Maria Barbara Hochstatter

Her second Husband was Frederick Dormaier. They did not have any kids together. I have a copy of their prenuptial agreement.

Johann Gottlob was born in Alexanderhilf, South Russia 14 Aug 1852. He and his wife immigrated to the U. S. via Canada in the spring of 1902. He left South Russia with his wife and all their children, including two married daughters and one married son, traveling by train and boat to Liverpool, England. On April 1, 1902 they boarded the ship “Lake Ontario” and sailed to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, arriving on April, 12. From Saint John they went by train to Winnipeg, Manitoba, then to Java and Kimball, South Dakota. They stayed in South Dakota with relatives during the summer of 1902 and left for the state of Washington in the latter part of October 1902.

The family arrived in Wilson Creek, WA on November 1, 1902, and they lived in a homestead shack during the winter of, 1902-03. Johann filed for homestead rights on March 14, 1903. The homestead was located 10 1/2 miles northeast of Moses Lake. The land description is as follows; Lot one, the south half of the northeast quarter, and the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section six in Township twenty north of Range twenty nine east of the Willamette Meridian, Washington, containing 170.35 acres. Patent Number 112198 was issued to him on 17 February 1910 for 170.35 acres of land, permanently giving him this land. You had to pay for any acreage over 160 acres. He paid $2.50 per acre for the excess 10.35 acres. This homestead land remained in the Hochstatter family until it was sold in October 1997. The owners at the time of sale were the three sons of George. None of these sons had any ambition to become farmers or to develop it into smaller farms and then sell them.

They received their mail at the Post Office in Wilson Creek. Later on a country store and post office by the name of Hicksville was started, and in 1910 the post office was moved to Wheeler. The first year they grubbed (removed) the sagebrush off of ten acres of their land and four acres off of John Hochstatter’s (Johann Gottlob oldest son) place just south of theirs. They borrowed Jacob Ottmar’s (Johann Gottlob’s son-in-law) plow and harrow. Johann broadcasted the seed by hand. They planted wheat, barley, oats, Russian red wheat, spults, hyssop, and some potatoes and watermelons in their garden. At harvest time Johann cut the grain with a scythe, and raked it by hand with a wooden rake. He shocked the grain in bundles and tied it with straw from the grain.

They hauled their water from a well near Black Rock. They watered their garden and filled their cistern with alkali tasting water. Johann had a well drilled in 1907 at a cost of $1,000. When the drillers hit water they lost their tools and spend two weeks trying to fish them out of the well. They weren’t successful in retrieving their tools and had to drill another well. The well supplied all of the water they needed and other homesteaders hauled water from it as it was sweeter than the Black Rock water.

After the first year they cleared 80 acres by burning the sagebrush. They bought a John Deere 12 inch gang plow. George’s sister Caroline plowed with a four horse team. Sometimes the sagebrush roots were so strong that they would break the plow blade. In the spring of 1904 they borrowed Ottmar’s seeder to plant the 80 acres. In the fall, John and Jacob Ottmar harvested Johann’s crop using their header, they put the grain in stacks. Jake Schmauder (another son-in-law of Johann) had a horse driven threshing machine that they used to thrash the grain. Johann Hochstatter got the Schmauders to agree to do the whole harvest for $50. After they arrived for the harvest they tried to talk Johann into paying them seven cents per bushel instead. But he held them to their previous agreement and soothed them with all of the watermelon that they could eat. Fred Schmauder, the youngest one tended the separator. Christian Hochstatter, George’s brother and Phillip Gottschalk sewed the sacks after they were filled with the grain.

Johann G. declared his intention to become a Citizen of the United States on 29 September 1902 in Circuit Court, Campbell County, South Dakota. He was naturalized on 13 July 1908 in U. S. District Court, Eastern District of Washington, Spokane. Certification of Naturalization No. 72954 includes the following family members: wife, Barbara; children; Pauline, age 19, Catherine, age 16, and Gotthold, age 10, all of Hicksville, WA.

Johann Gottlob’s daughters attended the Keller school, which was built in 1904. They stayed with their oldest sister Barbara, who lived across the road from the school and was married to Jacob Ottmar. The School was located seven miles from the Hochstatter homestead on the northeast corner of where the county roads of 8-N. E. and P-N. E. now intersect.

Most of the above information about Johann Gottlob is from an audio tape by his youngest son Gotthold (George) Hochstatter( my father). The following item appeared in the Dakota Freie Presse on November 11, 1909 and reprinted in the Germans from Russia Heritage Review, No. 20, April 1978.

“Washington State

Hicksville

When my wife and I emigrated from South Russia to Washington, disembarking at the station of Wilson Creek, I had no idea where to turn. Since I knew there were already several families from the colony of Neusatz residing here, I inquired and found they lived 16 miles south of the station. but no one could tell me the exact place since everything here was a virgin land. There were as yet no roads and only occasionally would one find a clapboard shanty on the prairie. However, we finally succeeded in finding our friends Johann and Jakob Ottmar. How awful the landscape looked without grass or vegetation! Often you had to travel four or six miles to get to a well or a low spot for water. Today, however, it looks entirely different. Johann and Jakob Ottmar each have their own houses, large barns and other buildings, a windmill, and orchards and grape vines. Johann Wilging, Jakob and Johann Schmauder, and Ludwig and Johann Flood immigrated into the area from Bessarabia. The latter arrived in 1901. All of them have established themselves beautifully. In the second and third years, schools were built and church services have been conducted in them. Various preachers served the community. Even now we still do not have churches. About 20 miles from us is a Congregational Church and some 14 miles east of Hicksville is another Protestant church which is served by Pastor Stier. Two years ago in Wilson Creek a church was built.

With best regards.”

Gottlob Hochstatter

Johann died 27 Jun 1918 at his homestead. He is buried in the Rocky Coulee, Ottmar Cemetery near Wheeler, WA. The local residence refer to this cemetery as the “Old” Keller Cemetery. The location of this cemetery is Township 20 North, Range 29 East, Section 26. Note: His death certificate shows his name as Gotthold, which is incorrect.

He married Maria Barbara Huether on 7 Nov 1874 in Johannesthal, So. Russia. Thirteen children were born to this marriage, ten survived to adulthood. The children are: Johann (1875-1875); Barbara [Ottmar] (1876-1968); Sophia [Arnold] (1877-1956); John D. (1879-1950); Caroline [Greenwalt] (1881- 1956); Karl (1882-xxxx); Christian (1887-1970); Margerethe (1884-1885)l Rosina [Rose] [Dormaier] (1886-before 1941); Elizabeth [Huether] (1887- 1949); Pauline [Schaal] (1889-1928); Katherine [Trautman] (1891-1971); and Gotthold [George] (1898-1983) [my father].

Maria was born 12 Sep 1854, Peterstal, South Russia. She died 10 Oct 1947 in Colfax, WA. She is buried in the same Cemetery as her husband Gottlob. Throughout her life she was known as Barbara. It wasn’t until I saw her birth record did I realize her name was Maria. She married Frederick Dormaier in 1919 after Johann’s death. They had no children. Maria and Frederick had a prenuptial marriage agreement. Maria’s father, Paul Huether, Sr., lived to be 100 years old.

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