Anniversary of the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman, 16 Jun 2025.

What would you expect to find in Milwaukee's German newspapers after this horrific act by an avowed evangelical christian pastor ....

Besides the news stories about the horrific political assassination of Melissa Hortman and her husband by a deranged christian nationalist self-styled preacher, Milwaukee's German-American papers might have had multiple obituaries, repeated death notices (some maybe with pending info), followed by the funeral details, fraternal notices, reporting about the funeral & burial event. Then there might be family thanks, and even later, more notices of thanks from the family, and very possibly possibly death anniversary notices in following years.

If this had been the 1860s and 1870s, you might've found an edition with this horrible news about a beloved public figure lined with heavy black borders, running vertically between the entire length of each column, as the newspaper draped itself in mourning.

Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot in their home in a related attack, but survived. 

Joseph Schlitz' final farewell to Milwaukee! A poignant moment in the brewer's story.

Farewell. A heartfelt farewell to my friends and acquaintances whom I did not have the opportunity to see before my trip to Germany. Jos. Schlitz 

In spring 1875, Joseph Schlitz notified the Milwaukee community that he was traveling to Germany; he didn't know it would be his last trip. These public announcements were an occasional practice in Milwaukee's German papers, and I've indexed them in my project.

His Lebewohl (literally, Live Well!) is one of the more poignant items I've found; even more so than the tributes that followed from his, and other Milwaukeeans', tragic loss during their return voyage, 7 May 1875.

[Jos. Schlitz takes another dive! In May 2026, and Pabst Brewery has announced they will no longer be producing a 'Schlitz Beer'.]

Lincoln todt! 16 April 1865 ... newspaper 'draped' in black!

  President Abr. Lincoln ermordet! 

 

 

Upon the news of world or nationally renowned leaders with shocking deaths, Milwaukee's 19th c. German-American papers would be 'draped' - their columns lined - in black.

This might even have been done with the recent murders of US citizens by today's fascist political regime.

 

The tragedy of washer-woman "Bridget" Daley was reported in the "Milwaukee Seebote", and the "Germania" ...

The name "Bridget" was used as a casual pejorative label for poor, or working, Irish women in the 19th c. Yet four (4) German-American papers carried this brief story to hi-lite the plight of Milwaukee's immigrant working poor.

I was relieved to find a matching church burial record for a Margaret Daley, but there is no civil death record, or coroner's report, or cemetery record, or similar story in the English language papers.

  Sudden Death. - Bridget Daly, a widow living at the corner of Jefferson and Chicago Streets, returned home Friday evening after spending the entire day doing laundry at the American House Hotel. She collapsed in the hallway and was found dead. A stroke caused her death. The deceased leaves behind five children, the youngest of whom is only three years old.  

Burial register of St. John Cathedral (Milwaukee, WI). 

June 1874. Margaret Daley. Died on the 5th of June 1874, Margaretta Daley, about 40 years old. 

Immigration statistics published in Milwaukee's German papers in 1874 ...

Immigration. During the month of May, 2,661 immigrants arrived in Milwaukee, of whom 730 were Germans ... settling in Wisconsin. 626 Germans ...  went to other states.

The murders of Renee Good, Alex Pretti & Nurul Amin Shah Alam would have been reported in Milwaukee's German Newspapers ...

“That's fine dude, I'm not mad at you.”  Were the final words of Renee Nicole Good, mother of 3, before she was murdered, shot in the face, by a government employee of the USA.

Her murderer spoke a benediction after shooting her in the face: "F...ing b^tch".

The 'rump Administration's ICE freak was not harmed, injured, or inconvenienced, after committing Renee's murder.

“Are you okay?” were Alex's final words to a woman he was protecting who had been pushed down by government agents. He was then tear-gassed, shoved down, and then 10 bullets were pumped into him by the US government agent.

The 'rump Administration's ICE freaks were not harmed, injured, or inconvenienced, after murdering Alex Pretti.

~    ~    ~    ~ 

The intentionally negligent treatment of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Rohingya refugee, leading to his death WOULD have been reported in Milwaukee's German newspapers. It's a story illustrating the takeover of the USA by repulsive christian nationalists, a repeat of the "Know Nothing" movement of the 19th c.

These papers were sensitive to the problems of ALL emigrants & immigrants. I long-ago debunked the WASP mythology of these papers focused solely on celebrating church communities and "obituaries".

Milwaukee's German newspapers were about local, national, and world NEWS. The HORRORS of the emigrant / immigrant experience are also told, but missing from the old Milwaukee Journal & Milwaukee Sentinel.

A 'Deutsches Haus' in Milwaukee? Couldn't be built: the German 'community' was too divided.

Could a "German Haus" ever be built in Milwaukee? An old question dating back to the 1930s. 

You'd think that Goethe House Wisconsin's 30 years of residency at the Milwaukee Public Library was a logical answer to this question. But that residency never produced a single project or event, not a pamphlet, not a poster, celebrating Milwaukee's huge, diverse, German immigrant working-class community.

Nothing was EVER done in conjunction with the Milwaukee Public Library, nor with the Milwaukee County Genealogical Society also in residence there, nor with any of the then-fading German cultural groups of Milwaukee.

That was the state of any specifically "German" research assistance I found at the turn of the 21st Century. That was when I made the attempt to delve deeply into local collections for my 100% German-American ancestry in Milwaukee and nearby communities!