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Note: Little is known about Julius Octavius August's wife Theresa Kern (Witte - other spellings include Whitte, and Wide). She was a devout Catholic. She was described in her later years as a little short lady with grey hair and had a small round face. She was a hard worker (hauling wood in a wheelbarrow) with a pleasant disposition. A story was told of when visiting her son Julius and wife Kate on a Friday. Kate served meat for dinner but Theresa pointed out that she couldn't eat meat that day. Kate said, " Oh, have a little; it won't hurt you." Theresa's response was, "It may be alright for you to do but not for me."
Theresa lived her last years in Portage with her eldest son Charlie, the only son who remained Catholic. The death certificate specified the cause of death as a strangulated hernia. She was ill for only four days and died May 17, 1900, and is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Portage, Wisconsin.
Theresa knitted a pair of baby booties for her grandson Lester which are now in the possession of Lester's daughter, Joyce Neel.
Joyce also has her Catholic Bible.
Theresa Kern was born in Bohmen (Bohemia) which in early 1800s would have been a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, later became Chzechoslovakia. In the late 1900s Chzechoslovakia separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Although it is not certain when she came to the U.S., it is possible that she came in 1832. The Passenger and Immigration Index for 1538-1940 from the National Archives near Chicago lists the following people arriving in Baltimore in 1832.
Jacob Kern - age 28 ; primary individual - Jacob Kern Source Code 253; Source Page 334 Jacob Kern - age age 7 ; primary individual - Jacob Kern Source Code 253; Source Page 334 Catherine Kern - age 10 ; primary individual - Catherine Kern Source Code 253; Source Page 334 T. Kern - age 21 ; primary individual - T. Kern Source code 253; Source Page 334 T. E. Kern - age 7; primary individual - T. E. Kern Source Code 253; Source Page 334 ??? Kern - age 39 ; primary individual - ??? Kern Source Code 253; Source Page 334. Our Theresa Kern (Witte) Sroka was born in 1830. Her daughter by Ignatius Witte, Justina, was baptized in the St. Joseph's Parish in the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, on September 27 1857. Justina's God-Parents are listed on the Baptismal Record as Jacob Kern and Catherina Kern. (Film 1872153, page 54, Mormon Family research Center, Milwaukee). Theresa's and Ignatius' son Phillip was baptized in the same Parish on April 13, 1861. His God-Parents were Phillip and Elizabeth Salzmann. (Film 1872154, Vol Item 1, also of the Mormon Family research Center in Milwaukee). Phillip's father, Ignatius, died the next month - May 1861. At the time of Justina's birth (1857) Theresa would have would have been 27 years of age. The T.E. Kern shown above could not have been our Theresa because of the age discrepancy but the Jacob Kern and Catherina Kern listed as Justina's God-Parents could have been the apparent brother and sisters shown above.
After Ignatius Witte's death in May 1861, Theresa Witte married Julius Octavius August Sroka on January 12, 1862 in Kilbourne, Wisconsin. They moved to Briggsville soon after their marriage. Charlie Sroka was born in Briggsville in 1864.
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