William Shuey & Catherine Bartel

William Shuey was born in 1833 and grew up in Obertiefenbach, a small town in the former state of Nassau, Germany, but the Shuey family claims to be of French descent. The book “A History of the Shuey Family in America”, although not focusing on this particular branch of the family, gives a possible narrative about their French origins. The author claims that the family may have been Protestants from the French town of Metz, near the German border. In the late 1600’s, King Louis XIV began persecuting those who were not Catholic, leading to a mass exodus from France. The family may have relocated to Germany at that time. However, the Shuey family was Catholic leading the author to believe that they were either forced or coerced into switching their faith at some point in time.

During the mid nineteenth century, provinces in southwest Germany had been dealing with an increasing population, crop failures, and potato blights. Farmers were unable to provide for their families and artisans displaced by factory workers wandered the countryside looking for work. Nearly a million immigrants came from that area of Germany between the years 1845 and 1855 seeking a better life. William Shuey, a young craftsman, was among the immigrants in that large wave, immigrating to the United States in 1854.

Catherine Bartel was born in 1841 in Luxembourg, a very small country locked between France, Germany and Belgium. In the 1830’s, the tracts of farmland in Luxembourg were small, overcrowded and expensive. The promise of ample, affordable farmland enticed many to emigrate from Luxembourg to America during this time. This may have been the reason the Bartel family decided to move to America. In 1846, Catherine boarded the Pilgrim and immigrated to America with her father, sister, brother, and a woman named Mary Smith Bartel who may have been her mother or stepmother.

The journey across the Atlantic took between one and one and a half months, filled with sea sickness, boredom, and poor rations. And after landing in New York, the family still had a long way to travel. They would have traveled by steamboat up the Hudson River to Albany, then by canal or railroad to Buffalo, where they would finally take a steamboat or sailboat to their port in Wisconsin (generally Milwaukee). Finally, after enduring the long arduous journey, the family arrived at their destination.

The experience in America began with a tragedy: disembarking from the ship, Catherine’s father fell off the gangplank, hit his head and drowned. In a new land and suddenly without their means of support, it was up to Mary to take them the rest of the way. Their ultimate destination was the town of Belgium, Wisconsin, made up primarily of German and Luxembourg immigrants who took up farming and cheese manufacturing. The children were raised by Mary, who shortly after immigrating, born a son whom she named Casper Bartel.

William and Catherine mostly likely met in Wisconsin, married, then moved to the village of Lemont, just outside Chicago. Lemont was home to a large community of immigrants from Germany and Luxembourg. They raised nine children: Mathilda (Tillie), William, Jacob, Andrew, Catherine, Susan, Elizabeth, Anna, and John. By 1881, the family had built a nice house on a corner lot in the village out of the yellow limestone quarried nearby.

The family was one of the best known and respected in their community. William worked as a wagonmaker, wheelwright, and did considerable cabinetwork. He also held several positions of public trust as a member of the Highway Commission and as one of the village’s first constables. William was described as having a striking personality with many warm friends and Catherine was regarded as a pleasant and well-liked woman. Their daughter, Tillie, owned and ran Shuey’s Restaurant. The restaurant was a favorite among dancers who would go to the restaurant for supper at midnight after dance night at Tedens Hall. Tillie was known as a good cook whose soups and pies were always tasty. Elizabeth, owned a store near Tillie’s restaurant and was rumored to have operated a still during the prohibition.