Notes for Engel Biesterfeldt: Taken from a 1930 newspaper article:
Engel Biesterfeldt was born in Germany on June 12, 1838. Like many others, her parents decided to come to America with the children to make their future home, so they started out in 1847 and came as far west as Chicago, where they settled. They lived here seven years. In 1854, an epidemic of cholera took her father and mother and one sister in one week. This tragedy left her with a sister and a brother to do the work which in those days was not a very easy task. In 1864, she was married to J.W. Matthias of Chicago. In Nov of 1865, they started out for Iowas and settled in Maxfield township, Bremer county, Iowa. The railroad extended as far west as Dubuque and from there they came by covered wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen. It was all open prairie from Independence to where Denver now stands and since there were no roads or trails they drove straight across country. They moved in with a cousin, Wm. Matthias, who had come out a year before. Mr. and Mrs. Matthias acquired 80 acres of land nearby and started farming. Their grain they received from their cousin. In those days, the grain was sometimes hauled to Independence where it was ground and some was traded in for supplies to be taken back. They also did some of their trading in Waterloo. Mrs. Matthias recalls the time when a toll of 25 cents was taken before crossing the bridge with a wagon, and there were many times when they did not have 25 cents Mr. Matthias would take small articles that he could carry across the bridge and sell them, then would come back, pay toll and drive across. A barrel of salt cost $7, eggs were 5 and 6 cents a dozen and a pound of butter about the same. Mrs. Matthias says, "We hardly ever had money in the house but took everything out in trade." There was no machinery at first. Grain was cut with a cradle and hay with scythe The first grain cutter around here was purchased by J. W. and Wm. Matthias. The grain was cut during the day and tied toward evening and in early morning when the grain was wet with dew. This was because the straw that was used to tie the bundles with would not break so easily. Oats was threshed by horse power, four teams of horses being driven in a circle. One hundred or 150 bushels threshed in a day was considered a very good day's work. Mrs. Matthias said: "We never lived in a log cabin, having moved into the house with our cousin. The following spring we built a large house on the farm now occupied by Edwin Matthias a grandson. When we milked the cows in winter it was so cold in the straw sheds that the milk frose on our fingertips. Often when we went to gather eggs the rattlesnakes were found coiled up in the nests. There were plenty of them." The Indians and gypsies would almost always camp along the creek that ran through thte Matthias pasture, and they would come to the house and ask for things they wanted. She stated that the wolves, which were plentiful would howl continuously when the weather turned colder. In 1894 they moved to Tripoli where they lived seven years. Here Mr. Matthias took up the carpenter trade and also repaired spinning wheels. They then moved to Waterloo where they lived five years. Then they lived 13 years in Westgate and in 1919 they came to Readlyn. They had lived here only two weeks when Mr. Matthias passed away. Mrs. Matthias has since then made her home among her children. About a year ago Mrs. Matthias suffered a severe accident, breaking her hip. She is now able to walk about with a cane and for her age is very active. At the 1929 reunion of the Matthias family, of which she is hostess each year in June on her birthday anniversary, her living descendants numbered 10 children, 79 grandchildren, 182 great-grandchildren and seven of her great-great grandchildren.
More About Engel Biesterfeldt: Burial: Unknown, Readlyn, Bremer, Iowa, USA; Burial: St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery.126 Census 1: 1900, Fremont, Bremer, Iowa, USA. Census 2: 1850, Bloomingdale, Du Page, Illinois, USA; Census: (name of Anna in this census). Census 3: 1860, Maxfield, Bremer, Iowa, USA. Census 4: 1870, Maxfield, Bremer, Iowa, USA. Census 5: 1880, Maxfield, Bremer, Iowa, USA. Census 6: 1920, Maxfield, Bremer, Iowa, USA. Census 7: 1930, Readlyn, Bremer, Iowa, USA; Census: (living with daughter Bertha & family). Immigrated: 1847, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA. Residence: 1900, Fremont, Bremer, Iowa, USA.127
More About Engel Biesterfeldt and Johann Wilhelm Matthias: Marriage: 20 Sep 1855, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA.128
Children of Engel Biesterfeldt and Johann Wilhelm Matthias are:
Engel Biesterfeldt (b. 12 Jun 1838, d. 16 Oct 1936)
Notes for Engel Biesterfeldt: