SHEBOYGAN HISTORY

John George Brickbauer, Page 493

JOHN GEORGE BRICKBAUER, deceased, was born in Dirkheim, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, in 1807.  He was reared in his native land, but had poor opportunities for securing an education.  At the early age of twelve years he was deprived of a father's care and protection, a loss that was felt throughout his life.

    In 1834, Mr. Brickbauer was married to Eva Catherine Mauer, a native of Schwabsburg.  In 1848, he, with his wife and children, sailed from London, on the 24th of March, and landed in New York after a journey which consumed thirty-eight days.  The voyage was a rough one, and to add to the hardships, Mr. and Mrs. Brickbauer lost a son on the journey, the little fellow dying at about two years of age, while they were en route for Buffalo, on the Erie Canal.  It was May when they arrived at New York, from which place they went to Buffalo, being twenty-one days in going that distance.  A few days only were spent in Buffalo, when they again embarked, having taken passage to Milwaukee, Wis.  On reaching that city, Mr. Brickbauer walked to Sheboygan County, where he purchased sixty acres of land On section 27, in the town of Rhine, also eighty in Russell, paying $110 for the same.  This purchase was made in the summer of 1848, and the land was covered with heavy timber and quantities of stone.  About six years later he made an additional purchase of twenty acres.  In those early days the Chippewa Indians supplied the family with meat, and often the red men made their home in Mr. Brickbauer's kitchen.  They were very quiet and peaceable, and were considered good neighbors when they were not "loaded with fire-water."  The first year in this country he planted potatoes, but, to his sorrow, found that a neighbor's pigs had dug then before he had gotten round to that task.  Mr. Brickbauer, assisted by his son George and the neighbors, built the road to Plymouth.  In fact, he was prominently identified with the construction of all the roads in the town of Rhine.  He lived neighbor for many years to Julius Wolff, another old settler and pioneer of this section of the county, also deceased.

    Mr. and Mrs. Brickbauer had five children, three sons and two daughters:  George; Peter; Marguerite, who became the wife of Jacob Bast, a farmer in Washington County, Wis.; and Elizabeth, who married George Reichert, a farmer on section 13, town of Russell.  These are the surviving members of the family.  The parents of this family are both deceased; the mother lived to celebrate her sixty-eighth birthday, and the father's death occurred January 6, 1892, at the old homestead on section 18, in his eighty-fourth year.  Both were esteemed for their many excellent qualities.

    Mr. Brickbauer was a Republican in his political views, and with his wife was a member of the Evangelical Church.  He was actively engaged in the duties of farm life until 1886, when he retired, or rather gave that work over to his son, and spent his few remaining years in a less active manner.

    George Brickbauer is also a native of the same country as were his parents, and was born November 11, 1836.  In 1848, when twelve years of age, he emigrated with the family to the United States.  He was always of great assistance to his parents, aiding in any way that was required.  Though a child, he remembers very distinctly many incidents that occurred on the voyage to the new country.  He says they encountered numerous and severe gales, that made a lasting impression on his mind.

    On the 7th of April, 1862, George Brickbauer was united in marriage to Eva C. Strub, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Zintel) Strub, who was born January 6, 1842, in Schwarzburg, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and in 1862 came alone to this country.  Several years later her brothers and sisters, of whom there were four, in company with their mother, came to the United States.  Mr. and Mrs. Brickbauer became the parents of eleven children, of whom only six are now living.  Peter, a farmer on section 18, wedded Anna, a daughter of Louis Beck; John is at home; George married Amelia Sinz, and resides in the town of Russell; Gustav, Eva and Anna are yet at home with their parents.  A son, Carl, died on the 16th of April, 1892.

    Mr. Brickbauer supports the principles of the Republican party in political affairs, and with his family is a member of the Evangelical Church.  He has lived in this county since 1848, and has seen it grow from a wilderness into a beautiful country, filled with happy homes and thriving villages and cities.  The Indian and his wigwam have given place to a higher and a better civilization, and the county takes front rank in this great commonwealth.