Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2022

Paul Joseph Fischer was born in Bamberg, Bavaria on August 20, 1842. Paul’s parents were Mathias Burkard Fischer (1801-1861) and Margaretha Schmidt (1800-1860).

Paul moved to Ontario, Canada in 1850 at age eight. When he was 18 years old, Paul’s mother died, and a month later his father died, both in Ontario, Canada.

When he was 24 years old, Paul married Julianna Boppre on February 22, 1867. They married at St. Agatha, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Three years later, Paul and Julianna came to Minnesota. According to an article “Pioneer Arrived for July Fourth” in the August 19, 1926 Shakopee Argus-Tribune,Paul arrived July 3, 1870.

Paul mentioned that he and relatives came from Germany in 1850 and settled in eastern Canada. “But father didn’t like it there. Land was high and it was hard for a poor farmer to get started. So we came out to St. Paul. We stayed there a while, but I decided to come to Shakopee as I heard there was work to be had on farms here. I had been married three years before.

“We had three children when I left St. Paul to seek work here, and my wife remained in St. Paul with them,” said Paul in the article. “I hired out to Math Everling on July 5, 1870, and went to work on his farm near Prior Lake. I received $26 a month and stayed there three months. Then I sent for my family and went to Peter Stemmer’s place, seven miles east of Shakopee. Later my brother Adam and I rented the Ries place, 2 ½ miles east of town.”

The following ten years were spent in farming. But Paul was tired of farming, so the family moved to the town of Shakopee, where Paul worked at the Omaha shops.

Fifteen children were born to Paul and Julianna. One child, Nicholas, at age six, was run over by the local freight train, according to an article on August 14, 1891. Nicholas was hanging on the side of the passing cars. He lost his right foot. The amputation was made by doctors Dunn and Smith.

In 1883, Paul became a janitor at a school in Shakopee. District 1 was organized in 1854. The first school was taught in 1855 by John H. Brown. It was on the second story of the old post office building. It later was a stone building. For 17 years, Paul was employed as a janitor for School District 1. It burned down in 1880.

Paul remembered, “I spent lots of time in that school building,” he chuckled, “but somehow I never seemed to be on hand when the classes were held, so I didn’t learn much from the teachers.”

After resigning as janitor of the school, Paul became associated with his son Joseph in cement work, but after the death of his wife, Julianna Boppre Fischer in 1910, he went to St. Paul, where he obtained employment in the city park department. At age 83, he resigned after putting in 15 years.

Paul was closely identified with life in Shakopee from 1870 until he left here in 1910 – a period of forty years, according to the article in the Shakopee Argus-Tribune.

When Paul first came to Shakopee in 1870, Huntsman and Geyermann were prominent storekeepers and he also knew David L. How, the veteran banker, Theodore Weiland, and other civic leaders. “This city has grown remarkably in my time,” he observed. “It certainly didn’t look much like it does now back in 1870.”

“But I always liked it here,” he explained, “and I believe that is why I got so I preferred living in town. Farming was discouraging work when I started in here and I decided that I could do better in town. I might have made more money on a farm, but I have done fairly well and now at 84 I have nothing to complain about. Except, of course,” he added, “the many little thing with which we all find fault. This hot weather we’ve had, for instance, mosquitoes, rheumatism and a few things like that.”

Paul believed that when a man has held down a job until he is 83 years old, he is entitled to a regular daily schedule here, although he did quite a bit of “puttering” just for exercise. He had a right to be proud of his record and he was appreciated by his friends here as a man who always was “on the job” which, when one stops to ponder on the matter, is a strong recommendation for any man.

When Paul was 95, the former resident of Shakopee died at St. Joseph’s home in St. Cloud on March 21, 1938, according to the March 24, 1938 Shakopee Argus-Tribune. Death was attributed to the infirmities of age.

Funeral services were conducted by Father Savs at St. Mark’s Church and burial was in the Catholic Cemetery.

During his 43 years of residence in Shakopee, Mr. Fischer made many friends. Despite his advanced years he continued to have an active interest in all that went on about him. Relatives frequently visited him and he always found great pleasure in their calls.

He never lost interest in the community and those he knew here. Until years before his death, he made regular visits to Shakopee renewing old acquaintances and recalling old times.

Bibliography

“Pioneer Arrived for July Fourth.” Shakopee Argus-Tribune, 19 Aug. 1926.

Shakopee Argus-Tribune, 24 March 1938.