Title: Frances Goetsch Schwantz Papers and Photographs
Inclusive Dates: 1856-1980 (bulk 1894-1968)

Creator:

• Schwantz, Frances Goetsch, 1877-1968

Call Number: Mss 1033; PH 6514

Quantity: 1.9 c.f. (6 archives boxes and 1 oversize folder), 395 photographs and 8 negatives (in 4 archives boxes and 1 flat box), and 1.0 c.f. of scrapbooks (in 2 flat boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers, 1856-1980, of Frances Loraine Goetsch Schwantz, documenting the Goetsch family's emigration from Germany to the area around Watertown, Wisconsin in 1845, Schwantz's education and work as a schoolteacher, her work for the State Board of Control under Mrs. Elizabeth Kading from 1923 to 1924, and the genealogy of her extended family. Included are correspondence, scrapbooks, memorabilia, account books, notebooks, clippings, photographs, and negatives, with the bulk of the items from 1894 to 1968. Some of the materials were used for the 1982 “Six Generations Here” exhibit organized by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin concerning the Krueger family, to which the Goetsch family is related.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01033

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Frances Loraine (variant: Lorraine) Goetsch Schwantz was born on February 28, 1877 to Henry Goetsch and Louise Deuschli Goetsch in Watertown, Wisconsin. Her father worked at the family store, Goetsch Brothers & Company; sold sewing machines; and clerked at the Schempf Brothers store. Frances Goetsch graduated from Watertown High School in 1894, and taught for four years in district schools in Jefferson County, followed by four years in Watertown (1898-1902). In 1902, she married Theodore Frank Schwantz, who managed a general store in Juneau, Wisconsin. The couple lived in Juneau, and had two sons, Francis Walter Swantz, who was born July 7, 1903, and Ralph Willard Stevens, born July 20, 1909 (both sons later changed their surnames). Schwantz also raised her younger sister, Edith Verne Goetsch, who was a minor when their parents died. Edith Goetsch later attended Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin. Theodore Schwantz died in 1910. Frances Schwantz returned to Watertown and resided there from 1912 to 1920. She worked as a secretary for the Royal Neighbors of America, a fraternal organization; National Mutual Benefit insurance company in Watertown and its head office in Madison; and the State Board of Control. She lived in Madison from 1920 to 1937, and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for one year (1924-1925). In 1937, she moved to Pasadena, California, where she lived until her death on December 22, 1968.

Schwantz had five siblings. Her brother, Gustav Adolf, was a pharmacist, attended Rush Medical College, and became a doctor in Chicago, specializing in the treatment of skin cancer using radiation. He was married to Lillie Eilenberger. Schwantz's sister Alice attended the Women's Medical College in Chicago, and had a medical practice in California. Her sister Harriet taught school, and married Charles Marquis Smith, a professor at Purdue University. Another brother died in infancy. Her sister Edith taught high school, and later earned a nursing degree. Edith married George E. Blackwell; she and her husband were missionaries to Burma.

Son Francis Walter Swantz attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and taught engineering for 22 years, primarily at military officer schools, including Truax Field in Madison and the Officers Communication and Electronic School at Kessler Air Force Base in Mississippi. He was a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Instrument Society of America. He retired in 1965. Swantz died in California in 1980.

Ralph Willard Stevens attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and received his B.A. in 1930. He received his M.D. degree in 1933 from the University of Pennsylvania. He won a fellowship in the American College of Surgeons, and was a doctor in private practice in ophthalmology and otolaryngology in Walla Walla, Washington beginning in 1937. From 1942 to 1946, he was a flight surgeon of Troop Carrier Command at Indianapolis, Indiana. After his discharge, he was lieutenant colonel in the Medical Corps, Air Force Reserve, until 1953.

A Genealogy of the Goetsch Family

Wilhelm Friedrich (Anglicized as William Frederick) Goetsch was born in 1820 in Maskow, Pomerania. He trained as a tailor, and while working in Germany, met and married Charlotte Maria Liermann of Farbezin. The couple emigrated from Germany to the town of Emmett, Dodge County, Wisconsin, east of Watertown, in August 1845. A son, Herman Carl Ludwig Goetsch, born in 1844, died in Albany, New York, in July 1845 on the journey to Wisconsin. Their son, Heinrich Wilhelm (Anglicized form: Henry William) Goetsch, was born in Lebanon, Wisconsin later that year. Initially, the family was Lutheran, but William and Charlotte Goetsch were among 16 early converts to the Baptist church on Christmas Day, 1849. They were baptized in 1850 by Reverend William Edward Grimm, who had emigrated from Prussia to Milwaukee in 1847. With others in this group, William Goetsch founded the Baptist church near Lebanon, and served as deacon there. He also helped found the Baptist church in Watertown, where he was deacon. In 1885, William and Charlotte Goetsch moved to Juneau to live with their daughter Martha and their son-in-law, August Buelke. William Goetsch died in 1902; Charlotte Goetsch in 1899.

The Goetsches were one of the largest Pomeranian families in the area. Wilhelm and Wilhelmina (William and Minnie) Krueger were another Pomeranian family who had settled in Emmet, Dodge County, in 1851. Their eldest son August married Mary Goetsch, and Mary's brother William married August's sister Bertha.

Not all spouses and children are shown on the following chart if they are not represented in the collection.

• Wilhelm Friedrich (William Frederick) Goetsch (1820-1902) m. Charlotte Maria Liermann (1819-1899)
  • ch. Heinrich Wilhelm (Henry William) Goetsch (1845-1901) m. Johanne Louisa Magdalene (Louise) Deuschli (1845-1898) [see Deuschli family]
    • ch. Gustav Adolf Goetsch (1869-1927) m. Lillie Eilenberger
      • ch. Marguerite Juanita (Rita) Goetsch (b. 1901)
      • ch. Dorothy Goetsch (b. 1904)
    • ch. Alice Josephine Goetsch (1870-1938) m. ___ Fuller
    • ch. Harriet (Hattie) Louise Goetsch (1871-1922) m. Charles Marquis Smith
      • ch. Edward Baldwin Smith (b. 1908)
    • ch. Edwin Hugo Goetsch (1873)
    • ch. Frances Loraine Goetsch (1877-1968) m. Theodore Frank Schwantz (1861-1910)
      • ch. Francis Walter Swantz (1903-1980)
        • m. Alice Elizabeth Goetsch
          • ch. Janet Elise Swantz (b. 1929)
        • m. Dorothy Wells
        • m. Wilna Morgan
      • ch. Ralph Willard Stevens (1909- ) m. Bernice Hogenson
        • ch. John Warren Stevens (b. 1935)
        • ch. Karen Louise Stevens (b. 1937)
        • ch. Richard Allen Stevens (1941-1978)
        • ch. Paul Brian Stevens (b. 1944)
    • ch. Edith Verne Goetsch (1889- ) m. George E. Blackwell
      • ch. Anne Blackwell (b. 1922)
      • ch. Robert Blackwell (b. 1925)
  • ch. Ernst Wilhelm Friedrich (also known as William E.) Goetsch (1848-1935) m. Bertha Krueger
  • ch. Herman Friedrich Goetsch (1850-1925) m. Ottillia Buelke
  • ch. Maria (Mary) Elisabeth Goetsch (1852-1922) m. August Krueger (1845-1923)
    • ch. Alexander (Alex) Krueger (1872-1948) m. Florentina Will
      • ch. Edgar Krueger (b. 1899)
      • ch. Jennie Krueger (b. 1899)
    • ch. Saraphine (Sarah) Krueger (b. 1875)
  • ch. Martha Sara Goetsch (1854-1929) m. August Buelke
    • ch. Willie Buelke (b. 1877)
    • ch. Ernie Buelke (b. 1885)
    • ch. Ida Buelke (b. circa 1875) m. Henry Fischer
      • ch. Dorothy Fischer
      • ch. Edith Fischer
  • ch. Lydia Hanna Goetsch (1856-1937)
    • m. Ferdinand Volkman
    • m. Gottlieb Blatter
  • ch. Ernst Samuel Goetsch (1858-1940) m. Annie Schumacher
  • ch. Ernstina Elisabeth Goetsch (1860-1940) m. Emil Bigalk
  • ch. Hanna Helena Goetsch (1862-1936) m. Otto Gericke
  • ch. Albert August Goetsch (1864-1921) m. Matilda Voth

A Genealogy of the Schwantz family

Theodore Schwantz's father, August Friedrich Schwantz, was born in northeast Prussia in 1828. After he was drafted for the Prussian army, he was chosen and trained for Kaiser Emperor William's body guard. In 1856, he married Henrietta Krueger, who was born in Zaehaeck, Brandenburg, Germany, in 1833. That year, they emigrated from Germany to join relatives in Wisconsin, and settled on a farm between Horicon and Mayville, in Dodge County. They had nine children, four of whom survived to adulthood. In 1885, they moved to a farm in Oak Grove, just south of Juneau, until 1893, when they moved to Juneau. August Friedrich Schwantz died in 1921; Henrietta Schwantz in 1910.

Not all children are shown in the following chart.

• August Friedrich Schwantz (1828-1921) m. Henrietta Krueger (1833-1910)
  • ch. Linna Schwantz (1859-1943) m. Charles Fehling
  • ch. Theodore Frank Schwantz (1861-1910) m. Frances Loraine Goetsch (1877-1968) [see Goetsch family]
  • ch. Otto Schwantz (1865-1952) m. Pauline Johanna Raabe (1869-1958)
    • ch. Enah M. Schwantz (b. 1896) m. George Stone
    • ch. Mildred A. Schwantz (b. 1900) m. George Johnson
  • ch. Emma Schwantz (1869-1916)

A Genealogy of the Deuschli family

George Deuschli's father was one of the few soldiers who survived Napoleon's march to Moscow, which the Russians had abandoned and burned down. George Deuschli was born circa 1820, in Wurtemberg, Germany. He trained as a veterinarian, and arrived in Wisconsin in 1856, with his family. His wife Magdalena Deuschli died in 1877; George Deuschli remarried; his second wife died in 1889. George Deuschli died circa 1901.

Not all children or spouses are shown in the following chart.

• George Deuschli (circa 1820-1901) m. Magdalena Bendt (d. 1877)
  • ch. John Deuschli (1843-1860)
  • ch. Louisa Magdalene (Louise) Deuschli (1845-1898) m. Heinrich Wilhelm Goetsch (1845-1901) [see Goetsch family]
  • ch. Katrina (Kate) Deuschli (1848-1930) m. Gottlieb Thiele
  • ch. George Deuschli (1850-1899)

The papers in the collection document Schwantz's genealogy, her work with the State Board of Control in 1923-1924 for Elizabeth Kading (including correspondence with Ada James), as well as her teaching, her family background in Watertown, and her interest in progressive politics. There are also materials relating to the foreclosure of the Robert Lamp house (22 N. Butler Street in Madison), which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The collection consists of genealogical materials, correspondence, scrapbooks, memorabilia, journals, clippings, photographs and negatives, and other materials, with the bulk of the collection dating from about 1894 to 1968. Some of the items were used in preparing the “Six Generations Here” exhibit organized by George Talbot of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in 1982, concerning the Krueger family in the area around Watertown. The main source of materials for the exhibit was accessioned as the Krueger Family Papers.

The Schwantz Papers present a picture of domestic life in a German American immigrant family over four generations. The collection also relates to aspects of women's history in the state, documenting the changes in society reflected in one Wisconsin woman's life as a family member, a young woman, a wife, a mother, and a worker.

Schwantz was keenly interested in her genealogy, and recorded detailed notes on her family history. The Goetsch and Schwantz lines are well represented; the Deuschli and Krueger lines are represented, but in less depth. The large number of photographs in the collection are annotated primarily by Schwantz, and provide a corresponding visual record to the genealogical materials. The great majority of photographs have documentation on the reverse sides, in some cases going into great detail about the subjects depicted. The extent and level of documentation for the genealogical materials is a strength of the collection. The genealogical materials are complemented by materials representing other aspects of Schwantz's life, and this variety creates a more complete portrait of her life than that of a purely genealogical collection.

The collection is organized into three series: Board of Control, Personal Papers, and Visual Materials. The Personal Papers series has the following subseries: Biographical Information, Correspondence, Financial Records, Newspaper clippings, Notebooks, Real Estate Records, and Scrapbooks and Memorabilia. The Visual Materials series has two subseries, Photographs and Scrapbooks.

The BOARD OF CONTROL series concerns Schwantz's work as a special confidential clerk during 1923-1924 for Mrs. Elizabeth Kading, and the political pressures that led to Mrs. Kading's resignation as President of the organization. Schwantz and Kading were friends from Watertown high school, and remained close friends into adulthood. After Schwantz wrote an unsigned letter to the Capital Times, supporting reforms advocated by the Board of Control in its oversight of homes for children, Kading asked her to serve as a special clerk. In this capacity, Schwantz had firsthand knowledge of the correspondence coming from the homes and the internal workings of the Board. Schwantz discusses her support of Mrs. Kading when opposing interests on the Board and in Governor Blaine's administration in effect forced Kading's resignation. Included in the series are correspondence to and from Ada James, other letters and postcards, clippings, and a memorial booklet about Mrs. Kading.

The PERSONAL PAPERS series represents the bulk of the manuscript portion of the collection. The Biographical Information consists of school papers, including Schwantz's high school diploma, graduation essay, and teaching certificates; genealogical materials, Francis Walter Swantz materials, and Ralph Willard Stevens materials. The genealogical materials include Schwantz's notes; materials from other members of her extended family; memorial cards for her parents, paternal grandfather, and husband; clippings concerning her immediate and extended family; and typed genealogical trees. There is a translation of a short account written in 1893 by her grandfather, Wilhelm Friedrich Goetsch, about his emigration from Germany to the area around Watertown, and his life in Wisconsin. He wrote a similar account for his wife, Charlotte, upon her death in 1899. There is also a commemorative booklet from 1957 on the Diamond Anniversary of the First Baptist Church, which Wilhelm Goetsch helped found in Watertown. The Schwantz family genealogical materials include copies of August Friedrich Schwantz's German emigration document from 1856, and his naturalization application in the United States, from 1868. The materials on Swantz and Stevens are relatively few, and are primarily related to their professional accomplishments. The Swantz materials include school diplomas, letters of recommendation, and a talk he presented on nuclear energy to a church group. The Stevens materials include a form relating to his change of surname in 1926, and clippings of awards and other recognition he received.

The Correspondence subseries consists of letters between family members, general letters, and civic letters. The family letters contain some genealogical information, and include a letter from 1876 from Magdalena Deuschli to her daughter Louise (Frances Schwantz's mother), letters from Schwantz's sister Alice, and boyhood letters from Francis Walter Schwantz to his mother. Civic letters consist of a letter from Representative Jeannette Rankin (1917) acknowledging receipt of Schwantz's letter, and a copy of Schwantz's letter to Senator Robert M. La Follette (1934), urging him to run on a third party liberal ticket. General correspondence (primarily incoming) includes letters between Frances Schwantz or other family members and those outside the family.

The Financial records subseries includes household account books and sales books. There are twenty-six household account books, 1900-1949. These include records of everyday expenses, but also unique expenditures such as those for Schwantz's trousseau in 1902, and financial details of her father's will. Sales books consist of Henry Goetsch's sewing machine sales book (1883-1901), a sales book from the Goetsch Brothers store (1883, 1902-1903), and Theodore Schwantz's store receipt book (1909).

Newspaper clippings include articles on Watertown, including one written by Schwantz in 1962, and various news clippings related to civic affairs and politics.

The Notebooks subseries includes Schwantz's notes on her readings, and other reflections. The earliest two are marked “Frances Goetsch,” and contain rules for English grammar: one is dated 1899-1900, the other is undated, but was presumably written before her marriage in 1902. The others range from 1901 to 1932.

The Real Estate Records pertain primarily to the Robert Lamp house, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which Schwantz won by foreclosure. Included are legal documents, a rental lease, maps, and news clippings. This subseries also contains a few documents relating to another property in Portland, Oregon.

The Scrapbooks and Memorabilia include copies of two large scrapbooks with newspaper clippings compiled in 1934 which document Schwantz's interest in the issues covered, such as municipal ownership of utilities, pension reform, the New Deal, progressive politics, and columns on the political climate in Washington, D.C. There is also an autograph book inscribed “Hattie Goetsch” (Frances's sister Harriet). Memorabilia include three handmade booklets from Theodore Schwantz to his fiancée, Frances Goetsch; two metallic souvenirs of Theo Schwantz's store opening in 1903, a tag and permit to remove the cremated remains of Schwantz's sister Alice, and wallpaper fragments with handwritten quotations from Schwantz's girlhood bedroom.

The VISUAL MATERIALS series consists of Photographs and Scrapbooks and mirrors the organization of the manuscript portion of the collection.

The Personal Papers section within the Photographs subseries includes both portraits and snapshots of Frances Goetsch Schwantz from her high school days in 1894 through approximately 1960. The Genealogy section, which is primarily portraiture, is arranged alphabetically by family name. The images here are well documented with detailed inscriptions on the back of many of the photographs. The Teaching Career section documents Schwantz's eight years teaching school including class pictures and portraits of administrators related to the schools where she taught. The Scrapbooks subseries includes three albums of Victorian paper decorations and pictorial advertisements and a postcard album which reflect women's pastimes and advertising conventions of that era.

The Krueger Family Papers (Micro 748) and Six generations here contain related material.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Francis Walter Swantz, 1976, and Ralph Willard Stevens, 1981, 1983.

Processing Information

Processed by Julia Wong (Practicum student), May 2007.

Mss 1033	Series: Board of Control
Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1923-1924, 1954, 1980
Box   1 Folder   2	Memorial booklet for Elizabeth Kading, 1954
Box   1 Folder   3	News clippings, 1923-1925, 1956
	Series: Personal Papers	⇧
	Subseries: Biographical Information
	Education
Box   2 Folder   1	Graduation essay, 1894
Oversize Folder	Watertown High School diploma, 1894
	Genealogy
Box   2 Folder   2	Deuschli family, undated
Box   2 Folder   3	Goetsch family, 1893-1978
Box   5 Folder   4	Goetsch family notes, undated
Box   2 Folder   4	Krueger family, 1978, undated
Box   2 Folder   5	Schwantz family, 1856-1974
Box   2 Folder   6	Extended family, articles, obituaries, eulogy, 1910-1977
Box   2 Folder   7	Memorial cards, 1898, 1901, 1902, 1910
Box   2 Folder   8	Paul Brian Stevens worksheets, 1961
Box   2 Folder   9	Stevens, Ralph Willard, 1926, 1964, 1969
Oversize Folder	Swantz, Francis Walter, diplomas, 1917, 1921
Box   2 Folder   10	Swantz, Francis Walter, 1953, 1959, 1966, 1972-1973, 1975-1976
	Teaching career
Box   2 Folder   11	Letters and certificates, 1894-1901
Box   2 Folder   12	Student selections, 1901-1902
	Subseries: Correspondence	⇧
Box   2 Folder   13	Address book, 1957
Box   2 Folder   14	Civic letters, 1917, 1934
	Family letters
Box   2 Folder   15	1876-1980
Box   2 Folder   16	Alice Goetsch to Frances Schwantz, 1889, 1901-1902, undated
Box   2 Folder   17	Francis Walter Schwantz to Frances Schwantz, 1910-1917
Box   2 Folder   18	Family postcards, 1901-1920
Box   2 Folder   19	General letters, 1915-1966
	Subseries: Financial Records	⇧
Box   3 Folder   1-7	Household account books, 1900-1949
	Sales books
Box   3 Folder   8	1883-1901, 1909
Box   5 Folder   5	Goetsch store, 1883, 1903
	Subseries: Newspaper clippings	⇧
Box   4 Folder   1	Civic affairs/politics, 1929-1945
Box   4 Folder   2	Watertown, 1930, 1937, 1962
	Subseries: Notebooks	⇧
Box   4 Folder   3	English/grammar, 1899-1900, undated
Box   4 Folder   4	Loose quotations, undated
Box   4 Folder   5-8	Reading notes and quotations, 1901-1932
Box   4 Folder   9	University of Wisconsin class notes, 1925
	Subseries: Real Estate Records	⇧
	Robert Lamp house
Box   5 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1939-1944
Box   5 Folder   2	Legal documents, maps, receipts, 1924, 1931-1934, 1937-1942
Box   5 Folder   3	Portland, Oregon property, 1925
	Subseries: Scrapbooks and Memorabilia	⇧
Box   6 Folder   1	Hattie (Harriet) Goetsch's autograph album, 1883-1899
	Memorabilia
Box   6 Folder   2	Handmade booklets from Theodore Schwantz to Frances Goetsch, circa 1902
Box   6 Folder   3	Tag and permit for cremated remains of Alice Goetsch Fuller, 1938
Box   6 Folder   4	Theo. Schwantz & Co. store souvenirs, 1903
Box   6 Folder   5	Wallpaper fragments, 1895
Box   6 Folder   6	News clippings compilations, 1934
Box   6 Folder   7	Royal Neighbors of America pins
PH 6514	Series: Visual Materials	⇧
	Subseries: Photographs
Box   1 Folder   1	Board of Control: Elizabeth Kading, 1910
	Personal Papers
Box   1 Folder   2	Frances Goetsch Schwantz, 1894-1946, undated
Box   7 Folder   1	Frances, Frank, Joseph, Helen, John, and George Goetsch
Box   7 Folder   2	Watertown High School class group (Frances Goetsch not pictured)
	Genealogy, 1864-1970s
Box   1 Folder   3	Blatter family
Box   1 Folder   4	Buelke family
Box   1 Folder   5	Deuschli family
Box   7 Folder   3	Kate Deuschli Thiele
Box   7 Folder   4	Frida Thiele
Box   1 Folder   6	Fischer family
Box   1 Folder   7-9	Goetsch family
Box   7 Folder   5	Dorothy and Rita with Francis Walter
Box   7 Folder   6	G. Adolf's pharmacy, Chicago
Box   7 Folder   7	Schempf's store, Watertown
Box   7 Folder   8	William Goetsch family group
Box   1 Folder   10	Krueger family
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Schwantz family
Box   7 Folder   9	Juneau home
Box   2 Folder   3	Smith family
Box   2 Folder   4	Thiele family
Box   2 Folder   5	Volkman family
Box   2 Folder   6	Weber family
	Photograph albums
Box   3 Folder   1	Rita, Dorothy, and Edith Goetsch and Gertrude Eilenberger, circa 1902
Box   3 Folder   2	Goetsch and Buelke family and friends
Box   4	Goetsch, Buelke, Deuschli, Thiele families and friends
Box   2 Folder   7	Teaching career, 1894-1902: Administrators, class pictures
	Subseries: Scrapbooks	⇧
Box   5	Victorian paper decorations and advertisements albums, 1880, undated
Box   6	Postcard album, 1909-1910