Niklaus Schmutz

"Schmutz -- Geist Family History," pages 37-38, by Lynn Schmutz:

Anna Elizabeth Raetz (Ratz) married Niklaus Schmutz (born 21 Feb. 1831) son of Niklaus Schmutz and Verene Bunni of Aetzrueth, Bern, Switzerland, at Herzogenbuche, Bern, Switzerland, on 6 October 1853. After their marriage and after the birth of their first child, Anna Marie, born 2 Jul 1854, they emigrated to the United States and to Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois.

    On September 4, 1857, Niklaus filed in Chicago, Illinois, a "declaration of intent" to become a citizen of the United States. This was granted June 1, 1868 in Davis Co., KS. These documents are still held in the Schmutz family, along with many other of interest.

According to the family Bible, a son, Karl Albert, was born in Chicago on 27 Sep 1857. Sometime the following spring or summer, they left Chicago and moved on to eastern Kansas, where Karl died 8 Sep 1858. They must have moved into Missouri for a short time, for it is recorded that Rosina was born 10 Nov 1860 in Missouri, but baptized in June 1861 in Jackson Co., Kansas.
On June 21, 1862, at the United States Land Office in Junction City, Geary Co., Kansas, Niklaus filed a claim to homestead 160 acres of land. He was the first person to homestead in Fragrant Hill Township, Kansas. He and Anna remained there for the rest of their lives. The farm remained in the Schmutz family until 1964, when it was sold to the United States government and the house was razed to make way for the Milford Dam and Lake.
From a history of the early settlers of Fragrant Hill Township: Niklaus Schmutz first home was a log cabin built near a spring on Curtis Creek in the northeast corner of his home place. The spring is located back of the creek in a bank side and has never run dry. Just in front of this log cabin was an oak tree, and under this oak tree, Niklaus Schmutz and the Indian Chief entered into an agreement of friendship and peace, which was never broken. Indian camp grounds were located all around the spring and farther up the creek, and Mary's only playmates during her early life were Indian children.
Niklaus' work, as well as farming his land, was hauling supplies for the government from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Riley, Fort Dodge, and Fort Hays by mule team express line (four mules) and sometimes he was away from home for three months when rivers were high and could not be crossed.
From "Museum Musings," by Leona Manz Garrison:

First to arrive here (of the descendants of Jacob and Anna Maria Kohler Ratz) were Anna Elizabeth Raetz and husband Nicholas Schmutz. After a few years in Chicago, they journeyed west and arrived at the Dickinson-Davis (now Geary) county line in 1861. The Pre-emption Act of 1841 allowed them to claim 160 acres with a $2 fee and a written declaration to pre-empt. This land purchase was the first in Sherman Township, Dickinson County. The township was divided into two portions in 1880, making their land in Fragrant Hill Township. The Schmutz family also obtained adjacent land, which was in Smoky Hill Township, in Davis County.

    The first home for the Nicholas Schmutz family was a log cabin near a spring on Curtis Creek. Mr. Schmutz hauled government supplies by mule team from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Riley, Fort Dodge, and Fort Hays. At that time, Indian children were the only playmates for Anna Maria, who was the oldest of four children. Her younger siblings were Rosina, Emma, Edward, and George. Three other brothers died in infancy.

With the spring and creek nearby, there was an Indian campground close to the Schmutz home. Nicholas and the Indian chief made a friendship and peace agreement under an oak tree and the pact was never broken. In fact, when Mr. Schmutz was away on a supply trip, the Indians saw to it Mrs. Schmutz was protected. It has been said that she liked the bread and pancakes she prepared for them.
The Schmutz home also was a convenient overnight stopping place for settlers who could not make the trip to Junction City and back to their homes in one day. In 1870, the first voting precinct was in their home, and it was also used for Sunday school and church services until a church was built in 1881.
From "Early Settlers and Stories of Fragrant Hill Township, Dickinson County, Kansas," by Adele Hill-Wilkins:

The Schmutz home was an overnight stopping place for settlers who could not make the trip to Junction City and return for supplies. Traveling by wagon and mule team, oxen, or horse team was a long journey. . . .

    The Schmutzes used the spring for refrigeration, building a small rock structure over it and setting the milk and butter in the cold spring water. [I remember my great-aunt, Esther Caroline Hartmann, talking about how cool this spring kept the butter and milk.--Terrill Hayes, August, 2000]

The buffaloes grazed all around the Schmutz homestead for a time. George, age nine, herded his father's cattle and saw the buffaloes grazing all around. Buffaloes sometimes stampeded, and nothing was safe in front of their flight.
CENSUS INFORMATION, prepared by Terrill Hayes

Census information for Nicholas and Anna Schmutz in the 1860 census is yet available.

1870 Federal Census

Nicholas and "Elizabeth" Schmutz and five children were enumerated July 29, 1870, in Sherman Township, Dickinson County, Kansas. They are the first family and dwelling listed on page 32A, county page 5. The post office was Abilene. Nicholas is listed as 39, male, white, and farming. His real estate is valued at $3,000; his personal property at $1,000. He was born in Switzerland and his parents were both of foreign birth. He is a citizen of the United States.

Elizabeth is 40, female, white, and keeping house. Like Nicholas, she was born in Switzerland and her parents were both of foreign birth.

Annie, 16, female, white, is "at house." She was born in Switzerland, like her parents. She attended school within the year. Rosina, 9, female and white, is "at house," also. She was born in Missouri and attended school within the last year. Emilene, 6, female and white, is "at house," also. She was born in Kansas and also attended school within the last year. Adolph E. (Edward), aged 4, is male and white and "at house." He was born in Kansas. George T. is 1 year old, male, white, "at house," and was born in Kansas. Neither he nor his brother attended school within the last year.

George Stamm, who was later to become Annie's husband, is the fourth dwelling and family listed on this page. He is single.

1875 Kansas Census

Kansas was among the states that conducted their own census every ten years, on the fifth year of the decade. Nicholas and "Elizabeth" and their family are listed as family number 95 in the 1875 census for Sherman Township. Nicholas is 42, farming, was born in Switzerland, and moved to Kansas from Missouri. Elizabeth is 42 and was born in Switzerland, also. The first child listed is Rowena (Rosina), 14, female, born in Missouri. Next is Emiline, 10, female, born in Kansas. Adolph E. (Edward) follows, 9, male, born in Kansas. George, 6, is the last child listed. He, too, was born in Kansas.

Their immediate neighbors were W. Breakner, family 94, and Henry Kemp, family 96. George and Mary Stamm are family 93, and have one child, George W.

1880 Federal Census

In the 1880 federal census, Nicholas and Anna E. Schmutz were listed on page 6 of enumeration district 70, Fragrant Hill Township, Dickinson County, Kansas. They were enumerated on June 4, 1880, by S. G. Read. They are dwelling and family 54. Their mothers and their fathers were born in Switzerland. Children Rosa, Emma, Edward A., and George T. are living with them. John Bachman, 19, who was later to become Rosa's husband, is listed as single, a boarder, and a farmer.

1885 Kansas Census

In the 1885 Kansas census, Nicholas and Anna, age 54, were listed on page 15 of Fragrant Hill Township, Dickinson County. Three children, Emma, Edward, and George T., ages 21, 19, and 16, are living with them. Nicholas and Anna are listed as having moved to Kansas from Illinois. Their nearest neighbors were William K. Bruckner and John Fourier. John and Rosina Bachman and their two children are listed six families later.

1900 Federal Census

By 1900, Anna has passed away and Nicholas is living with his son George and their family, still in Fragrant Hill Township. It gives his birth as February 1831. He is widowed. It states that he immigrated in 1860. This is incorrect. He can read, write, and can speak English. He owned the house, free of mortgage.

RELIGIOUS LIFE

Early in 1870, Reverend H. Mattill, an Evangelical Association preacher, came to eastern Kansas. He spoke German, the native language of many of the Swiss and German immigrants. He preached in the home of Anna and Nicholas Schmutz for several weeks in the summer of 1870. Rev. Mattill convinced them to make a trip to a camp meeting being held at Holton, Kansas. According to her obituary, Anna Schmutz was the first person converted there.

Evangelical ministers of the area were heartily welcomed to their home. On one occasion Rev. Mattill had to cross the Chapman Creek at flood stage. He was advised to cross at a particular place by a local Irishman, who was not sympathetic to the revivalistic Evangelical religion. Following those instructions, Rev. Mattill's buggy overturned and he was caught in a swift current. The horses swam free and Rev. Mattill swam ashore. The possessions in the buggy were lost. Rev. Mattill went to the home of Nicholas and Anna Schmutz for assistance.

The Schmutzes offered their home on many other occasions. Rev. Mattill encountered other opposition to his style of revivalistic Evangelical preaching. It was rumored that some of the local settlers planned to hang him the next time he came to the Alida community. Nicholas, though not yet a convert to the Evangelical church, felt that Rev. Mattill should have fair warning and told him that some were out to take his life. Rev. Mattill retorted, "The rope by which I am to hang is not yet made, and if you will receive me in your home, I shall come out and preach the gospel to those who will come out to hear me." Nicholas gave permission and the meetings were held without further incident.

Nicholas Schmutz was "converted to God" in 1871. In 1872, Anna Elizabeth and Nicholas Schmutz were among the founding nine members of the Alida Mission Quarterly Conference, which included, also, Mr. and Mrs. C. Buchel, Mr. John Ehrsam, Mr. George Stamm, Mr. Samuel Stamm, and Mr. Moritz Sprecher. A Sunday School was organized in 1872 or 1873, and was held at the Schmutz home, until the first church was built in 1881. Nicholas was the first superintendent of the school.

Services at the church were conducted in German until the outbreak of World War I. The services were lively, characterized by shouting and crying as people were converted. Prayers were fervent. Testimonies were accompanied by vocal acknowledgment from the congregation. The church had a partition down the middle and the men and women were seated on different sides. The preacher stood in an area raised high enough for men and women both to see. Occasionally, babies were passed from one side to the other. According to family members, drinking, smoking, dancing, and card playing were proscribed. In contrast, the nearby St. John's church, with its more moderate outlook, was known as the fast church. Many families belonging to the Alida church did not associate with members of St. John's church.

Nicholas and Anna Schmutz remained staunch members of the Alida church throughout their lives. They served as examples of Christian service and devotion to their children, many of whom continued to serve the church. They were buried in the church cemetery, as are many of their descendants.

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Written December 2, 2001, by Terrill Hayes, from the manuscript, "History of the Churches of the Alida-Upland Cooperative Parish, October 16, 1958, by Reverend Don W. Frogge.

OBITUARIES

SCHMUTZ -- Nicolas Schmutz was born in Artzruthi, Bern, Switzerland, Feb. 21, 1831, and died near Alida, Kans., May 18, 1908. He was married to Anna Elizabeth Raitz, Oct. 6, 1853; to this union 4 sons and 3 daughters were born. His wife and 2 sons preceded him in death. In 1855 he came to America, and in 1858 to Kansas, settling near Alida in 1861. In 1871 he was converted to God. He united with the Evangelical Association, and remained true to God and the Church to the end, leaving a testimony of righteousness and faithfulness, to which his children and all can point with profound gratitude.

-- John M. Fricker.

Photocopied October 2001 by Terrill Hayes from clipping pasted to flyleaf of Bible belonging to George T. Schmutz, now in possession of Donna L. Schmutz, Junction City, Geary County, Kansas. Source unknown.

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The Daily Sentinel, Junction City, Kansas, Monday, May 18, 1908

DEATH OF AN OLD RESIDENT

George [sic] Schmutz Lived in This County Since 1858.

George [sic] Schmutz died this morning at the home of his son, George Schmutz, Jr., three miles west of Alida, after an illness of about six weeks duration. The deceased was born in Switzerland and was married before coming to this country. His wife died about 15 years ago. He came directly from St. Joseph to this community in 1858 and located on the farm on Curtis Creek where he has lived continuously until the time of his death. He was 77 years of age. He is survived by two sons, George and Edward, and one daughter, Mrs. Emma Brust [sic] of Kansas City.

Funeral arrangements will be announced tomorrow.

Photocopied October 2001 by Laureen Mikkelson Hayes from newspaper clipping on file at Research Center at the Geary County Historical Society, Junction City, Kansas.