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Margaret Bor

1825-1909
Born: Taus, Bohemia
Died: Gad, Marathon, Wisconsin, USA

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Story: Margaret Bohr's Mother

1800 Bohemia
Posted by Michael Pearson
Lucille Boneske tells the story of Margaret Bor's mother, who was a Lady-in-Waiting to the Empress of Austria.  This was perhaps the empress of Francis II.
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Lucille Boneske tells the story of Margaret Bor's mother, who was a Lady-in-Waiting to the Empress of Austria.  This was perhaps the empress of Francis II.

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Birth

1825 Taus, Bohemia
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Marriage

1847 Bohemia
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Arrival

1857
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Residence: Age: 32

1860 Gibson, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States
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Residence

1880 Hamburg, Marathon, Wisconsin, United States
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Death

1909 Gad, Marathon, Wisconsin, USA
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Story: Focus On Gad

Gad, WI
Posted by Michael Pearson
   The following article by Lucille Boneske, Route 1, Athens, won ninth place in the “Yarns of Yesteryear” contest sponsored by the University of Wisconsin Extension and will be published in the book, “We were Children Then,” this year.  In the article, she shares the experiences of her grand-parents, Anton and Margaret Schlais, who pioneered a farm on the Taylor-Marathon county line in 1885.  The community of the cross-roads is known as Gad. By Lucille Boneske Great-grandfather Thomas Schlais, a citizen of Taus, Bohemia, served in the Austrian army for 40 years.  He decided that because of his long service, his two sons, Anton and Edward, should not have to serve.  He petitioned the Emporer Ferdinand, who ruled at that time, and is petition was granted. Unrest had broken out among the Czechs, Bohemians, Magyars, and other Slavic peoples who were treated as second-class citizens and wanted the same rights as the Germans and Austrians.  The riots among the Slavic nations were becoming steadily worse about the time that Anton and Eddie came to military age. Ferdinand, a weak-minded man, abdicated the throne in favor of his nephew, Francis Joseph.  Francis decided to put an end to the riots for all time and began to draft men for the army. Thomas told his sons, both of whom had married and had families, that he did not think that Francis would honor their exemptions, so they decided to emigrate to America. They sailed to America, arriving in Milwaukee in 1858.  They stayed in Milwaukee a year, but times were hard and there were too few jobs to be found.  They moved; Anton to Appleton and Edward to Green Bay. Anton found work in a sawmill, where he stayed until the government began to open lands for homesteads in Wisconsin’s interior.  To own land was what these land-loving Czechs wanted most of all. Grandfather went to Medford by train to stake his claim and build a home for his family in August of 1885.  He found 56 acres of land with good timber on it 9 miles southeast of Medford, which was then only a small settlement.  The homestead was at the northwestern tip of Marathon County, in the town of Bern. Because the forest was very dense, there were no roads to his place, only an Indian trail.  Grandfather, with the help of neighbors, built a large log cabin.  When the rest of the family came, they walked through the forest, carrying their possessions on their backs. As more settlers came, crude roads were hewn through the woods from farm to farm; rough, winding roads, fit only for ox-drawn wagons.  In winter, the farmers used the frozen streambeds for roads on which to haul logs and wood to Medford on sleighs. Clearing forest land was hard, back-breaking work, but the settlers didn’t complain.  If this was the price of freedom, they paid it gladly. My father, Frank Schlais, told us many stories of those early times.  He said that once a panther put its paws on the windowsill close to where Grandmother slept.  When they saw the tracks in the snow in the morning, she couldn’t sleep until they tracked and killed it.  It measured 7 feet from tip to top.  At another time, when she and the children were in the cabin alone, she saw a wounded deer crossing the clearing. The family needed meat, so Grandma snatched a butcher knife and ran out.  Seizing the antler, she cut the deer’s throat.  As she waited for it to die, an Indian came from the forest on its trail. Grandma was afraid the Indian would take the deer, so she began to drag it to the house.  The Indian caught up to her, grabbed the deer’s hind leg, and began to pull it in the opposite direction.  Grandma was a strong woman and pulled with all her might, so there was a tug of war between them. Suddenly, the Indian gave a mighty grunt, seized the knife from Grandma, and quickly and expertly disemboweled the deer.  Then he sliced it lengthwise into two neat halves, threw one half over his shoulder and ran back into the woods.  Grandma thankfully puller her half back to the house. Wolves were also plentiful around the settler’s claims.  Once when my dad was walking home from Medford with supplies, seven wolves crossed the trail ahead of him, running with their noses to the ground. He waited until they were gone, then went to see what they were chasing.  He saw the spoor of a deer and felt much relieved. An Indian had told him, “If wolves are after you, climb a tree.  Then cut your hand and let the blood drip down on one of them.  The rest will tear him to pieces and go away.” Grandma Margaret was also doctor and mid-wife to the people of the settlement.  The nearest doctor was at Medford, nine miles away, and sometimes it took a whole day or even two before he would arrive.  So in a crises such as a chopped foot, Grandma was summoned. Lumberjacks who had cut their feet or legs were hurried to Grandmother Schlais, who sewed the wound if necessary, put on a poultice, told the man to stay in bed for several days she could see that the wound was healing.  My father said she never lost a patient and many a lumberjack was grateful to her for saving his life. Anton and Margaret Schlais raised a family of six sons; Thomas, Anton, Joseph, Frank, John and Charles; and three daughters, Anna, Ada, and Mary.  The sons took up homesteads near their father.  The daughters married and settled in other towns.  Anton and Margaret lived to the ripe of ages of 86 and 83, respectively.  They died three days apart and were buried in the Evergreen Cemetery at Medford. A part of their obituary read: “Mr. and Mrs. Anton Schlais are said by those who were intimately acquainted with them to have been of kindly and sympathetic dispositions, ever ready to do a kindness, and their memory will always be cherished by the large number of relatives who survived them”.  The homestead which they developed and farmed has been in the family through four generations, and is presently owned by their great-great-grandchildren, Galen and Grace Schlais. 
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   The following article by Lucille Boneske, Route 1, Athens, won ninth place in the “Yarns of Yesteryear” contest sponsored by the University of Wisconsin Extension and will be published in the book, “We were Children Then,” this year.  In the article, she shares the experiences of her grand-parents, Anton and Margaret Schlais, who pioneered a farm on the Taylor-Marathon county line in 1885.  The community of the cross-roads is known as Gad. By Lucille Boneske Great-grandfather Thomas Schlais, a citizen of Taus, Bohemia, served in the Austrian army for 40 years.  He decided that because of his long service, his two sons, Anton and Edward, should not have to serve.  He petitioned the Emporer Ferdinand, who ruled at that time, and is petition was granted. Unrest had broken out among the Czechs, Bohemians, Magyars, and other Slavic peoples who were treated as second-class citizens and wanted the same rights as the Germans and Austrians.  The riots among the Slavic nations were becoming steadily worse about the time that Anton and Eddie came to military age. Ferdinand, a weak-minded man, abdicated the throne in favor of his nephew, Francis Joseph.  Francis decided to put an end to the riots for all time and began to draft men for the army. Thomas told his sons, both of whom had married and had families, that he did not think that Francis would honor their exemptions, so they decided to emigrate to America. They sailed to America, arriving in Milwaukee in 1858.  They stayed in Milwaukee a year, but times were hard and there were too few jobs to be found.  They moved; Anton to Appleton and Edward to Green Bay. Anton found work in a sawmill, where he stayed until the government began to open lands for homesteads in Wisconsin’s interior.  To own land was what these land-loving Czechs wanted most of all. Grandfather went to Medford by train to stake his claim and build a home for his family in August of 1885.  He found 56 acres of land with good timber on it 9 miles southeast of Medford, which was then only a small settlement.  The homestead was at the northwestern tip of Marathon County, in the town of Bern. Because the forest was very dense, there were no roads to his place, only an Indian trail.  Grandfather, with the help of neighbors, built a large log cabin.  When the rest of the family came, they walked through the forest, carrying their possessions on their backs. As more settlers came, crude roads were hewn through the woods from farm to farm; rough, winding roads, fit only for ox-drawn wagons.  In winter, the farmers used the frozen streambeds for roads on which to haul logs and wood to Medford on sleighs. Clearing forest land was hard, back-breaking work, but the settlers didn’t complain.  If this was the price of freedom, they paid it gladly. My father, Frank Schlais, told us many stories of those early times.  He said that once a panther put its paws on the windowsill close to where Grandmother slept.  When they saw the tracks in the snow in the morning, she couldn’t sleep until they tracked and killed it.  It measured 7 feet from tip to top.  At another time, when she and the children were in the cabin alone, she saw a wounded deer crossing the clearing. The family needed meat, so Grandma snatched a butcher knife and ran out.  Seizing the antler, she cut the deer’s throat.  As she waited for it to die, an Indian came from the forest on its trail. Grandma was afraid the Indian would take the deer, so she began to drag it to the house.  The Indian caught up to her, grabbed the deer’s hind leg, and began to pull it in the opposite direction.  Grandma was a strong woman and pulled with all her might, so there was a tug of war between them. Suddenly, the Indian gave a mighty grunt, seized the knife from Grandma, and quickly and expertly disemboweled the deer.  Then he sliced it lengthwise into two neat halves, threw one half over his shoulder and ran back into the woods.  Grandma thankfully puller her half back to the house. Wolves were also plentiful around the settler’s claims.  Once when my dad was walking home from Medford with supplies, seven wolves crossed the trail ahead of him, running with their noses to the ground. He waited until they were gone, then went to see what they were chasing.  He saw the spoor of a deer and felt much relieved. An Indian had told him, “If wolves are after you, climb a tree.  Then cut your hand and let the blood drip down on one of them.  The rest will tear him to pieces and go away.” Grandma Margaret was also doctor and mid-wife to the people of the settlement.  The nearest doctor was at Medford, nine miles away, and sometimes it took a whole day or even two before he would arrive.  So in a crises such as a chopped foot, Grandma was summoned. Lumberjacks who had cut their feet or legs were hurried to Grandmother Schlais, who sewed the wound if necessary, put on a poultice, told the man to stay in bed for several days she could see that the wound was healing.  My father said she never lost a patient and many a lumberjack was grateful to her for saving his life. Anton and Margaret Schlais raised a family of six sons; Thomas, Anton, Joseph, Frank, John and Charles; and three daughters, Anna, Ada, and Mary.  The sons took up homesteads near their father.  The daughters married and settled in other towns.  Anton and Margaret lived to the ripe of ages of 86 and 83, respectively.  They died three days apart and were buried in the Evergreen Cemetery at Medford. A part of their obituary read: “Mr. and Mrs. Anton Schlais are said by those who were intimately acquainted with them to have been of kindly and sympathetic dispositions, ever ready to do a kindness, and their memory will always be cherished by the large number of relatives who survived them”.  The homestead which they developed and farmed has been in the family through four generations, and is presently owned by their great-great-grandchildren, Galen and Grace Schlais. 

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Margaret Bor

Story: Margaret Bohr's Mother

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Birth

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Marriage

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Arrival

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Residence: Age: 32

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Residence

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Death

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Story: Focus On Gad

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