Katharina Straub was born on April 11, 1823, in Germany. She is Walt’s 1st cousin 5 times removed on the Link side of the family.

Katharina was the ninth child born to Erasmus and Maria Sauter Straub in the Württemberg area of Germany. They had lost a couple of children in infancy. Maria died in 1824. In 1843, Erasmus and 6 of his seven children emigrated to the United States. They settled in Ohio, where Erasmus’ brother Markus had settled after arriving in 1832. I wrote more about Erasmus and Maria in this post. (the ship’s manifest has her name spelled with a C.)

Katharina Straub married Georg German in 1848 in Ohio. Georg was a farmer and had also been born in Germany. The family had 3 children in Ohio before moving to Wisconsin around 1855. One of Katharina’s brothers, Kaspar, also lived in Wisconsin, but I am not sure when he moved there. Katharina and Georg had 3 more children.

I found this picture of Katharina, but there was no date

They lost son Jacob in 1872 and daughter Katherine in 1874. Georg died on February 17, 1876. Katharina continued to live on the family farm with her son George and his wife and family. Katharina Straub German remained there until her death on August 5, 1903. She and Georg are buried in St. Kilian’s Cemetery near Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

I did find it interesting to note in George’s (her son) obituary, it said that he arrived in Wisconsin at the age of 9. However, his younger sister Katherine was born in Wisconsin in 1856, when George was 3.