Anton Stathel and Francisca Worst were both born in Berg, Germany. They were married there on March 1, 1832. Berg is in Germany just to the northeastern tip of France. The Stathels lived in Franklin County, IN and then moved on to St. Lucas in 1849, and and enjoyed the distinction of being the first white family to establish a home in that town. Anton Stathel died at his home in St. Lucas in 1883, and his wife died in St. Lucas in 1881. By 1891 daughter Lena had died and their son, Anthony was living in Auburn township, Fayette Cty, IA. Anton Stathel and his daughter Julia Ann's husband Mathias Duclos, Jr. each donated 20 acres of land on which was built St. Lucas Catholic Church in St. Lucas, Iowa. Their children:
Juliana Worst Stathel born February 15, 1825 Berg, Germany married Mathias Duclos*
Anthony Stathel born in Franklin Cty, IN
Francis Stathel born in Franklin Cty, IN
Lena Stathel died in 1891 born in Franklin Cty, IN
"A French missionary priest who had worked with the Indianas in Iowa, visited a friend, John Gaertner in Cincinnati, OH. Gaertner then learned of the potentially good farming land to be had in Iowa. In October of 1848, Gaertner and two men from Oldenburg, Indiana--Anton Stathel and George Bechel--visited the area of the abandoned Indian Reservation surrounding Fort Atkinson, Iowa. Apparently pleased with what they saw, they returned to Indiana, sold their farms, and in the spring of 1849 journeyed on horsedrawn caravans to Cincinnati, following the Ohio River westward to the Mississippi, then north to McGregor, and finally to Old Mission, Iowa. When they arrived, the families lived in block houses which had been abandoned by the Indians. Later they moved into other homes which they built."
*Juliana Worst was born illegitimately six years before Anton and Francisca married.
