family, Mansuet and Anna were listed with children Joseph, 17, Frederick, 14, Frank, 10, and Mary (Marie), 6. Also listed was Lillian, a female, age 8…and missing was their son, William, who would have also been 8. So I thought, Lillian, William, similar names, maybe the census taker heard it wrong. And Lillian was listed as a daughter but I had actually seen mistakes like that before. Here’s the kicker – there was a William Plaschko, age 8, listed further down on the census but he was living as a boarder in a house down the street with a couple and another man, who was also listed as a boarder. What?! Why? Why wasn’t he living with his family? And who was Lillian?

1910 Census, St. Paul, Ward 8, Ramsey, Minnesota, Ancestry.com

This sent me to the Minnesota Historical Society to look up William’s birth certificate in the family history library. First, I confirmed his parents were Mansuet and Anna. Second, there was no twin listed. And I did not find a birth certificate or any kind of record for a Lillian Plaschko. So that must have been a mistake on the part of the census taker. But why was William listed as a boarder living with a random couple from Indiana and not his family? Again, a mistake? It drives me crazy and still has me wondering if there was a secret child named Lillian Plaschko….

I continued going through the censuses and city directories for St. Paul (always keeping an eye out for Lillain) and found that the family moved to 582 Edmund in 1911. This was the home Aunt Marie always talked about – 582 she called it. They had that house until around 1950 or so. It’s where they lived when Manuset died on May 23, 1931 at the age of 69. His service was conducted by his son, Reverend Frederick Plaschko, at the Church of St. Agnes. He was buried at Calvary. After Mansuet’s death, Anna stayed at 582 for years with son, Bill, daughter, Marie, and Marie’s husband, Marty. Around 1950, they moved to 1607 Juno and Anna lived there until she died on May 19, 1954. She was buried with Mansuet at Calvary.

Obituary for Anna Friedl Plaschko, St. Paul Pioneer Press, May 21, 1954

anna friedl…

I mentioned Mansuet’s wife, Anna, a few times but didn’t say much about her. Let’s meet her family, the Friedls…

Mathias Friedl was born in 1759 in Birkenhaid, Bohemia to Adalbert Friedl (mother not listed). Eva Rosina Steidl, daughter of Martin and Maria Steidl, was born in Birkenhaid on February 19, 1753. Mathias and Eva were married in Obermoldau on October 22, 1780. They had at least 4 children together – Bartholomew, Apolonia, Mathias, and Johann. Mathias died at the young age of 34 on July 14, 1793. The cause of death was listed as dropsy which would indicate congestive heart failure. His youngest son, Johann, was about 1½ years old. His wife, Eva, outlived him by many years as she reached the unbelievable age of 98. She died of a stroke on April 29, 1851. Both her birth and death records were found in the parish records from Birkenhaid, Bohemia so I was able to confirm her age.

Johann Friedl was born to Mathias Friedl and Eva Rosina Steidl on January 22, 1792 in Mehgarten, Bohemia. His father, Mathias, died a year and a half after he was born. Johann married Katharina Friedberger, daughter of Ignaz Friedberger and Johanna Bablitzko, on January 10, 1825 in Gansauerhaid, Bohemia. Johann and Katharina had at least four children – Adalbert, Johann, Wenzl, and Anna. The family lived in Gansauerhaid and Johann worked as a master tailor. Johann died (of old age) on May 17, 1871 at the age of 79. Katharina died (of old age) on March 10, 1873 at the age of 75. Interesting fact…after Katharina’s death, her oldest son, Adalbert, married his first cousin, Katharina Friedberger (daughter of his maternal uncle, Johann Jakob) on August 18, 1873. A dispensation was required from the bishop due to the close blood relation. Katharina had given birth to an illegitimate son, Alois, earlier that year in June. The father was listed as unknown and the child died when he was 9 days old. After their marriage, Adalbert and Katharina would have two children who both died when they were just days old. I was fascinated to find this yet again in this family. At this point, I had already discovered that Anna and Mansuet married as second cousins…I guess everyone thought it was no big deal since Anna’s paternal uncle had married his first cousin…who just happened to be Mansuet’s maternal aunt…I guess they were into keeping it all in the family. Or there just weren’t that many people around. This is where it became confusing and hard to keep track of everyone, as my tree grew there were many people in it with the same names! First and last! I’ve mentioned that it took me months to go through the Czech archives parish records for southern Bohemia. There are birth, marriage, and death books for all of the towns and villages in the area and seeing the same surnames in every other entry took some time to figure out.

Back to the Friedls…

Johann Friedl was born to Johann Friedl and Katharina Friedberger on October 20, 1831 in Gansauerhaid, Bohemia. Veronika Schonbauer was born on October 27, 1838 in Ferchenhaid, Bohemia to Josef Schonbauer and Franziska Matejka. Johann and Veronika were married on May 9, 1864 in Ferchenhaid. They had at least four children together – Alexander, Pius, Anna, and Maria. The family lived in Rabitzerhaid, Ferchenhaid, and Birkenhaid and Johann worked as a weaver and eventually a master tailor. It is unknown when or where Johann and Veronika died, I wasn’t able to track them down in the parish records.

The Friedl siblings…

Alexander Friedl was born on February 2, 1865 in Ferchenhaid, Bohemia to Johann Friedl and Veronika Schonbauer. I was unable to find a marriage record for him but his wife, Aloisia Novotny, was listed in his death record. Alexander died in Winterberg on September 23, 1904 at the age of 39 from a ‘twisted intestine.’ That is the translation…I used google translate and failed so I posted the cause of death on Facebook groups that I belong to regarding German and Czech genealogy and that was the consensus. Twisted intestine. Not sure what it means but sometimes the causes of death are odd, random, and hard to define.

Pius Friedl was born on September 5, 1866 in Ferchenhaid, Bohemia to Johann Friedl and Veronika Schonbauer. According to parish death records, Pius was single, worked in a factory, and was in the military at the time of his death. He died in Winterberg on December 10, 1888 at the age of 22. The cause listed in the death record translated to ‘stab injury to the heart.’ Another odd cause of death! Although sad, I’ll admit it was a tad bit exciting because most of the people I had found up until these guys died of pneumonia, tuberculosis, old age, etc. Pretty boring stuff. But poor Pius, only 22 years old and I’m sure hard for the family.

Anna Friedl was born on January 31, 1869 in Rabitzerhaid, Bohemia to Johann Friedl and Veronika Schonbauer. We already know that Anna had an illegitimate son, Rudolf, in August 1890 and married his father and her second cousin, Mansuet Plaschko, several months later on February 9, 1891. We also know that she left Bohemia with her new husband, their baby son, and her mother-in-law and arrived in America in April 1891. More on her life in America later.

Maria Friedl was born on December 1, 1872 in Ferchenhaid, Bohemia to Johann Friedl and Veronika Schonbauer. And that is all I found. I wasn’t able to locate Maria in the parish marriage or death records but that may have been because the records only went so far into the 1900s and she may have lived longer than that. The only other thing I have is a card that was in my Aunt Marie’s stuff when she died. That’s her writing on the side – Mama’s sister who lived in Germany.

Once again I turned to google translate and, from I could tell, it seemed to be some kind of funeral card. I’m guessing her married name was Linhedeln. I also googled the last line “Eberle, Kaelin & Comp., Einsiedeln,” and found this was probably a printing company located in Einsiedeln, a village in Switzerland. Whether that means Maria ended up in Switzerland and died there, I don’t know…it’s just another needle in the haystack.

mansuet…

As promised, I’m getting to Mansuet. Sometime after I confirmed that there was a Rudy, I discovered the Czech archives. I mentioned that this changed my research big time. I started looking for Mansuet’s birth in the parish books. I had his birth date from his death certificate. Or what I thought was his birth date…the death certificate said December 25, 1863 but parish records proved it to actually be December 18, 1861. My Grandpa Joe filled this out and another thing I found odd was he only put Mansuet’s father’s name and not his mother’s – he put unknown for her. Even though Grandpa Joe’s grandpa had died back in Bohemia and his grandma had actually lived in St. Paul and hadn’t died until he was 22. So he knew her…did he not know her name? I guess maybe she was just Grandma Blaschko to him? After finding Mansuet’s birth record and confirming the correct date, I tracked down his siblings I knew of from what my grandma and Aunt Marie had told me (and found a couple that had never been mentioned). Based on the age of the oldest sibling, I searched for his parent’s marriage. I easily found it and luckily it listed their parents, so I worked my way back until I couldn’t anymore. I then went back to the Blaschko siblings to see who had married in Bohemia before they came over. I found Daniel and Monica had, as well as Mansuet and his wife, Anna Friedl. I was excited to find this information and wanted to know more since the entry had quite a bit of writing in it. I had struggled quite a bit when I first got into the archives since a) they are in German and b) some of the priests had hideous penmanship. You really learn to appreciate clear writing and some of it is quite beautiful. I had printed out the German alphabet as a reference and as I got familiar with the records I could usually make out names and dates, sometimes places. But I was gathering so many records I decided I needed help. I googled around and found a couple of websites that listed people who would translate parish records from the Czech archives for a fee. I chose the most important to test it out – the marriage record of Mansuet and Anna – who married on February 9, 1891 in Obermoldau. I emailed the information to the translator and waited. When I got it, I was pleased to find I had figured out the main stuff on my own, names, dates, etc. What I hadn’t been able to read was the fact that Mansuet and Anna needed a dispensation by the bishop at the time of their marriage due to the fact that they were 2nd cousins!! Turns out they shared a set of great-grandparents, Ignaz and Johanna Friedberger – Mansuet’s maternal grandfather, Johann Jakob Friedberger, and Anna’s paternal grandmother, Katharina Friedberger, were siblings. Wow, that was some big news. Couldn’t wait to tell my family about that one. Although, I knew from looking at the archives in detail that the same surnames show up over and over. These were small villages and they were made up of only so many families, I guess it probably happened a lot. Once I got over the shock of that, I realized that Manuset and Anna had married only two months before arriving in America…with what the ship document had said was their 6-month-old son…so Rudy was born before they married? More news to share with the family! I went back to the archives and started looking for him in late 1890. I had to go back a little further than I thought to August. He was born on August 10, 1890 which would have made him 6 months old when they married and 8 months when they left for America. His name was listed as Rudolf Friedl in the index but the actual entry said Blaschko. I also had his birth record translated and it was written in the record that the marriage of his parents legitimized his birth and his name became Rudolf Blaschko. So there was a lot going on right before they left Bohemia, it makes you wonder if this was a big scandal and a reason to leave? Another thing I realized is that when I found Rudy’s grave, the dates were different. The footstone says 1891-1899. Yet I had found his actual birth record and that date was August 10, 1890. And I had also found two sources for his death – the parish death records from St. Agnes and the entry in the death records at the Ramsey County Department of Health. Both said he died February 1898. Did they round the dates up or did they change them so it would appear he was born after they married? We will never know.

On a side note to all of this, a few years ago I got something from my grandma that had to do with Mansuet and Anna, some sort of certificate she wanted me to see. It was in a large cardboard envelope that was falling apart. When I took the certificate out of the envelope some pictures fell out. Most were very old, from Bohemia without names on the back (super frustrating). But one stood out to me, a couple with an elderly lady holding a baby – it was Mansuet and Anna with Mansuet’s mother, Anna, sitting in a chair holding a baby. Rudy. It must have been taken not long after they arrived in 1891. I had other pictures of Mansuet and Anna but never this young, and there was another family picture with Mansuet’s mother in it…but how lucky to come across a picture of Rudy. One of my biggest finds.

Manuset, his mother, Anna Friedberger Blaschko, holding Rudy, and his wife, Anna Friedl Plaschko around 1891.

 

 

meet the blaschko siblings…

I’ve mentioned that Mansuet was one of the six children of Josef Blaschko & Anna Friedberger who settled in St. Paul, now let’s meet the siblings…

Daniel was born in Birkenhaid on February 19, 1853. He married Johanna Kublbeck on June 21, 1880 and they had two children in Bohemia, David and Mary. David’s gravestone shows a birthdate of June 18, 1879 which indicates he was born prior to their marriage. His sister, Mary, was born on December 24, 1880, six months after Daniel and Johanna were married. Daniel was the first of the Blaschko kids to leave Bohemia and he, his wife, Johanna, and their two young children arrived in America on July 18, 1883 and settled in St. Paul. While searching for items on the Blaschko/Plaschko* family in The St. Paul Daily Globe, I ran across a notice of a permit in August 1885 to build a one-story house on Blair for a cost of $300.

From The St. Paul Daily Globe, August 1885

That house at 484 Blair was where Daniel and Johanna raised their children David, Mary, Hedwig, Ernest, Francis, and Teresa. Daniel worked as a laborer for almost 40 years at Towle Syrup Co which eventually became Log Cabin. His wife, Johanna, died in September 1915 at age 59 of chronic nephritis. This was about a year after their son, David, died of tuberculosis at 34. Daniel remained at 484 Blair after Johanna’s death, living with youngest daughter, Teresa, and eventually, her husband, Anton Broten. Daniel died years later on June 17, 1926, at age 73, from carcinoma of the liver. His service was at the Church of St. Agnes and he was buried with Johanna at Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul.

Johanna was born in Birkenhaid on November 4, 1856. While I haven’t been able to confirm anything, I believe Johanna came to America sometime around 1890-1891 and she married Leonard Kelbe around 1893. I found them in the Minnesota State census for 1895 next door to Johanna’s sister, Hermina, her family, and their mother, Anna. Johanna and Leonard then moved to a house at 580 Blair with their children Andrew, Anna (until her death in December 1898 at 2 years old), and Rudolph, and Johanna’s mother, Anna, for a short time. Based on census records and many St. Paul directories, it appears that Anna was passed around a lot by Johanna, Mansuet, and Monica, only living briefly with Hermina in 1895 and apparently never with Daniel or Philipina. She stayed with Monica again for about 5 years before going back with Johanna’s family around 1907 where she remained until her death in 1915. Johanna’s husband, Leo, died in 1928 and Johanna lived alone at 624 Western until her own death at age 81 on January 20, 1938. She died of terminal bronchopneumonia/congestive cardiac failure. Her service was conducted by her nephew, Reverend Frederick Plaschko, at the Church of St. Agnes. She was buried with her husband, Leo, at Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul.

Monica was born on November 7, 1859 in Birkenhaid. She married Franz Xaver Schmid, a lumberjack from Bavaria, on July 23, 1888. Monica and Franz left Bohemia and came to America sometime around 1890. They settled in St. Paul, Minnesota, and had a daughter, Maria, in April 1891, and twins, Anna and Hedwig, in July 1892. According to parish records, Anna died when she was 2 ½ months old (no cause was listed). Monica’s husband, Franz, died the following year, on October 2, 1893, and their son, Henry, was born later that month on October 27, 1893. Following her husband’s death, Monica lived at 608 Thomas with her children, Mary, Hattie, and Henry, and her mother, Anna, and worked as a washwoman. On April 24, 1900, Monica married John Gruber at the Church of St. Agnes with her brother, Daniel, as a witness. After they married, Monica and John lived at 486 Blair, next door to her brother Daniel’s family, with Monica’s children and her mother, Anna. They then moved to 577 Charles and Monica and John had two daughters together, Agnes in 1902, and Rosalia in 1904. Rosalia died in 1909 at age 4. In 1910, Monica, John, Hattie, Henry, and Agnes lived at 725 Edmund and Monica worked as a washwoman for a private family. John died in 1912 and Monica remarried in 1914 although her name never changed from Gruber. While going through parish records for the Church of St. Agnes, I ran across Monica Gruber, a widow, who married John Fuerst on April 23, 1914. Witnesses were Mansuet (listed as ‘M Plaschko’ in the county record) and Anna Plaschko.

Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949

So that was the right Monica. But from 1914-1916, Monica was listed in St. Paul city directories as the widow of John Gruber. The next census available, 1920, listed her at 725 Charles living with her daughter, Agnes, and working as a laundress. No sign of her new husband. I continued checking city directories and from 1928-1933 she was still widow of John Gruber living at 725 Charles. Monica died on May 13, 1934 at age 74 from acute bronchitis/bronchopneumonia. Her death certificate was signed by her son, Henry Schmidt, and – you guessed it – listed her as the widow of John Gruber. No mention of that third husband. Her nephew, Reverend Frederick Plaschko, conducted her service at St. Agnes and she was buried alone at Calvary in St. Paul. I still have yet to find out what happened to John Fuerst.

Hermina was born on December 19, 1864 in Birkenhaid. She came to America in July 1887 and married Kantus Mikschl on October 31, 1887 at the Church of the Assumption on West 7th Street in St. Paul. They moved around St. Paul, living at 545 Blair in 1888, at 569 Lafond from around 1892-1895, and then 644 Charles from 1898-1900. Hermina and Kantus, who worked as stone mason, had six children during this time – Rudolph (1890), Anna (1892), Andrew (1894), Maria (1897), Frank (1899), and Joseph (1901). By 1905, the family moved to 896 Edmund which would be their permanent home. Hermina and Kantus lost their older daughter, Anna, on March 15, 1912. She was only 19 years old when she died and the cause on her death certificate was written as ‘complications of a goiter incision.’ Kantus died of cancer in 1936 at age 73. Hermina died from a coronary due to atrial fibrillation on March 28, 1944 at the age of 79. Her service was conducted by her nephew, Reverend Frederick Plaschko, at the Church of St. Agnes. Hermina and Kantus were buried with their daughter, Anna, at Calvary.

Philipina was born on May 28, 1867 in Birkenhaid. It’s unclear when she left Bohemia but I believe it was the late 1880s. She had to be here by then since she married Andrew Stiepan at the Church of St. Agnes on August 5, 1889.

Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949

Andrew and Philipina lived in St. Paul for the first ten years of their marriage, living at 463 Fuller, 701 Edmund, and 743 Wabasha. They had a daughter, Maria, in 1896. By 1900, they had moved to Alabama where they would have 3 more children – Bessie (1905), Lee (1906), Anna (1907). In 1909, they were living in Oklahoma when their daughter, Frances, was born. They were still living there when they lost their only son, Lee, at age 11 in 1918. The family eventually moved to Los Angeles, California, as listed in city directories and on census records for 1930 and 1940. I wasn’t able to find out much about their life in California but I do know that Andrew died in 1943 and Philipina died on May 20, 1951 at the age of 83.

*I go back and forth between Blaschko and Plaschko based on my research. All records found from Bohemia are Blaschko and even some early records in the U.S. are as well. For the boys, Mansuet and Daniel, it went back and forth until around 1900-1905 and from then on was consistently Plaschko. So I refer to the spelling as it was when found.

finding rudy…

When I started researching the Plaschko family, one of the things I wanted to look into was Rudy. We knew that Mansuet and Anna had 5 children – Joe (my great-grandpa, Grandpa Joe), Fred, Frank, Bill, and Marie (we all called her Aunt Marie – she’s the one who lived to 106). According to my mom, Grandpa Joe had once told her that he had had a brother named Rudy. When my mom mentioned this to Aunt Marie at some point, she denied it, saying there was no Rudy. With Joe being the oldest and Marie being the youngest, maybe she really didn’t know about him. So I made it my mission to look into this Rudy business. Through Ancestry.com I was able to access passenger lists and found Mansuet and his family when they came over. When I zoomed in on the page I was shocked – listed below Mansuet was his wife, Anna, then his mother, Anna, and then Rudolph, age 6 months! I had found proof that there was a Rudy!

New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957

Next, I turned to census records to find the family. The first census I checked was the Federal Census of 1900. I found the family living in St. Paul – Mansuet, Anna, and three sons, Joseph, Frederick and Frank. No Rudy. At this point, I thought maybe he died as a baby since he was only 6 months when they came over. Luckily, Minnesota has Territorial and State Census records for the years 1849-1905 so I checked into those. And there he was listed in the state census for 1895 – Rudolph, age 4, along with his little brother, Joe, age 2.

Minnesota, Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905

Now I had to know what happened to the little guy. Nothing else came up on Ancestry.com so I thought about where I could find death records. Everyone on my mom’s side of the family basically settled in the same neighborhood and attended the same church so I contacted the Church of St. Agnes in St. Paul. It turns out copies of their parish records are held at the Minnesota Genealogical Society in South St. Paul, so that’s where I went. I found the roll of microfilm for St. Agnes and threaded it through the machine. I can’t tell you how many hours I spent looking at that one roll – I recognized so many names it was a gold mine of information. Because they all went to that one church I had more information than I could handle at the time. I wrote down as much as I could knowing that I would be back. On that day, I really just wanted to see one name and I did – a note in the parish death records that Rudolph Plaschko died in 1898. Unfortunately, that’s all it said. So that made him about 7 when he died. Older than I thought and that made me sad. At this point I was quite obsessed about what happened to Rudy. Now that I had a year, I googled and searched and tried to figure out where to go next. I ended up on the website for the Minnesota Department of Health but they only had death records from 1908 and on. For older records, I had to go to the county. I contacted the Ramsey County Department of Health and they found a Rudolph Plaschko in the index but said I needed to come in person to pay for a copy. When I got there, the lady went to pull the book and make a copy. Instead, she brought the actual book where the deaths were recorded. She told me I could just look at the entry and she wouldn’t charge me the $13.00. And there it was…Rudolph Plaschko, died February 3, 1898 at age 7 of pneumonia. He had lived to be 7 years old…I thought of my own girls who were not much older than that at the time and it made me even more sad. I then contacted Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul to see if they had information on Rudy. There was a grave for him and they sent me a map to find it. I had a list of other people at Calvary that I’d been wanting to search for so I talked my youngest daughter, Lizzie, into coming with me to look for graves with a promise of a stop for ice cream at Grand Ole Creamery on the way home. We started at one end of the cemetery and made our way around. After quite a while, we reached an older section where Rudy’s grave was located on the map…it was harder to navigate as some stones were harder to read and some weren’t even visible anymore. I kept picking one on the map to start from and count to where Rudy should be but no luck, it was never his. I started getting frustrated and losing hope that we’d find it. I mean, he died in 1898 and if Aunt Marie didn’t even know about him maybe no one had ever visited his grave or cleaned it off. Maybe it sunk like some of the others. It was summer so it was hot and Lizzie was getting bored…she wanted her ice cream. So I gave up for the day thinking I’d come back alone and we started heading back to the car. A guy had been mowing while we were searching the cemetery and there was fresh grass on some of the footstones. As I walked, I started kicking the grass out of frustration, bummed that he wasn’t there…and then I saw it. RUDOLPH PLASCHKO 1891-1899. I stood in disbelief and then yelled to Lizzie “I found him!” She ran back to me and we just stared at it. I actually started to cry and whispered “I found you, Rudy, I found you.”

meet the friedbergers…

Last time I introduced you to the Blaschko family. I stopped at Mansuet Blaschko, my 2x great-grandfather. Before I tell you about him, let’s go back a little and look at his mother’s family. Meet the Friedbergers…

Ignaz Friedberger was born on September 17, 1754 in Gansauerhaid, Bohemia to Caspari and Anna Dorthea Friedberger (1715-1776). Ignaz married Johanna Bablitzko on May 17, 1779. They had at least 11 children together, including Johann Jakob. Johanna died of typhoid fever at the age of 43 on May 21, 1803. Her husband, Ignaz, lived many more years and died of old age at 77 on May 24, 1832.

Johann Jakob Friedberger was born to Ignaz Friedberger and Johanna Bablitzko on July 6, 1790 in Mehrgarten, Bohemia. He married Elisabeth Schraml on May 10, 1812. Jakob and Elisabeth had at least 10 children, including Anna. The family lived in Gansauerhaid and Jakob worked as a lumberjack. Jakob died of hydrothorax on June 30, 1862 at age 71. Elisabeth died at 82 years on May 7, 1874 from ‘marasmus’ which is defined as a progressive wasting away of body, like malnutrition.

Anna Friedberger was born in Gansauerhaid, Bohemia on July 24, 1825 to Jakob Friedberger and Elisabeth Schramel. She married Josef Blaschko in 1849 and they had nine children. I mentioned in my last post how three of them died young and the remaining left Bohemia to settle in America. The oldest son, Daniel, was the first to leave Bohemia in 1883. He settled in St. Paul, Minnesota with his wife, Johanna, and their two oldest children, David and Mary. He was followed by his sisters, Johanna, Monica, Hermina, and Philipina who all arrived in St. Paul by or around 1890. The last to join them was Mansuet, who came with their mother, Anna, in 1891 not long after the death of their father, Josef. Also with him was his wife, Anna Friedl Blaschko, and their baby son, Rudolf.