Barbara Magdalena Duchscher was born on the 2 Apr 1895 to Philip Jacob Duchscher and Teresa Mattern in Odessa, South Russia, Ukraine. Her family emigrated from Russia to North Dakota sometime between 1895 and 1903. We suspect they had been in Odessa as part of Catherine the Great’s immigration incentives. Her father was a military man and very strict. While they were living outside of Rugby near Spring Lake, they lived near Ferdinand (Fred) Lawrence Steffler’s homestead. He was a good mechanic who happened to overhear an argument between Barbara and her father. Ferdinand said he was going to marry her and take her home with him and she said okay. She was 15 and he was 25. They were married on the 13th of November 1911. They had eleven children. She was sick for a few years with an enlarged spleen. In 1931 she went by train to Rochester, New York, to the Mayo clinic, but there was nothing they could do. Sunday, 19th June 1932, some cousins had come to visit; then she took a turn for the worst and died Monday. Shortly afterward, her mother and brother came to visit, but they were too late. She is buried at St. Joseph’s by or in Devils Lake.
Taken from a family narrative.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Any documentation you would like to add to this individual?