The Marriage of Rose Kunshier and Frank Schotl and the move to Saint Paul

Frank Schotl has not yet been found in the 1905 Minnesota State Census, so it is unknown

when he moved to Minnesota, but his mother and two brothers, John and Matt are living in Columbus Township on a farm near others from the Neuseidl area of Burgenland.

On the 1910 Federal Census, he is living on Wyoming Road

 and employed as a Cook on Wire Grass Farm #1

Frank Schotl married Rose Katherine Kunshier, on the 8th of November in 1911. They were married in Rose's home or in nearby St. Peter's Catholic Church in Forest Lake. 

Their witnesses were Matt (Mattias) Kreitz and Theresa Pollreis, both from Burgenland families near Monchhof. They are identified on the back of the wedding photo. Theresa later married Berjamin B. Saxe, another Burgenlander. 

 On the 1910 Federal Census, Matt was working on Wire Grass Farm #1 in Columbus

                                   a typical wire grass farm from the Anoka County Archives

 Township. Matt's father, Michael Kreischitz was farming in Columbus Township, Anoka County, according to the 1905 Minnesota State Census.  The family later shortened the name to Kreitz.  The Schotls also owned or rented farms in Columbus township.  The families may have been acquainted in the old country as Michael's place of birth is listed as Deutsch Jahrndorf, Burgenland, Austria.   This area is less than 10 miles from Mönchhof, Hungary where Frank was born.

Theresa Pollreis and Rose may have known each other from school or from St. Peter's Catholic Church in Forest Lake where, according to the 1910 Federal Census, the Pollreis family was living.

Theresa's parents Stephen and Mary Daninger Pollreis were from Austro-Hungary.  Theresa later married Benjamin B. Saxe and they moved to St. Paul where Benjamin was employed as a meat cutter for the Armour Company. (More about the Saxe family later)

After their marriage Frank and Rose moved to Forest Lake.  According to his 1917 WWI draft registration, Frank was working on a farm owned by Jackson Simmons.  At that time he and Rose had 3 children: Martin, Lawrence, and Leonard. 

Before 1920, the young Frank and Rose Schotl family moved to 28 East Maryland Street in St. Paul.  Other family members had already moved to St. Paul and were getting their first taste of an urban life after generations of farm labor and rural life.

As early as 1903, Grandma's brother Charles Kunshier was living at 1377 Edgerton Ave., St. Paul and working as a machinist for Griffin Wheel Company located at 1256 Phalen Blvd., per the 1903 Polk Directory.

In 1910, my Grand Uncle, Conrad Kunshier was working as a laborer in building construction and living with his sister Katie and brother-in-law John Schmidt at 452 Van Buren Street.  This was the area known as Frogtown and was served by St. Agnes Catholic Church at 548-50 Lafond Avenue.  
 
In 1911, my Grand Aunt Mary Schotl Handler was living with her husband John at 37 West Lawson Street with new born daughter Betty.  John was working in a lumber yard.  The house was on the corner of Sylvan Street across the street from Oakland Cemetery. 

The neighborhood known as the North End Neighborhood was a later destination for many of the Schotls and Kunshiers.  They were joining many other working class families who were attracted by the job possibilities and the transportation advantages.

The Church of Saint Bernard, a Roman Catholic parish in the North End neighborhood, was also an important attraction and became a focus for the community.  The brick church was designedby John Jager and built in 1905.  The members were predominantly German or German speaking.  Aunt Pat Schotl  told us that many of the old people, including her grandmother still spoke German in the home.

 For those who didn't work in the neighborhood, the street-car was transportation to nearby factories and downtown businesses. Many of the men were working for the breweries, railroads and at the stock-yards.  They were bakers, barbers, bartenders and truck drivers.  While some of the women worked in factories, many also worked as retail clerks, book-keepers, domestics, laundry-help or did alternations, or are listed as home-makers.

After her father John Handler died on May 22 of 1933,  Aunt Betty was working as a maid at Charles T. Miller Hospital and lived with her mother at 838 Hardenbergh Place.  This address is six blocks South of their original home on Lawson and 2 blocks West of Oakland Cemetery. 

Betty died in January of 1989 and is buried in Roselawn Cemetery, Roseville, MN.