Marsha Ann Matson

The Haber and Theby Families Marsha Ann Matson

George Theby arrived from Prussia to Carondelet, Missouri, in 1848 and soon married Philippina Haspel from Bavaria. From this union came nine children, including the author's great-grandmother, Dora Theby. George became a Union soldier in the Civil War, fought with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in his Southern campaigns, and, immediately after being discharged, moved his family to Wisconsin. In Winnebago County, Dora met and married Jacob Haber, who emigrated as a four-year old boy from Darmstadt, Hesse, in 1852. Their fifth and youngest daughter, Anna Haber, was the author's grandmother. To give life to the story of her family, Marsha Ann Matson creates fictional Haber ancestors from Hesse history, from barbarian tribes battling ancient Rome to surviving plagues, serfdom, and European wars. The hardships of poverty caused her relatives to leave Germany to move to the Wisconsin frontier. She describes the ships they sailed on, the routes they took, the houses they lived in, and the generations of kin they produced. The Habers bought land, built their houses and barns themselves, and were successful at farming. George Theby made his way as hotelkeeper, cigar roller, mason, mill worker, and postmaster. The author devotes several chapters to her grandmother, including one of memories of her grandchildren. Anna left childhood on a rural farm in Vinland, Wisconsin, to become a mother of six and judge's wife in Carlton, Minnesota, to retire in El Segundo, California, to be near her daughters.