website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
THE STORY OF
GEORGE M. HAUSZ AND HIS MEDAL
Compiled by
W. F. Jannke III
Mar 27, 2015
BACKGROUND
I work for the Jefferson County Veteran’s Service
Office. I love my job. The things I have learned about the plight of
veterans and their many interesting, and oft times tragic, stories make my job
all that more intriguing and challenging.
Recently our office has been much in the news when my
boss, Yvonne Duesterhoeft, the Jefferson County
Veteran Service Officer, helped to honor a fallen hero of WWII, Fort Atkinson
native Victor Draeger. Draeger was killed
in action in 1944 while serving in France and is buried there in the city of Mirecourt cemetery. Somehow
his Purple Heart medal found its way into the hands of a fellow CVSO and he
turned it over to our office to see if we could find any living relatives to
whom we might return the medal.
At the time Yvonne was making plans for a trip to
France and she arranged with the American Legion there to turn over the medal
and have it placed on his grave. After
many meetings, this was done and thus the memory of Victor O. Draeger and his heroic sacrifice was assured.
Since that time, Yvonne has become the sort of “go to”
person for lost relatives and errant medals.
Recently Richard Miles, of the Fort Atkinson American Legion Post 166
came to our office with a medal that once belonged to a Fort Atkinson man named
George M. Hausz.
He asked us to try to find a living descendant of Mr. Hausz so that the medal could be returned to the family.
Knowing that I am a historian and genealogist, Yvonne
turned the case over to me. So I set
about my quest and along the way uncovered some rather interesting information
on this pioneer Jefferson County family to share with you.
Background on the Hausz Family
George Michael Hausz was the
second generation born in America. His
grandfather, Michael, was born in Baden, Germany. In an 1892 biographical sketch, found in the
archives of the Iroquois County (IL) Genealogical Society, we find the
following:
Michael Hausz was born in Baden, Germany, May 6, 1809. He was reared to manhood upon a farm, and when
a young man learned the trade of cabinet-making, which he followed in the Old
Country. Hoping to benefit his financial
condition by emigrating to America, he crossed the
broad Atlantic in early manhood. Landing
in New York, he there worked for a time, after which he went to Bridgeport,
Conn., where he married Miss Elizabeth Heinig. She was also a native of Germany, and when a
young lady of eighteen years came to this country.
Mr. Hausz continued to follow the cabinet-making trade in
Bridgeport until 1840, when they moved to New York City, where they lived about
six years, when they started Westward. They traveled by way of the Lakes, landing at
Milwaukee, Wis. The father at once went
to Jefferson County and secured a farm near Ft. Atkinson, where he has since
made his home . . . His life has been an
industrious and enterprising one, and by his own efforts be has acquired a
competence, which enables him to live a retired life. In politics, he is a supporter of the
Democratic party, and himself and family are members
of the Lutheran Church. Of the children,
Michael is the eldest; George J. resides on the old homestead; Mrs. Louisa
Widman is living in Jefferson County, Wis.; and Mrs. Amelia Sherman makes her
house in Tacoma, Wash.
Michael Hauz and his family
first appear in the U.S. Census of Jefferson County in 1850. The family at that time was living in the
Town of Koshkonong, and Michael was listed as being a
farmer. The family continued to occupy
this farm for many years, ultimately Michael’s son, George J. Hausz, assumed ownership of the farm. Michael Hausz died
March 1, 1895 and is buried in the Union Cemetery, in Jefferson. His widow continued to make her home with her
son, George and his family but ultimately she went to Illinois to make her home
with George’s elder brother, Michael Hausz Jr. and
died there on August 1, 1912. She lies
buried in the Sugar Creek, IL cemetery.
The Hausz Family of the Town of Koshkonong
George J. Hausz, George M. Hausz’s father, was born in New York in 1845. He married a woman named Mary E. in about
1873 and they had four sons, George, John, Charles and Adelbert. George J. Hausz was
a farmer in the Town of Koshkonong. He and his wife seem to have passed away sometime
before 1920.
George Michael Hausz was
born in the Town of Koshkonong November 15,
1873. He was a carpenter by trade,
although his WWI draft card states that he was employed as a shipping clerk for
the Jones Manufacturing Co. in Fort Atkinson.
He married Alma Brandel, daughter of an old
Jefferson County family, on April 6, 1898.
They had two children: Alvin (1901-2001) and Lola, Mrs. Earl Hensey (1898-1996).
George was active in the community, working with the
Fort Atkinson Historical Society, helping to found the Garden Club, as well as
serving in several fraternal organizations.
He passed away in September, 1944, and is buried at the Union Cemetery
in the Town of Oakland.
The Medal
Sometime in the early 1900s Mr. Hausz
served a term in the Wisconsin National Guard.
The medal Mr. Miles brought in proves this point. It is a small, rather tarnished, medal
comprising three bars suspended by a series of chains. It may have been attached to a silk ribbon at
one time.
The medal (pictured above) reads as follows:
GEORGE M. HAUSZ
CO. B 1 INF.
WIS.
N. G.
1902
There is an eagle on the top bar, and the bottom shows
two crossed rifles behind a laurel wreath bearing the year.
At first this was thought to have been a medal from
the First World War, but upon closer inspection it proves to have been from a
much earlier time. Through her contacts,
Yvonne Duesterhoeft has found out that this medal may
have been awarded for sharp shooting. A note from Wisconsin National Guard
historian Brian J. Faltinson confirms this
assumption. Capt. Faltinson
writes:
Research
suggests that this medal is an award for distinguished marksmanship.
In 1901, the Wisconsin legislature authorized a rifle competition within the
Wisconsin National Guard between regimental teams and amongst individuals for
the award of Distinguished Marksman. Awards included “various handsome
medals offered by the patriotic people of the state.” Competition first
held in 1901 with a much larger interest and participation by units and
soldiers in 1902.
Prior to WWI, the National Guard placed a significant interest in
marksmanship. This is partially due to the fact that federal assistance
at the time to the National Guard largely was limited to providing arms and
ammunition. Whole annual training would sometimes be dedicated to
marksmanship. Most National Guards within the states held shooting
competitions between teams and individuals and the best of those teams
participated in the National Match held at Camp Perry, OH.
Some biennial AG reports do cite individual winners of these competitions,
however, the 1902 report was not one of them.
Source: 1902 WING adjutant general's report
Sincerely,
CPT Brian J. Faltinson
Command Historian & Public Affairs Officer Wisconsin Army National Guard
2400 Wright St
Madison, WI 53708
Cell: 414.397.3713
Reuniting the Medal with the Surviving Family
By utilizing the resources of the Dodge-Jefferson
Counties Genealogical Society, based in Watertown, and its excellent and
efficient webmaster, Ken Riedl, as well as the website Ancestry.com, I was able
to track down the current descendants of Mr. Hausz.
As stated before, George and Mary Hausz
had two children, Alvin and Lola. Lola
married Earl Hensey in 1921 and lived in Illinois.
She returned to the Fort Atkinson area sometime before her death and lies
buried in Evergreen Cemetery.
She had three children, Herbert (1922-1945), who was
killed in battle in France in 1945 and is buried in the town of Hamm, Luxemborg, Robert (1924-1995), who was married to Mary Culcheck and had three children, Dena, Richard, and Richard
Jr. and Gilbert Hensey, who was born in 1934 and lives
in Normal, IL. It is to Gilbert, as the
oldest descendant of George M. Hausz, that Mr. Miles will
be returning the medal, thus reuniting it with the family once more.
(The compiler
would like to thank the following for their assistance in creating this
article: Ancestry.com, the Dodge-Jefferson Counties Genealogical Society, Inc,; Ken Riedl; Richard Miles; The Online White Pages;
Gene Asman; Major Robert P. Vandergrinten,
WIARNG; Capt. Brian J Faltinson, WIARNG; and of
course Jefferson County CVSO, Yvonne Duesterhoeft.)
The contact
information for George M. Hausz’s oldest living
relative, Gilbert Hensey, is: 1300 Hillcrest St.,
Normal, IL 61761. His telephone number is (309) 452-3823.
History of Watertown, Wisconsin