ANNA ERNESTINE (JAGOW) SEIFERT (1876–1958), was born in the town of Theresa, Dodge County, Wisconsin.
Her parents, Louise Dorothea Fellwock (1835–1901) and Friedrich Wilhelm Jagow (1836–1909) came to America as children, arriving with their families in New York on September 15, 1846, on the same ship, the Russia.
They traveled with a larger group of emigrants from the Oderbruch, the low-lying marshlands along the Oder River that straddle the former Prussian provinces of Brandenburg and Pomerania and today’s northern border of Germany and Poland. In Dodge County, the emigrants from the Russia joined other settlers from their home region.
Anna was the youngest of nine children. Twin sisters of hers died in infancy. In the letters she wrote in the 1930s, she frequently mentioned her surviving siblings.
Louise Nickel (1863–1940)
Hulda Schwertz (1867–1949)
Emilie Lichtenberg (1869–1941)
William Jagow (1874–1942)
From ages six to fourteen Anna attended a German Gemeindeschule (Lutheran Parochial school) located seven miles from her home. The school’s language of instruction was German in all subject areas (reading, writing in the old German script, arithmetic, world history, church history, catechism, and the bible). In addition, students received one hour of English instruction in the morning. The school day was divided into two parts from 9am–12pm and 1pm–4pm. Unlike the neighboring “English schools,” the German Gemeindeschule was in session all year.
On May 22, 1902, Anna Jagow married Julius Seifert (1872–1933)
Julius was the son of Auguste Bergemann (1843–1926) and August Seifert (1834–1911). Like Anna Jagow’s parents, Julius Seifert’s parents also immigrated to the United States as children with their families, and they also arrived in New York on the same ship, the Herschel, on July 1, 1848. At the beginning of the American Civil War, August Seifert and his brother Ernst mustered into Company C of the Wisconsin’s 16th Infantry from Hustisford, Dodge County. In 1865, Auguste Bergemann and August Seifert got married.
As a young man, Julius Seifert bought a 1480-acre tract of land next to his parents’ farmstead in the town of Oak Grove near Juneau, Dodge County. This property became the dairy farm where he and his wife Anna lived for the rest of their lives, and where they raised their children.
All five of Anna and Julius’ Seifert’s children, their children’s spouses, and grandchildren are mentioned frequently in Anna’s correspondence.
Edna (1903–1985), married Leo Ulbricht (1899-1996). They had four children, Ruth, Rose, Raymond, and Ronnie.
Edgar (1908–1979), married Victoria. They had three children, Grace, Lamar, and Charlotte.
Hilbert (1909–1993), married Lorina Bosin. They had two children, Marvin, and Elaine.
Norman (1914–1985), married Elenore Seegert. They had a son, Roy.
Lester (1915–1996), married Mamie Roby. They had a daughter, Suzanne.
* Image source: findagrave.com/memorial/16405757
** Image source: findagrave.com/memorial/16405583