Born in Germany on Jun 20, 1850 to Micheal Messerschmidt and Elizabeth Kremmin. She passed away on Jul 1893 in Springfield, Minnesota, USA.

On December 27, 1862, Gottlieb Struemke married Auguste Louise Messerschmidt in Posen, Germany. Her father and her sister, Mrs. Ferdinant Schwartzrock, were living in the United States, and they wrote the Struemkes, who had inquired about conditions in America, advising them to come and sending them the means for transportation. In June, 1881, they came to America with their family: Bertha, Emilie, Johanna, and Auguste who was only two years old.

Mr. Schwartzrock, who owned most of the territory around the east side of Springfield, built a log cabin across the river on a hill just south of town for them. On arrival the Struemkes lived with relatives, the two older girls working for friends. There were many tears shed that first winter, but in spring they had a place they could call home. A few years later they built their own house on what is now East Van Dusen Street where the family grew up.

Auguste Struemke passed away in July, 1893. At that time there were six children, all of whom have passed away except Elizabeth (Mrs. Martin J. Foy) who is at present making her home with her daughter Mrs. Clair Dahlquist in Santa Barbara, California. Mr. Struemke never re-married, his eldest daughter conducting the household and taking the place of the departed mother. In later years, after his children had established their own homes, he made his home with his youngest daughter Mrs. Wm. A. Ochs in Springfield and spent some time in his waning years visiting with the other daughter. He was at his daughter Emilie Scharmann's at Sanborn, Minnesota, when he passed away on April 10, 1926.

Bertha Struemke, the first daughter, was married to a widower, Rev. H. F. Pfeifer, who had two small children; they became Irma Pfeifer Steele and Rev. Eugene Pfeifer. The couple later had three children: Marie who was for many years employed as a secretary at the Gillette State Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota; Agatha who was a nurse in Detroit, Michigan; and Loy who was a druggist at Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. Both Mrs. And Rev. Pfeifer are deceased.

Emilie married John Scharmann of Sanborn, Minnesota. They had four children: Aurelia who married Rev. August Agather, now deceased; George married Rosebud Engel of New Ulm and reside in Sanborn, Minnesota; Edna married Mr. Allen Rice of Minneapolis; and Lester also lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Auguste married Paul Jaehn, who for many years conducted a hardware business at Ravinia, South Dakota, and later at Schuyler, Nebraska. They had two sons, Carl and Norman. They are all now deceased, Norman having passed assay within the past year.

Johan passed away many years ago. He married Ida Krueger who now lives in Hudson, Wisconsin. They had four sons: Orville, Kenneth, Marlin, and Lyle, and a daughter Johnora (Mrs. Alvin Rivard), all of whom live in the Hudson area. A fifth son, Clinton, passed away years ago.

Elizabeth was married to Martin J. Foy who passed away on November 14th, 1940. They had one son, Charles E. Foy who is now a banker in Lidgerwood, North Dakota. Their family consists of two girls and two boys: Patricia (Mrs. Anton Bichler) now resides in Yakima, Washington, and Mary, Charles Martin, and Jerome are still at home attending school. Elizabeth and Martin's daughter, Elizabeth (Betty) married Clair Dahlquist and now resides in Santa Barbara, California. Their family also consists of two sons and two daughters: Ralph who is employed at Jefferson Electronics as Quality Control Technician in Santa Barbara; Andrea (Mrs. Daniel J. Robb) who is employed by Bell Telephone at Tonopah, Nevada; Mary's husband, Jon Kriauczumas is in the service stationed in Korea; and Joseph who is at home still in grade school.

Anna was married to Wm. A. Ochs and resided in Springfield. Both are now deceased. Their family consisted of five sons and two daughters: Leo, Vincent, Russell, Gerard, Norbert, Delores, and Annette (Mrs. Linus Feirer).