Family Lore: Fact vs Fiction

William Johann Carl Hell Every family has stories passed down from generation to generation. Over time the details can become fuzzy, and factual information gets replaced with fiction. The story is not necessarily altered on purpose. Like the game of Telephone, when messages get passed through multiple tellings, things get left out and added due … Continue reading Family Lore: Fact vs Fiction →

Stories from Squaw Creek Homestead

Hyršov Dorothea Mazonetz Ertl Squaw Creek Homestead is the land first settled by my Bohman family ancestors near Auburndale. The barn and home were still standing a few years ago when I last drove by. Dorothea Masonetz Ertl (my 4th great grandmother) and her husband Johann Ertl were married on 3 November 1847 in Hyršov, … Continue reading Stories from Squaw Creek Homestead →

Kroenings and St Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church

St Paul's is a tiny white country church like you see on old postcards or in the background for modern wedding photo shoots. It is tucked away on a quiet gravel road between Rozellville and Stratford in Marathon County Wisconsin. I have known for several years that I had some family buried in the churchyard … Continue reading Kroenings and St Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church →