Karl Fr. Wm. Krieser

and

Johanna Henriette Friederike Dubke

Children:

Herman (Karl Hermann Wilhelm) Krieser

Charles Henry (Carl Friedrich Emil) Krieser

Amelia (Karoline Emilie Friederike) (Krieser) Helms

John Krieser (Johannes F.) Krieser

Emil Krieser

Karl Fr. Wm. and Johanna Henriette Friederike (Dubke) Krieser emigrated from Hoffelde, Pommern, Prussia in early 1874 with their three young children: Herman (age 6), Charles (age 3), and Amelia (age 1).  From the Port of New York where they landed, they first came to Green Bay, Wisconsin for a short while before moving on to Menasha, Winnebago County, Wisconsin.  John, or Johannes, was born in Menasha on February 11, 1877.  They lived there for three years before moving to Dupont Township in Waupaca County, Wisconsin where Emil was born on July 6, 1884.  Their grandchildren called them “Mudda” and “Fudda” Krieser when they spoke of them.  These are deliberate misspellings of the German words “Mutter” and “Vater” (which mean “mother” and “father”) because that is the way they pronounced them.  Why they called their grandparents “Mutter” and “Vater” instead of Grossmutter and Grossvater, we never knew but perhaps the German terms for grandparents were just too long for little ones to say.  They always referred to their paternal grandparents as “Mudda and Fudda Krieser”.

THE KARL FR. WM. KRIESER HOME IN DUPONT TOWNSHIP, WAUPACA CO, WIS. Left to Right: Henriette (Dubke) and Karl F.W. Krieser with son, Emil holding the horses.  Their log home shows the effort it took to clear the land and build their homes. The other children had all moved out by 1894 but Emil continued at home helping them work the farm until Fudda’s fatal illness.  He died in March of 1906 and Mudda had preceded him in death in 1903.

Karl Fr. Wm. and Henriette (Dubke) Krieser

Mudda and Fudda Krieser are shown above after they moved to Dupont.