2023 LEISZ FAMILY REUNION IN TURTLE LAKE, WISCONSIN—A BIG SUCCESS!
Joseph Leisz, Cheesemaker
Taken from: History of Barron Co., Wisconsin, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., 1922, pg. 589.
Joseph Leisz, cheesemaker for the Cameron Cheese Co., was born on the Atlantic Ocean, May 5, 1893, the son of John and Agnes Leisz, who were then on their way from Germany.
They came to Barron County, and settled in Turtle Lake, where the father is still living, and where the mother died. Joseph was reared on the farm, attended the district school and learned dairying and agriculture from his father.
For a while he worked in the factory of the Pioneer Cheese Co. at Turtle Lake and in the factory of the Clayton Cheese Co. at Clayton, in Polk County. In this employment he became much interested in cheese and butter making, and decided to perfect himself in its science.
Accordingly, in the winter of 1913-14 he took the dairy course in the University of Wisconsin at Madison. That summer he entered the employ of the Clover Leaf Equity Cheese Factory in Bear Lake Township, this county, and did good work for that concern for several years.
Dec. 22, 1919, he came to Cameron, and on Jan. 1, 1920, assumed the duties of his present position. He is an expert in his line, and knows the business from the time the cows are fed in the field until the time the butter and cheese are placed on the table.
He is popular in the community and has the respect and liking of all who know him. Mr. Leisz was married Oct. 5, 1915, to Elizabeth Thome, who was born in Bear Lake Township, this county, May 30,1887, the daughter of Peter and Margaret (Lejune) Thome, natives of Germany, who settled in Bear Lake Township in the early eighties.
Mr. and Mrs. Leisz have two children: Frederick, born Nov. 1, 1917, and Catherine, born April 21, 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Leisz have two children: Frederick, born Nov. 1, 1917, and Catherine, born April 21, 1919.
NOTE: ABOVE TEXT FROM 1922 HISTORY OF BARRON COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
ALSO NOTE THAT Petition for Naturalization for John Leisz, father of Cheesemaker Joseph, states that his sone Joe was born June 15, 1893 in Illinois. The Leisz brothers and their mother had arrived in the U.S. in May 1893, and by June were in Chicago where they worked for a time, saving money and eventually purchasing land in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin.
Joseph's World War I Draft Registration Card
Click on the image at left to enlarge or print this image. It notes Joseph's occupation as Cheese Maker. He worked at the Clover Leaf Equity Cheese Factory in Rice Lake, Wis., which incorporated on April 3, 1909.
The Butter, Cheese and Egg Journal, published January 7, 1914, noted that Joseph Leisz is now operating the Clover Leaf Equity cheese factory, R. 2, Rice Lake, Wis. He moved from Turtle Lake, Wis.
JOHN'S DAUGHTERS: And their descendants
Descendants of John's daughters located on ancestry.com
They were known as Juel and Tess. And Sharon Donatelle Droege, who was at last month's Leisz Family Reunion, remembers them. They were her great-aunts, and they lived much of their adult lives in Billings, Montana—a far way from Turtle Lake, Wisconsin.
Juel and Tess's dad was Leisz Brother John. Juel, the eldest, was born in 1888 in Peregu Mare, Arad, Romania, as was her sister Mary (b. 1891).
When Leisz Brother John immigrated to the United States in 1893 with his brothers and widowed mother, his wife Agnes and their daughters Juel and Mary accompanied him. Agnes was very pregnant—and, in fact, gave birth to son Joseph while at sea.
Once in Turtle Lake, John and Agnes went on to have another son, John Franklin (b. 1895), and three more daughters: Anna (b. 1898), Racheal (b. 1899) and Theresa or "Tess" (b. 1899). Then by 1904, their mother Agnes died, leaving John with the children from age 4 to 16.
Once they reached adulthood, the boys—Joseph and John Franklin—stayed in or near Turtle Lake. Joseph wed and became a cheesemaker, and John Franklin married and farmed the land.
Their sisters? They had wanderlust—moving to BIllings, Montana. It's unclear what drew them to this area.
Juel, eldest of John and Agnes' children, wed Earl Edwin Campbell, a locomotive engineer, on Feb. 12, 1912 in Billings. Then on July 2, 1914 sister Mary married Axel Califf, 25 years her senior, in Livingston, Montana. Axel was a watchmaker who owned a jewelry store, and youngest sister Tess left Turtle Lake to live with her sister Mary and work in the jewelry store. Tess married late in life, on October 11, 1951, to Thomas Hanlon in Billings. Sister Anna, who also lived in Billings, had traveled to Turtle Lake for Christmas 1918, was sick with the Spanish Flu, and passed away in January 1919 in Turtle Lake. It's unclear what happened to sister Racheal; she may have been a twin of Tess', but little can be found about her on ancestry.com.
Brothers John Franklin and Joseph and their wives visited their sisters in Billings over the years. But the sisters' descendants have been obscured over the decades. In September 2018, Denise Leisz put together some information on Facebook with data from ancestry.com. And this led her to a man named Joe Magill, who lives in Omaha, Nebraska. Joe and Jenny's dad is Harold Edward Magill, and Harold's mother is Verna Campbell Magill, daughter of Juel. So Juel is the great-grandmother of Joe Magill and his sister Jenny—and that would make Leisz Brother John their great-great-grandfather. See sidebar at right and photo gallery below for more about Joe and where he fits into this picture, as we increase our knowledge of Juel, Mary, Anna and Tess—the Montana Daughters of Leisz Brother John.
JOE MAGILL—a connection to Juel and Tess
Denise Leisz, granddaughter of Leisz Brother Joseph, was poking around on Facebook and ancestry.com a few months back, attempting to connect the dots to find descendants of the daughters of Leisz Brother John (1861-1939). Denise hit pay dirt when she located a Jenny Magill Elliott from Bluffton, Indiana on Facebook. Jenny is the great-granddaughter of Julia "Juel" Leisz Campbell. But Jenny's brother Joe Magill is the family's genealogy expert.
Joe reached out to Denise on Sep. 16, 2018. The two talked by phone, and Joe emailed Denise family photos of his great-grandmother Juel, her sister Tess, and other relatives. (SEE PHOTO GALLERY BELOW)
Joe had wanted to be a last-minute guest at our 2018 Leisz Family Reunion, and would have traveled there from his home in Omaha, Nebraska. But work commitments barred him from attending.
Nonetheless, Joe, who has a big interest in family history, is a link to Leisz Brother John's daughters, a link that was obscured over the past decades.
We'd like to continue to gather information on this branch of our family—and especially answer the question as to why Leisz Brother John's daughters chose to live their adult lives in Billings, Montana. Do you have any information about this? Contact us through this website, or email us at leiszreunion@gmail.com.
ABOVE: John Jr. on the family farm in Turtle lake, circa 1925
The younger of two sons of Leisz Brother John (1861-1939), John Franklin Leisz (known as John Jr.) was born in Turtle Lake in 1895 (d. 1977). His mother Agnes (née Schuster or Shoemaker) Leisz died on Feb. 5, 1904 when John was just 8 years old.
John's "number" was drawn for the Army during World War I (see his draft registration card HERE). But John was not required to serve in the military because he was the only man then running the dairy farm owned by his dad.
John married Estella Irene Paul on September 10, 1919 in St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Hudson, Wisconsin. Their courtship is a charming story that this website will feature in coming weeks. Stay tuned!
John Franklin and "Stella" settled on the John Leisz farm in Turtle Lake, where they made their home for the rest of their lives. John Franklin had purchased the farm from his dad, who had bought another farm one mile to the south. Then when Leisz Brother Joseph and his family left Turtle Lake in 1920 to move to Cleveland, Ohio, John Sr. and John Franklin bought Joseph's farm also.
Many Leiszs in and around Turtle Lake today are descendants of John Franklin and Stella Leisz. John Franklin's great-granddaughter, Jennie Leisz Nitchey, has generously shared a veritable treasure trove of historical photos from this branch of our family. These photos were in possession of John Franklin's daughter Muriel Leisz Klingelhoets (1921-2009), and were given to Jennie in May 2018 by Muriel's daughter Kathleen Klingelhoets Schoener. We are in the process of scanning these photos and posting them to this website. Check out the JOHN page for the first batch of these photos, with more to come.
JOHN FRANKLIN AND OUR OTHER LEISZ ANCESTORS TOILED WITH THEIR HANDS TO MAKE OUR LAND WHAT IT IS TODAY. LISTEN TO THIS INSPIRING SONG, "HANDS" BY PHIL OCHS AND SUNG HERE BY PAT HUMPHRIES. THEN CONSIDER ALL THE GIFTS YOUR LEISZ ANCESTORS HAVE LEFT YOU. IT IS THEIR LEGACY—AND OUR LIFE.
Happy Birthday, Dotz Leisz
Turtle Lake Leisz gathering to celebrate matriarch of John's family branch
Dorothy Blechinger Leisz, born Nov. 20, 1927, had a BIG birthday party last month in Turtle Lake. Present are most of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren!
Dorothy is the spouse of the late Vernon George Leisz (1926-1982). Vernon was the grandson of Leisz Brother John (1861-1939) and son of John Franklin Leisz (1895-1977) and Estella Irene Paul (1895-1974). Together Dorothy and Vernon had nine children—Dennis Leisz (b. 1948), Steven Leisz (1951-1997), Patricia Leisz Olson (1952-2015), John Lavern Leisz (b. 1953), Cheryl Leisz (b. 1956), Colleen Leisz Huntington (b. 1957), Brad Leisz (b. 1961), Greg Leisz (b. 1962), and Tim Leisz (b. 1964).
Thank you to John Lavern Leisz's daughter Jennie Leisz Nitchey for this great photo! Jennie is great-great granddaughter of Leisz Brother John (1861-1939).
FIRSTBORN SON OF LEISZ BROTHER JOHN
He was born at sea in 1893
On May 5th, 1893, Agnes, wife of Leisz Brother John (1861-1939), gave birth to son Joseph on the ship Darmstadt, as the Leisz family immigrated from Europe to America in May 1893. They arrived at Ellis Island on May 16, 1893—127 years ago!