(HIRSCH – Honorary post) The Life of Karl Albert Hirsch

Karl Albert Hirsch was born on November 11, 1858 to Friedrich and Maria Magdalena Ziebold Hirsch. He was christened in Tutschfelden, Freiburg, Baden on December 5th.¹ 

The Tutschfelden church where Karl was christened. ²

Tutschfelden is located in one of the best climate regions in Germany. Vineyards abound on sunny hillsides. The Black Forest and Rhine Valley meet nearby.^3,4

Tutschfelden area ⁵

Despite the area’s natural beauty, Germany experienced political and social upheaval in the 19th Century and emigration was common. After Friedrich’s death, Maria brought the family to America in the early 1870s. They settled in Monroe County, Illinois, where her brother lived.⁶

Albert lived in the US for 20 years before marrying Susanna Born—a child of German immigrants—on February 28, 1892 in Maeystown, Illinois.^7,8


The 14th Amendment, which states that all people born in the US are citizens, was passed five years before Susanna’s birth.⁹ Therefore, Susanna entered the world as a legal American. Luckily for her, Albert had been naturalized in 1884.¹⁰ Under contemporary immigration law, a woman who married an alien “lost her U.S. citizenship, even if she never left the United States.”¹¹

After their marriage, Albert and Susie lived in Illinois for 8 years. They subsequently moved their young family to Redding, California, where they rented a house and pursued farming.¹²

View of Mt Shasta from Redding area. ¹³

Albert's headstone.  ¹⁶

Tragically, Albert died only six years later,¹⁴ while Susanna was pregnant with their 7th child.¹⁵ 

Susanna likely received financial help upon her husband’s death. Albert’s tombstone is inscribed “Here rests a Woodman of the World.” 

Woodmen of the World was a fraternal benefit society that, during Albert’s time, included an initiation ritual and an annual password. Of greater pertinence, its founder, Joseph Root, “had the simple idea of making life insurance available to everyone.” He used the name “‘woodmen’ because he was inspired by a sermon that talked about ‘woodmen clearing away the forest to provide for their families.’” Root wanted his organization to “clear away problems of financial security for its members”, “to minister to the afflicted to relieve distress; to cast a sheltering arm about the defenseless living.”¹⁷

Sample Woodmen of the World certificate ¹⁸

Although losing Albert was surely a hard trial for his family, the blow must have been somewhat softened by “the sheltering arm” provided by his membership in Woodmen of the World.



Just as, in Albert’s childhood, his father’s death was followed by his family’s relocation, so it was for his children. Shortly after he died, Susanna moved the family to Medford, Oregon.¹⁹







___________________
Line of descent:
Karl Albert Hirsch, born 1858
Frederick Hirsch, b. 1896
Frederick Carl Hirsch, b. 1923
Douglas Hirsch, b. 1953  

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Notes:
1 - familysearch.org, Germany Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898.  https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V412-RMV : accessed 18 December 2014, Karl Albert Hirsch, 05 Dec 1858; citing FHL microfilm 1,189.804.

2 – Photo from de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Ev._Kirche_Tutschfelden.jpg 

3 - Tutschfelden is very close to the French border. It is also close to Switzerland. 

4 -  www.mygermancity.com/breisgau  See also  www.mygermanycity.com/herbolzheim 

5 – Photo of Hebolzheim from de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Herbolzheim_01.650.jpg . Tutschfelden is now a part of Herbolzheim.

6 - “Gottlieb Ziebold,” Portrait and Biographical Record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties, Illinois, page 430. Chicago: Biographical Pub. Co., 1894. Online database at ancestry.com, accessed 17 December 2014.

7 - familysearch.org. Karl’s Person ID is LZKP-Q3F, Susanna’s is LZKP-QQ6.

8 – The entire village of Maeystown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. www.maeystown.com, accessed 18 December 2014.

9 - “History of laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United States,” en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_laws_concerning_immigration_and_naturalization_in_the_United_States , accessed 18 December 2014.

10 - He was naturalized in Monroe County. “California, Voter Registers, 1866-1898,” ancestry.com, page 223 of 508. Register page 39, #1672. Also page 176 of 508, page 84, #1456.

11 - “Naturalization Records,” NARA, www.archives.gov/research/naturalization/naturalization.html . Accessed 18 December 2014.

12 - 1900 Census, ancestry.com. Redding Township, Shasta, California. ED 108, Sheet 18B, family 471. Albert had lived in the area before. In June 1886 he was registered to vote in Shasta County [as a resident of Mill Creek] “California, Voter Registers, 1866-1898,” ancestry.com, page 223 of 508. Register page 39, #1672. Also page 176 of 508, page 84, #1456.

13 – Photo, View of Mt Shasta from Redding area, from commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ViewOfMtShastaFromRedding.jpg

14 – Albert died 20 Jan 1906 in Shasta County, CA. Ancestry.com, California, Death Index, 1905-1939.

15 - 1910 Census.  https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MLYJ-46H  : accessed 18 December 2014. Medford Ward 2, Jackson, Oregon. ED 114, Sheet 2A, family 28.

16 – Photo from findagrave.com, contributed by JAMSearch. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=64983960&PIpi=38265441

17 - “Woodmen of the World,” en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodmen_of_the_World ; “Woodmen of the World’s Storied History,”  https://woodmen.org/about/history.cfm#1  ; “Woodmen of the World,”  www.usgennet.org/usa/ar/county/greene/historywood.htm  ; “Woodmen of the World and the Tree Stone Grave Markers,” A Grave Interest, 21 June 2011, agraveinterest.blogspot.com/2011/06/woodmen-of-the-world-and-tree-stone-grave.html?m=1 ; all accessed 18 December 2014.

18 – Photo from “Woodmen of the World and the Tree Stone Grave Markers,” A Grave Interest, 21 June 2011, agraveinterest.blogspot.com/2011/06/woodmen-of-the-world-and-tree-stone-grave.html?m=1.  Photo URL: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrhNNfngo4jUxXgcQN1EKRFuDnHQTDpsS_tFtrXyPtPwBdTUWS1q_SFZXNRIDVhBiMGGaSauCZtmwV51RRcLJw2F20I4G7hJirNfU_tnZFYBlr5s-KP9yauJudhBtQJyASfcLQlCnQ5FK/s1600/WOW+Cert.png

19 – See 1910 Census, in Note #15 above. Not many years later, the Hirsch family was back in Redding.