Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Margaret Murphy was born on July 20, 1849, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Jeremiah S. Murphy (1835-1880) and Johanna Honora Harrington Murphy (1830-1892).

Margaret headed further west, where in Rockland, Michigan, she met Francis “Frank” John Geis. Frank was born on July 20, 1839 in Krumbach, Bavaria, Germany. When Frank was born, his father, Lorenz Lawrence Guise (1816-1907), was 22 and his mother, Elizabeth Franziska Hessler Guise (1820-1886), was 19. Frank and family immigrated from Antwerp to New York on August 26, 1848. The family became settler-colonists as they headed further west.

Margaret married Frank on June 16, 1866, in Rockland. By 1867, the two parents had their first child, Johanna, in Rockland.

Within a year, Frank, Margaret, and Johanna Geis headed to Scott County, Minnesota, where they bought land near Sand Creek.

Margaret and Frank ended up having ten children: Johanna Geis Kreuser (1867-1951); Elizabeth Geis (1869-1904); Frank Conrad Geis (1872-1944); Mary Ann Geis Grommesch (1874-1944); Catherine Clara Geis Hamers (1876-1941); Margaretha Geis Lehnen (1878-1940); Dorothy Geis (1881-1970); Theresa Marie Geis Kreuser (1883-1963); Josephine Geis (1886-1964); and Agnes Geis (1889-1963).

According to the Scott County Historical Society January 26, 2021 newsletter, the Geis family was involved in the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Sand Creek.

The St. Joseph Catholic Church was said to have been the focal point of the community of St. Joe. “Jeanette Robling, a lifelong resident of Sand Creek Township, said in 1887, ‘It was really the church that made the community. There never was a business district. All community centered around the church.’”

According to early settlers in the township, they wrote to the bishop in St. Paul to request permission to build a local church. They heard that their request might be refused because of their proximity to Jordan which was also building a Catholic church at the time. “Supposedly, a farmer came out with his wagon to meet the bishop when he came to inspect the area. Instead of taking a direct route back to the community of St. Joe, the farmer drove the bishop along a circuitous and bumpy back route. St. Joe seemed farther from Jordan then it actually was, and the bishop gave permission for the church to be built,” said the Scott County Historical Society.

St. Joe’s Church was established in 1858. It was built entirely by community volunteers and, due to farming and family obligations, was not finished until the following October. The original building was a 24’x35’ log cabin. In 1860 a bell, cast in St. Louis, was purchased for the church by the local Young Men’s Society. A sandstone church replaced the cabin in 1873.

According to the article, a school opened in 1874, run by an order of nuns, with 60 students attending. “The school consisted of only two rooms, with two teachers on staff. Attendance for each student averaged only 50-60 days per year due to farm work, illness and weather. By 1883, 106 children were enrolled. Unfortunately, this proved to be a difficult year for the school. Several students died in an epidemic, and the school closed for a large portion of the year as a protective measure. In 1884, the nuns retired and the building became the District 22 public school. The building was still shared with the church for religious instruction until 1947. It remained in operation until 1960.”

For over 100 years, St Joe’s Church stood in Sand Creek. The final mass was officiated in 1971, and the township used funds to preserve the church cemetery. Finally, the church itself was removed in 1988.

In June of 1989, a memorial to the church was dedicated on-site featuring the old church bell. The inscription reads “St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. On this spot stood St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. This monument is dedicated in memory of those who worshipped here and supported the church for 113 years. The bell is original. The stone and brick are from the church.”

The end of the church also marked the end of St. Joe. Never a large community, it began to disperse after the church closed. Today it is considered a ghost town.

Margaret Murphy Geis lived in Sand Creek Township until she died February 5, 1893, at the age of 43. Her husband, Francis Frank John Geis, died July 5, 1922, at age of 82.

Bibliography

Scott County Historical Society Newsletter, 26 Jan. 2021.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper in 2024

The year was 1933. The United States was in the middle of the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt became the 32^nd president. Prohibition was the law, and Hitler was gaining power in Germany.

And in Shakopee, according to a Shakopee Heritage Society article by Eileen Schmitz, Edward and Florence Buesgens McGovern welcomed their first child, a daughter, Geraldine Ann McGovern. Gerrie was born at the home of her parents at 330 Fourth Avenue East. Her parents rented their house, and when the owner passed away in 1945, they bought the house and lived there the rest of their lives. Four years later, Gerrie’s sister, Aggie, was born.

Her father, Edward McGovern, was a carpenter, and one of six sons of John and Catherine Rohe McGovern. They were raised on the family farm in Jackson Township, west of Highway 169 (now called Highway 69), west of the railroad tracks.

Gerrie’s great-grandparent, John McGovern, was the original owner of the farm.

John McGovern, Sr. was born in 1816 in County Leitrim, Ireland. He came to America in 1843, settling as a settler-colonist in the state of Rhode Island. He married there and was employed in the roller mills. In 1857, John, his wife, Margaret Heslan McGovern, and four children moved to Minnesota. They lived in Shakopee until 1868, and then they purchased a farm three miles southwest of Shakopee in Jackson Township. At the time of his death, John McGovern, Sr., had the distinction of being the oldest member of the Shakopee community, dying one month before his 97^th birthday.

His son, John McGovern, Jr., Gerrie’s grandfather, married in 1890 to Catherine Rohe and settled on the farm until 1926. They retired from farming and moved to Shakopee. Catherine was the daughter of Lambert Rohe, and early immigrant settler-colonist in Shakopee.

Gerrie’s mother, Florence Buesgens, was from a family of six children. Florence’s parents were Henry and Anna Meyer Buesgens, and they worked on a farm in Chaska, later moving back to Shakopee.

Growing up, Gerrie remembered that there were not many children in the neighborhood. Several of the lots were empty, though over time, more houses were built. On the north side of Fourth Avenue, the Leo Hirscher family lived. Gerrie remembered that Bob Hirscher was a great playmate. Other people in the area include the Butz Pass family, the Petsch family, and Mrs. Hennen, who was a widow with her daughter. Further east lived the Wermerskirchens, Judge Connolly, Stockers, Duffys, and the Bill Marschall family.

The McGovern family attended St. Mary’s Catholic Church, and Gerrie attended school at St. Mary’s School. The school just had four classrooms, two classes in each room. One teacher she remembered was Sister Nicolette, one of the Notre Dame Order of nuns who taught 7^th and 8^th grade.

In 1947, she attended Shakopee High School located on Fifth Avenue (and torn down in 2023).

After graduating in 1951, Gerrie worked at the telephone company is Shakopee. After two years of working at night, she found employment at Continental Tool in Savage. Later she worked in Minneapolis at the Sears store on Lake Street. A few years later, she came back to Shakopee and worked for Page & Hill.

Gerrie and Andy Heiland were married at St. Mary’s Catholic Church September 14, 1957. Andy was born and raised in Shakopee. Andy was in the construction trade and later worked at the Shakopee Senior High School in the maintenance department. He retired in 1996 and died two years later, in August 1998.

Gerrie and Andy had seven children: Dale, Lisa, Keith (who died in infancy), Cheryl, Renee, Craig, and Kurt.

Gerrie kept busy with her family and friends. She volunteered and was active with the church, Loaves and Fishes, Mobile Meals. She also belonged to the Quilt Club, served on St. Mark’s funeral committee for 22 years, and was a volunteer at the Shakopee Heritage Society and the Scott County Historical Society. She also enjoyed trips with the senior citizen’s group, and was an avid Minnesota Twins fan.

Geradine Gerrie Ann McGovern Heiland died April 8, 2023 in Chanhassen, Minnesota, and was buried at the Catholic Cemetery in Shakopee.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Tammie Linda Half Moon Women McDonnell was born November 21, 1962, in Adrian, Michigan to Bernard Burke McDonnell (1927-2001) and Kathleen Ann Jackson McDonnell (1931-1984). Tammie was the youngest of three siblings: Diane, Mote, and Arlene.

Tammie’s grandparents were Joseph Thomas Ke Che Que We Zaince McDonnell (1900-1978) and Mabel Jean Nason McDonnell (1910-1990) and Alfred Robert Oshkinowe Jackson and Anna Charette Jackson (1900-1978).

Great-grandparents included Alexander Duncan McDonnell (1871-1939), Catherine May Kay Day Won Bioechel Wadenah McDonnell (1874-1956); Manley Henry Nason (1863-1921) and Susann Anna O Be Quad Roy Bunker (1877-1940) and Samuel Madison Critts (1875-1920) and Josephine Charette Critts (1876-1938). And Tammie’s great-great-grandparents were Alexander Cameron Sandy Ossian McDonnell (1825-1910), Margaret Stewart McDonnell (1830-1929), Wah-de-nah Biioechel (1846-1910), O Dak Qumm (1850-1891) and Aaron Hiram Hanscone Nason (1831-1882), Anna Marie Mathilda Boober Nason (1840-1917), and Peter Pdahkaykewunie Odahkay Roy (1816-1913) and Margaret Pahayjik Payyahjick Trottrechand Roy (1825-1919). Among her maternal line, Tammie’s great-great-grandparents included Joseph Iahbaykewenzie Wenjemahdub Critt (1836-1921), Ayn-dus-o-ge-shig-oquay (1844-1902) and John Sang-way-way Morgan (1852-1906) and Mary O-maum-e-quay McGuire Robertson (1857-1920).

At the age of 14, she moved to the Minneapolis area. Tammie was employed at McLaughlin, Gormley & King Company for eight years.

Tammie married the love of her life, Scott Steinmetz, on August 31, 1996, and together they raised two beautiful daughters, Katie and Talsha. Tammie dedicated her life to her family, especially her grandchildren.

Tammie was passionate about her Native American culture and was a proud member of the White Earth Ojibwe Nation. All Indian tribes have names for themselves. The largest Indian group in Minnesota calls itself Anishinaabe, which means “the original people.” Europeans named them Ojibwe. No one is exactly sure how this name developed. Perhaps it came from the Anishinaabe word “ojib,” which describes the puckered moccasins worn by the people. Some Europeans had trouble saying Ojibwe, pronouncing it instead as Chippewa. But both these names refer to the same people. In Canada, the Anishinaabe call themselves Ojibwe. In the United States many tribal members prefer the name Chippewa, according to White Earth Nation History by Catherine M. Linda Knoch Foster.

White Earth Reservation is in Becker, Clearwater, and Mahnomen counties in north-central Minnesota. Created in 1867 by a treaty between the United States and the Mississippi Band of Chippewa Indians, it is one of seven Chippewa reservations in Minnesota. Although the White Earth Chippewa no longer live as their ancestors did, they have kept alive their tribal heritage. Almost every aspect of their present-day life has been strongly influenced by the past.

As is true for all Chippewa living in Minnesota, the story of the White Earth people begins in ancient times in the eastern part of the United States. There their ancestors lived before coming to the forest and lake country of eastern and northern Minnesota. To understand the history of White Earth Reservation, it is necessary to understand the times that went before. Much of the story of American Indian people has been left out of history books. Most of these books were written by white historians who thought that the history of this land did not begin until Europeans visited it. But Indians, including the Chippewa, had full, rich cultures long before that. And they played a key role in the history of this country and state.

Tammie’s favorite activities included boating, snowmobiling, and four-wheeling at the cabin. She enjoyed bird watching, and had special connections with animals, and loved to rescue them.

Tammie was preceded in death by her parents, Bernard and Kathleen McDonnell; and niece, Cristy Ann Wilt. She is survived by her husband, Scott; her children, Kathleen (Tyler) Clink and Talsha McDonnell; siblings, Diane (Don), Mote (Lori), Arlene (Joel); and many nieces and nephews. She was blessed with four grandchildren: Taliah, Julian, Jazlyn, and Alliyah.

Tammie Linda Half Moon Women McDonnell Steinmetz died at age 60 on November 18, 2023, in Shakopee after a courageous battle with cancer.

Bibliography

Knoch Foster, Catherine M. White Earth Nation History.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

When Timothy John Duffy was born in August 1846, in Louisiana, United States, his father, Peter Francis Duffy (1809-1879), was 37 and his mother, Margaret Havican Duffy (1832-1867), was 14.

Timothy moved to Eagle Creek. When he was 19 years old, he enlisted in the army on December 23, 1863. He was in the Second Minnesota Calvary regiment, Company L.

The Second Minnesota Cavalry Regiment was a Minnesota USV cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, according to National Park Service. The Second Minnesota Cavalry Regiment was mustered at Fort Snelling for three years’ service on December 5, 1863, and were mustered out on November 17, 1865 and May 4, 1866. It served entirely in Minnesota, Dakota Territory, and Montana Territory guarding the frontier against the Dakota Indians.

The Second Regiment of Cavalry formed in the fall of 1863. This regiment saw most of its service as part of Sully’s Expedition which followed the Missouri River far into Dakota Territory and the region of the Badlands. “For hundreds of years, the Lakota people have called this area mako sica, which literally translates to ‘bad lands.’

“When early French fur trappers passed through this area, they called the area les mauvaises terres a traveser (‘bad lands to travel across’). Since the French trappers spent time with the Lakota, it is likely that the French name is derived directly from the Lakota one,” according to “Mako Sica: Naming the Badlands” at nps.gov.

“The Badlands presents many challenges to easy travel. When it rains in the Badlands, the wet clay becomes slick and sticky, making it very difficult to cross. The jagged canyons and buttes that cover the landscape also make it hard to navigate. The winters are cold and windy, the summers are hot and dry, and the few water sources that exist are normally muddy and unsafe to drink. These factors make the land difficult to survive in, and evidence of early human activity in the Badlands points to seasonal hunting rather than permanent habitation.” In 1922, when Badlands National Park was first proposed as a national park, the suggested name was Wonderland National Park, according to ups.gov.

This regiment saw most of its service as part of Sully’s Expedition which followed the Missouri River far into Dakota Territory. The campaign culminated in the battle of Battle of Tah Kah A Kuty (Killdeer Mountain) on July 31, 1864, and saw the expedition push as far west as the Yellowstone River in what is today eastern Montana. The Crow Indians (who displaced the Shoshonis) named Yellowstone River as Encheda-cahchi-ichi, or Elk River, derived from the migration route of elk from their summer range on the Yellowstone highlands to wintering grounds in the lower valleys that paralleled the stream, according to Yellowstone: Up Close and Personal.

The Second Minnesota Cavalry had four enlisted men killed in action or died of wounds received in battle and an additional three officers and 56 enlisted men died of disease. No mention is made of the Dakota who were killed.

Private Duffy was discharged on May 32, 1864. He was in the army for five months and eight days. Company L, the company that Private Duffy was involved in, was mustered out on May 4, 1866.

Timothy John Duffy married Mary Caroline Stemmer on June 6, 1867, in Shakopee.

Timothy and Mary had 11 children: William F. (1869-1952); Anna M. (1870-1917); Andrew C. (1872-1900); Catherine A. (1874-Deceased); Timothy Earl John (1876-1941); Mary Frone (1878-Deceased); Gertrude Violet (1880-1955); Helen Marie (1882-1919); Margaret M. (1884-1961); Walter Wilfort (1886-1959); and Florence Adeline (1889-1972).

Timothy died June 4, 1917, in Eagle Creek Township, Scott, Minnesota, United States, at age 70, and was buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Eagle Creek (Shakopee), Minnesota.

Mary Caroline Stemmer Duffy, who was born in 1850, died in 1919, and was buried with her husband, Timothy John Duffy, at Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

Bibliography

National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units.

“Mako Sica: Naming the Badlands.” National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/mako-sica.htm.

“Yellowstone – The Name.” Yellowstone: Up Close and Personal. https://www.yellowstone.co/name.htm.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

John Beck was born in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany, the sixth of seven children born to Havier Xavier Beck (1801-1888) and Euphrasia Rossina Baÿerle Kesser (1794-1872).

The Kingdom of Bavaria, spelled Baiern until 1825, was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and existed until 1918. In 1825, Ludwig I ascended the throne of Bavaria. Under Ludwig, the arts flourished in Bavaria, and Ludwig personally ordered and financially assisted the creation of many neoclassical buildings and architecture across Bavaria. During the Revolution of 1848, Ludwig abdicated on March 20, 1848, in favor of his eldest son, Maximilian II. The revolutions also brought amendments to the constitution, including changes to the lower house of the Landtag with equal suffrage for every male who paid a direct tax, according to “Kingdom of Bavaria” on Wikipedia.

In 1864, Maximilian II died, and his eighteen-year-old son, Ludwig II, became King of Bavaria.

Ludwig II proposed that Prussian King Wilhelm I be proclaimed German Emperor (Kaiser) of the new German Emperor, where the territories of the German Empire were declared, which included the states of the North German Confederation and all the south German states, with the major exception of Austria. The empire also annexed the formerly French territory of Alsace-Lorraine.

Bavaria’s entry into the German Empire changed from jubilation to dismay shortly afterward because of the direction Germany took under the new German Chancellor and Prussian Prime Minister, Otto von Bismarck.

Ludwig II became increasingly detached from Bavaria’s political affairs and spent vast amounts of money on personal projects, such as the construction of several fairytale castles and palaces. Ludwig used his personal wealth to finance these projects, and not state funds, and the construction projects landed him deeply in debt. These debts caused much concern among Bavaria’s political elite, and in 1886, the crisis came to a head. A medical commission appointed by the cabinet declared Ludwig insane and thus incapable of reigning.

Whether it was the requirement for military for men there, the unstable area of Bavaria, or the need for land in America, the Beck family headed to the United States.

John, along with his siblings and his parents, emigrated via the Castle Garden in New York on the ship Emma. They arrived in America on February 7, 1853, and eventually arrived in Minnesota Territory as settler-colonists in Carver County. They also lived in Shakopee and were farmers in the area.

F. Xavier Beck and Euphrasia Rossina Baÿerle Kesser Beck were farmers, as were their children: Marianna, Michael, Ephrosyne, Anna Maria, Theresa Matilda, John, and Andreas Beck.

At age 25, John Beck was a laborer at various farms. He decided to enlist in the Civil War and the U.S.-Dakota War on August 18, 1862, at Fort Snelling. John became mustered out into Company F, Minnesota 8th Infantry.

While the Eighth Minnesota Volunteer Regiment was formed in the summer of 1862, the result of the U.S.-Dakota War, the soldiers spent most of their first two years of service occupying posts around the state.

For Private Beck, he spent the first year at Fort Snelling. On April 24, 1863, Private Beck died at Fort Snelling of disease.

Private Beck was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Eagle Creek, now part of Shakopee, according to the Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1861-65, Minnesota Adjutant General’s Report of 1866, and the SUVCW Database.

Bibliography

“Kingdom of Bavaria.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Bavaria.

Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1861-65, Minnesota Adjutant General’s Report of 1866.

“SUVCW Database.” Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. https://www.suvcwdb.org/.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Private Hiram “Herman” Matt Cooley was born January 27, 1828, in Franklin County, Vermont. His parents were Luke Cooley (1782-1829) and Olive Knight Cooley (1799-1858).

Colonist-settler Herman, as he was called, was a farmer, as his father, in Georgia, Franklin, Vermont. In fact, Herman’s great-great-great-great-grandfather, Ensign Benjamin Cooley was the first Cooley who was born in 1615 in England, and died in Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America.

Private Cooley’s grandparents were Solomon Cooley (1753-1833) and Lucy C. Stephenson Cooley (1760-1849); and Private John Knight, Jr. (1754-1833) and Abigail Gabby Nabby Towne Knight (1755-1833). His great-grandparents were Eliakim Cooley III (1707-1793) and Mary Ashley Cooley (1718-1795); Joseph Stephenson, Sr. (1729-1777) and Margaret Peggy Webb Stephenson (1735-1769); John Knight, Sr. (1727-1772) and Eleanor Wood Knight (1729-1763); and Sgt. Edward Towne (1724-1779) and Abigail Brewer Towne (1721-1780). Sgt. Edward Towne was in the U.S. Revolutionary War.

Herman’s great-great-great-great-grandparents were Ensign Benjamin Cooley (1615-1684) and Sarah Savage Colton Cooley (1620-1664). They were born in England, but arrived at Springfield, Massachusetts Colony, British Colonial America in 1643.

Herman’s fifth grandparents, in a note on March 27, 1676: “Presented by the Grand jury to the Courte at Northampton. …some for wearing of silk in a flaunting manner & attire, some for Long haire & other extravagancies, Contrary to honest Labor & Order & Demeanor not Becoming a Wilderness State at Least the Profession of Christianity & Religion.” Sarah Savage Colton Cooley was among those presented to the grand jury. This occurred at a time when the town was being attacked by Indians and it suggests that in their haste to save their best attire from the flames on that day, these ladies donned their silk clothing, and expensive jewelry. “Sumptuary laws restraining excess of apparel in some classes were common in England for centuries.

Massachusetts enacted such a law in 1651, ordering that persons whose estates did not exceed L200 should not wear gold or silver lace, gold or silver buttons, bone lace above 2s. per yard, or silk hoods or scarves. Any persons wearing such articles might be assessed a tax on their property as if they had estates of L200. In other words, a person could not successfully plead for abatement of taxes if their attire indicated a position of affluence.

In the autumn of 1635 William Pynchon with two scouts sailed North on the Quinecticot River (now the Connecticut). They found a district “fitly” suited for a beaver trade; for the beaver skin furs were a most prized and profitable trade for the colonies for many years to come. The European women of the higher classes loved and admired the beaver hats and other accessories made from this little creature. On May 14, 1636 there gathered eight men to organize this place that would be called Long Meadows and did declare there; a “Body-Politic” fifteen bylaws were adopted that day to govern the chosen land. Rich land to grow crops, graze their cattle, and raise their families in the “Agawam meadows”. Following the preamble was an affirmation of their intent “to establish a Church” and to “acquire only those families into the town, be they rich or poor that would contribute skill and talent to the community.” And of course, to trade beaver hides. William Pynchon and the eight men had negotiated with a small tribe of Indians to share this land with them and had given them four fathom of wampum (small cylindrical beads made from polished shells and fashioned into string or belts), four coats, four hatchets, four hoes, and four knives for the “Masackic” what the English call the “Long Meadow” below Springfield on the East side of the Quinecticot River.

My guess is that the Indians did not give the land but did take the wampum.

In 1643, Sarah had given birth to their first child Bethia Cooley, and Benjamin had been chosen as the tailor for this new community they referred to as Long Meadows, there is ample evidence that Benjamin was a skilled worker in both flax and wool, supplying the weaving of cloth and tailoring needs for a growing community.

On August 17, 1684, Benjamin died at the age of sixty-seven. Six days later Sarah died. During his forty years in Springfield, Benjamin acquired a competence far beyond average, while yet retaining the goodwill of his fellows. On his arrival he acquired forty acres of mediocre land. At his death he owned 524 acres of the choicest. He had houses and barns to meet his own needs and those of his eldest sons. Of livestock, gear and equipment and the merchandise of his trade he had a sufficiency. The debts he owed, amounting to £9-16s-6d were more than offset by the £15-15s-2d due to him. The inventory of his estate totaled over 1241 pounds sterling, having a present value of perhaps $60,000.

Benjamin and his wife were interred in the ancient burying place by the riverside in Springfield, west of the church that he had helped to build. There Benjamin and Sarah rested until the railroad arrived. In 1849, to make room for the tracks, the remains of 2404 bodies and 517 markers were removed to the Springfield Cemetery on the hill that had been opened in 1841. The Cooley Monument was erected after the ancient burial grounds were relocated to Springfield Cemetery, according to Find a Grave.

So, after two hundred years in America, Hiram “Herman” Cooley, who was probably pretty rich, headed west, and arrived in Minnesota. He married Betsey L. Boyd (1831-1882), and in 1860 they were living in Eagle Creek, where he was a carpenter, joiner, and a farmer. Betsey met Herman in Vermont, where Betsey’s parents, James Boyd (1794-1871) and Martha Rice Boyd (1784-1854) lived.

Private Cooley joined the First Minnesota Heavy Artillery Regiment on October 3, 1864 in St. Paul according to Gale Family Library’s “Civil War Military Units from Minnesota: 1st Minnesota Regiment of Heavy Artillery.” The First Minnesota Heavy Artillery Regiment mustered in at St. Paul, and Rochester, Minnesota, between November 1864 and February 1865. Many of the officers were recruited from discharged veterans: sergeants from the First Minnesota while corporals came from the Third, Fourth, Fifth Minnesota Volunteer Regiments. The First Minnesota Heavy was composed of twelve companies/batteries, of 140 men plus officers in each. It was the largest unit Minnesota sent to war numbering 1,700 men. The regiment was assigned to garrison duty at Chattanooga, Tennessee. There it oversaw the heavy guns at forts defending the city. The regiment saw no combat, remained there until the close of the war. The First Minnesota “Heavies” were mustered out of service on September 27, 1865.

Betsey and Herman had three children in Eagle Creek: Alson Elision (1864-1911), Oscar Sherman (1866-1938), and Jennie (1870-1933).

Betsey died September 7, 1882, in Eagle Creek, and was buried at Valley Cemetery.

On October 15, 1887, Hiram married for the second time to Carrie J. Byers. According to the Saint Paul Globe, Sunday, October 16, 1887, a marriage license was issued to Herman M. Cooley and Carry J. Byers. Herman was 56, and Carrie was 50 years old.

But the marriage did not last. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Saturday March 31, 1888, a court brief included a divorce suit: “A divorce suit was commenced yesterday by Carrie J. Cooley against Herman M. Cooley. They were married last fall and are 50 and 56 years of age respectively. Mrs. Cooley alleges a course of cruel and inhumane treatment extending from a few weeks after their marriage. Her husband frequently threatened and abused her, calling her vile names and trying to force her to work out to assist in supporting the household. He is worth $20,000, but according to Mrs. Cooley exceedingly penurious and stingy.”

Hiram died December 12, 1908, and was buried at Valley Cemetery in Shakopee.

Bibliography

“Civil War Military Units from Minnesota: 1st Minnesota Regiment of Heavy Artillery.” Gale Family Library. https://libguides.mnhs.org/cwmu/artilleryheavy.

Cooley, M. “Ens Benjamin Cooley (1615-1684).” Find a Grave, 23 Aug. 2010. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57503162/benjamin-cooley.

Minneapolis Star Tribune, 31 March 1888.

Saint Paul Globe, 16 Oct. 1887.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Adam Geiß Geis was born November 15, 1841 in Bavaria. His parents were Martin Lorenz Lawrence Geiß Geib (1816-1907) and Elisabeth Franziska Kessler Geiß Geis (1819-1886).

When he was seven years old, Adam and his parents moved to America, where the family lived in Milwaukee for five years, and then moved to Chicago and Racine, Wisconsin. They came to St. Paul in July 1853, and in the spring of 1854 the elder Geis took a claim in Sand Creek Township, eight miles south of Shakopee. There were six children in the family at that time, and they lived in a log shanty, almost in the heart of the dense woods, according to the Recollections of a Pioneer Citizen from the Midland Feature Service on September 10, 1925.

At that time, there were many Dakota Indians in the area, as well as one settler-colonist, John C. Smith, before Thomas A. Holmes, along with William Quinn, headed to the area of what was later Shakopee, Marystown, and Jordan, which were not open for settlement for white people in 1851. They had to wait until February 1853 after the ratification of treaties. But Thomas Andrew Holmes wanted to establish townsites with an eye to the profit they represented. He asked for carte blanche trading rights but was denied. He was then allowed a license for two sites, which became Shakopee and Jordan.

By getting a license to trade in 1851, Holmes was a squatter on Indian land. It gave him a toehold on townsites before claims could be legally settled. He “improved” the land with dwellings, warehouses, and stores, and thus was less liable to be taken over by settler-colonists and promoters who came along later. “In other words, fur trading was not an end in itself with these men as it had been with some of the earlier traders in the valley. Rather, it was a means of obtaining a legal or quasi-legal claim on the land they staked out before they could actually file their preemptions with the government.”

Thomas and William Holmes laid out the town of Jordan. In the area that later became Marystown, Adam Geiß Geis remembered who was in the township, including Peter Thul, Serwatzus Mergens, Michael and Peter Hartman, J.B. Grommesch, Christ Hentges, John Hentges, and W. and G. Budde.

Adam, in an article in 1929, noted that he helped clear the land, and found time to hunt and trap. “He hunted deer, wolves, wild cats, foxes and other animals, and trapped otter, mink, and muskrats. Once he shot three deer in one day, and on another occasion he speared 73 muskrats in a few hours.”

Adam worked on the claim until he was 23 years old, when he enlisted in Company I Fourth Minnesota, to serve in the Civil War. He served throughout the war and was obedient to Sherman’s Yankee boys in the memorable march from Atlanta to the sea. The campaign was marked by its objective, to cripple the Confederacy’s ability to wage war. They destroyed anything and everything important to the war effort, leaving ruins where Georgia’s great cities once stood.

In 1865 Adam bought forty raw acres in Eagle Creek Township, 2 and ½ miles east of Marystown. On January 23, 1866, Adam married Barbara Brück Brueck Geiß Geis, daughter of a settler-colonist. They resided at the farm home for 38 years, and during that time, they increased their holdings until they possessed 326 acres of land. Fourteen children were born to the couple, and many of them married and settled in homes of their own near the old rooftree.

In 1904, Adam and Barbara moved to a small farm adjoining Marystown, and in 1924 they moved to a cozy home fronting the highway in Marystown.

At age 92, Adam was ill for several months. His heart ailment became grave and was the immediate cause of his death on August 9, 1933 at his daughter, Theresa Margaret Geiß Geis Hergott’s home.

Adam, who lived 80 years in Scott County, and 67 years in Marystown, was accompanied by two former comrades, Private Charles Manaige and Joseph Pisbach to his final resting place at St. Mary’s of Marystown Catholic Cemetery in Marystown.

An early biographer referred to Adam Geiß Geis by writing, “When we think of a patriarch, we think of gray hairs, a rugged frame, despite the storms of life, and seamed features, lighted by an expression which denotes contentment and good will; we think of broad acres, happy children, all held together in a common bond of reverence for the sturdy oak, who in the evening of life finds comfort and peace in the contemplation of a lifetime full with the activity and incidents of a pioneer’s career, who finds ‘All’s well with the world and whose smile is a benediction.” That was truly Adam Geiß Geis.

Among the descendants were 72 grandchildren and 83 great-grandchildren.

Barbara Brück Brueck Geiß Geis died in 1934 and was buried next to her husband, Private Adam Geiß Geis, in the cemetery next to St. Mary of the Purification Church in Marystown.

Bibliography

Midland Feature Service. Recollections of a Pioneer Citizen, 10 Sept. 1925.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2023

Petrus “Peter” Sames was born March 5, 1865, in Brück, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He was baptized March 17, 1865, at Katholisch, Brück, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Peter was the fourth of six children born to Jacobus Jacobi Sames (1828-1915) and Apollonia Plein Sames (1837-1918).

Peter’s grandparents were Johann Jacob Sames (1788-1850) and Maria Margaretha Meÿer Sames (17886-1843); and Nikolaus Plein (1796-1855) and Elizabeth Neises Plein (1798-1860).

Peter’s great-grandparents were Phillip Sames (1748-1813) and Anna Maria Zens Sames (1749-1814); Johann Mathias Meÿer (1750-1806) and Helen Heck Meÿer (1752-1786); and Joannes Plein (1762-1798) and Anna Klara Swilling Plein (1759-1813); and Jacobi Neises (1760-1840) and Mariae Catherinae Keyl Neises (1762-1842).

Peter emigrated to Minnesota in 1888.

Petrus Peter Sames married Agnes O’Toole in Marystown on May 20, 1890. They had three children. Their first child was Mary Theresa, who married Henry Marschall after his first wife, Margaret Beckrich Marschall (1889-1920) died.

Henry’s first wife, Margaret, developed delivery complications after the birth of Leander, their sixth baby, and on December 8, 1919, Margaret Beckrich Marschall was taken to the hospital in Shakopee by horse and sleigh. Their five children, then about ten to four years of age, still remember seeing their mother being carefully carried from the house and placed in the blanketed sleigh. On New Year’s Day, she was taken to the home of her father-in-law, Anton Marschall. At the age of 31 years, 5 months and 16 days, Margaret Beckrich Sames died.

After being widowed for 16 months, Henry married in April 1921 to Mary Theresa Sames (1892-1972). They had three sons.

The second child of Peter and Agnes was Peter John (1895-1971). He married Clara Elizabeth Klehr (1896-1946) in Marystown on November 14, 1917. They had six children.

And finally, Peter and Agnes had another son, Mathew Nicholas (1897-1959).

Mathew married Caroline Marie Carrie Erkens (1903-1980) in 1925, and they had three children.

Agnes O’Toole Sames died in Marystown on February 7, 1925.

On August 11, 1936. Peter Sames married Marie Theresa Kersting Klehr (1882-1968).

Marie’s first marriage was to Jacob C. Klehr (1872-1931).

Jacob had first married Mary Elizabeth Hartmann (1871-1902). Mary and Jacob had two children. Then Mary Eiizabeth Hartmann Klehr died in 1902.

Then Jacob married Marie Theresa Kersting. They married on May 5, 1903, in Jordan. They had ten children.

Confusing, huh? Peter and Theresa married on August 11, 1936. They had no children together.

Petrus “Peter” Sames died on December 16, 1951, in Marystown, and was buried at St. Mary’s of Marystown Cemetery. His second wife, Marie Theresa Kersting Klehr Sames, died November 26, 1968, and was buried next to St. Mary of the Purification Church in Marystown, Minnesota.

Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2023

Antonio Delgado was 87 years old in 2009. And as he laughed and smiled, with gestures and jokes, he remembered growing up in Chaska, called Sugar City at that time.

Born October 29, 1921, Antonio lived in Chaska from 1924 to 1932. His family was among the many Latino/a who, with many other Latino migrant laborers in Chaska and Shakopee, tended and harvested beets for the American Crystal Sugar Company (which was the American Beet Sugar Company until 1934).

With the introduction of Latino/a and Chicano/a migrant workers from Texas in 1934, entire families came up for the sugar beet planting season (April/May to June) and harvest (September, October, and November), with American Crystal providing housing, according to MNopedia’s article on “American Crystal Sugar Company.” For the laborers, however, the work was hard and the housing was often dilapidated. During the winter months they either retired south or settled in the Twin Cities area.

Chaska and Shakopee were surrounded by sugar beet fields, planted to feed the sugar plants. The factory, like the brickyard before it, established Chaska and Shakopee as something more than forgotten farm towns, according to Mark W. Olson in an article in Chaska Herald on October 23, 2009, called “Fields of memory: Former beet farmer revisits his childhood home of Chaska.” It was built on the backs of migrant farm workers like Antonio and his parents, Pedro Delgado and Margarita Rodriguez. Many of those temporary workers, mostly from Texas and Mexico, vanished from records. “They moved from state to state, depending on the planting or harvest season.” But Antonio and his family put roots down in 1924 to 1932. Along with a few other Latino/a families, they lived in the sugar company housing across from the sugar factory and were the area’s earliest residents of Mexican heritage. The small houses were torn down and are now the site of a townhouse development.

Antonio described the work of migrant farmer as “work in one field and finish that work and get work in another field, another field, another field.” While much of the beet harvesting work is now mechanized, in the 1920s and 1930s it was labor-intensive and back-breaking work. And it required an influx of migrant labor, according to the article.

Pedro, Antonio’s father, had served in the U.S. Army in WWI as a Mexican citizen for a few years, and in April 1924 the family moved to Chaska from California. Antonio was only 2 ½ years old when the family moved to Minnesota. It is possible that a recruiter from the American Beet Sugar Company actively got thousands of Latino laborers from the southern United States, primarily in Texas.

Antonio began working with his parents in the fields at age six, thinning the beets – a process involving pulling out young beets so the remaining beets would mature. “They showed me how, and I keep on going,” he said in the Chaska Herald article.

“For $8 an acre, his family would work ‘from sunrise until sunset,’ Delgado said. Did they get tired? ‘You get tired when you work all day,’ Delgado replied, matter-of-factly.”

Many of the beets were harvested and began piling up at the sugar factory. Then many of the manual workers would return to Mexico. Some would travel to Lubbock or Amarillo, Texas, where they would pick cotton. But the Delgados remained because of school. There were about four or five Latino families with children in school.

Staying in Chaska or Shakopee wasn’t always easy for migrant workers. According to Guadalupe Cruz, who arrived in Chaska to work on the beet fields in 1929, she remembered, according to the book Barrios Norteños: St. Paul and Midwestern Mexican Communities in the Twentieth Century (2000) by Dionicio Nodín Valdés, “We could have gone back to Mexico, but if we stayed they offered to help us. They would give us a home to live in and we got a raise of $5 per family member. (More workers!) We lived in Chaska for three years…There were some people that did not have anything to eat,” she noted.

Everyone worked in the fields. But Antonio also played baseball in the area between the company homes and the sugar factory, as there were few cars then. He attended kindergarten in Chaska and continued through a portion of his seventh grade. In the article, “During recess the kids would play in City Square Park across from the school – now the site of Wells Fargo at Chestnut and Fourth streets. He recalled the Civil War cannon that sat on the park (later melted down for a WWII metal drive). He recalls that it was ‘Mr. Smith’ who planted some of the ‘great big trees’ on the park.”

In the 1930s, with the Great Depression, Antonio’s father decided to leave Chaska. “We had to go to Mexico, because the government of Mexico said there were going to be opportunity to make farms and work over there.” Pedro acquired farmland through the government programs, and with the money he had saved in Chaska, Antonio and family now tend to the farmland, located not too far over the Mexican border.

Antonio has dual citizenship, and with his wife, Maria Delores Saldaño, and their 12 children continued to work on the farms.

When he left Chaska during seventh grade, it was the end of his schooling, but he never forgot the importance of education. He has put many of his children through college. He also passed on many ethics to his family, including the importance of work. It is something that worked its way down to his many dependents. Antonio never smoked a cigar, never took a drink of alcohol. His family, church, and work – that is all he’s known.

Bibliography

Olson, Mark W. “Fields of memory: Former beet farmer revisits his childhood home of Chaska.” Chaska Herald, 23 Oct. 2009.

Raezer-Stursa, Trista. “American Crystal Sugar Company.” MNopedia, 11 July 2022. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/group/american-crystal-sugar-company.

Valdés, Dionicio Nodín. Barrios Norteños: St. Paul and Midwestern Mexican Communities in the Twentieth Century. 2000.