Frances Lorraine (Goetsch) Schwantz (1877 - 1968)

Born 28 Feb 1877 in Watertown, Dodge, Wisconsin, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Theodore Frank Schwantz — married 10 Sep 1902 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States

Descendants

Died 22 Dec 1968 at age 91 in Pasadena, Los Angeles, California, United States

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Biography

Frances Loraine Goetsch Schwantz was born on February 28, 1877, to Henry Goetsch and Louise Deuschle Goetsch in Watertown, Wisconsin. She was the fifth of six children. Her father worked at the family store, Goetsch Brothers & Company; sold sewing machines; and clerked at the Schempf Brothers store. Frances Goetsch graduated from Watertown High School in 1894 and taught for four years in district schools in Jefferson County, followed by four years in Watertown (1898-1902; see newspaper clippings from the Watertown News, July 17, 1900, page 1; Watertown News, April 13, 1898, page 5).

In 1902, Frances married Theodore Frank Schwantz, who managed a general store in Juneau, Wisconsin. The couple lived in Juneau, and had two sons, Francis Walter Swantz (born July 7, 1903), and Ralph Willard Stevens (born July 20, 1909; both sons later changed their surnames). Frances also raised her younger sister, Edith Verne Goetsch, who was just 12 years old when she lost both of her parents.

Theodore died somewhat unexpectedly following a back injury and paralysis in May 1910, leaving Frances with two very young sons. Frances negotiated the sale of her share of the general merchant store in Juneau (see newspaper clipping from the Watertown News, October 26, 1915, page 5) and returned to Watertown, where she resided at 308 Sixth Street from 1912 to 1920. Early on, she took in boarders to earn enough income to support herself and her sons. As they grew, she began to take jobs outside the home, working as a secretary for the Royal Neighbors of America, a fraternal organization; National Mutual Benefit insurance company in Watertown and its head office in Madison; and the State Board of Control.

Frances lived in Madison, Wisconsin, from 1920 to 1937 and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for one year (1924-1925). In 1937, she moved to 421 West Walnut Street in Pasadena, California, where she lived until her death on December 22, 1968. She collected 6 boxes of archive documents, including 395 photographs and genealogical records, which she donated to the Wisconsin Historical Society. The two paragraphs below are copied from the online abstract:

Frances had five siblings. Her brother, Gustav Adolf Goetz (1870-1927), was a pharmacist, attended Rush Medical College, and became a doctor in Chicago, specializing in the treatment of skin cancer using radiation. He married Lillie Eilenberger (1879-1948). Schwantz's sister Alice Josephine (1870-1938), attended the Women's Medical College in Chicago, and opened medical practices in Madison, Wisconsin, and in California. Frances’s sister Harriet (1871-1922) taught school, and married Charles Marquis Smith, a professor at Purdue University. Another brother (Edwin Hugo) died in infancy. Her youngest sister Edith taught high school, and later attended Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin, and earned a nursing degree. She married George E. Blackwell and they both became missionaries to Burma.

Son Francis Walter Swantz attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and taught engineering for 22 years, primarily at military officer schools, including Truax Field in Madison and the Officers Communication and Electronic School at Kessler Air Force Base in Mississippi. He was a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Instrument Society of America. Francis retired in 1965 and died in California in 1980.

Sources

• Ancestry.com. Wisconsin, Births and Christenings Index, 1801-1928 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. FHL Film Number: 1302882
• Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
• Year: 1880; Census Place: Watertown, Jefferson, Wisconsin; Roll: 1430; Page: 300B; Enumeration District: 181, Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMVQ-8TV : accessed 13 October 2019), Frances Goetsch in household of Henry W Goetsch, Watertown city Ward 1, Jefferson, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 154, sheet 14B, family 329, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,793.
• "Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871-1920", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N74C-7M1 : 10 March 2018), Theodore F. Schwantz and Frances L. Goetsch, 10 Sep 1902.
• "Wisconsin Births and Christenings, 1826-1926," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRN2-V3B : 11 February 2018), Frances L. Gottsch in entry for Walter Francis Schwantz, 07 Jul 1903; citing Juneau, Dodge, Wisconsin, reference item 1 p 377; FHL microfilm 1,302,862.
• Year: 1920; Census Place: Watertown Ward 8, Jefferson, Wisconsin; Roll: T625_1989; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 96, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
• Year: 1930; Census Place: Madison, Dane, Wisconsin; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0048; FHL microfilm: 2342301, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.
• California, Death Index, 1940-1997, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2000; Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2011; U.S. Find a Grave, 1600-Current, Ancestry.com, Provo, Utah, 2012, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7308730