Brown County MN Archives Biographies.....Ochs, J. Anton 1870 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 23, 2014, 7:38 pm Source: See Below Author: L. A. Fritsche J. ANTON OCHS. J. Anton Ochs, proprietor of the popular "Bee Hive" dry goods store at New Ulm and one of the best-known and most enterprising merchants in this part of Minnesota, is a native son of Brown county, having been born at New Ulm, where he now resides, on July 5, 1870, son of Anton and Walburga (Drexler) Ochs, both natives of Wurtemberg, Germany, pioneers of this county, both of whom spent their last days in New Ulm. The father of the senior Anton Ochs was a small farmer and both he and his wife lived and died in the old country. Walburga Drexler's father was owner of a livery barn and a small farm in the old country. His wife had died and when his daughter and her husband came to this country he accompanied them and died soon thereafter in New York, he then being upward of seventy years of age. It was in 1851, two years after their marriage, that Anton Ochs and his wife came to the United States. For several years they made their home near Buffalo, New York. They came to Minnesota in the spring of 1856 and pre-empted a farm six miles west of where the town of New Ulm was then located, which farm Mr. Ochs worked until the Indian outbreak in August, 1862. During those trying days he joined the company of Captain Steinhauser and was one of the defenders of New Ulm until relief came. He then removed to St. Paul with his family, but returned to New Ulm a year later and engaged in the mason-contracting business until he retired in 1890. He spent his declining years in New Ulm, one of the best-known men in that city. He died in 1902, at the age of seventy-seven years, and his widow died in the following year, 1903, she being seventy-three at the time of her death. Anton Ochs and his wife were earnest members of the Catholic church and their children were reared in that faith. There were twelve of these children who grew to maturity, as follow: Cecelia, widow of Louis Schilling, of New Ulm; Rose, wife of John Manderfeld, of New Ulm; A. C. Casimir, of Springfield, this county; Rudolph, of LeSueur, this state; Mary, wife of Emanuel Schotzko, of St. Peter, in the neighboring county of Nicollet; William of New Ulm; Ida unmarried, who also lives in New Ulm; J. Anton, the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Albert, of Faribault, this state; Louis, of Canby, this state; Matilda, wife of Edward Baer, of New Ulm and Otto, of Rochester, this state. J. Anton Ochs received his education in the parochial schools at New Ulm and early entered upon a commercial career, beginning as a clerk in a store in that city, thus becoming thoroughly grounded in the principles of merchandising. His father was only a fairly well-to-do man and as there were so many children in the family he had to rely from the very start of his career upon his own efforts as a means of earning a proper support. In 1888 J. Anton Ochs went to Faribault, where he presently engaged in business in partnership with his elder brother, William, who then was a teacher in the state school for the deaf, and this partnership continued for a number of years, the brothers gradually extending their business until they had stores in Faribault, Rochester and New Ulm. J. Anton Ochs remained at Faribault for about fourteen years, at the end of which time he returned to New Ulm and established his present "Bee Hive" store and has been thus engaged ever since, haring built up a very flourishing business in general dry goods and women's ready-to-wear garments. Starting with practically nothing but a fine taste for the dry goods business and some practical experience in that line, he has prospered largely, as he deserves to prosper, and may very properly be referred to as a "self-made" man, in all that often abused term implies. On September 16, 1896, J. Anton Ochs was united in marriage to Emma Thielmane, who was born at Faribault, this state, October 8, 1874, daughter of Leonard and Leo Cadie (Joachim) Thielmane, both natives of Belgium, who became residents of this section of Minnesota in the early days of settlement hereabout. Leonard Thielmane was born at Grande Hallet, Belgium, November 3, 1839, son of Leonard and Therese (Le Beau) Thielmane, the former a mason contractor, who were the parents of eight children, Leonard, Marie Therese, Rosalie, Lambertine, Charles, Arnold, Louis and Julia. In the early sixties the junior Leonard Thielmane and his brother, Louis, came to America and in 1865, Leonard Thielmane located at Faribault, this state, where he married Leo Cadie Joachim who was born at Thieuises, Belgium, October 11, 1849, and who was but eight years old when she came to this country with her parents, Dieu Donne and Marie Barbe (Charie) Joachim, from Thieuises, the family settling in 1857 in Rice county, this state, near the then rapidly growing village of Faribault. Dieu Donne Joachim and his wife were the parents of seven children, Louis, Joseph, Charles, Rosalie, Mary, Josephine and Leo Cadie. To Leonard Thielmane and wife five children were born, Dieu Donne, Leonard, Ellen, Emma and Edward. Mrs. Thielmane died on July 10, 1900, and Mr. Thielmane, who still survives, now makes his home in New Ulm. To J. Anton and Emma (Thielmane) Ochs five children have been born, namely: Ferdinand A., born on October 21, 1897; Ellen N., August 16, 1899; Anton J., April 13, 1901; Irene L., December 26, 1906, and Imelda, November 20, 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Ochs are members of the Catholic church and take a warm interest in all good works in and about New Ulm, being held in high regard by their many friends hereabout. Mr. Ochs is a member of the Knights of Columbus; of the St. Joseph Society and of the Catholic Order of Foresters, in the affairs of which several organizations he takes an active interest. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY MINNESOTA ITS PEOPLE, INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS L. A. FRITSCHE. M. D. Editor With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families VOLUME II B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY, Inc. 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