This branch of the Austrian Hesch family is descended from Johann Hesch and his wife Marya (Schlinz) Hesch, who came to America from Oberschlagles, Bohemia with three sons: Paul, Mathias, and Anton. +++Johann & Marya settled in Buffalo County, Wisconsin but moved to Pierz, Mn in about 1885. .+++Mathias settled in Waumandee, Wisconsin and moved to Pierz in 1911. +++Anton never married but farmed with his dad in Agram Township, where he died in 1911.+++And Paul, my great grandfather, settled five miles away, in Buckman, Minnesota. He died there in 1900.

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Monday, May 11, 2015

"If it's in the Journal, it's so"

As usual, when Larry and I find something that interests us, we HAVE TO research it--for our own edification, of course, but luckily we're generously willing to share it with you.  We know, we know, but you'll thank us someday, trust us.
So what are we obsessing about  interested in today?  Just the ownership of the Pierz Journal, when it changed hands, and why.  Happily, it was all reported in the Journal.                                          
◄This snarky blurb, however, was in the St Cloud Times, by way of the Princeton (MN) Union on June 24, 1909.  That was the date of the first issue of the PJ, too.  Henry C. Bailey started the paper, became Justice of the Peace▼ in Pierz, then left town, all between June 1909 and October 1910.  We think he may have made a few enemies with this JP position--Larry found a couple judgements against locals that seem a bit draconian, like a $15 fine levied against Hartmanns store for mislabeled ketchup. That's enough to piss off any good local German store owner, and maybe his customers, too.
The September 1st, 1910  issue of the PJ found Henry Bailey bailing out of newspaper ownership, being a Justice of the Peace, and Pierz.  His only editorial qualification when he arrived was having graduated from college, but in leaving he said, "The new proprietors, while inexperienced in this line of work, will undoubtedly give you a better and more newsy sheet..." We might be interpreting this all wrong, but he did seem to leave abruptly.



 A.P. Stoll, from the bank, and Ed Kerkhoff, the local doctor, took over the Pierz Journal in October, 1910.  Conveniently, the bank and doctor's office/house were just across the street from the Journal office.  Eventually Tony Stoll left the business, I suppose because of the new bank building (1917), and his larger role there.

By October 1918, Ed Kerkhoff was well ensconced in the doctor-editor business, and all seemed well.  America was involved in WWI, yes, but not too many local men were being lost...it was just this Spanish Flu epidemic to deal with.  Ed Kerkhoff died of the flu on November 15, 1918.

 F.L. Preimesberger bought the paper from Mrs. Kerkhoff, and I believe he ran it for the rest of its years in Pierz.  If you know differently, email me or leave a comment--blogs can be easily changed ☺
(Yes, I know most of these articles were posted before, but they were to prove totally different points).

(So there!)




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