John Hancock in the family tree
Deer Creek woman honors family lineage in unique ways
By Carol Stender
Kathy Ziese of Deer Creek has honored her family lineage to John Hancock in some unique ways, especially during the nation’s milestone anniversaries.
She sewed a colonial-style dress, complete with 74 buttons, for a local bicentennial style show and parade in 1976. Her husband, Dave, escorted her wearing a colonial businessman’s suit. He donned breeches, short trousers ending at the knee and a waistcoat – all with a total of 64 buttons – plus a tricorn hat.
The outfits garnered a lot of comments from those attending, Kathy said.
This year, for the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, she wanted to do something special again, but wearing the costumes once more wouldn’t be in the plans. There were no style shows to model the period clothing. The colonial dress had been worn as a Halloween costume over the years and was minus a few buttons. And wearing it herself wouldn’t be the same since Dave died in 2018.
The outfits were, for the most part, in good shape, so she did the next best thing. She donated them to the Otter Tail County Historical Museum, where they were on display during the nation’s anniversary.
She’s not much of a genealogist of her family’s history. That designation goes to her sister Mary Jo Erunser who has documented the family’s ties to the founding of America. Mary Jo has documented the family’s connection to the Revolutionary War era. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), which involves detailing the family history to the country’s start. Kathy could also apply, but said it would be difficult for her to attend meetings. She doesn’t drive. But Kathy, her siblings, cousins, and other relatives relish in the stories that have passed from one generation to another.
Kathy heard many of those family stories sitting on a wooden box in her Grandma Mabel Hancock Rohr’s kitchen. As Grandma Mabel cooked and baked, she told Kathy how the Hancocks came to America and how family moved to and settled in Minnesota.
The Hancocks were granted passage to the New World by King James I of England, Grandma told her. That ship came after the Mayflower’s arrival. The family settled in Massachusetts.
It was the third generation of Hancocks that took part in the battle for Independence during the Revolutionary War. Joseph Hancock is the family’s direct link to the period. He fought at Valley Forge and was shot in the shoulder during the Battle of New York.
According to Grandma Mabel, there is also a family connection to John Hancock, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and to Nathanael Greene, second general of the Revolutionary War forces.
John, himself, didn’t fight in the war, but his financial and political influence was key in the efforts for independence. He served as the first president of the Continental Congress and was one of the individuals who helped fund the war.
Yet another Hancock, Ebenezer, John’s younger brother, served as a paymaster general for the Continental Army’s Eastern Department, which distributed funds to troops.
After independence was won and the nation moved forward, the Hancock family, like many, made the trek west. Some settled in Minnesota’s Goodhue County. A Hancock ancestor wrote the history of Goodhue County, Kathy said.
Grandma Mabel was born in Iowa and moved to Minnesota with her siblings and parents, Homer and Hattie Hancock. They lived in Dent where Homer operated a hotel and the family had a large home on Star Lake.
Mabel was a teacher, but it took her a couple of tries before she got her teaching license. Apparently one of the tests she needed to take to teach had a tricky section on alcohol and drugs. That was the unit Mabel failed. She retook the test and passed. Many in the family followed her teaching footsteps with seven generations choosing the teaching profession.
She married Nicholas Rohr in Bluffton in 1904 and raised eight children including Kathy’s mother, Gertrude or commonly called Trudy. Many of the Rohr siblings settled in the Detroit Lakes area.
Trudy was also a teacher and taught at a country school with 40 students. She was also the janitor of the building and started the stove for the school day. One of the homes where she boarded during her teaching years was that of the great-grandfather of football player Adam Thielen, Kathy said.
She married Laurence Zurn, but it took time before they actually wed. Trudy turned down Laurence’s first proposal. Laurence was persistent. She said yes five years later. Together they farmed and raised seven children, including Kathy.
Kathy didn’t stay in the area. She moved to the Twin Cities. She met David Ziese who completed his college years at the University of Minnesota after they wed.
David worked for Land O’Lakes and other cooperatives throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Sauk Centre, Lake City, Eagle Bend, Cokato and New York Mills are a few of the Minnesota cooperatives he managed.
She earned her degree in social work at 41 and worked nine years for Hubbard County and Morrison County.
There was a property near Deer Creek that inspired Kathy. She spearheaded the couple purchasing the land and she designed the floor plan. As builders constructed the frame, she recalls David calling to her from what would become a picture window. He commented on the beauty of landscape as the home faces south to a meadow and fields.
Kathy continues to call the place in the country home.
She may not know all the details of her family tree, but Kathy knows the stories and the heritage. And, although she doesn’t have a wooden box for visitors to sit on, like Grandma Mabel, she weaves the stories of past and present, from the nation’s birth to settling in Minnesota and the love for a place she calls home.
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