In a pig’s eye. Under no condition, not at all, as in “In a pig’s eye he’ll pay me back,” or “You think he’s competent? In a pig’s eye!” This expression, a euphemism for in a pig’s ass, is generally used as a strong negative. [Slang; late 1800s].

—From The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer, 1997.

Peter Stoltz (1836-1921)

Peter Stoltz (1836-1921)

Peter Stoltz was born in the town of Berg in the Pfalz (Palatinate) region on October 30, 1836 and was baptized in St. Bartholomew Church in Berg the next day.1 At the time, this area was part of the Kingdom of Bavaria; today it is part of the modern German state of Rheinland-Pfalz, in today’s Kreis (county) of Germersheim.2 The parish records indicate that he was illegitimate, although a notation in the record states that he was considered legitimate after the marriage of his parents one year later.

He was the first son of Jakob Stoltz, born November 12, 1814 and baptized one day later in St. Bartholomew Church, and Magdalena Bummer, born March 8, 1815.3 They were married at St. Bartholomew Church on October 1, 1837.4

Jakob’s parents were Alois Stoltz, born July 10, 1782, baptized in St. Bartholomew Church the next day,5 and Barbara Knöll, born about 1773.6 Alois and Barbara were married on January 30, 1802 in that church.7

Magdalena Franziska (Bummer) Stoltz (1815-1893)

Magdalena Franziska (Bummer) Stoltz (1815-1893)

Jakob and Magdalena had four children. Their second son, Anton, was born September 13, 1838 and baptized the next day; he died only a few months later, on November 7, 1838.8 A little more than a year after that, their third son was born on Christmas Eve, 1839. They also named him Anton.9 On March 25, 1841 their daughter, Barbara, was born.10 The Stoltz family had lived in Berg for many generations, and their history is closely intertwined with the history of St. Bartholomew Church there.

Location of Rheinland-Pfalz in modern Germany

Location of Rheinland-Pfalz in modern Germany

At the time, there was no concept of such a thing as Germany. The area that would eventually become the modern state of Germany was a patchwork of principalities, the borders of which constantly changed. It was only in the period leading up to World War I that Prussia united these various principalities into a German nation. Berg is a border town; France is only about as far away from Berg as Mexico is from El Paso. Napoleon had even annexed this area to France for a while.11 We should not be surprised if Peter spoke a little French as well as his native German.

The Stoltz family in Berg were farmers. It’s easy for us to forget that the majority of people prior to the Industrial Revolution were farmers; eking out a living for themselves and their families on small parcels of land. It was a difficult life, and inheritance laws in Pfalz and other German states made land scarce for growing families. Also, since 1848 European governments had faced widespread revolution, with stricter laws on the people being introduced as a result. Between 1848 and 1917, more than six million Germans immigrated to the United States.

Location of Kreis Germersheim in modern Rheinland-Pfalz

Location of Kreis Germersheim in modern Rheinland-Pfalz

Around 1852, Jakob and Magdalena decided their future was in the United States. Perhaps their neighbors thought they were crazy, and assessed their prospects with whatever the German equivalent of “in a pig’s eye” was at the time. Jakob and Magdalena packed up their family for the arduous passage across the Atlantic Ocean, and in December of 1852 they arrived in the port of New Orleans.12 The first transatlantic steamship, the S.S. Great Western, had been launched in 1837, cutting the journey from Europe to the United States down to about two weeks, but at the time steamship travel was relatively new and very expensive. The Stoltz family most likely took the cheaper sail option, a four- to six-week journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

View of New Orleans, 1863

View of New Orleans, 1863

Jakob and Magdalena may have also made the journey with two of Jakob’s brothers and their families: his older brother Peter and his wife Katharina (Kattus) and his younger brother Josef and his wife Katharina (Stephany). Both families are later recorded in the United States.

New Orleans must have been a most exotic place for Peter. The city at the time was run largely with slave labor, and he would certainly have seen hundreds of slaves engaged in hard manual labor everywhere; he may have even seen slave auctions in the port. One wonders if this brief and probably jarring exposure to the brutal slave economy had anything to do with his volunteering for the Union Army 10 years later.13

View of St. Louis, 1849

View of St. Louis, 1849

From New Orleans Peter located to St. Louis, where a thriving German community was growing daily. Numerous books popular in Germany at the time promoted St. Louis as the new promised land for Germans; earlier some had even proposed a German-language state built around that city. As a result, St. Louis, as well as Saint Paul, were well-known among Germans and considered prime destinations for immigrants.

Apollonia (Stricker) Stoltz (1831-1896)

Apollonia (Stricker) Stoltz (1831-1896)

Peter found work in St. Louis as a ship chandler14 serving steamships on the Mississippi River. It was there that he married Apollonia Stricker, who was born in Berg on May 28, 1831.15 They exchanged vows in the historic Church of St. Mary of the Victories, the first German parish in St. Louis, built in 1843. We may suppose that Peter and Apollonia knew each other from Berg; it was, after all, a small village and it’s likely they already had a relationship.16 We do not know if they traveled together, or whether she agreed to meet him in America. They were married on June 19, 1859.17

By 1857, Jakob and his brothers Peter and Josef and their families were living near each other in Saint Paul in the Minnesota Territory, recorded on the same census page.18

The city began in the early 1800s as a settlement called Pig’s Eye around a tavern owned by the one-eyed French bootlegger Pierre Parrant, whose clientele included fur traders, explorers, fugitives and missionaries. In 1841, a tiny log chapel was established there named for St. Paul, and the priest had a vision of the settlement bearing that name rather than the admittedly pedestrian “Pig’s Eye.” He began to call this frontier outpost “Saint Paul,” and the name stuck. In 1851, this humble shack was proclaimed the new cathedral, and six months later a three-story multipurpose building was constructed that would be the second of four cathedrals of Saint Paul, which then numbered some 3,000 residents. The Minnesota Territory was established in 1849 with Saint Paul as the capital, and it was admitted to the Union as the 32nd state in 1858.

Church of the Assumption, Saint Paul

Church of the Assumption, Saint Paul

In 1860, Peter and his wife Apollonia were still living in St. Louis with their first child, Frances, who was born there about 1860 and died as an infant.19 Peter was working as a cook.20 He must have heard favorable reports of Saint Paul from his father, Jakob; there was a thriving German community nestled in the shadow of Assumption Church at 51 West Seventh Street, a German parish that was the city’s first parish church, established in 1856. No doubt Jakob described the congenial atmosphere in this city that was growing quickly and had numerous opportunities for a hard-working German, where one could do business in German and enjoy free time in German establishments, whiling away Sunday afternoons in large beerhalls enjoying German music, flirting and socializing in the mother tongue.

View of Saint Paul, 1867

View of Saint Paul, 1867

We don’t know exactly when Peter moved to Saint Paul, but we do know his first son Peter was born there on January 4, 1862 as was his second daughter, Josephine, was born about 1863. The Civil War had already begun in 1861. On September 21, 1864 Peter volunteered for the Union Army as a private in Company B, First Minnesota Heavy Artillery Regiment. He served as a musician, probably in a military band.21 He formally completed his service on June 17, 1865.22

The First Minnesota Volunteer Regiment had played a major role in the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, where more than 80 percent of that regiment’s 262 soldiers lost their lives—20 of them German-born.23 There is a monument at Gettysburg to this regiment, which ceased existence on April 29, 1864. Veterans from this regiment along with new recruits such as Peter were mustered into the new First Minnesota Heavy Artillery Regiment, which was garrisoned at Chattanooga, Tennessee and saw no combat action. But certainly Peter would have heard hair-raising stories from the old-timers about what they had experienced at Gettysburg, Antietam and Bull’s Run. His daughter Barbara was born while he was in the army, on March 4, 1865.

Sutler's Row, Chattanooga,_c. 1864

Sutler’s Row, Chattanooga,_c. 1864

Just nine months after Peter returned to Saint Paul from the army, his son Ludwig Josef “Louis” was born, on March 18, 1866. Then came George Anthony, born March 30, 1868, and Charles Alois, born July 10, 1870. Another son, John, was born in 1872 but died as an infant. The ninth and last child of Peter and Apollonia was Elizabeth Apollonia Rosely, born in Saint Paul on May 8, 1874.

Sometime before 1880, Peter and Apollonia purchased land in Cass County, Dakota Territory, and moved there with their seven children to farm it. The territory was very sparsely populated; it would not be until later that the railroads came and marketed land there widely. This was nine years before the admission of this area to the Union as the state of North Dakota, and land for settlement had just been made available due to treaties with the Native Americans of that region.

Typical sod house built by homesteaders in the Dakota Territory. Peter and Apollonia Stoltz and their children would have lived in a similar house.

Typical sod house built by homesteaders in the Dakota Territory. Peter and Apollonia Stoltz and their children would have lived in a similar house.

It could not have been an easy life on the frontier, and the stress wore on Peter and Apollonia. Certainly a contributing factor could have been Anna Maria “Mary” Thiesen.24 Apparently she had been a long-time mistress of Peter’s. It would have been difficult to hide the affair; about 1873 in Saint Paul, Mary had borne him a son, Anton.

Whatever the contributing causes, Peter and Apollonia separated. Peter left the farm in North Dakota to his son George,25 and Apollonia remained, as did their daughters Barbara and Josephine, who had already married Jeremiah McCathy, and their son Peter Jr. Peter took the younger children with him to Saint Paul. There he became a naturalized U.S. citizen on November 2, 1892.26

To say that Apollonia was soured on Peter would be an understatement. In her will, she disowned Peter with harsh language:

I furthermore declare it as my positive will and order that my husband, Peter Stoltz, Sr., living in St. Paul, State of Minnesota, shall in no wise receive anything belonging to me, be it real or personal property for the reason that he has embittered my life by his immorality and prodigality, and that he has left me for years unprovided for and unappreciated. May God have mercy on his soul.27

Similarly, while providing for the children of Peter Jr. and the children of Josephine, she wanted her son-in-law Jeremiah McCarthy to have no part in the upbringing of his children.28

Considering the frank language expressed in her will, we have the puzzling fact of the 1895 Minnesota State Census, which shows Apollonia and Peter living with their son Charles (who is employed as a barber) at 176 W. Ninth Street in Saint Paul.29

Apollonia died on January 9, 189630 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Saint Paul, despite the fact that her will stated she wished to be buried in Casselton, North Dakota, near her daughter Josephine. Perhaps she had a change of heart toward the end.

On July 15 of that year Peter married Mary Thiesen before a justice of the peace.31 By 1900 they were living together with their son Anton, who was at the time 27 years old and employed as a clerk.32 Mary was 52 and Peter was 69; he gave his occupation as “retired.”33

By this time Ludwig “Louis” had already moved to El Paso. Of all the children of Peter and Apollonia, only Charles remained in Saint Paul. Peter and Mary lived out the rest of their lives in the house at 1936 Carroll Ave.; it was there that Peter died of cerebral apoplexy on August 6, 1921 at the age of 84.34 His funeral was August 8 at Assumption Church.35 Mary died in Saint Paul on May 17, 1933 and her funeral was May 19 at St. Mark Church.36

Peter Stoltz died in this house at 1936 Carroll Ave., Saint Paul.

Peter Stoltz died in this house at 1936 Carroll Ave., Saint Paul.

Peter was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Saint Paul in a family plot purchased by Jakob and Magdalena. They are buried there along with Peter, Apollonia, Mary and other family members.37

We may never know exactly why Jakob and Magdalena left Berg with their young family and eventually settled in a place once called Pig’s Eye. There are many such unanswered questions. But throughout their lives and the life of their son Peter, one family trait does appear consistent: the willingness to take risks. We also learn that our family has historically gravitated toward frontiers and border towns, where cultures mixed freely.

Perhaps the townfolk of Berg shook their heads at Jakob’s decision to cross the Atlantic and begin a new life in America; maybe they doubted the young family’s prospects. But their dream did come true—in Pig’s Eye.

Peter Stoltz is my great-great-grandfather.

Notes

  1. Kirchenbuch (parish records) of St. Bartholomew Church, Berg and St. Remigius Church, Neuberg, in the Archives of the Diocese of Speyer.
  2. The modern state of Bavaria, which we think of as the historic Bavarian region, is not contiguous with the Pfalz. That these rather distant areas were united into one kingdom was more an accident of royal possession than geographical reality. Pfalz was a part of the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1816-1871. Prior to that, the area had been ruled by the bishops of Speyer as part of the Holy Roman Empire, and for a brief period as part of the French canton of Lauterbourg in the Arrondissement of Wissembourg. Today the town of Berg is part of the Verbandsgemeinde (collective municipality) of Hagenbach, which also includes Hagenbach, Neuberg and Scheibenhardt.
  3. Kirchenbuch.
  4. Ibid. Jakob died in Saint Paul, Ramsey County, on March 14, 1888 and Magdalena died in the same place on November 4, 1893, both according to the records of Calvary Cemetery, Saint Paul.
  5. Alois was the eighth of 11 children of Johann Peter Stoltz and Magdalena Lorenz. He died in Berg on July 19, 1852 and was buried in the cemetery of St. Bartholomew Church on July 21 (Kirchenbuch). His youngest son Josef (July 7, 1819-April 30, 1885) would also immigrate to the United States and live in Wright County, Minnesota with his wife Katharina Stephany (1823-June 23, 1857), whom he married in Berg on May 16, 1847 (Kirchenbuch).
  6. Kirchenbuch. Barbara died in Berg on February 1, 1848 and was buried February 3 in the cemetery of St. Bartholomew Church.
  7. Ibid.
  8. Ibid.
  9. It was common practice at the time to give a child a name that had previously been given to a dead sibling.
  10. Kirchenbuch. Jakob and Magdalena may have had another daughter named Lena (Magdalena?) born about 1834, for whom no records survive.
  11. In fact, the Pfalz is unique among areas of Germany in that the Napoleonic Code is still considered a foundation of their legal system, much as it is in modern-day Louisiana.
  12. Peter Stoltz, Declaration of Intention, U.S. Naturalization Record (Washington: National Archives and Records Administration).
  13. German immigrants typically had an abhorrence of slavery. For example, in January 1861 a crowd of German protesters disrupted a slave auction at the St. Louis courthouse, preventing the bidding price from going above $8. The commotion made that the last slave auction held in that city. Germans were so closely identified with the Abolitionist movement that a Southern joke at the time proposed destroying the breweries of St. Louis so all the Germans would leave, thus crushing the movement against slavery there. Nearly one-quarter of all Union soldiers (516,000) were German—nearly half born in German regions. As such, they constituted one of the largest ethnic groups fighting in the Civil War.
  14. A ship chandler was a person who served as an agent for a ship in a port, providing materials such as sailcloth, rope and other necessary items for the operation of a ship.
  15. Kirchenbuch. Her parents were Peter Stricker and Franziska Scherrer, both of Berg.
  16. Even today, the population of Berg is less than 2,500.
  17. Marriage record, Recorder of Deeds, St. Louis.
  18. 1857 Territorial Census of Minnesota. Jakob’s brother Peter may be the “Peter Stultz” on this same census page. He was born about 1812 in Berg and married Katharina Kattus, daughter of Johann Kattus and Margaretha Rieger, in Berg on April 2, 1838 (Kirchenbuch) and there is no death record for him in Berg. The emigration of so many members of the Stoltz family are one reason this once-common family name, first recorded in Berg in 1679, has not been represented there since about 1850. See Ludwig Stehle, Berger Ortschronik, privately published, 2002 and email from Norbert Wegmann of Landau to Eric Stoltz, June 15, 2008.
  19. The 1860 U.S. Census for the Fourth Ward of St. Louis records her age as three months when the census worker visited the family on June 16. She died shortly thereafter.
  20. 1860 U.S. Census for St. Louis, Missouri.
  21. Music may have been a family tradition; Peter’s great-grandfather Johann Peter (1758-?) was a musician by profession (Kirchenbuch).
  22. Military Discharge Certificate of Peter Stoltz, Chattanooga, June 17, 1865 (Washington: National Archives and Records Administration).
  23. Kathleen Neils Conzen, Germans in Minnesota (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2003), p. 64.
  24. She was born about 1843 in an unknown place in the area of modern Germany.
  25. Family Oral History of Michael Stoltz.
  26. Peter Stoltz, Naturalization Certificate, District Court, Second Judicial District, County of Ramsey. He had first petitioned for naturalization in Cass County, North Dakota, on November 12, 1880.
  27. Last Will and Testament of Apollonia Stoltz, County Court, Cass County, North Dakota, July 24, 1893.
  28. Ibid.
  29. 1895 Minnesota State Census.
  30. Death Certificate, County of Ramsey. The handwriting is difficult to read, but it appears her cause of death was the same as Peter’s: cerebral apoplexy, a stroke.
  31. Marriage Certificate, County of Ramsey.
  32. Anton would die July 21, 1909 in Wenatchee, Washington, at the age of 36, apparently unmarried. His funeral was July 26 at St. Agnes Church (Saint Paul Pioneer Press, July 23, 1909) and he was buried in Calvary Cemetery.
  33. 1900 U.S. Census for St. Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota.
  34. Death Certificate, Ramsey County Clerk.
  35. Death Notice, Saint Paul Pioneer Press, August 7, 1921.
  36. Death Notice, Saint Paul Pioneer Press, May 18, 1933.
  37. Calvary Cemetery Records, Cemetery ID 495 RY, Section 9.

23 comments on “In a Pig’s Eye

  • my great-great grandmothers name was catherine stoltz,her fathers name was pierre stoltz, they came to the u.s. on the ship andes july 29,1834 from harve,franceto n.y.the list said they were from bavaria.she married my great-great grandfather michael schneider aug 24 ,1842 in n.y.city.are any of my stoltz in your family tree.if they are i would like to here from you take care mike

  • Mike, As far as I know none of our family was in New York, and as far as the children of Alois those who did not wind up in Saint Paul died in Berg. However, there were of course other descendants of Adam and Eva Stoltz, and I have not traced them all. So it’s possible there were others who migrated to the United States.

    • Dear Eric

      I started a family Stoltz page on Instagram. We are curently over 500 Stoltz members worldwide.

      Is it possible to use some of you’re old pictures on my family Stoltz page?

      Like to hear from you.

      With kind regards,

      Bas Stoltz from Holland

  • very interesting! my father’s family and his father resided in Harlan, Shelby County, Iowa. My grandfather Frank Stolz died at age 93 in approxiamtely 1990. Any connection to your story? Any advice on how to connect with the family in Germany? I am planning a trip to Germany in Sept.-October and would like to make some connections. Thanks, Charles J. Stolz, Attorney-at-Law

  • Peter is my Great Great Great Grandfather. Thank you for putting this together and doing this research!

  • Dustin,

    Glad to be able to help, cousin! Nice to hear from you. Hey, if you have any family stories or photos, I’d love you to share!

  • hey im from the vaughn-stoltz blood line, and i gotta say this is intresting info. im looking for my family crest, if you can help please E-mail me.

  • Hi Shaun,

    Glad to hear from you! Nice to see this is helpful to folks.

    Some thoughts on family coats-of-arms. Generally, a coat of arms is not granted to a family, but to an individual. It then evolves through the generations, with additions being made for first son, second son, marriage, etc.(“Family” coats of arms would generally be the one assigned to the earliest ancestor). And coats of arms are granted to wealthy people, so our humble Stoltz farmer ancestors would not have been granted any.

    That being said, coats of arms are colorful and provide a nice touch to family history materials. My solution, as you can see on this site, is to use the coats of arms from the cities where our ancestors originated from. So there is that nice Berg coat of arms, the old Holy Roman Empire arms, the modern arms of Germersheim, etc. I can provide any of these files if you like.

  • Hi, My names shelby. Im in the stoltz family blood line. I didnt know that much about my great great great grandmother and grandpas! But, i live in the U.S And my grandparents are from germany. I have relatives in Germany That i dont even know about. But i want to meeet them some day. And the pictures of those people up there!^^^ , Yeah my aunts look just like them! Oh and i live in missouri! 🙂

  • Hello im doing a family tree on my mom side and i came across stoltz name and was hoping few names i will list you mite notice and let me know if you are relation or not, some time between 1809 to 1840 they change there last name from stoltz to stultz hope someone have some infor on philip stoltz i have no date or nothing but his wife first name Catherine and his son name is Name: Casper STOLTZ
    Given Name: Casper
    Surname: Stoltz
    Sex: M
    Birth: 1773 in Wachovia, North Carolina
    Death: 1841 in Bethabara , NC

    if you got any info on this and more let me know i want to switch information on family tree to once have family that is listing on here storie i hear is that 5 brother from germany They may have been among the Hessian soldiers that the British brought over to fight in the revolution.

  • Hi Eric, & everybody,

    my name is Jann Stoltz, my father’s name was Joseph, his father’s name was John. John was born in Germany.
    My father Joseph, in Alberta Canada.

    I wonder if some of you are my relatives!

  • my grandfather was francis norbert stoltz sr. 1919-2010 of wilson,rollingstone,winona area son of louis john stoltz 1888-1921 & regina (reis) stoltz 1892-1967 louis was son of adam stoltz (1854-1938) who emigrated and married josephine tlougan (1859-1939) adam was the son of francois & jeanne(cartle) stoltz . where do i go from there ? find pics and documents ?

  • Hi Charles,

    I live in Shelby County, Iowa & my maiden name is Stolz. I have done some family history & would love to hear from you. My great-great grandfather was Alois Stolz. Alois, his brother-Michael, their brother- John & Alois’ future wife Barbara Schlantz came over on the same ship. Three sisters of theirs also came over at different times. John ended up going up to Canada. The rest stayed in Shelby County. I also have a few photos of some of them.

    Becky Stolz Finken

  • Are we related? My mother, Bernadine Stoltz, born to J.C.(john Christian) Stoltz born 1891. But here is something else. J. C. Stoltz was nephew of Peter Joseph Stoltz (Father Rudolph Stoltz), born 1878 to parents John Stoltz and Catherine Schneider. John Stoltz was age 38 and Catherine age 37 in 1880. So they were born 1842-43. In 1880 Census, it shows that they were from Barvaria area. Peter Joseph was baptized in Logansport, In by Fr. Kohne(Koehne) at St. Joseph’s Church. It appears that there were other children: Adam, Katie, Mary, John, B(?) If there is any connection let me know. I am researching by means of Peter Joseph(Fr. Rudolph Stoltz) a priest of The Precious Blood Society of Carthegena, OH. I can’t go back in roots any further than 1843.

  • I found my great-great- great Grandfather, Bernhard Stoltz and wife Elizabeth ages 39 and 35 left Bavaria about 1847 with children: Mary age10, Peter age 8, John age 5, Adam age 3 and Jacob was born in Penn. John was my great-great- grandfather and came to Logansport, IN Blacksmith and had his family with Catherine Schneider of 8 children. Child Adam, my great grandfather, had my grandfather J. C. Herman (John Christian names after both of his grandfathers. Herman and Mary Schafer married, 8 children, my mom Bernadine and she had 8 of us. I had a great librarian in Huntington IN who helped me find the 4 generation that came by ship, leaving Bavaria in 1847. I was so excited. Then I was given their addresses in my home town and saw their homes (3). I took pictures and pictures of their graves. So exciting!

  • Hey does anyone know if any of the Stoltz family from the US came over to South Africa as I’m a Stoltz and I don’t have much information on where we come from and I have a very big family

  • My dad was Wesley Stoltz, my grandfather Douglas Stolts corrected my dads spelling of his name. Reading this sounds like some stories I heard growing up. I know two brothers split ways way back. My dad was from Minneapolis, Mn. Are we related?

    • Hi Ruth,

      The Stoltz family lived in Saint Paul, but no doubt some later generations wound up in Minneapolis. I do not have a Douglas or Wesley in my tree, but I don’t have more recent generations for some branches that stayed in Minnesota. When/where was your grandfather born?

    • Hi Daniel. Not sure you are thinking of the same family. My family name has been spelled Stoltz since as far back as I could find, that is, 1679.

      • My Stoltz family, originated from Bavaria. Bernard and Elizabeth Stoltz left Bavaria to the USA in 1847. Were in PA and finally in Logansport, IN and then 1894 in Huntington.

        You think Stults was the changed name from Stoltz? Some Germans changed their names to look english to obtain jobs.

        • I can’t say what happened to that family. My Stoltz family was from Pfalz and settled in Minnesota and North Dakota, so I have no knowledge of any families in Pennsylvania or Indiana.

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