Bio: Writz, Ignatz and Josephine (Cerman)

Contact: Stan

Surnames: Writz, Woritz, Wirtz, Wertz, Cerman, Slagoski, Drewek, Mroczenski, Glasel, Myszka, Franz

----Source: 1880 - 1980 Rietbrock, Marathon Co., Wis. Centennial,pg. 49

Writz Family Farm

Ignatz and Josephine Writz landed in New York, from Europe, in 1876. While here a son, Frank, was born to them. About a year later they moved to Milwaukee. It was here in 1878 that daughter Mary (Slagoski) and in 1880 son Thomas were born. Ignatz and Josephine soon tired of metropolitan life. Yearning for property and a farm of their own, they decided to come to the Poniatowski area and settled on a forty-acre tract of land on the NW Section 9, now the property of Robert Drewek.

The forty was all woods at the time of their arrival, but Ignatz and Josephine tried to make the best of it all. It was here that Angeline (Literski), Frances (Myszka), and Julia (Lake) were born. Again the couple did not find the land suitable for farming, because it was stoney. This time they purchased an eighty-acre tract of land-SE Section 16, now owned and operated by Edward Mroczenski. It was a wooded area and they again cleared land, to be able to build a log house and a log barn. It was here that Stan was born, in 1892, and later Josephine (Glasel) and Vincent.

The family remembers that Indians and gypsies frequently traveled through the area and would peddle medicines to them and their neighbors. In 1904, Ignatz and Josephine built a brick home and a barn in 1915. The home is still there, but the barn was destroyed by fire a few years ago. After son Stan came back from serving in World War II, he took over the homestead. It was then that Stan, Frank and Tom did their threshing and also that of neighbors. In 1920, Stan married Eleonora Myszka. They farmed the homestead with their children: Florian, Bernice, Raymond, Stanley, Daniel, Benjamin, Leona, Regina, Jerome and Margaret. Later, their son Jerome farmed when Stan gave up farming.

Besides farming Stan worked for the Rietbrock Lumber Company, Braun Lumber Company, and The Town of Rietbrock. He became well-known to the townspeople while he operated the road grader for twenty years.

His wife Eleonora passed away in 1958, and Stan is presently living with his granddaughter and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Robert (Kathy) Franz, at Edgar, Wisconsin.

Family Notes

Wisconsin Birth Records

Francis Writz
gender: Female
birth date: 13 Sep 1884
birthplace: Rietbrock, Marathon Co., Wisconsin
race: White
father's name: Ignatz Writz
father's birthplace: Poland
mother's name: Josephine Cerman
mother's birthplace: Poland

1917-1918 World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration

Thomas Joseph Writz
location: Marathon County no 1, Wisconsin, United States
gender: Male
birth date: 13 Dec 1881
birthplace: United States
country of citizenship: United States

German Marriage Records

Ignatz Karl Joseph Wilhelm Wirtz (possible parents?)
groom's birth date: 16 Feb 1804
groom's birthplace: Dusseldorf
bride's name: Elisabetha Deick
bride's birth date: 22 Nov 1810
bride's birthplace: Ratingen
marriage date: 06 Sep 1833
marriage place: Ratingen, Rheinland, Prussia
groom's father's name: Joseph Wirtz
groom's mother's name: Margaretha Haass
bride's father's name: Herrmann Deick
bride's mother's name: Elisabetha Wanders

Wisconsin Birth Records

Francis Writz
gender: Female
birth date: 13 Sep 1884
birthplace: Rietbrock, Marathon Co , Wisconsin
father's name: Ignatz Writz
mother's name: Josephine Cerman

1900 Federal Census, ED 94 Rietbrock town, Marathon, Wisconsin, United States, pg. 6, family 112

Ignat Wirtz, white, married male
years married: 26
birthplace: Poland Ger
relationship to head of household: Head
father's birthplace: Poland Ger
mother's birthplace: Poland Ger
estimated marriage year: 1874
immigration year: 1875

Household Members
head Ignat Wirtz M 51 (Feb 1849) Poland Ger
wife Josephine Wirtz F 45 (May 1855) Poland Ger, mother of 10 children - 9 living
son Frank Wirtz M 24 (May 1876) New York
daughter Francy Wirtz F 16 (Sep 1884) Wisconsin
son Thomas Wirtz M 19 (Dec 1881) Wisconsin
daughter Julia Wirtz F 13 (Jun 1887) Wisconsin
daughter Angeline Wirtz F 11 (Nov 1889) Wisconsin
son Stanisslas Wirtz M 8 (Nov 1892) Wisconsin
daughter Josephine Wirtz F 5 (Nov 1895) Wisconsin
son Vincent Wirtz M 2 (Jul 1898) Wisconsin

1930 Federal Census, Rietbrock, Marathon, Wisconsin, enumeration district number: 0044, family 122

Josephine Woritz, white, widowed female
immigration year: 1875
relationship to head of household: Mother
father's birthplace: Germany
mother's birthplace: Germany

Household Members
head Vincent Writz M 31 Wisconsin
wife Cathrine Writz F 26 Wisconsin
daughter Agnes Writz F 4 Wisconsin
son Alois Writz M 3 Wisconsin
daughter Irene Woritz F 0 Wisconsin
mother Josephine Woritz F 74 Germany