Genealogy from [WalzHjelmstad]

Grandpa [Joseph Walz] married only one time, but had 16 children, 9 boys and 7 girls. Our father was the 7th boy. They lived in Minnesota in several towns, looking at the data of where all the children were born. Grandpa Walz studied Theology at St. John's, Mn. Grandpa Walz moved to the St. Pierre Farm near Waubun MN where he worked as a farm hand manager. Uncle Joe Flottemesch remembers him working there and that he was one of the first people to teach the Indians that lived there. Uncle Joe also mentioned that there were still some Indian Uprisings after they had moved there.
After leaving the St.Pierre Farm, Grandpa homesteaded and build a new house and barn on the property that became Uncle Tom's and Aunt Lula's farm in Mahnomen. Mom and Dad lived on the farm for a short time also in the very early years of their marriage, but couldn't make a living on such a small place. We remember Uncle Tom supplemented his income with driving the school bus in order to make a living. while living on the same farm..
We all remember the story of the pocket knife that Grandpa Walz received in the mail one day. It had come from a person who had stolen a knife from his General Store twenty years earlier.
I do not have a personal recollection of either Grandpa or Grandma Walz as they both died before I was old enough to remember.

(I coresponded with George Walz before he died. George was the eldest of all the Walz grandchildren, and remembered living on the farm with Grandpa and Grandma Walz. He said Grandpa was a very stern man, and remembered that Grandma Walz was known for her wonderful strudel.)