Anna Elfrida “Emma” Pietsch Gottschlich

Anna Elfrida "Emma" Pietsch was born on 7 Oct 1842 in Labitsch, Keis Glatz (County Glatz), Niederschlesien (Lower Silesia), Preußen (now Labitsch, Kłodzko, Dolnoslaskie, Poland). Her parents were Augustin Pietsch and Anna Maria Theresia Roesner. According to her birth/baptism record, her father was from Labitsch and her mother was from Ober Halbendorf (Albendorf), Glatz, Selisia, Prussia. (Note: After 1945, Breslau, Germany, was named Wroclaw, Poland. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, roughly 220 miles from the Baltic Sea to the north and 25 miles from the Sudeten Mountains to the south. Wroclaw is the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.) Emma Pietsch married August Gottschlich about 1864. Together they had ten children, Anna, Louise, Josef, Freda, Paul, August, Hubert, Hedvig, Martha, and Emma. (In the Gottschlich tradition, the first son and daughter were always named Josef and Anna.) They lived near Srebrna Gora (Silver Mountain). Their children were born in Wojborg (formerly Gabersdorf), Bierkowice (formerly Birgwitz), and Klodzko (formerly Glatz), Poland (formerly Germany). The villages of Gabersdorf and Birgwitz were close to the town of Glatz, which were all in Grafschaft Glatz (County Glatz), Germany (now Klodzko County, Poland). The town of Klodzko (formerly the town of Glatz) lies about 55 miles south-west of the regional capital Wroclaw, Poland (formerly Breslau, Germany). There were silver mines in this area. Most of the man worked in the mines. It was the most densely populated area in the late 19th century. Family history relates that August and Emma Gottschlich had a big farm near Srebrna Gora. The farm house was at the top of a hill, and the well for water was at the bottom. One day, one of the children fell into the well. Happily, they were able to pull him out of the well and save his life. They and their children worked very hard on the farm. One day during the summer, it was very hot. The family returned from working in the meadow. Freda Gottschlich was thirsty and drank some cold well-water. She came down with "Rikenmard Consumption" and died. She was only seventeen years old. They said she died from drinking the water. Paul Gottschlich, the son of August and Emma, would tell about the family farm being struck by lightning. During a lightning storm, the house and barn caught fire and burnt down to the ground. His parents lost everything they had in the fire. They and their children escaped the fire unharmed. About 1890, August and Emma Gottschlich moved from Silesia, Germany, to Graz, Austria. They moved to Graz because they had cousins living there. It was said that August and Emma Gottschlich always went to places where they had cousins living. Around the year 1891, August and Emma Gottschlich had moved from Graz, Austria, to Kutina, Austria-Hungary, with the Franz Wiesner family. The Germans who immigrated to Kutina were mostly Protestants; only a small number of them were Catholics. The Gottschlich and Wiesner families were Catholics. They were very devout. By 1900, there were about 800 people from Germany living in Kutina (then part of Austria-Hungary). Whole German villages were moving to Croatia. Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary was giving the land away and encouraging them to move. However, in 1918, the Habsburg empire collapsed; and Kutina became part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes – subsequently re-named Yugoslavia . Repušnica is about 2.5 miles from Kutina. In the year 1900, there were about 40 German families living in Repušnica, Austria-Hungary (now Croatia). At that time, there was only one Gottschlich family living in Repušnica; and this family was closely related to our Gottschlich family living in Kutina. Our ancestor, August Gottschlich, born in 1839 in Glatz, Preußen (Prussia), his wife Emma, and children were living in Kutina. Josef Gottschlich, born in 1838 in Glatz, Preußen, his wife, Louise, and children were living in Repušnica. August Gottschlich was the younger brother of Josef Gottschlich. It is known for a fact that our Gottschlich family, who lived in Kutina, had cousins, who lived in Repušnica. According to our family history, one Gottschlich man and three Gottschlich sisters first came to Repušnica. They came with four chariots and horses. They were very rich when they came to Repušnica. Thanks to the marriage record of August and Ida Gottschlich (found in Ancestry.com), we now know the identity of the one man and three sisters. August Gottschlich was the oldest child of Josef Gottschlich and Louise (Mattern) Gottschlich. He did not migrate with the rest of his family to Croatia. Instead, at the age of 28, he married Ida Mae Knoefel on 11 Jan 1891 in Gabersdorf, Preußen (Prussia). The marriage record states that August's parents, Josef Gottschlich and Louise Mattern, were residents of Kutina, Croatia. Since his parents lived in Kutina on 11 Jan 1891, we can assume that the man driving the chariot into Repušnica was Josef Gottschlich and the three sisters were his daughters: Anna Gottschlich (who married Karlos Kinderman), Mathilda Gottschlich (who married August Hauck), and Emma Gottschlich (who married Andrew Cheppe). August and Mathilde (Gottschlich) Hauck lived in Repušnica, Austria-Hungary (now Croatia). Mathilde Hauck, born 21 Jun 1866, was a cousin of the Gottschlich family who lived in Kutina. Her brothers Josef Gottschlich, Jr., born 29 Apr 1874, and Frederick "Fritz" Gottschlich, born 26 May 1882, also lived in Repušnica. The parents of Mathilde, Josef, and Frederick were Josef Gottschlich, Sr., and Mathilda Louise Mattern. (The parents are found on the death certificates of Mathilde Hauck and Frederick Gottschlich, who were buried, along with Josef Gottschlich, Jr., in Saint Teresa of Avila Cemetery, Perrysville, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA.) According to the 1920 census, August Hanke (Hank, Hauck) traveled to the United States in 1892. On 21 Mar 1903, Josef Gotschlich, Jr., traveled from Breman, Germany, to the United States with his nephew Franz Hauck on the ship "Kroonland." They were from Repušnica, Austria-Hungary (now Croatia). Josef's brother-in-law, August Hauck, paid his fair; Franz's father, August Hauck, paid the fair for his son. On 3 May 1904, Mathilde (Gottschlich) Hauck, who was August Hauck's wife, traveled from Repušnica to the United States with their children. Fritz Gottschlich, age 22, also traveled from Repušnica to the United States with the Hauck family on the ship "Vaderland." August and Mathilde (Gottschlich) Hauck, and their children, Amalie, Franz, Hedvig, Josef, Matthew, and Elizabeth (along with Mathilde's brothers Frederick "Fritz" Gottschlich and Josef Gottschlich, Jr.) settled in Perrysville, Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Perrysville is 8.4 miles from Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. (The above information was provided by Vesna Pintaric, who is the 2nd great granddaughter of August Gottschlich, and Charlene Frey, who is the great granddaughter of August Gottsclich.)