Finding Victoria

The only photo I have of Victoria Blees shows a strong, confident, mother of five posing in a St. Paul, Minnesota studio, circa 1900. But who were her parents? Where was she born?

When I wrote about the Blees lineage in 2007, Victoria’s early life was a mystery. Here’s what research had confirmed at that time: In August of 1887, the Honorable B.F. Ogle married John and Victoria in his office of the Barton County Courthouse in Great Bend, Kansas. Judge Ogle made extra money in the matrimonial business, but he was not a stickler for details. Both the bride’s and the groom’s ages are short by five years and the bride’s name was horribly misspelled as Fickdorea Possey.

As a fledgling student of Deutsch, I knew that a German-speaker would pronounce Victoria with a “F” sound, not a “V” sound. So, it would be logical that Judge Ogle also spelled Victoria’s maiden name the way that he heard it, not the way that it was spelled.

Albert John Blees reported that his mother’s father’s name was Joseph Prusser and that Victoria was born in Austria. Within family tradition, Victoria’s maiden name was spelled Prusser, Brusser, and Prasser. Back in 2007, I speculated that her surname could be Prösser. I was SO close.

Thanks to the miracle of modern technology (i.e., digitized newspapers searchable on the Internet), I discovered a key clue to Victoria’s lineage. The first door was unlocked with this little clip from The Hoisington Dispatch.

Kaiton Edward “K.E.” Honisch’s mother was Bridgitta Juttner [in German, pronounced BRIG-i-tah]; she was first married to Anton Honisch. K.E.’s half-sister was Margaret “Maggie” Juttner Marcy; Maggie’s death record lists her mother’s maiden name as Prosser. Feeling more confident that Victoria and Bridgitta were sisters, or at least cousins, I searched online family trees for hints about K.E. Honisch and his family. After seeing that Honisch researchers listed Trebendorf in Bavaria or Little Triebenwoorf in Austria, I persisted until I found K.E.’s birth in Großtriebendorf, Moravia, Austria.

K.E. Honisch’s baptism record was microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The church’s Family History Library has the Groß- and Kleintriebendorf church books in their Czech Republic, Church Books, 1552-1981 collection. [The Triebendorf area of Moravia is now in the Czech Republic.] With additional searching, I hit the genealogy jackpot.

This one line from the Kleintriebendorf Catholic Church Book gives a lot of information: (Translation done by the wonderful Germanic Genealogy Society’s German Language Study Group)

• born and baptized on November 27, 1856
• baptized by Johann Prosser, Kooperator [assistant pastor]
• House number 44 [Viktoria’s parents’ address]
• Prosser Viktoria [in German, pronounced fick-TOR-iah]
• female, born to a married couple
• Her father: Josef Prosser, Catholic, Häusler [house owner/cottager]; he was the son of Josef Prosser and Maria, daughter of Anton Hertl, Häusler from Kleintriebendorf
• Her mother: Brigitta, Catholic, daughter of Georg Winkler, Bauer [farmer] from Großtriebendorf and Rosalia, daughter of Anton Winkler, Bauer from Großtriebendorf
• Baptism sponsors: Konrad Jenisch, Bauer from Großtriebendorf, Anton Winkler, Bauer from Kleintriebendorf and Joh. Prosser, [residence location difficult to decipher]

This baptism record for Victoria Prosser must be the same Victoria that married John Blees because:

• Her maiden name was Prosser (with no umlaut).
• She was born 27 Nov 1856; this is the birthdate listed on her death certificate.
• Her father’s name was Joseph.
• She was born in Austria.

Further research confirmed that Bridgitta Prosser was born to the same parents, at the same residence in Kleintriebendorf, two years after Victoria. Brigitta and Victoria were sisters, born in Moravia in the mid-1800s.

Now that Victoria has been found, what should be researched next?

Victoria’s ancestry?
The German-Catholic settlements at Groß- and Kleintriebendorf?
Victoria’s immigration?
Why did Victoria and John move to Minnesota?

SOURCES

John Blees Family Photograph. Photographic copy belonged Albert Edward Blees (1915-2004). Al’s photo was not labeled. Photographic copy made by Karrie Blees, August 1997.

Blees, Karrie. A Wonderful Life. (North St. Paul, MN: Sewing for the Harvest, 2007).

Newspaper. Daily Graphic (Great Bend, Kansas), August 9, 1887, column 1, page 3. “Judge Ogle is doing a land office business in the matrimonial line these warm days. Besides two marriages which he performed yesterday, he issued a license to wed to Mr. H. Dye and Miss Mary Brady.”

Blees-Possey Marriage License, August 8, 1887. Barton County Marriage Book B, page 104. Great Bend, Kansas.

Death Certificate. Victoria Blees MN #1919-2159 informant was Albert John Blees.

Death Certificate. Catherine Agatha Beck MN #1984-29657 informant was Philomine (Beck) Miller.

Interview. Susan Steinwall and Catherine (Blees) Beck, circa 1970. Catherine spelled her mother’s name Brusser.

Death Certificate. Albert Blees MN #1974-29861 informant was V. M. (Blees) Fleischhacker.

The Hoisington (KS) Dispatch (Thursday 6 Apr 1916) page 10.

California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997, ancestry.com for Margaret E. Marcy.

Czech Republic, Svitavy, Třebařov, Třebařov, church records, 1770-1909 Births, M14-7552, 1870-1904, FHL005054212, image 99. Cajetan Honisch baptism 5 Aug 1883.

Czech Republic, Svitavy, Třebařov, Třebařov, church records, 1770-1909 Births, M14-7552, 1870-1904, FHL005054196,_image 154. Viktoria Prosser baptism 27 November 1856.

Czech Republic, Svitavy, Třebařov, Třebařov, church records, 1770-1909 Births, M14-7552, 1870-1904, FHL005054196,_image 158. Bridgitta Prosser baptism 30 September 1858.