The Landskroner/Lanškrouner Settlement of Waterloo Township, Wisconsin
by Edward G. Langer
“Thou art perfect then, our ship hath touched upon the deserts of Bohemia?”
The Winter’s Tale, Act 3, Scene 3, by William Shakespeare
When one stands on the wooden steps of St. Wenceslaus Church in the town of Waterloo, Wisconsin and surveys the landscape, one does not see water. To the left, one sees a small woodlot. Straight ahead, one sees a large cornfield, the Snapper Prairie State Natural Area, and the Faville Prairie State Natural Area. There are historic markers near the road. The nickname for the church is the “Island Church.” Why is it called that? Is it the figment of someone’s imagination like Shakespeare’s artifice that Bohemia was an “Island”? Who built this church? What did the area look like in 1863 when the church was built?
The story of this church starts thousands of miles away in an obscure corner of the Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austrian Empire in an area the German inhabitants called Landskron and the Czech inhabitants called Lanškroun.
The Old World
The district of Landskron (Czech: Lanškroun)[i] is named after the town of Landskron (Lanškroun) in Northeast Bohemia. The town of Landskron (Lanškroun) is about 120 miles east of Prague, 80 miles south of present-day Wroclaw (Breslau), Poland, and about 150 miles north of the then-capital of the Austrian Empire, Vienna.
The district of Landskron (Lanškroun), consisted of the town of Landskron (Lanškroun) and a few dozen villages. In the 1850s, the district of Landskron (Lanškroun) had about 35,000 inhabitants. The town of Landskron (Lanškroun) had about 5,000 inhabitants and was connected by rail to the rest of the Austrian Empire. Second in importance to the town of Landskron (Lanškroun) was Čermná (Böhmisch Rothwasser), a Czech village of about 3,000 inhabitants. The other villages in the district of Landskron (Lanškroun) in size from a few hundred people to about 1,600 inhabitants. Roads connected the villages to the town of Landskron (Lanškroun). Three-quarters of these villages were predominantly German, and most of both ethnic groups were of the Roman Catholic faith. The Protestant minority belonged to what is now called the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren. Most of the inhabitants, both Czechs and Germans, worked in agriculture. The Austrian Empire was an absolute monarchy ruled by the Habsburg family. The Habsburgs were German nationalists who discriminated against the non-German population, including the Czechs, and non-Catholics. Individuals had no right to vote and their personal liberty was limited.
One of the villages that supplied emigrants to America was Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice). Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice) is located on a small creek about three miles from Landskron (Lanškroun), a one hour walk. In 1837, there were 200 houses with 1,296 German inhabitants. There was a school and Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church. There was no mill in the village. One needed to walk to Landskron (Lanškroun) or a nearby village to find a mill. It had approximately 4,000 acres (1,623 hectares). Less than half was tillable land, with the rest being forests, meadows, and pasture. Fourteen of the farms were greater than 50 acres (20 hectares). Fifty farms were between 12 and 50 acres (5 and 20 hectares). Another fifty-one were between 5 and 12 acres (2 and 5 hectares). The remaining households had less than 5 acres (2 hectares) of land.
The economic situation in the area was dire as there were too many people and not enough land. Improved food and sanitary conditions had caused such a population explosion that there were limited opportunities for young people, and people were crowded into small one-room houses. It is estimated that in Čermná (Böhmisch Rothwasser), there were 26 houses holding 10 or more occupants, and four Šilar families with a total of 21 people living in one house in Nepomuky (Nepomuk). There was little virgin land in the area, and subdividing the existing farms would have made them unprofitable. There was little local industry to provide work for the excess farm population. This lack of opportunity was the main reason why many individuals and families who had roots in this area stretching back hundreds of years would consider emigration, if given the opportunity.
1848 – Year of Revolution
Until 1848, the people of the district of Landskron (Lanškroun) were still subject to feudal restrictions limiting their ability to move. As was typical of the time, a Landskroner’s social position was determined more by birth than by personal accomplishments. In 1848, revolutions rocked much of Europe. When the Revolution of 1848 began in the Austrian Empire, the landless peasants hoped there would be a land reform that would give them land. Unfortunately for them, the land reforms that followed the Revolution vested full title to land only to the farmers who already had a limited title to land. These farmers received title free of feudal restrictions, which was a great benefit to them. The key benefit of the Revolution to the landless was receiving the right to emigrate from the Empire. Within a few years, they started to avail themselves of this right.
The First Wave of Emigrants – Destination Texas
The first sizeable emigration from the district of Landskron (Lanškroun) occurred in 1851 and consisted of Czech Protestant day laborers primarily from the villages of Čermná (Böhmisch Rothwasser) and Nepomuky (Nepomuk) who emigrated to Texas. They headed to Texas because a Protestant minister advised they could freely practice their religion in Texas. After traveling for three to four months, barely half of the emigrants reached their destination after sailing on multiple ships. The others had died along the way of illness caused by poor food, limited water supplies, and poor living conditions on the long journey. The surviving emigrants sent letters home relating their ordeal and one emigrant recommended traveling on a ship directly to Texas even though it would be more expensive. When a second group of about 85 Czech Protestants left their homes for Texas in October 1853, they followed that advice and boarded the Suwa from Bremen, which took them directly to Galveston.
The Second Wave of Emigrants – Destination the Town of Waterloo, Wisconsin
When the first poor German Catholics applied for passports in 1852, they said that they were going to Texas. For some unknown reason, they changed their minds and went to Wisconsin instead. Since they left so soon after the Czech Protestants, the tragic journey of the Czechs was not a likely basis for their altered plans. There are three possible reasons why these people chose Wisconsin as their destination. First, they may have learned about the climatic difference between Texas and Wisconsin, and decided that the Wisconsin climate was more favorable. Second, they may have learned that Wisconsin granted liberal voting rights to emigrants. Finally, just as the Protestants went to Texas at the behest of a Protestant minister, the Catholics may have gone to Wisconsin at the urging of their Catholic priests. In 1843, John Martin Henni, a German-speaking Swiss, was appointed the Bishop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is likely that some of the Catholic clergy in the Landskron (Lanškroun) area had learned of the presence of a German-speaking bishop in Milwaukee through the fund-raising activities of the Leopoldine Society, a Viennese missionary society. A Landskroner priest would logically encourage his flock to go to a state where there was a German-speaking bishop to oversee their spiritual welfare.
The New World – The Town of Waterloo
The town of Waterloo is in southern Wisconsin between Madison, the capital of Wisconsin and Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest city. The terrain is moderately hilly and is a mix of oak savannahs and wetlands. The Crawfish River, an 80-mile tributary of the Rock River, flows through the township.
The area had been the location of a vibrant Native American community. A few miles south of the town of Waterloo is Aztalan, an ancient Middle-Mississippian village that thrived between 1000 and 1300 A.D. The village was located on the Crawfish River and contained flat-topped pyramidal mounds. The village was surrounded by a wooden stockade. The mix of terrain helped to sustain them. The oak openings could be farmed. The river and marshlands could be fished. Waterfowl could be hunted in the marshlands. Deer could be harvested for food and skins. There were numerous Native American mounds in the area and some on the site of the Island Church.
Once Europeans arrived in southern Wisconsin, their history was markedly altered. The Native Americans were viewed as a nuisance at best and a threat at worst. As more Europeans arrived, the calls grew louder that the Native Americans be removed so that Europeans could take advantage of the resources of southern Wisconsin. By treaties, the Native Americans gave up the land, and agreed to leave southern Wisconsin.
Once the treaties with the Native American tribes were reached, a land survey could start so that land could be sold in an organized manner. Starting in 1785, the United States government used a rectangular survey system. Land was divided into “townships” that were six miles wide and six miles high. Each township was in turn divided into 36 square mile sections that were numbered from 1 to 36. The land in each section was offered for sale in rectangular units usually of 20, 40, 80, or 160 acres. The surveying of Wisconsin began in southeast Wisconsin in 1832, and was concluded in the north woods of Wisconsin in 1866.
A survey township is nominally six by six miles square, or 23,040 acres (9,324 hectares). The district of Landskron (Lanškroun) had 33,097 hectares. So just one township contains about 28% of the acreage of Landskron (Lanškroun). Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice) had 1,623 hectares. That is almost six times the land in one American township than there was in Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice).
Settlement of the town of Waterloo started in the early 1840s with the earliest settlers being Yankees from New England and New York. By the mid-1840s, a few German settlers arrived. The population grew quickly. Per the 1850 census, 807 people lived in the town of Waterloo. By the 1855 census, there were 1,352 inhabitants of the town of Waterloo, among which were 191 foreign born. By 1860, the population was 1,565.
The Landskroner Settlers
Emigrants from the district of Landskron (Lanškroun) were a crucial part of this population growth. The first group of German Catholic emigrants left Landskron (Lanškroun) in the spring of 1852. This group sailed from Bremen in April 1852 for Quebec City, Canada. They arrived in the United States at Buffalo, New York in July of 1852 and arrived in southern Wisconsin by mid-July. Among these emigrants were the following: John Doubrawa from Rathsdorf (Skuhrov); Antony Fiebiger from Jokelsdorf (Jakubovice); Joseph Pfeifer and Francis Langer from Michelsdorf (Ostrov); Francis Veith from Knappendorf (Knapovec); and Adolph Bartosch.[ii] (Francis Langer’s grandson was William Langer, Governor and U.S. Senator from North Dakota). John Doubrawa and Joseph Pfeifer both bought land on July 14, 1852 in the town of Waterloo. They also applied for citizenship that day, as did Adolph Bartosch and Francis Veith.
More emigrants followed over the next few years with most of them traveling from Bremen to either New York City or Baltimore, Maryland. By 1860, the following Landskroners owned farms in the town of Waterloo:
Joseph Arnold of Rathsdorf (Skuhrov); Wenceslaus Binstock of Knappendorf (Knapovec); Wenceslaus Blaschka of Tschernowier (Černovír); John Blaschka of Tschernowier (Černovír); Joseph Blaschka of Michelsdorf (Ostrov); Anthony Christl of Michelsdorf (Ostrov); John Doubrawa of Rathsdorf (Skuhrov); Antony Fiebiger of Jokelsdorf (Jakubovice); John Fischer of Riebnig (Rybnik); Francis Fischer of Riebnig (Rybnik); Wenceslaus Fuchs of Hilbeten (Hylváty); Engelbert Haberman of Riebnig (Rybnik); Francis Haberman of Riebnig (Rybnik); Wenceslaus Haberman of Riebnig (Rybnik); John Herde; Ignatius Huebl of Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice); John Klecker of Hertersdorf (Horní Houžovec); Joseph Klecker; Bernard Leschinger of Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice); Joseph Lutschinger of Riebnig (Rybnik); Joseph Pfeifer of Michelsdorf (Ostrov); John Plotz of Riebnig (Rybnik); Charles Roller; Francis Schick of Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice); Joseph Springer of Rathsdorf (Skuhrov); John Suchomel; Francis Tomscha; Francis Veith of Knappendorf (Knapovec); Joseph Veith of Knappendorf (Knapovec); Joseph Wurst of Michelsdorf (Ostrov); and Ignatius Yelg of Tschernowier (Černovír).
Another emigrant, John Blaska of Hertersdorf, purchased a farm (or two) in the Town of Waterloo prior to 1859. In that year, he sold his Town of Waterloo farm and bought a farm in the Town of Amherst, Portage County, Wisconsin. There may have been others who bought and sold farms prior to 1860.
Life in America
The Inhabitants of the Town of Waterloo
In the district of Landskron (Lanškroun), there were two ethnic groups: Czechs and Germans. Things were much more diverse in the town of Waterloo. The largest group of settlers were Yankees from the northern United States. There were also English speakers from Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. There were speakers of various German dialects found in Austria, Baden, Bavaria, Hannover, Hesse-Darmstadt, Lippe-Detmold, Mecklenburg, Nassau, Prussia, Saxony, and Wurttemberg. There were also settlers from Denmark, France, and Switzerland. The cacophony of languages must have amazed the Landskroners and made it very hard to socialize with their neighbors.
Citizenship
The settlers quickly applied for U.S. citizenship. At this time, Wisconsin had a very liberal law on voting. The only requirements to vote in Wisconsin were the filing of a notice of intent to become a citizen and one year’s residence. One was not required to be a citizen to vote. These Austrian citizens, who did not have the right to vote in their homeland, could vote in American elections. Some became active in self-government, such as Peter Anthony Janisch whose story follows.
Land
The emigrants were eager to buy land. Since most of them were poor they could not afford dry, fertile land near market towns. Instead, they had to buy marginal land that was cheap. The surveyor’s notes for the town of Waterloo frequently describe the land in the town of Waterloo as “marsh,” “low wet marsh,” “poor second rate”, and “swamp.” Early settlers would build their house on the driest land on the farm. During high water in the spring, some of these farmsteads looked like an island surrounded by water. Over time, they dug ditches to drain the land and the “Island” disappeared and verdant fields appeared. The land may have been marginal, but it was theirs, and the emigrants worked hard to clear and drain the land so that they could have a successful farm.
By 1860, the Landskroners owned almost 2,000 acres of land (approximately 800 hectares) in the town of Waterloo. This would be almost half of the land in Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice) and more land than there was in Knappendorf (Knapovec) (692 hectares), Rathsdorf (Skuhrov) (722 hectares), Jokelsdorf (Jakubovice) (352 hectares), Tschernowier (Černovír) (234 hectares), Hilbeten (Hylváty) (614 hectares), or Hertersdorf (Horní Houžovec) (405 hectares).
Wisconsin buildings
Once they purchased land, the first thing the settlers needed to do was to build a log cabin to shelter their families. The same ax they used to topple trees was used to cut the logs for the cabin. Once the logs were set in place, they filled the space between the logs with a mixture of clay and straw. (See photo of the Falteisek log cabin.) After they saved some money, they began to build their houses and farm buildings with milled timber. (See photo of the Fischer farm which shows a wood-frame barn built with milled lumber.) Sometimes, like with Saint Wenceslaus Church, board and battens were installed on the exterior of log buildings. (See photo of the Island Church.) If the family did well financially, they would build a brick structure such as the house Bernard Leschinger, Junior built in the village of Waterloo in 1883. (See photo of the Leschinger house.) The Fischer farm shows another feature of American agricultural structures. The farm buildings were free-standing, separate structures in America, and were not connected as in Landskron. Since there was plenty of land, there was no need to connect the structures and normally each structure had a separate function. The house was for housing the family. The main barn was devoted for the care and feeding of the livestock. Grain was stored in a granary. Often there were other buildings to house chickens and pigs. Although the separation of the living quarters from the animal barn meant losing the warmth of farm animals during winter, the existence of separate buildings eliminated the danger of a catastrophic fire and lessened the impact of farm smells and vermin.
Religion
There were two religions, Catholicism, and the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, in the district of Landskron (Lanškroun). Things were much different in the town of Waterloo. There were numerous different Christian denominations: Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, and Quakers. In the old country, the Catholic inhabitants would be only a few miles from a church. The situation was much different in America. When they arrived in 1852, the closest Catholic church was St. Bernard’s in Watertown, 12 miles away and it was an Irish parish. Neither Czechs nor Germans would understand these priests. A parish was established in Watertown in 1853 for the German Catholics, but given the distance, the Landskroners would rarely visit the church.
To meet their spiritual needs, the Czech and German Catholics in the town of Waterloo founded St. Wenceslaus Church in 1863. It was built on the high ground surrounded by the Blue Joint Marsh and was quickly nicknamed the Island Church. It measures only 32 x 24 feet. The walls of this church are squared-off tamarack logs, and the outside is sheathed with vertical boards and battens. The inside is plastered. The pine pews were joined by wooden dowels. A small iron stove with an extended stovepipe stands in the middle of the single aisle. The enameled white altar bears a Greek cross on its front panel. Jesus, the Blessed Virgin, and St. Wenceslaus look out at the congregation. The original bell still hangs in the louvered steeple, topped by a flat metal cross. The little church never had a resident pastor. It was served by priests and missionaries from both Milwaukee and Jefferson, Wisconsin and later by the resident pastor of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Waterloo.
In 1868, St. Joseph Catholic Church was founded in the village of Waterloo. This church was 4.5 miles from the Island Church. As the village of Waterloo grew, the new church quickly eclipsed the Island Church which led to its closure in 1891. At the time of the de-consecration of the church, the relics, chalice, paten, and ciborium were removed from the church. The rest of the items such as the stations of the cross, candlesticks, and crucifixes were left in the church and remain there today. That rendered the little church a virtual time capsule.
Map courtesy of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, State of Wisconsin.
Lives Lived
The stories of Peter Anthony Janisch and the Leschinger family help illustrate how well most of the Landskroners did in America.
Peter Anthony Janisch
One of the most prominent Landskroner emigrants was Peter Anthony Janisch. Peter was born on June 21, 1842 in Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice) 122, the son of the day laborer Ignatius Janisch and his wife Barbara Janisch. Her father Antony Janisch was a blacksmith. Peter and members of his family emigrated to America in 1854 via the port of Quebec, Canada and settled in Watertown, Wisconsin. There, Peter learned the tinsmith trade. He served two stints in the Union Army during the Civil War and was seriously wounded at the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7, 1862. In 1867, he moved to Waterloo where he and Francis Fiebiger established a hardware business. He married Emily Pfeifer at St. Henry’s Catholic Church in Watertown in 1868 and had three children: Charles, Emma, and Maximilian. He helped found both the village’s second newspaper, the Waterloo Democrat, and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Waterloo. He served as Waterloo Village Trustee (like a mayor), Postmaster, and Justice of the Peace. He was the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic Post of Waterloo. He died on September 5, 1885 in Waterloo and was buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Waterloo.
Peter’s story shows how America was a land of opportunity and freedom. He was not bound to a certain location but could move from Watertown to Waterloo. He was not bound to the trade of tinsmith but could start his own hardware business. He was not bound to simply follow the laws that came down from the Imperial Throne. He could participate in the American system and help to create and administer the laws of his new homeland.
The Leschinger Family
Bernard Leschinger, Senior, was born July 10, 1817 in Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice) 185. The Leschingers were cottagers who owned only a few acres of land. His wife was Ludmilla Huebl, born September 12, 1810 in Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice) 79. The Huebls were also cottagers. Bernard and Ludmilla married in 1837 and had seven children: Bernard, Junior; Felix; Marie; Joseph; Theresa; Edward; and a child they lost in infancy. They emigrated to America on the Oldenburg which arrived in New York on June 17, 1853. On June 30, 1853, he purchased 80 acres of land in the town of Waterloo for $600 or $7.50 an acre. On the 1860 census his real estate was valued at $2,000 and his personal property was valued at $480. They farmed until 1876, when they retired to the village of Waterloo. Their son Joseph took over the farm. Ludmilla died on May 8, 1891. Bernard died on December 6, 1907 at the home of his daughter, Theresa Fischer. At that time, he was believed to be the oldest person residing in Waterloo. Bernard and Ludmilla are buried at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Waterloo.
At least two of the children left farming for other pursuits. Felix enlisted in the Third Wisconsin Cavalry and served in the army until 1890. Bernard Junior (born 1838) bought a 74-acre farm next to the village of Waterloo, but soon became an entrepreneur. In 1869, he opened a saloon in Waterloo and in 1872 started the City Bakery.
Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice) had about 4,000 acres. The Leschingers owned over 200 acres in the town of Waterloo in 1880 which was 5% of the land area of Rudelsdorf (Rudoltice). This family of cottagers would have been one of the largest landowners in the village.
Preserving Their Heritage
In 1970, the Wisconsin Historical Society began construction of an outdoor pioneer village at Old World Wisconsin, outside of Eagle, Wisconsin. The developers of the village wanted to disassemble the Island Church and rebuild it at Old World Wisconsin. The Island Church Foundation was founded in 1976 to preserve this piece of history at its original site. They persuaded the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Madison to deed the property to the Foundation in order to keep it on its historic hill.
Every September the Island Church Foundation holds a St. Wenceslaus Day commemoration at the Island Church to celebrate the brave settlers who built the church and helped build America. The church is opened for tours and a mass is celebrated. A history lecture is given. Food and beer are enjoyed. And, every year, someone asks “Why is this called the Island Church?”
[i] Please note that I refer to a town’s name in the language spoken by the majority of its inhabitants in the 19th century. The name in parentheses is the name in the non-majority language, be it Czech or German.
[ii] I have used the English version of the first name. I have used the most common spelling of the last name that was used in America.