The Mill at Boulaide, Luxembourg, and the SCHLEICH, SPARTZ, SCHULLER, BIERCHEN, MICHELAU, and NILLES Families

L'Histoire du Moulin de Boulaide (L) et ses familles.

Die Geschichte der Bauschleidener Mühle (L) und ihre Familien.

"Picturesque Countryside around the Mill at Boulaide" looking southeast showing the bridge after it was rebuilt in 1949.
The barn is blocking part of the mill house. The smaller building behind it was already a ruin.
The land to the right is in the Commune of Bigonville.

Overview

My grandmother Mary Bierchen died in Chicago in 1966. She was born Marie Schuller at an old flour mill in a quiet corner of Luxembourg. Her sister Margaret Michelau shared her beginnings. I never spoke to her about the mill, her childhood, or her relatives over there. In fact I think she was relieved to be away from that hard life. In later years I built up a curiousity about these things, and some mental images, and I began to gather stories and bits of information about family relationships. By the time I finally devoted serious attention to it, most of the older relatives were gone. But I followed each lead and eventually ended up with so much information that it didn't seem right to keep it all to myself. Odd facts began to corroborate each other and lead in new directions. I knew there was a story to tell, and people who would want to hear it. Maybe others could add to it.

Until the Internet came along, research was laborious.  Nowadays a network of researchers is available who are studying their own family histories and uncovering information that fits into the work being done by others. It amazes me how an isolated fact can lead in some unknown direction.

My grandmother had an array of relatives that we knew nothing about. Then there's the mill itself, a fascinating spot with a rich history. There is no way to separate the mill from its people, since they influenced each other. My grandmother's family lived in that building for 80 years. So this is the story of the mill, hundreds of years old, and the stream of people who lived and died there or who crossed the ocean to find a new life.

A note on names

In the official acts in Europe the same person might be referred to as “Pierre” or “Peter”, “Friedrich” or “Frederic”, “Jean” or “Johann,” “Nicolas” or “Nikolaus”, depending on which town is involved, or on the native language of the clerk who makes the record, or on the vicissitudes of governments.  The tiny country of Luxembourg was conquered and influenced by a succession of powerful neighbors. Katherina Hoschet and Catherine Hoschette are the same person.  More confusing than personal names are place names.  Sometimes there are three versions. The town called Boulaide is also known as Bauschleiden in German, although Baschleiden is a separate village just to the north) and Bauschelt in the Lëtzebuergesch language.  It was named for the Busleyden (Buysleyden) family who were prominent in history. Bigonville is the same place as Bondorf. Harlange is Harlingen. Aachen is also known as Aix-la-Chapelle, and Fels is also called Feels and Larochette. This is not the fault of either group, but a result of centuries of local custom, and a consequence of how certain sounds fit into the patterns of speech. Record-keeping practices changed as governments changed. For more on place-names in Luxembourg, see http://www.rootsweb.com/~luxwgw/gerfren.htm or http://www.igd-leo.lu/igd-leo/onomastics/villages/villages.html . Generally in the western part of Luxembourg French is more common, but the situation is very complicated. But there doesn't seem to be any linguistic animosity as there is in Belgium. People switch back and forth seamlessly. For an article on the precarious but pragmatic linguistic balance that has been achieved in the country today, see articles like http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/lingua.html . The Lëtzebuergesch language also overlaps into Belgium and France, with some 30,000 speakers each, and less so into Germany.

The location of the mill

In the foothills of the Ardennes Mountains of northwestern Luxembourg only 2 kilometers from the Belgian border stands an old flour mill. The mill faces an old arched stone bridge, used today as a footbridge on what is now a hiking path.

There is a high road, but this winding wagon-road was at one time a principal route. Coming from Boulaide, the switchback road rides a ridge, then drops fast into the valley. At the millsite the narrow gravel surface ends by the bridge, but the “Upper Sûre Trail,” as it’s called, after crossing the bridge, levels off and stays fairly flat and parallel to the Sûre River (Sauer in German, Sour in English, probably owing to the tannic nature of the water) for some distance to the mill at Bigonville. The Trail is 42 km in total length and is part of a system of 19 National Footpaths in Luxembourg which in turn form part of a vast network of trails throughout Europe.  The river rises in Belgium and at Martelange (Martelingen), begins skirting the border for a time, then crosses into Luxembourg flowing east. It makes a loop to the north here and the mill is located at the tip of the loop, but the water flows generally east across Luxembourg and then into the Moselle (Mosel) which continues to the Rhine at Koblenz, Germany. Boulaide and Bigonville are both situated on hilltops, north and south of the Sûre. The deep valley, almost 450 feet below the elevation of Boulaide, was a factor in various deaths! I'll explain.

Map 1. The Upper Sûre Park surrounds the man-made lake east of Boulaide.

Map 2. The rectangle corresponds to map 3 below. Note the little piece of Belgium.

Map 3. The Sûre River is shown in aqua and the roads are in dark blue. Adapted from maporama.com.
The old road connecting the mills at Boulaide and Bigonville does not show up here.

Map 4. This WWII US Army map shows both mills (Mln.) and the old road which is now just a hiking trail. Bigonville is a little further south.

Early history of the mill

The Bauscheltermühle was built in the Middle Ages. It's mentioned in the land register of the counts of Luxembourg during the years 1317-1322. Another mention of the mill and the bridge in the local annals was in 1622 when the villagers petitioned for the "repair and building of the bridge and the mill" which took place thereafter. The location was perfect. The bridge was built at a narrow spot in the river. The citizens supplied 3000 sticks, 13 cart-loads of timbers, 150 cart-loads of stones and 13 trucks of lime, and the quantity of clay soil to cover the sticks. A dike was constructed of sticks and stones and covered with dirt.  This weir caused the formation of a mill-pond, and both directed and accelerated the water into the mill race to the millwheel, which turned a large axle extending into the house where it turned the grinding wheel. This was an "undershot" mill, meaning that the blades were propelled by water running in a race, rather than pouring over the blades from above as in an "overshot" mill.  The grain was poured by the sackful into a hopper mounted above, and pulverized between the rough rotating stone and the stationary horizontal stone.

I have heard from more than one source that the mill was actually visited by the royal family on numerous occasions, but I would love to have some evidence of it.

The mill was mentioned as a going concern in 1656. In 1740 the mill was operated by the REMY family. In 1754 it was in the hands of the NEUMANN family. A certain Joseph NEUMANN, who went on to became vicar at Tinnen, was born at the mill. Fr. NEUMANN directed that a man named Nicholas Klein take over the mill. It then passed to the ETTINGER family.

Until then the mill had been owned by the princes or counts, or whoever was governing the land. In 1785 a committee of inhabitants of Boulaide petitioned for it to be sold to them communally. The transaction took place, but the next year the villagers decided to sell it. Anton FELTEN of Boulaide was the first private owner. 

Even today on the side of the millhouse facing the steep hill hangs a large stone shield with a coat-of-arms depicting the Austrian double-eagle symbol and the initials M.T. for Maria Theresa, leader of the Hapsburg Empire which ruled a big part of Europe including Luxembourg from 1715-1795, a period of stability. The shield had formerly been located beside the door of the mill, facing the bridge, under a gable. It was probably there as a sign of tribute to the Empress

By 1820 Pierre GOEREND (GOERENS), Mr FELTEN's son-in-law, owned it. He and four other local millers (from Martelingen, Bondorf, Bilsdorf, and a town in Belgium, staged a protest that year against the establishment of a new oil and flour mill at Martelinville, just a little upriver. GOERENS held the mill through the 1820s. His daughter Marguerite GOERES married Mathias MERSCH in 1821 and their seven children were born there.  Matthias GOERENS died there in 1830

Typically there was more than one family at the mill at a given time. Their livelihood was derived from shares of the flour they milled. The townspeople brought grain to the mill to be milled, in exchange for food or whatever other goods and services they produced. It was a barter system requiring little cash. Millers didn't always enjoy a good reputation, often being suspected of keeping some flour from their clients.

Although Luxembourg is today one of the most prosperous countries in Europe, a hundred years ago it was an impoverished land. Some of the privations people suffered might be evident in the events depicted here, and help to explain why so many Europeans were leaving for the New World where the West was opening up and reports abounded of fertile soils and unlimited opportunities for a better life. Some 70,000 Luxembourgers left their homeland for the Midwest. The hard times in Luxembourg continued until after World War 2. For example Boulaide's 1850 population of 1420 inhabitants diminished to 560 by the year1988, but as of 2002 prosperity has returned and the population has rebounded to 790 souls.

Some time after the death of GOERENS, Jean SCHLEICH, the son of  Friedrich SCHLEICH and Katherina HOSCHET from Büderscheid, moved to Boulaide and bought the mill.

SCHLEICH-HOSCHETTE family background

About 15 kilometers to the east, further down the Sûre River, lies the village of Büderscheid.  The town's mill was owned by the KREMER family. Friedrich SCHLEICH, born about 1709 in Goesdorf, came to Büderscheid. (His father was Johann SCHLEICH of Goesdorf, born between 1662-1672 and married sometime between 1692-1702.) On Jan 9 1735, Friedrich married Catherina KREMER, who was born Jun 25, 1717 in Büderscheid and died Mar 3, 1793 in Büderscheid. Friedrich was known to be living in the "miller's house" in 1737 so we think he moved in upon marrying the daughter of the family and became the miller. Friedrich died on Oct 21, 1765. (This early Schleich information is thanks to Rob Deltgen at http://www.deltgen.com/aindex.html who has an extensive Luxembourg genealogy website with ties to the SCHLEICHs, the SCHULLERs, and the MICHELAUs)

Friedrich and Catherina (SCHLEICH-KREMER) had a son Johann Friedrich SCHLEICH, born Dec 14, 1736 in Büderscheid , died Jan 12, 1786 in Büderscheid, who married Elisabeth LUTGEN (also given as Elisabeth Lutgen FATZ) from Eschweiler on Jan 21, 1759. Elisabeth died giving birth to their first child Friedrich SCHLEICH on Feb 25, 1760. But he lived. Friedrich married Katherina HOSCHET (a.k.a. Cathérine HOSCHETTE) and died on Jun 19, 1829. It seems that both of these generations worked as millers at Büderscheid. Katherina HOSCHET was born about 1761 in Wahl and died Oct 30, 1817 in Büderscheid. Her parents were Franciski HOSCHET and Margaretha FELLINGER.  

According to an old book, Fridericus (now we have the Latin version of his name) SCHLEICH of Bockholtz was judge of the county of Esch-sur-Sûre.  He petitioned to build a mill on the Sûre at Bockholtz, just outside of Goesdorf, in 1762. Note that there are several Friedrich SCHLEICHs in this story and I'm not clear whether the Bockholtz mill was built by the father or the son.

The actual mill still exists and can be seen at http://www.luxalbum.com/communes/wiltz/goesdorf/bockholtz-moulin1.htm, a website that has pictures of every town in Luxembourg and now features topographic maps of them. The mill still has some of its old equipment but nothing is in working order.

Friedrich and Katherina (SCHLEICH-HOSCHET) had a large family at the mill even though the births are recorded at Büderscheid:

1. Catherina SCHLEICH (Oct 23 1783- Jan 27 1853) m Pierre CLEER in 1805. They had 9 children of whom one, Elisabeth CLEER, born 1820, died in 1893 in Earling Iowa.
2. Margaretha SCHLEICH (Oct 25 1784- May 31 1788)
3. Frantz (François) SCHLEICH (Nov 10 1785- Mar 4 1832) m Anna Catherine GOERES. They had 3 children in Büderscheid.
4. Gaspard SCHLEICH (Jan 9 1786-Mar 10 1855 in Roullingen.) He married Susanne THILGES (2 sons) and then Elisabeth OESTREICHER (3 sons, 1 daughter).
5. Jean SCHLEICH  born Jun 12 1787. He married Ann Marie SCHAUL (b May 17 1792 in Arsdorf) on Feb 2 1819, in Arsdorf, and they lived there.
6. Margaretha SCHLEICH Sep 10 1789
7. Jean SCHLEICH (Mar 21 1791- Jul 30 1847 in Boulaide) m Barbara HANSEN of Boulaide. They bought the mill in Boulaide and their story continues in the next section.
8. Catherina SCHLEICH Mar 15 1794
9. Anna Maria SCHLEICH (Oct 27 1795- Mar 20 1867 in Luxembourg City) m Peter WEIS. They had  17  children and incidentally, two of the them later came to the US. One, Nicholas WEIS (changed to WISE), 1827-1902, fought and was wounded in the Civil War in 1864, and later had the honor of guarding Lincoln’s body as it lay in state in the Capitol Building.  He and his brother Paul both lived and raised large families in New York.
10. Margaretha SCHLEICH (Mar 6 1797-Jan 3 1838 Boulaide) m Nicolas NEY or NEU (Jul 3 1798 Boulaide- Apr 15 1856 Boulaide) on Jan 18 1826 in Boulaide.  They did not live at the mill. They had one daughter Susanne NEY (1829- 1880) born in Boulaide.
11. Elisabeth SCHLEICH (Sep 15 1799- ?) m Martin MERSCH of  Büderscheid. Two children.
12. Cornelius SCHLEICH (Oct 15 1800- Mar 25 1848) m Anna Maria SCHAULS. They had a daughter Elizabeth SCHLEICH, (1829-1911 m Karl SCHAULS) and a son Jean SCHLEICH, 1832-?. Anna Maria died soon after, and then Cornelius married Anne Marie KIMMES. They had Mathias (a.k.a. Martin) SCHLEICH (1835-1897), Frederic SCHLEICH (1838-1901), Elizabeth (a.k.a Catherine) SCHLEICH 1842-1845, and Henry SCHLEICH (1847-?).  The first Elizabeth, as well as Mathias, Frederic, and Henry, all settled in the Luxembourger community of Caledonia Minnesota. Frederic fought in the Civil War and was wounded at the Battle of Atlanta.)
13. Nicolas SCHLEICH (Mar 15 1802-?) m Elisabetha SCHAULS. They lived in Warnach, Tintange, Belgium and had a son Pierre SCHLEICH and daughters Marie-Cathérine 1834 and Josephine SCHLEICH 1836.

The SCHLEICH-HANSEN Family

Jean SCHLEICH (Mar 21,1791-1847) married Barbara HANSEN (Jan 4, 1799-1863) from Boulaide, daughter of  Jean Hansen and Suzanne Guilleaume on Dec 8, 1819, and took over the operation of the Boulaide mill. According to Marco NEU, a researcher descended from #8 below, Barbara was born at the mill. We don't know how Jean came to Boulaide, but his older brother Frantz had married a GOERES and I wonder if  there's some connection to the GOERENS/GOEREND family. Jean and Barbara married in Boulaide. They had the following children:

1. Frédéric SCHLEICH (Apr 25 1823- Oct 9 1889) m Gertrude BONERT from Bourscheid (Apr 9 1813) on Jan 12 1846.  See next section.
2. Jean SCHLEICH Feb 19 1825 m Anna KEMP (born Oct 3 1835 in Finsterthal, the daughter of François-Joseph KEMP, a farm laborer living at the mill as of Aug 20, 1845, when Anna's brother François was born there) on Feb 11 1861 in Boulaide. They had one daughter Marguerithe SCHLEICH born Jan 2 1864 at the mill. The family moved to Bras, Belgium and had several more children.
3. Michel SCHLEICH Aug 9 1827 m Catherine (or Clara, or Claire) SCHROEDER (born Sep 15 1831 Tintange, Belgium) on May 18 1864 in Boulaide. Their children were Marie, Antoine, Frédéric, Cathérine, and Jean SCHLEICH, born between 1865 and 1873. they lived in Tintange, Belgium.
4. Marie SCHLEICH Jan 15 1830 m Nicolas WOLLES (born July 28 1828 in Arsdorf) on May 7 1856 in Arsdorf. Marie died Feb 26, 1864 in Arsdorf. They had one child, Pierre WOLLES, born 1858, who married Susanne FRETZ.
5. Jean SCHLEICH Jun 23 1832
6. Cathérine SCHLEICH (Nov 23 1834- Oct 13 1901 in Bauschleiden), m Nikolas HILBERT (Apr 7 1825 Messancy Belgium- Apr 16 1901 Boulaide) on Feb 6 1859. The HILBERT family had 10 children in Boulaide.
7. Marie Cathérine SCHLEICH Feb 9 1839 m Johann CLEMENT. They moved to Harlingen.
8. Frédéric SCHLEICH (May 29 1841- Aug 9 1922 in Bauschleiden) m Susanne LOUTSCH (Feb 16 1840- Sep 11, 1899) on May 25, 1875. They owned a hotel in Boulaide and had two daughters. Susanne SCHLEICH (Apr 12 1878) married Théodore THYS (May 16 1879) of Boulaide on Feb 4 1902, and Josephine "Finny" SCHLEICH (Sep 27 1882) married Jean Pierre NEU (Oct 21 1888) of Baschleiden on May 30 1911.  Finny lived into the late 1970s.

The first five children were born in the village of Boulaide, but the last three were born at the mill, so perhaps they moved in between 1832 and 1834. However, there is a document showing an acquisition date of 1842. Jean SCHLEICH (born 1791) died at the mill on Jul 30, 1847. Barbara HANSEN died at the mill on Mar 28 1863.

Michel (#3) was very active in the day-to-day operation of the mill but later he lived in Tintange, Belgium, and worked the mill there, which is known today as "Moulin d'Oeil." Note that his uncle Nicolas SCHLEICH (1802) preceded him to Tintange. Although most of  the members of  the SCHLEICH-HANSEN family above were born at the mill and participated in its operation, Marie Catherine SCHLEICH (#7) married Johann CLEMENT of Harlingen and they moved there. Some of the CLEMENT children emigrated to Chicago. I studied the family and put my findings on the CLEMENT Page.

The SCHLEICH-BONERT family

Jean and Barbara's eldest son Frédéric SCHLEICH (that is, Friedrich), born in Boulaide in 1823, lived at the mill and eventually took over ownership from his father although some siblings were also involved. He died at the mill on Oct 9, 1889. On Jan 12, 1846 he married Gertrude BONERT (born Apr 9, 1813 in Bourscheid, died Mar 8, 1883 at the mill). Gertrude was born at Bourscheid and was the daughter of Georges Bonert (died Jul 22,1815 in Bourscheid) and Marie Reding (died Jun 07, 1844 in Bourscheid.)

They had the following children, all born at the mill:

1. Barbara SCHLEICH born Mar14 1847, died Mar 25 1848 at the mill, one year old. 
2. Marie SCHLEICH, born May 14 1848, died Jan 16 1905 in Baschleiden. She married Johann GENGLER on Jan 28 1874 (he was born at Baschleiden Jun 2 1846)
3. Anne-Marie SCHLEICH, born Jul 5 1849, died Apr 18 1905 at the mill. Anne-Marie married Johann Peter SPARTZ from Germany, and after he died,  Philippe SCHULLER of Bigonville.  Anne-Marie and her husbands undertook the operation of the mill.
4. Johann SCHLEICH born Jan 26 1851, died Mar 11 1858, at the mill, 7 years old.
5. Cathérine SCHLEICH born Feb 6 1853, died at Chicago, Illinois.
6. Marie-Josephine SCHLEICH, born May 23 1856.
7. Nicolas SCHLEICH born Nov 25 1857, died Jun 5 1858 at the mill, 6 months old.

Real Estate and Land Status of the Mill in the 1800s

There was a survey done in 1824 when the property was owned by Pierre Goerens. The land by the mill is divided into irregular parcels: cultivated fields, pastures, lots, shoreland, and gardens, as well as the one-acre piece containing the millhouse. The dividing line between the municipalities of Boulaide and Bigonville was the river, the lands north of the river being in the commune of Boulaide. The ownership and use of the plots changed over time and most of the records would be difficult to trace, but a couple of facts are clear.

One book mentions that "starting in 1835 several buildings were constructed at the mill for housing laborers. They number seven." Today, some ruins can still be seen.

On May 17, 1861 the mill and another 11-acre parcel of land appear to have been transferred, but not sold, to Michel SCHLEICH (the brother born in 1827.) and some partners. He is also listed as "miller" in a marriage document from February 1861.) I get the impression that the mill was an informal family business but there were attempts to structure it somehow as the families grew and diverged.

As of 1861, two parcels belonged to Michel SCHLEICH. But since there had been no assessment of the mill's ownership since 1824, on Jan 10, 1890, there were real estate transactions to "clarify hereditary conditions." Since this development followed so soon after the death of miller Frederic SCHLEICH (b 1823) on Oct 9, 1889, and since two of his brothers, three of his children and their various spouses were involved in the mill, one can see the need for clarity. Unfortunately, it's not at all clear to me how they juggled the ownership status. According to some documents, the buildings, fields, meadows, and gardens were divided up and distributed to Friedrich SCHLEICH b.1841), Jean GENGLER (husband of Marie SCHLEICH b.1848), Catherine SCHLEICH (b.1853), and Phillippe SCHULLER. Some lands went to the SCHULLERs (Bigonville parcels) and to Frederic SCHLEICH (Boulaide parcels including the mill.)

The SPARTZ and SCHULLER families

In the year 1865 the family of Jean-Pierre (or Johann Peter) SPARTZ, experienced millers from Germany, somehow came to operate the mill. J.P. SPARTZ was born in the parish of Rodershausen in Gemünd, Germany, on Sep 22, 1842 and married Anna Maria on April 20 1875. Their two children, Margarete and Christian SPARTZ, were born at the mill, in 1876 and 1877 respectively. The very next year, 1878,  J.P. SPARTZ met with an accidental death when he was crushed by his mule-wagon while returning to the mill from town on the steep road.

Another death had taken place on Feb 26, 1873. The newspaper announced that the border guard found the body of a farmer from Harlingen near the Boulaide mill in a water-filled ditch.

Things had changed for Anna Maria since before, when there were several SCHLEICH brothers to do the heavy work. In 1879 the widow was overwhelmed with farm work and two small children, and struggling to run the place. She enlisted Alexander LANNERS and his family from the mill at the village of Soller to help out. They stayed until 1882 or 1883, and their second son was born at the Boulaide mill. They returned to Syr (Surré) and bought the mill there. They kept Syr mill running until the 1970s, the last mill still operating in Luxembourg. The grandson died in March 2005.

For a time after the departure of the LANNERS family in the early 1880s Anna Maria had help from a neighboring farmer Antoine THYS. Then came Phillipp SCHULLER, who was born in 1852 in Schieren, a town just south of Ettelbrück. His family seems to have moved to Bigonville (Bondorf) some time after 1860, based on the birth dates of his siblings. Phillipp took over the operation of the Boulaide mill. In 1886 he married Anna-Maria and they had two daughters Marie and Marguerite SCHULLER, born in 1887 and 1889. Marie was my grandmother.

Philipp had a nickname "Felix." He had two brothers and two sisters about whom nothing is known, but his sister Caroline (1860-1945) was married to Henri HIRTZ, a well-known figure around Bigonville. They lived in Paris for a time and had 12 children. Two sons Johann (1887-1969) and Antoine HIRTZ (1895-1964) later moved to Saskatchewan and have many descendents there. A daughter Caroline HIRTZ (1893-1983) married George LAGARDER from Bigonville and they lived in Paris. Another son Michel ''Michy'' HIRTZ (1907-1974) did some genealogy work in the early 1960s for which I am most grateful. For much more on the SCHULLER and HIRTZ families, including some great family stories, see Val Hvidston's Schuller Family History.

Phillipp SCHULLER turned the enterprise to profit by making it more efficient.  But only a year after taking over, in 1891, he died from something like white-lung disease, as a result of  breathing too much flour-dust. He was only 38. Again Anne Marie had to turn to other millers to run things.

According to the family story, somewhat at odds with this narrative, Mr J.P. SPARTZ' well-to-do family, after his death, was able to repossess the mill by obtaining documents from Germany that somehow showed that the SPARTZ-SCHLEICH marriage was more legitimate than the SCHULLER-SCHLEICH marriage, and received a judgement in their favor. The SCHULLER girls received a meager settlement as their share, much less than the SPARTZ children.  But nothing I've seen corroborates this story.  Although the SPARTZ family ran the mill at Gemünd, Germany, the family originated in Luxembourg.

In any case, apparently Christian SPARTZ assumed the duties of miller as soon as he was old enough. Then on Feb 14, 1895 miller Christian SPARTZ saved a boy from drowning in the mill-pond, according to the newspaper. The son of the border-guard was there with some friends and he fell through the ice. On Feb 19 that same year there was a fire. The barn was destroyed in the blaze and the damages were 4000 Francs. It was insured. The fire began in the stove.

In 1898 the same two parcels that were assigned to Michel SCHLEICH in 1861 are among those owned by Friedrich SCHLEICH (born 1841). He was primarily the proprietor of the "Gasthaus Schleich," the inn in Boulaide. He was trying to help Anna-Maria out by mortgaging some of the land, but came into possession of the property when she couldn't pay him back.
 

The Sale of the Mill

On April 18, 1905, Anna Maria SCHULLER died at the age of 56.  Three months before that Marie GENGLER, their aunt and co-owner of the property, also died. Evidently this was the girls' ticket out and they made plans to leave the area permanently, as soon as they were old enough to.

Therefore on October 19 of 1905 an auction was held and the mill and its outbuildings plus about 20 other lots, fields, pastures, and other lands, were sold together for the sum of 15000 Francs. The girls, being minors, were represented by their uncle Henri HIRTZ of Bigonville, a judicially appointed guardian, with their uncle Frederic SCHLEICH, hotelier/restauranteur/barkeeper in Boulaide as co-guardian. The auction was held at his Gasthaus Schleich.

The buyers of the mill were Pierre SCHMITZ (born in Surré Apr 17, 1860) and his wife Suzanne PLIER (born Boulaide, June 10, 1873, and married Oct 9, 1900.) It's unclear to me how the proceeds of the sale were divided. Pierre SCHMITZ purchased all the land parcels at the mill.

New Life in America, and the BIERCHEN and MICHELAU families

According to the ship's records at Ellis Island New York, 18-year-old Marie SCHULLER came to Chicago first for a visit on March 21, 1906. Her name appears with Jean-Baptiste FRERES, age 20 from Harlange and Barbara SCHMITZ, age 18. Both Marie and Barbara said they were coming from Bourscheid, and both were going to see Josef SCHMITZ, Barbara's brother and Marie's cousin in Chicago. Baptiste FRERES was also traveling to Rogers Park in Chicago.

These SCHMITZ were not related, as far as we know, to the Schmitz family who bought the mill. Joseph, Barbara, and Emil SCHMITZ were born in Boulaide to Johann SCHMITZ and Katherine GENGLER. Katherine was the sister of Johann GENGLER who married Marie Schleich at the mill. Joseph (1879- 1963) and Emil (1885- 1947) SCHMITZ lived in Wheaton Illinois, while Barbara LEIS  (1888- 1977) lived in Los Angeles CA.

Marie returned to Luxembourg at some point, about 1907. Marguerite was in Paris working as a waitress or cook and saving money until she could afford steamer passage to America. It's possible that Marie was with her there, or that might have been during the time when Marie was already in the States without her sister. They had SCHULLER cousins in Paris and may have stayed with them.

Then on Feb 22, 1908, with $15 cash, Marie returned alone to Chicago for good on the ship Kroonland sailing from Antwerp. She named the home of her cousin Fritz CLEMENT in Chicago as her destination. Marguerite, now 18, followed on July 6, 1908, along with a cousin Elise NILLES, on the ship Vaterland. Marguerite mentioned her cousin Fritz GENGLER in Luxembourg City as her relative.  Elise was the daughter of  Dominique NILLES. (See The NILLES Family below.)

Fritz CLEMENT helped Marie SCHULLER to settle in America and get her start. These close cousins were instrumental in the lives of Marie and Marguerite SCHULLER, not only by helping them settle in America, but also by introducing Marguerite to her future husband John Peter MICHELAU, also of Harlange. I have moved the CLEMENT family to a separate page here.

The girls worked hard;  Marie was said to have "earned $7 (a week) and saved $5." Mary and Margaret SCHULLER, to use their Americanized names, had some interesting parallels in their lives. They were both married in1910 to men named John (BIERCHEN and MICHELAU), both bore 7 children, and both died in 1966. Mary and Margaret also named their first daughters after each other.

John and Mary BIERCHEN were married at St Henry's on Jan 12 1910. John BIERCHEN was born in Eschdorf, Luxembourg, in 1882. In May 1910, after their marriage, the BIERCHENs were living at 7461 N California Ave. in Chicago. They also spent time living in Skokie. Then in 1919, they were living around the 2200 block of Devon Ave in Rogers Park.  Around 1926 the BIERCHEN family bought the house at 1976 Devon Avenue. They had extensive greenhouses in back. The Bierchens’ house must have been a sort of welcoming center for immigrants from the old country.  They sponsored Christ SCHLEICH (see below) and other friends and relatives including two of  John BIERCHEN’s brothers. They also sponsored Mary's “mean old” aunt Catherine SCHLEICH.

I now have the pedigree chart for John and Mary BIERCHEN posted here.

They had two babies who died.  Both were named Catherine, after aunt Catherine SCHLEICH who had arrived in the US in 1911 and lived near the BIERCHENs. Catherine must be the same aunt who appears in the 1890 property transfers. The first baby Catherine died in a housefire after John BIERCHEN could not reach her. This event took place at their residence in Skokie in 1912. The second Catherine suffered a mysterious head injury while in the care of Aunt Catherine SCHLEICH who worked as the Bierchens’ housekeeper. It's believed she fell or was dropped on the floor. The baby lingered for a while and then died on June 19, 1919.

John BIERCHEN was much loved by his children and nieces, but he died of a stroke on Aug 25, 1932, at the height of the Depression, leaving Mary with a house full of kids. She managed to hold on to it by means of profits from her greenhouses and rental income from her boarders. But she did end up losing the greenhouses during that period, by being one day late with the mortgage payment on account of a blizzard.

Mary Bierchen and Margaret Michelau about 1945

Margaret's husband John MICHELAU came from Luxembourg in 1901. John MICHELAU's brother Peter had married Margaret's cousin Anni CLEMENT. They were both from Harlingen and actually sailed to the US on the same ship. Later they were surprised when they met again in Chicago. There were 12 MICHELAU children of whom six came to the US. John and three brothers settled in Chicago, and two went on to Minnesota. John and Margaret lived on Dempster Street in Niles Center (Skokie) Illinois and then on a farm in Grayslake. The farmhouse still stands, surrounded by new subdivisions, and is occupied by their son Benny (Fred Benedict MICHELAU who was named after Fred CLEMENT).  John MICHELAU died accidentally on Nov 25, 1952.

For more information on these families, please see my webpages :  the MICHELAU page and the BIERCHEN page. The BIERCHEN and MICHELAU children are tabulated below :

Meanwhile back in Luxembourg...

Mary and Margaret's half-sister Margarete SPARTZ (1876-1935) and half-brother Christian SPARTZ (1877-1948) stayed in Luxembourg.

Christian SPARTZ (b Oct 10 1877 at the mill), according to family legend, accompanied his half-sisters to America but didn't like it there himself. He then returned to Luxembourg. I have heard this from numerous sources but I can't find any record of it.

Christian SPARTZ married Catherine BONERT (b Dec 10 1878 in Kehmen but living in Bourscheid) on May 11, 1910 in Winseler near Wiltz. It's virtually certain that Catherine was the granddaughter of Johann Bernard BONERT, who was a brother of Gertrude BONERT (see Schleich-Bonert Family above.) Catherine's older brother Jacques BONERT (b 1872 in Kehmen) had moved to the town of Schleif in 1905 and bought a farm. After the auction sale of the Boulaide mill Christian and Catherine moved to Schleif and in 1911 they bought a large part of Jacques' farm from him.  They had two sons who died young, Edouard SPARTZ (1911-1911) and Jacques SPARTZ (1914-1920). At the time Catherine died in 1941 they were living in Doncols. Christian SPARTZ died on Sep 4 1948 at the home of Emile NILLES in Ospern where he was staying (see The NILLES Family below.)

Margarete SPARTZ married a man named Nickolaus SCHLEICH (Aug 13, 1870 - Mar 4,1903) on Aug 23, 1894. Remember her mother's maiden name was also SCHLEICH.  He was a distant relative of hers. Nicolaus was born at Böllerbuch in Boulaide, the son of Peter SCHLEICH and Katherina WEINTZEN, and grandson of Gaspard SCHLEICH and Elisabeth OESTREICHER, see above. He had a sister Elisabeth (b 1872, married Guillaume LINSTER in 1891) and twin brothers Guillaume (born 1874, m Anna DAX in 1895) and Jean (born 1874, m Marg. SCHROEDER then Marie DRAUDEN in 1903) of Ettelbrück.

Margarete SPARTZ's family is complicated and has been hard to trace but what follows is probably accurate. Nickolaus and Margarete lived at the Boulaide mill, but before 1902 they left and moved to the village. They bought the house called "Auf der Lann" in Boulaide. Their children were:

1. Elizabeth SCHLEICH (Jan 4 1895-Jun 21 1945) moved to Chicago around 1914 and married Peter TRES (Jul 29 1895- Jun 1966) perhaps in 1927. She worked as a dental nurse and was the godmother of Elizabeth "Elsie" BIERCHEN (GORDON, born 1916) and Elizabeth "Lee" MICHELAU (HAJDUK, born 1920) mentioned in the table above.
2. Marie SCHLEICH (Oct 31 1896-1944) married Christian Nicolas Eugene BOUCHARD (Dec 26 1894 Kehlen- Feb 5 1977 Hollerich) in Luxembourg City on Feb 23, 1916, and had three daughters, Germaine (Marcel) WIRTZ, Yvonne (Bernard) LUX, and Marcelle (Eugene) LUX of Indiana.  Bernard and Eugene were brothers.
3. Christian ("Christ") SCHLEICH (Oct 22 1898-Jan 26 1978) was the last one definitely born at the mill.  In Bonneweg (or Hollerich) on November 21, 1920, he married Mary Müller from Echternach (1897-Jul 27 1972). They took a honeymoon trip to the US and liked what they saw. They moved to Chicago on January 5,1921. He listed his occupation as coachbuilder. For his first job in the new country, he worked at his aunt Mary BIERCHEN's greenhouses on Devon Avenue in Chicago. From about 1928 till 1948 he owned the Chicago Ready Mix Company on 63rd Street. The business prospered and they eventually sold it and retired to Channel Lake in Antioch IL about 1963. They had no children. They frequently hosted relatives from Luxembourg and took about 7 trips there, where they were well-known. Christ was active in the Luxembourg Brotherhood of America and was the president of the Luxembourg-American Social Club from about 1961 until about 1967.  He is said to have brought great honor to his country of birth and he never failed to visit the mill on his trips to Boulaide.  He was very close to his godmother Finny NEU. His wife Mary was quite sick beginning about 1963 and died in Rochester Minnesota in 1972. His niece Germaine WIRTZ stayed with him for a year around 1977, then moved back to Luxembourg,
   
4. Anne Marie SCHLEICH (Nov 18 1900-May 13 1901)
   
5. Theodore SCHLEICH (born auf der Lann in Boulaide on May 1 1902, died 1959 of cancer) married Marie "Manny" LUDOVICY (about 1907) and stayed in Luxembourg.  Their daughter's name is Laure.

Nickolaus SCHLEICH died in 1903 when he had an accident on the ice and was dragged by his horse.

The NILLES family

On Jan 19, 1910 Margarete married Dominik NILLES (Jun 8 1853 Koetschette- Oct 17 1918 Boulaide).  He was the son of Gaspar NILLES and Catherine REUTER.  He had previously (Mar 6 1883) married Susanne SCHARTZ (Oct 18 1863- Aug 25 1900) The children of Dominik NILLES and Susanne SCHARTZ were:

1. Marie NILLES (Nov 30 1883- Mar1 1946) m Anton Miller who was also from Boulaide.  They lived in Chicago.
2. Henri (May 15 1886-?) emigrated to US in 1921 and lived in Chicago
3. Elise NILLES (1888- May 23 1975) emigrated to Chicago in 1921
4. Jean (Mar 10 1891-?)
5. Michel (Mar 14 1893) lived in Bascharage, Luxembourg.
6. Gaspard (May 11 1895-?) 
7. Jean Joseph (1897-?)

At least some of these seven were born in Boulaide. When Marguerite SCHULLER came to Chicago with Elise NILLES in 1908, Elise's friend Anton MILLER from Boulaide, a saddlemaker, (his father Michel was a teacher in Boulaide), was on board the ship with them. They all arrived at Ellis Island on July 6, 1908 headed for Chicago. According to a newspaper account of July 21, the three (Anton MILLER, Margreth SCHULLER, and "Lucie" NILLES) arrived in Chicago and had plans to stay.  Elise married Peter Michels, born 1889, from Schrondweiler, Luxembourg. They had greenhouses too. Their children were Jesse and Edwin.

In November 1909 Marie NILLES arrived in Chicago. She married Anton MILLER in 1911. The MILLER children, all born in Chicago, were Nicadem (1911-1969), Peter (1912-1928), Harry (1913-1913), Elsie (1916-), Adele (1920-), and Eugene (1922-1947). For more on the MILLER family history including pictures, see Scott Plencner's webpage at www.splencner.com/family

After their mother Susanna died and they came of age, Marie and Elise NILLES came to the US. Dominik then married Margarete SPARTZ/SCHLEICH on Jan 19, 1910. On the 1908 ship's record, Elise NILLES listed Marie SCHULLER as her cousin although technically Elise was my grandmother's half-sister's step-daughter.

Dominik NILLES and Margarete were married on Jan 19, 1910. Even though they both had children from previous marriages, some of whom were grown up by then, Dominik and Margarete NILLES had four children of their own:

1. Mathias NILLES (1911?- Dec1981) m Emma HAUPERT (1911?-  Dec 24 2004) was a blacksmith in Differdange. 
2. Joseph NILLES (Apr 27 1912- Jul 18 1978) m Marie ROILGEN (Sep 14 1921-) was a butcher in Differdange.
3. Anna NILLES was a seamstress in Ospern. She married a SALENTINY but died at age 48.
4. Emile NILLES (Oct 25, 1918- Jan 10 1991) m Barbe SALENTINY (Feb 18 1919- Jan 26 1987) They were farmers and they lived in Ospern where Barbe originated. As mentioned above, Christian Spartz died at their house in 1948. 

Dominik NILLES died seven days before the birth of his son Emile in 1918. The blended families were raised together and remained close. Margarete died Jan 31 1933 after a brief illness.


The Operation of the Mill

In the 1800s most of the work done at the mill was by hand, and it was barely profitable. When Pierre SCHMITZ took over he made many improvements. He had a system for picking up sacks of grain and delivering the flour and meal to farmers in the surrounding villages. They had a device at the road to signal him for a pick-up. He kept elaborate records for all the transactions. At first he made the deliveries himself, but later his workers did that part. He milled rye, wheat, and barley. He also carried straw and hay. He had six horses: four for pulling the wagons to the villages, and two for working in his fields.

In 1918 the miller SCHMITZ was caught by the belt-pulley of a farming machine and broke his left arm. That same year his younger daughter Therese, age 17, succumbed to the Spanish Flu.

In 1920 Mr. SCHMITZ drew plans to enlarge the house. He spent the years 1921-24 combining two of the buildings into the large house now standing and completely renovating the premises.

He built a small balcony on the upper floor with a pulley in its roof.  This arrangement allowed him to hoist sacks of grain from a wagon parked on the ground to the first floor so it could be poured through a trap-door into the hopper of the millwheel below. Other objects could also be lifted up to any floor in the same way.

He put in a water-powered generator and used the power for lights. He connected a power take-off shaft from the millwheel to a machine outside for flaying grain, and to a small sawmill. In the picture below the millstone in the foreground was for animal feed, while the larger stone to the left was for grinding bread-flour. There was a trap-door above the hopper  for pouring in grain. The large belt was for lifting the upper stone for maintenance. At the other end of the room he had a woodworking shop and a small forge for making horse-shoes.

Picture of the actual interior of the Boulaide Mill.  All this equipment was removed years ago.

Boulaide and the mill in recent times

Plans for renovation in 1920. Mr Schmitz combined two buildings to form the larger millhouse. During the work the coat-of-arms was found on the wall.

In later years the mill-stone was removed and the land and buildings continued to be used as a farm. SCHMITZ's surviving child Alice-Catherine lived there with her husband Eugene PERRAD who came from the flour mill at Rahimont, Belgium.  Their two children, Benoit and Marie-Anne PERRAD, grew up at the mill and after their father's death in 1974 they sold the property. The next owner Mr PUJOL was a French businessman who thought about making the mill into a picnic area.

Next came a businessman Mr RIDLEY who bought the mill for a summer home but got lung-disease ("consumption"). The mill passed to his daughter Agnes who lived in Arlon, Belgium. In the year 2002 the mill was sold to a new owner who is making repairs and plans to use the mill-wheel to generate electricity for his use. Since the property is now located in a National Park, there are restrictions on changing the exterior of the buildings. The mill today is primarily a landmark on the hiking trail.

The mill today, barn on left behind the blue tent.

In WWII, when the Germans occupied the area, they confiscated all documents. At the Boulaide mill Mrs PERRAD had the foresight to hide the deeds, surveys, records, and purchase receipts behind a window shutter and was able to preserve them. The German troops destroyed the bridge at the mill but it was rebuilt in 1949.

Boulaide and Bigonville were swept up in the Battle of the Bulge.  Bigonville became an unexpected hotspot on the march to Bastogne during the  (Dec 16 1944- Jan 18 1945) (4th Armored Division, Dec. 23-24.) Much of the town was destroyed. For a description of the battle in Bigonville, see http://www.bigonville.com/. Downstream from the mill on a high hill overlooking the river, the Germans had an artillery position set up but fortunately the Boulaide mill was not within view of it.

Bigonville has both a Memorial to the 4th Armored Division and a newly erected Monument dedicated to the 9th USAF.

On Dec 27 the 35th churned through knee-deep snow and attacked boldly across the Sûre. The 137th Inf trucked across the bridge at Tintange and drove German outposts of the German Parachute Division from the village of Surré. While the Germans were dug in in defensive positions on a series of hills just above the Sure south of Boulaide, the 320th Inf also crossed the Sûre--one company had to wade the icy river on foot--and took Boulaide and Baschleiden without casualties. All together nine villages were liberated that day. The American bombing caused significant damage in Boulaide. Fifty-two rounds fired on enemy traffic in and around Boulaide were observed to be 100 percent effective in routing the Germans. US forces in the Boulaide area immobilized two tanks, destroyed one vehicle, and scored direct hits on houses around which enemy movements had been observed. The school was destroyed as were the town's vital records (but backup records were kept elsewhere.) Also, an American four-engine plane crashed north of the village. The pilots bailed out and the plane circled for some time before coming down.

Later Boulaide erected a Memorial to the 35th Infantry Division. Boulaide today is a placid agricultural area known for recreational opportunities. There are tourist cabins, fishing and boating in the near-by Upper Sûre Lake, hiking and motorcycling on the trails. The man-made and reservoir extends down to Esch-sur-Sûre.

Boulaide today looking north.  Baschleiden is in the center distance. 

Links cited above or otherwise worth a visit

Further information wanted! This is obviously an evolving story and I am always interested in more. I believe that in sharing what we know, we add to our knowledge. What I would most like would be any information that corrects or adds to what is here. I'm also very interested in old pictures and documents.

A new angle is the study of DNA as it applies to genealogy. Any information from this new field would be appreciated! Far from being a "pure" genestock, we are really a collection of influences from far and wide.

Please email questions, corrections or complaints to heckenbach@ameritech.net

by Jim Heckenbach. First Posted February 23, 2002. Last Updated February 28, 2009 .

Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 by Jim Heckenbach