The younger sister of Peter Huber (m. Riesinger), Theresia and her husband, Mathias Zitzelberger arrived in America in 1881 with their children. The following is from “St. Agnes of Sigel: Commemorating a 100 years of Catholic Faith at St. Agnes Parish of Rural Utica, SD.”
“Due to military and economic conditions in Germany, Mathias Zitzelberger (1830-1909) and wife Theresia Huber Zitzelberger (1842-1912) decided to immigrate to the United States.
In 1881, Mathias, his wife, and their children – Joe, Matt, Theresia, Lena, Anna and Caroline – left their native land, Bavaria, Germany for America where they had relatives. They had heard stories of south Dakota’s wide open spaces, homesteading opportunities and freedom.
They arrived and went through processing at Ellis Island. For reasons unknown, they were quarantined. During this lengthy stay, their baby died. After coming to the Dakota Territory, they bought a homestead from a man, Peter Aarnaud. Tired of the harsh weather, he returned to his former job of being a sailor.
Caroline (1874-1977), Theresia’s daughter, remembered the legendary blizzard of 1888. Caroline and her sister, Anna (1876-1970) were at the school house when the storm broke. Foolishly, their school teacher, decided that he would lead the students to his home. Anna and the other students rightly argued with him about this quest. The teacher told the 12 year-old Anna to be quiet. They headed out and were lost for at least two hours in the snow before finding his house.
Resilient, the pioneer communities were characterized by fierce independence and persistence. Theresia was a midwife and assisted in the birth of many of the community’s babies. People reimbursed her with things such as a ham or a rocking chair.”
Caroline, who would live until she was 97, married Michael See. As of 1986, their son, Lawrence (1913) lived on the Zitzelberger homestead. In 1936, he married Isabell Birgen, they had 8 children.
The outspoken Anna , who would live until she was 96, would marry Otto Yaggie and they would have four children.
We don’t have any pictures of the Ziztelbergers. Do you? If so, please post on the blog!