John McFrog's Blog: The Puetz Valley McCormick/Hoffner Connection

I remember when mountain biking with Bill Harold in the Lake Jennings area, just west of Alpine, that there was a road called Puetz Valley Road. This name rang a bell in my helmet covered brain. My father had directed me to do a family genolgy analysis with him paying for a month of Genolgy.com for me. The name Puetz had been on the Pedigree on my mother's side.

The far right of the chart is the line of John Puetz of Luxembourg married to Marie Schmitt of Trier. Their offspring was Magdalena Puetz, our Grandpa Ben's mother.

When I worked in Germany, I went to Trier often because it was fairly close by train. It has an almost intact Roman Outpost, complete a big colsium. You could almost hear the cheering crowds and luckless participants. Trier is on the way toward north towards Luxembourg and France.

I did an AI search on Peutz Valley and found this reference: (Peutz/Puetz are both used)

" Peutz Valley, located on the western edge of Alpine, is named after German

immigrant Nikolas Peutz, who settled there in the 1880's. He capitalized on

the local coast live oak to produce charcoal, which he sold to the San Diego

butchers for smoking hams, while also running a successful livestock and

produce ranch.

The history of the valley is deeply rooted in this rural agricultural heritage.

Here are the key details of the valley's development:

Pioneer Days: Puetz famously established his ranch and later sent away for

his mail order bride in the early 1900's.He became well-known for traveling

by horse-drawn into downtown San Diego during the holidays to sell hundreds

live turkeys to the city residents. "

The "Anton Puetz Family of Wisonsin" is my primary source for this post. One page is particularly relevant to understanding the Hoffner/Puetz side our family tree:

Luxembourgers In Wisconsin

The little duchy of Luxembourg has given Wisconsin some 12,000 citizens, most of them living in only three of the state's 72 counties. But the Port Washington area contains one of the largest settlements of Luxembourgers in the United States.

They began to arrive in 1844 and because Luxembourgers are strongly nationalistic, and wish to live together, others soon followed. In 1845, 15 families arrived in Milwaukee and sought advice from Archbishop John Martin Henni. He counseled them to settle in, is now called Holy Cross, in Washington County. By 1848, The following year, 10 families formed the Lake Church settlement near by. Others formed small communities in and around Dacada, Fredonia, and Belgium, all in Washington County. By 1848, there were 80 Luxembourg families in the Dacada region in Washington and Sheboygan Counties. Ozaukee County was formed in1853.

The majority of immgrants came from the Grand Duchy proper, or from what remained of it, and some came from a former territory of Luxembourg, chiefly from the province of Luxembourg, in Belgium. They were politically Belgian, although culturally and linguistically Luxembourgers. Hence the name of the the community of Belgium.

The official language of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is French, German, and a widely spoken native dialect, called "Letzeburgesch".

Luxembourgers are splendid farmers, hard working, eager to raise the best possible crops. They are thrifty and individualistic.

They still adhere to the old Luxembourg motto, "Mer wella beiwe wat mer sinn". Translated "We wish to remain what we are".

Occasonally, one may discover unusual plants growing in the vegetable gardens of Wisconsin's Luxembourgers, shallots, chives, small onions with a mild flaor for use in stews and soups and most of all, "bounabourg krautchen" or Summer Savory, especially good in "Moos Treipen", a Luxembourg sausage, meat loaf, hamburgers and dressings.

Additional notes from the area settled by Luxembourg immigrants cited that the standard lot size for farms was forty acres and consequently was quite inexpensive. The newcomers were used to small farms and intensive improvement of the soil.