STAADT, Mary (Michels) (Tuller) 1830-1912

STAADT, TULLER, MICHELS, CARWICK, WELCH

Posted By: LA (email)
Date: 12/21/2011 at 07:41:41

Burns Prove Fatal
One of the most awful occurrences in the history of Postville happened at the home of Mrs. Edward Staadt, the aged mother of Frank W. Tuller, in this city shortly after six o'clock Tuesday morning, when in some manner unknown she set fire to her clothing with a kerosene lamp, and before her cries of agony from her burns roused the Gress girl, who was sleeping there, she was so fearfully burned from heat to foot that she died that evening from them. Mrs. Staadt was nearly 83 years of age and had been in a demented condition for some time.

Ed Carwick was harnessing a team in the Tuller barn near by when the cry for help was given, and in extinguishing the flames burned his hands in a fearful manner.

Mrs. Staadt, whose maiden name was Michels, was born in Holendohl, Germany, Feb. 10, 1830, and died at her home in Postville, Iowa, about nine o'clock Tuesday evening, Nov. 26, 1912, aged 82 years, 9 months and 17 days.

In 1848, with her parents, she landed in New York, and later went to Milwaukee, Wis. She was married to Warden Tuller in Prairie du Chien, June 5, 1857. To this union were born three children, two of whom died. After their marriage they lived near Postville. In 1876 Mr. Tuller died.

May 6, 1884, she married her brotherinlaw, Edward Staadt. He died on Sept. 2, 1892, since which time she has resided in Postville.
She is survived by a son, Frank W. Tuller, and a sister, Mrs. Peter Welch of Hardy, Neb.

The funeral was held form the Lutheran church at 2:30 this afternoon. Interment in Postville cemetery.

~Postville Review
9 Feb. 1912
P 5 C 3

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Additional information added by Connie Ellis (a Dresser family researcher), on April 12, 2012:

John Frederick Staadt was the son of Edward Staadt and Johanna “Hannah” Michels, sister of Mary Michels. In the memoirs of John Frederick Staadt, he refers to his maternal grandparents, Grandpa and Grandma Michels. They came from Germany about 1840, a journey of 103 days. Grandpa Michels was much older than the Grandmother and he was always homesick for his homeland of Germany. Grandpa and Grandma Michels are never named, however, when John Frederick Staadt was born, it was suggested that he be given the name of his grandfather – the grandfather resisted the idea at first but the next day decided that it might be pleasant to have a namesake – so the little baby boy of Edward and Hannah (Michels) Staadt was named “John Frederick Peter Staadt”. After the little boy was older, he dropped the name of Peter and went by John Frederick Staadt.

Upon arrival in the United States, the Michels family settled in Wisconsin, where Milwaukee is and then later moved to Dubuque, Iowa where they operated a boarding house. They later traded the boarding house for eighty acres of land near Postville, Iowa. Grandfather Michels and his five daughters cut enough fence rails to fence all of the acres. Grandpa Michels was past eighty years of age when they cut the fence rails. The Michels family had two sons who died in infancy and the names of the girls were Mary, Anne, Elizabeth, Christiana, and Hannah.

~Source: “Memoirs of John Frederick Staadt” written in 1955 when he was almost 91 years of age.

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Added by Richard O'Brien 10/19/2012:

She is buried in the Postville cemetery as Mary Tuller.