Obituary of Josephine (ROCQUE) EBERSOLD (b.1847 d.1932) Wabasha, MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Dale E. Ebersold ========================================================================= COUNTY HERALD-STAR [WABASHA COUNTY'S LEADING NEWSPAPER] Wabasha, Minnesota, Thursday, April 28, 1932 DEATH CLAIMS WABASHA'S LAST NATIVE WOMAN [Mrs. Charles Ebersold, 85, Succumbs Early Thursday] The death of Mrs. Charles Ebersold occurred at her home in this city [last] Thursday morning, April 21, at 1a.m. following a two months illness with asthma and complications due to her advanced years. Josephine Rocque Ebersold was closely connected with the very earliest traditions and history of this vicinity. She was born in Wabasha in the year of 1847, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Rocque who settled here in 1832, coming from Prairie du Chien. Joseph Rocque, in turn, was the son of Augustine Rocque who was one of the very first fur traders and explorers of this territory. The early history of Wabash gives the date of 1816 as being the year that Augustine Rocque first built a trading post somewhere below the foot of Lake Pepin. He also had various posts in the Upper Mississippi region, but in 1826 he established a post at Wabasha, where he spent the remainder of his life. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Rocque settled on a tract of land, which comprises the southeastern part of Wabasha, known as Rocque's Addition. The subject of this sketch was born on the plot which now is occupied by the Fred Hopkins house. Her childhood was spent in Wabasha, which was then a wilderness, inhabited largely by Indians. Her father donated to St. Felix parish, the original plot of land of St. Felix Cemetery. When Josephine was still a young girl the family moved to Buffalo County, and it was while there she met and was married to Charles Ebersold, a native of Switzerland, on May 15, 1870. The couple settled on Mr. Ebersold's farm in the town of Alma, where they lived for about 50 years, eventually retiring and removing to Wabasha some 15 years ago [1907]. Mrs. Ebersold was known to all her friends as a good woman, kind, industrious, and an exemplary housewife and mother. She is survived by her husband and six children as follows: Mrs. C. Wiegele, Mrs. G. Blatter and Mrs. Carl Loechler of Wabasha, Mrs. H. J. Niehaus of La Crosse, Rudolph and August Ebersold of Alma. Mrs. Ebersold also leaves 37 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. Five children preceded her in death. The funeral was held from the St. Felix Church at 9 o'clock Saturday morning, Rev. Fr. Batholome conducting the services. Six grandchildren acted as pallbearers. Burial was in St. Felix Cemetery. The last rites were very largely attended by relatives and friends. Relatives here for the funeral were the children and their families and Mrs. Margaret McCellan and son, Marion, of Nelson [WI], Mr. and Mrs. A. J. McDonough and children of Minneapolis, Mrs. Anna Ebersold and son, Earl, of St. Paul, Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Bowden of Minneapolis, and H. J. Niehaus of La Crosse. Friends of the deceased who were here from out-of-town include a large number from Alma [WI] as follows; Armon Accola, Mrs. Emma Kindschi, Mr. and Mrs. John Accola and son, Melvin, Mr. and Mrs. Mike Katipolt, Mrs. Ursurla Lehman, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lehman, Ulrich and Peter Wold, Martin and Margaret Obricht, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Huber, William Haase and Mrs. Lloyd Bernet. Also Mrs. Ida McCabe, Ray Bernet, Mrs. Josephine Alleman, Mrs. Liesch, Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Mueller, John Wold, Paul and Matt Conzewtt, Charles Schroeder, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Zerzow, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Zerzow and Fred Grob, all of Alma. Also Jacob Branger and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Accola of Mondovi [WI], Mr. and Mrs. Christ Thoeney, Mr. and Ms. Herman Markey, Mrs. George Gross, Mrs. Christ Jost, Mrs. Ben Larson, Christ Castleberg, Larry Kennedy and Mrs. Sebastian Katipolt, all of Nelson [WI], and Mrs. Arnold Braim of Lincoln, Wis. [Note: Her headstone can be found next to that of her mother's, Magdalena Robinson Rocque, in the St. Felix Cemetery]