Paternal Ancestry
My Paternal Grandparents
Elizabeth Baumgartner & Mathias Kostle
Elizabeth Baumgartner
Mathias Kostle
My dad's parents were Mathias Kostle, born in 1879, and Elizabeth Baumgartner, born May 18,
1885. Mathias died two years before I was born in 1933, so I never knew him, but "Detta," as we all called
her, died August 5, 1946, when I was 11 years old, so I have fond memories of a wonderful, warm
and giving woman, loved by all who knew her. I have a special feeling for her, because she, as a midwife,
delivered me!
Mathias and Detta had two boys, my Dad, Matthew, and another son, Alonzo (Barney). Detta was married
earlier to Alfred Gatena Sr., who died in 1909. He and Detta had two children, Alfred Jr., and a daughter,
Hazel.
Matt, Hazel, Barney, and Al, Jr.
The Gatena Family
Hazel Gatena was born in Dubuque in 1906, and died in April 1983. She had one daughter
and two sons. Her brother Alfred Gatena was born in Dubuque in 1910 and died in March, 1985. He and
his wife Eleanora (Bid) had one daughter and three sons. Alfred's father, Alfred Sr., died at the very young age
of 26. Alfred Sr. was the son of Henry and Mary Gatena, founders of the Gatena Music House in
Dubuque.
Gatena ancestors
All of the Gatenas and Kostles were very musical and played several instruments. I recall
many parties when the guitars were brought out and there was wonderful playing and singing. Barney
and Matt Kostle had a radio show in 1934 and 1935, called the Kostle Hawaiians. It was presented
twice a week at 8:30 p.m. Barney
made his living playing the Hawaiian guitar. Along with his partner, they were known as
the Bud and Barney duo.
Musical family
3 brothers
My Paternal Great-Grandparents
Mathias (Matej) Kostial & Mary (Marie) Marovec
My dad's paternal grandparents were Mathias (Matej) Kostial, born January 8,
1826 in Hvozdec, Bohemia,
Czechoslovakia, and Mary (Marie) Marovec, born July 2, 1839 in Hrachoviste, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia.
Mathias was the son of Martin Kostial and Mariana nee Kubata from Hvozdec. Maria was the illegitimate
daughter of Rosina Marovec, daughter of Jan Marovec, a farmer in Hrachoviste, and of Maria nee Tychava from Hrachoviste.
They emigrated to America, arriving in Baltimore, MD on the ship Bark Fides in May, 1867,
and were sponsored by a family from Monona, Iowa named Blaha. The surname was spelled as Kostal after
arriving in America.
The Kostals settled
on a small farm east of Froehlich in the Beulah Falles area in Clayton County. Matthias died April 20, 1892
as a result of being gored by a bull. Mary and their children inherited the farm. In December
of 1892, they bought 40 more acres. In 1897 the heirs of Mathias Kostal sold the 80-acre farm
to Joseph Bohonek and Katharine (Kostal) Bohonek. Mary stayed on the farm and lived with them
until her death in 1915. Mathias and Mary are buried in a Bohemian Cemetery called
St. Wenceslaus Cemetery near Elkader.
Kostial Ancestral Home
Stepanovice Church where Mathias & Maria were married June 7, 1859
They had five children, Katherine, born in 1860 in Bohemia; Elizabeth, born in 1865 in Bohemia;
Anna, born 1868 in Iowa; Mary Rose, born May 13, 1872 in Iowa; and Mathias (my grandfather),
born in 1879 in Iowa.
Katharine married Joseph Bohonek and had two daughters and two sons.
Elizabeth married Ray Bohonek and had one son Edward. After divorcing Mr. Bohonek she married
Benjamin Burlingame, who adopted Edward. They had one more son and two daughters.
Anna married William Thiese and had two daughters, Irene and Lottie.
Mary Rose married Hendrich Samek and had one daughter and one son.
Mathias married Gertrude Hall. That marriage ended either in death (of Gertrude) or divorce. Mathias
then married Elizabeth Baumgartner Gatena, my grandmother, and had two sons.
Family Picnic on the Farm
My Paternal Great Grandparents
John B. Baumgartner & Elizabeth Tschudi
My dad's maternal grandparents were John B. Baumgartner, and Elizabeth Tschudi. John B. Baumgartner was born in
Bavaria, Germany in 1849. He died July 10, 1921 in Dubuque, Iowa. Elizabeth Tschudi was born
July 1, 1854 in Dubuque, Iowa, and died March 2, 1922. Besides my grandmother Elizabeth, they had three other children,
John M., born July 4, 1889 and died March 28, 1960,
Vera, and Theresa.
John B. Baumgartner & Elizabeth Tschudi (wedding)
John B. Baumgartner & Elizabeth Tschudi (later years)
My Paternal 2nd Great-Grandparents
The parents of Elizabeth Tschudi were Johann Joseph Von Tschudi & Elizabeth Tschudi.
Johann Joseph was born
in 1810 in Switzerland, died August 5, 1875 in Dubuque, Iowa. His wife Elizabeth was born March 8, 1820,
in Bern, Switzerland, and died February 24, 1910 in Dubuque, Iowa.
They had seven children, two died in infancy, the others were: Joseph Jr., born October 21, 1848;
Fred, born October 25, 1851; Elizabeth,
born July 1, 1856;
Katherine, born in 1854, and Lena, born in 1858, all in Dubuque, Iowa.
Johann Joseph Von Tschudi emigrated from either Glarus or St. Gallen, Wallenstadt in Switzerland
with his wife and two or three brothers, between 1844 and 1850. The brothers stayed in New York,
and Joseph and his wife went to St. Louis, Missouri for one year, then took a boat to Dubuque, Iowa,
where he raised his family. They are buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Dubuque.
I would love to hear from you, especially if we share
any surnames, and will happily share information.
You can contact me at my e-mail address.
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