Surnames: HERIAN WILGER BLAKESLEE MAXWELL VOLLRATH

----Source: CLARK COUNTY REPUBLICAN & PRESS (Neillsville, Wis.) 03/08/1917

Herian, Joseph (12 NOV 1843 - 7 Mar 1917)

Joseph Herian, one of the oldest residents of this locality, died at his home just south of the city at 2:20 o’clock Wednesday morning, March 7th, aged 73 years, 4 months and 9 days. Deceased was born in Bohemia, and came to this country when he was twenty-two years of age, locating in Washington Co., Wis. He was married at Port Washington in 1872 to Anna Wilger. He followed farming and also worked at the mason trade in that locality until 1877, when they came to Neillsville, Clark County, Wis. and bought the farm near the city of Neillsville, which has been his home ever since. His wife died nine years ago, and since then he and his daughter, Minnie, have lived together at the old home, and the son, Henry, working the farm. For many years after coming to Clark County, Mr. Herian worked a part of each year at his trade, his services being in great demand because of his reliable, honest work and his ability to get along well with fellow workmen.

For nearly twenty years the writer of this sketch has been his nearest neighbor and knows as few others outside of his own family, of Mr. Herian’s excellent character as a husband, father and neighbor. In all these years we have not known his doing one unkind or dishonorable act. He has been a good friend, ready at any time to do a kindly act. Until almost the last he was cheerful meeting life’s difficulties bravely and doing well from day to day his work in life, and left to those who follow him a good example.

He leaves to mourn his death three sons and three daughters, the sons are Joseph W. of Neillsville, Henry at home, John of Glendive, Mont. The daughters: Mrs. Geo. Blakeslee of Minneapolis, Mrs. Ellsworth Maxwell of Elk Falls, Kansas, and Minnie at home. All were with their father in his last hours, in which he greatly rejoiced. He leaves also 20 grandchildren and one sister, Mrs. William Vollrath of Greenwood. The funeral will be held at the Catholic Church Saturday at ten o’clock a.m.

(Additional Note provided by Sharyn)

There is certainly a strong resemblance of our Joseph Herian grandfather to the Herian farmer of Pine Valley Township born Oct 28, 1843. The possibilities of being related to this Joseph have continued to interest me since our 2 Josephs were both were educated in the same little town of Stankau/Stankov being the Czech spelling.

I believe the relationship is through our G-grandmother Katerina Svoboda Fitzthum who had a first marriage to “Joseph Fitzthum/Fitum” and was widowed in probably 1854 and left with four children under 10 years of age when she married our Jan Herian on August 6, 1855. Jan is the father of our Joseph Herian born in 1858 in Stankov, Czech Republic and took in the 4 Fitzthum children and raised them as his own---not at all uncommon in those days. Because the first son, Joseph Fitzthum was about 10 years older than ours, he was the first of the family to emigrate to Wisconsin. Staan has painted a very nice picture of Joseph and Margaret Schuh’s life in Washington county and then Clark county with their children. It is great that I can now connect them to the Herian/Fitzthum children.

My husband, John Herian and I had the help of a Pilzen area genealogist and then we traveled in 2011 to the areas where the Herian families lived and were able to see their farms.
Fr. Ken Herian gave me a photo album with no names of our ancestors but I was able to fit many of them together into families. I have a tree online which includes Herian and Svoboda generations I would be happy to share. (In this way you can see 2 Generations beyond Katerina S.) I would have Ancestry.com send you an invitation so you can view it and I am happy to share what I have in the way of notes and photos.