Notizen zu dieser Person
BIOGRAPHIE: George Rewitzer was born on December 11, 1851, in Neubäu, a tiny village in the hills of Bohemia. In the summer of 1869, the 17-year-old George emigrated to America, accompanied by his sister Katherine, her husband Frank Wagner, and their two children. They boarded the steamship ".Schmidt" on June 10th, 1869, at the North Sea port of Bremen. After four weeks at sea, the arrived in New York on July 12th. The group traveled to Wheaton, Illinois, where the ,Wagner family remained. George continued alone to New Ulm, Minnesota. George found work as a farm hand at the Michael Grubel farm. He worked there until he was able to save enough money to repay his brother-in;law Frank Wagner for his passage to the United States, and to buy some land of his own. In 1871, George applied for his first "letter of intent" for naturalization; however, he did not become a citizen until May 19, 1908. George Rewitzer married Franziska Grossman on February 5, 1872. Fanny, as she was known, was born in Muttersdorf, Bohemia, a short distance from Neubäu, the village where George was born. She was the daughter of Joseph Grossman, the town miller, and Katherine Zischka. Katherine Zischka died in Bohemia. Joseph Grossman, his daughters Franziska and Elizabeth, and his second wife Barbara Stadelbeck and their three children Franz, Barbara and William left Bohemia in 1868. They came toMinnesota and settled on a small farm in Cottonwood township. The Grossman family was well-to-do, having descended from an influential milling family of Muttersdorf. They had developed rather sophisticated tastes in food and clothing, and they spoke "high" German. Fannie was a very sophisticated young lady. George Rewitzer, on the other hand, was from peasant stock in the hills of Bohemia, a poor farmer. The first time George asked for Fannie's hand in marriage, he was refused. He asked three times before he was accepted. In Bohemia it was unseemly for a poor farmer from the hills to approach a young lady from a wealthy town family with an an offer of marriage. This class distinction soon changed in America. The Rewitzers farmed in Cottonwood township; in 1877 they moved to Sigel where they purchased a farm in section 26 in the year 1882. By 1886 they had accumulated 320 acres in sections 25 and 26. Eight children were born to the Rewitzers: Alouis in 1873; Wilhelmina in 1875; Mathilda in 1877; Elizabeth in 1879; Bertha in 1882; Sophie in 1883; Katrina in 1887; and Albert in 1890. In 1902, at the early age of 51, George Rewitzer suffered a severe heart attack. His physician advised him to give up farming. The family then moved to 669 North 15th Street in Sleepy Eye, directly across from St. Mary's Catholic church. In 1909, George sold the farm to his son-in-law, Joseph Helget, who had married his daughter Mathilda. The Rewitzers lived in Sleepy Eye until 1925 when Franziska died at the age of 73. George sold the family home, and moved to New Ulm to live with his widowed daughter, Mathilda Helget. The Rewitzers were a devout family, as is indicated by the fact that they insisted on living near the church when they moved to Sleepy Eye. George remembered that his native village of Neubäu did not have a church; as a youth he, along with his family, had to walk several miles to the village of Heiligenkreuz to worship at the church there. In 1913 George Rewitzer and his sister Katharina Wagner sent several thousand dollars to Neubäu for the purpose of constructing a church. The church was built, and named for his patron saint, St. George. The villagers of Neubäu wanted him to come back for for dedication but hesaid he was too old and the journey was too difficult. George Rewitzer died on August 6, 1932 at the age of 81.
Manfred
Kolbeck
