Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2024

Katherina Mechtel was born Aug. 22, 1839, in Heiderscheid, Canton de Wiltz, Diekirch, Luxembourg.

Katherina’s parents were Jean John Mechtel (1810-1878) and Cathérine Malget Mechtel (1885). Her grandparents were Nicolas Mechtel (1779-1836) and Catherina Draut Mechtel (1778-1839); and Nicolas Malget (1765-1836) and Marguerite Siebenaer Malget (1769-1807).

According to an article, “The Mechtels and the Leaders: An Extended Family Comes to Wisconsin” from ancestry.com, Katherina’s parents, John and Catharina and the family of five children (including Katherina) arrived in the United States in 1846. They had come from the village of Heiderscheid, Canton Wiltz, Luxembourg. Heiderscheid is located high above the Lake of the Upper Sûre.

John was born and baptized there on Oct. 11, 1811. In his baptismal record he was named Joannes Vinandi Mechtel, after his godfather, Jean Vinandi, who was the mayor of Heiderscheid at the time. Because Luxembourg had come under the rule of revolutionary France in 1795, his name was spelled Jean on his civil birth and marriage records.

Although Luxembourg was set up as a grand duchy in 1814 ruled by the Netherlands, the French influence remained, mingling with the earlier German influence.

Catharina Malget (also spelled Malliet), five years older than John Mechtel, was born in Heiderscheid Sept. 10, 1805. She and John were married there on May 1, 1830, and had eight children born to them, three of whom died in infancy. A ninth child was born in Wisconsin.

The birth records for the daughters of the family show a naming pattern which is quite confusing. The first two were named Anna Katharina and Anna Maria, respectively. Then came another Catharina, born in 1834, died in 1836. The fourth daughter and fifth child, born in 1839, was again named Catharina. Next, in 1841, arrived Marie who died in 1844. The sixth daughter and child number eight, born in 1846, was named Maria Katharina, but was later to become known as Margaret. The seventh daughter, born April 30, 1849, in Wisconsin, and baptized Anna Katharina on May 3, 1849, became known as Katharina, or Kate. She was later to marry Henry Ditter.

Also arriving in the United States in 1846, possibly on the same ship, were the families of two of the sisters of John. They included William and Katharina Mechtel Leider and their two children, Mathias, born Nov. 2, 1843, and Margareta, born April 2, 1846. The mother of William, Margareta, also came with two small Leider children, Margareta, age 5, and Katharina, about 3, possibly the orphaned nieces of William.

The second sister of John arriving in this country was Anna Marie Mechtel Leider, with her husband, Mathias Leider, probably the brother of William.

The families settled in the town of Belgium, Wisconsin, in a community called Holy Cross, or Helleg Kräiz in Luxembourgish. It was located about six miles from Port Washington. The first church in Holy Cross, a log structure, was already standing when they arrived. In the early days the Angelus was sounded on a shepherd’s horn, since there was no money for a church bell.

In Holy Cross, William Leider and his wife had two more children. They were John, born August 1848, who died the same day as his birth, and Anna, born July 14, 1849. Mathias died at Holy Cross in February 1848; his wife, Anna Marie Mechtel Leider, died July 14, 1849.

The 1850 U.S. Census for the town of Belgium, Wisconsin, lists John and Catherine Mechtel (misspelled Mecotel) with four of their children living with them. John, a farmer, was noted to have real estate valued at $450 at this time. The two oldest daughters, Anna Katharina and Anna Maria, had married. Anna Maria and her husband, John Bartholet (spelled Bartlet in the census), who married on June 3, 1850, were enumerated in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

The Mechtel family moved to Marystown (Louisville Township), Scott County, Minnesota, about 1854 or 1855. According to the 1860 federal census, the John Mechtel family had only two children yet living at home. They were Margaret, age 14, (the eighth child, baptized Maria Katharina) and Catherine, age 11 (the ninth child, baptized Anna Katharina). John had real estate valued at $600, his personal property at $500.

In the 1870 U.S. Census, John and Katharina Mechtel (listed as Johan and Katrina) were living with their son, Mathias, his wife, Katrina (Catherine Nachtsheim), and their two children, John and Nicholas. John Mechtel died March 2, 1878, in Marystown.

Katherina was still living with her son, Mathias, and his family of now seven children in 1880. She died July 10, 1885, also at Marystown. Both John and Katherina Mechtel are buried at St. Mary Cemetery in Marystown.

Katherina Mechtel Grommesch, who married John Baptist Grommesch, died in January 1872 in Marystown. She was buried at the cemetery in Marystown.