52 Ancestors: Albert Carl Sternitzky

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!  One of my New Year's resolution is to do more writing.  So I want to tackle the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge again and try to do a better job.  Hopefully I will get fifty-two biographies done this year.  The first one I am posting is about Albert Carl Sternitzky.  I hope you enjoy and I look forward to your feedback!

                My great-great-grandfather Albert Carl Sternitzky was born on 10 March 1862 in Lynn, Clark, Wisconsin.  He was a first generation American – his grandfather, grandmother, and their children emigrated from Silesia, Prussia, in 1840.  The family spent a winter in Buffalo, New York, before traveling through the Great Lakes and settling in Milwaukee.  In 1856, after securing land farther north in Clark County, the family left Milwaukee.  The Sternitzky family was one of the pioneering families in that part of the county. 

                Albert was the first born child to Charles Friedrich Sternitzky and Catherine Miller.  He was born on the family farm in 1862.  He would later be joined by brother Wilhelm (William) and sisters Anna and Phoebe.   In the 1870 United States census, Albert is eight years old and living with his family on the farm in Lynn, Clark, Wisconsin.  His father is a farmer with real estate valued at $800.  They are surrounded by family – there are many Sternitzkys on that same page and all through the township of Lynn.  The 1880 US census shows Albert at eighteen years of age, living with his family in the Town of Lynn.  His father is still farming, his mother is keeping house, and Albert is in school along with his three siblings.  I assume all of this information is correct as Albert’s father, Charles, was the enumerator. 

                On 27 May 1885, Albert married Louise Ernestine Garbisch, daughter of John and Dorothea Garbisch.  Louise was born in Lynn on 7 May 1864.  Albert and Louise were married at the Zion Lutheran “Mapleworks” church in Lynn.  Albert and Louise had six children:  Oscar, Arthur, Louis, Alvin, Carl (my great grandfather) and Rudolph.  All of the boys, except Arthur, lived to adulthood.

                The 1895 Wisconsin, 1900 US, 1905 Wisconsin, 1910 US and 1920 US census all show a familiar pattern.  The children grow up and move out and by 1920 it is just Albert, Louise and son Rudolph still on the farm.  Albert continues to farm, but he also has an apple orchard and he also produced maple syrup.  Somewhere along the line, he built and operated a tavern/store called Orchard Inn (the building no long exists).     

                The 1920s were a little difficult for Albert.  On 12 January 1921, Louise passed away.  According to the newspaper, the cause of death was trichinosis, an illness caused by eating undercooked pork.  In 1923, it was reported in a local newspaper that Albert was seriously injured when he was driving into his yard in a milk wagon and was hit by “an automobile at a terrific rate”.  The accident caused Albert to fly out of the wagon and into a ditch.  According to the paper he was a “large, heavy man and it is believed he is injured internally”.  He did break an arm in four places, but the paper doesn’t report any other serious injuries.  Albert was taken to the hospital and luckily someone reported the license plate of the driver. 

                The 1930 US census shows Albert living alone on his farm in Lynn.  It does seem that his son Carl is living close as he is the next family listed.  Albert passed away on 21 September 1931 at his home in Lynn.  He was 69 years old.