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History of the Jaus Family

This brief family history was compiled to record for future generations the things which may so easily be forgotten when the older members of the family have passed on. It is based on memory and recollections by Martha Jaus Dedine and other family members.

Martin Jaus was born on February 18, 1823, in southern Germany, Schwabenland, Swabia, Kreis Wuerttemberg. As a young man, he was employed at “Bauerngut” (an estate) as a hired man tending cattle. At the same estate was a Katherina Beck, personal maid to the mistress of the estate. They were married at the estate of their employer in 1854. The noblewoman gave Katherine a trousseau and a valuable necklace of 12 garnet stones.

In order to attract settlers to the province of Ontario, the Canadian Government sent land agents to these rural communities in Germany. These land agents painted a rosy picture of the advantages to be had in Canada. The newlyweds, their Pastor and eight (8) other Lutheran families decided to emigrate. Among them was the Schwickert family and the Beck family.

After a long, tiresome voyage, the sail boat finally arrived in North America in the fall of 1855. The settlers proceeded on to Delhi, Ontario, Canada. the first winter was one filled with many hardships. By working together and sharing resources, they managed to survive. The spring brought bitter disappointment to the newly arrived settlers. The clay and rocky soil in this Delhi, Ontario community was only suited to the cultivation of tobacco. These people knew nothing about this type of farming. The men hired out to the tobacco farmers while the women planted gardens, sewed all the clothes and kept house. For nine years they struggled to make a living in Canada.

During this time the Civil War had been fought. Minnesota had become the 32nd state in 1858 and the Homestead Act had been enacted by congress in 1862. News of this reached our forefathers in Canada. After a meeting with the elders of the church, they decided to send their pastor to investigate for them how they could acquire a homestead. Pastor Sprengeler returned with the information that a new area in Southwest Carver County was open to homesteaders. In order to obtain a homestead, the head of the family had to be over 21 years of age and he would have to declare his intention of becoming an American citizen. They had to declare their willingness to clear at least five acres of land every year and to improve the land by building a house on it and living in it. If after five years they had met all these requirements, 160 acres would be theirs.

In 1865, after a prayerful meeting, a group of eight families decided to come to Carver County. Martin and Katherina and 5 children. Simon, Martin, Anna, John and Martha made the move. The trip was again full of hardships.

Most of the way they traveled by boat with each family being allotted a certain area. Each family had to furnish their own food. Among prize possessions were straw ticks and pillows. Simon, age 9, and Anna, age 7, were to take care of the younger children.

It is a miracle that Martha survived the trip and didn’t end in a watery grave. There was no indoor plumbing on the boat and the toilet holes cut into a seat were directly over the water. Simon and Anna were to take Martha “potty.” The hole was to large for Martha and she lost her balance and started to fall down. Simon caught her by her feet, while Anna ran for help. Martha was rescued.

Martin and Katherina Jaus were able to buy 160 acres of virgin timber for which they paid $500.00. Here they built a log house. The first years were filled with hardships, but when the virgin timber was cleared and the stumps were removed, the land was very productive. The settlers pooled their labor and helped one another. Father Jaus even cleared a neighbor’s tract of land by mistake.

The Sious Indians were their close neighbors. Mother Jaus had a fair complexion and curly auburn hair. As a maid to the mistress of the estate in Germany, she had learned gracious living manners and the “finer things of life.” Her favorite motto was “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Above all, she was a devout Christian mother. She knew how to dispense first aid and do “doctoring” for minor illnesses. She had a recipe for making “Gelbe Salbe" (yellow ointment) and ointment made of bee’s wax and camphor (something like Unguentine nowadays). She was the most popular midwife in the community. The fluffy loaves of white bread which she made out of the wheat father Martin carried to the mill in Carver never ceased to amaze her Indian neighbors. Simon remembered Indian visitors coming to their home exchanging dressed venison for loaves of white bread.

Martin and Katherina led a prayerful life and brought up their children accordingly. All were confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church; rural Hamburg, Minnesota.

In 1871, a sixteen year old niece of Grandfather Jaus, a Katherina Jaus, came from Balingen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, to make her home. She became very homesick and contracted tuberculosis. She died shortly thereafter and was buried in the Hamburg church cemetery.

In 1878 Sibley County was opened to new settlers. Simon, Martin, and John Bentz came to Moltke Township and purchased land. Here they found prairie covered with buffalo grass and had to plant a tree claim. They had to travel to Beaver Falls in Renville county, a distance of 30 miles, to obtain title to their land.

Second Generation

Simon helped clear the “Bush” and learned to be an accomplished carpenter. The steam engine became an obsession with him later in life.

Augusta Burgstahler was born in LaPorte, Indiana. Her father was a tailor during the Civil War. After the war he and his wife, Mary Huser, (who was born in Alsace-Lorraine) moved to Buffalo Lake, Minnesota. As a young women Augusta worked at a hotel in Henderson, which was a river boat station on the Minnesota River. In those days Henderson was a growing town for immigrants heading north and west. Through his carpenter work Simon became acquainted with the Burgstahler family. Augusta was a “bell” in her day, yet she chose to marry Simon because he was the best “catch” available. Simon owned a high wheel spring wagon and team of mules. They started farming in Moltke Township, but Simon’s heart wasn’t in it. He was a carpenter and steam engine operator. In 1890 he was an assistant to the architect, Mr. Scheppe from St. James, who designed and built St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Moltke Township, Minnesota. Since debts were accumulating, the farm was sold to Gustav Krueger.

On November 15, 1898 they moved to Winthrop with their 6 growing children. Simon acquired a feed mill powered by a steam engine. Augusta continue to be a homemaker and a midwife. After selling the feed mill, Simon worked nights in the Minneapolis & St. Lois Railroad Round House. Due to ill health and depression days, both Simon and Augusta made their home with their son Philip in 1934.

Martin helped clear the “bush” and worked as hired help in the community. It was there that he met Loise Harms. As a young married couple they set up farming in Moltke Township. From the beginning of their married life they both had an special interest in dairying Holstein cattle, which later became their hobby. They built a large dairy barn in 1928. They also built a new house right west of the older house where they spent their retirement years. Martin was blessed with an unusual, keen sense of humor. All of us fondly remember Uncle Martin. Both were lifetime members of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.

Anna was the oldest daughter. From her mother she was taught the “nicer, mannerly” ways of family living. As a young girl, she and her sister Mary were maids in St. Paul. They worked long hours for the “rich.” Their wages went home to their pioneer parents, who struggled to raise their family and to pay for the education of brother Henry who was a student the the seminary.

Anna married John Bentz who lived near their farm. As newlyweds they started out with a team of horses, a lumber wagon, a hand plow, 2 cows, chickens and her precious possessions.

Both John and Anna were instrumental in establishing St. Peter’s Lutheran Congregation in Moltke Township. Before the church was built they met in homes, usually in the Christian Buerkle home, because it was the roomiest.

Pioneer days had many hardships. The grasshoppers were a plague, the cattle would be lost in the tall prairie grass and there was constant danger of prairie grass fire. To keep the household in fuel on the prairies was most difficult. During the winter John would leave on a 3-4 day trip via team and sleigh to get wood from the “Bush” around Hamburg, a distance of about 40 miles. In the meantime Anna struggles with the life on the prairie, teaching her children prayer and hard work. Early in their marriage John had a sunstroke which weakened him physically. He was more or less a “gentleman farmer”, an overseer. Their children had to start working at an early age in order to keep things going. He always had a team of road horses or ponies. In 1930 they retired to Gibbon making their home with their youngest daughter Selma and her husband.

John stayed on the family farm and helped clear the “Bush.” Since he was the son who stayed at home, he spent his entire lifetime on the same farm. He married a neighborhood lady, Wilhemina Harms. John was a very sedate, polished, refined gentleman. He dearly loved his family, his church and his neighbors.

Martha worked as a maid for the “rich” in St. Paul. As a young girl she married John Weller who came from Delhi, Ontario, Canada. As newlyweds they decided to came to a farm in Sibley County, where two brothers and a sister now lived. Apparently Grandpa Weller lived with them. Their marriage was tragic and of short duration. Diphtheria, caused the death of 8 year old Reinhold, October 17, 1902. Nine days later 6 year old Emma died. John died in 1903 leaving her with four very young children. Her brother Martin and brother-in-law John Bentz helped her so she was able to keep the farm and carry on. Her daughter Anna and her husband, Herman Luehring, lived with her after their marriage.

Mary remained on the farm and cared for her aged mother until she married William Herman. He was a young man who had come with John Weller from Delhi, Ontario, Canada a few years before. As newlyweds they moved to a farm in rural Gibbon. William was an adept carpenter. Since he had an “itchy” foot they sold out in 1913 (?) and moved to Kanabec County, MN, Mora, Minnesota, back to the “Bush.”This was not a successful move. In 1919 they built a new house out of lumber from their place in Kanabec County. William joined the Minneapolis & St. Paul Railroad Bridge Crew.

Henry decided to study for the ministry. He studied in Concordia Theological Seminary, Springfield, IL. His first assignment was at Tipton, Indiana. Later he became director of Bethesda, Watertown, Wisc. His last pastorate was in Mora, Minnesota.

George left home at an early age. He lived in Michigan where he married Millie Martin. After retirement they moved to Tuscon, Arizona. They had one son, Walter.

We, the descendants of this pioneer family are proud of our heritage.

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Source:The Jaus Family Tree binder - James Baur collection.[[Henderson, MN|