The Alois Zrust, Jr., Farmstead – Waconia, Minnesota

[00:00:00]When someone tells me about a barn that is made of bricks, especially Chaza bricks, I have to look into it.

[00:00:10]This barn is located in western Carver County, Minnesota, where there are a number of towns with obvious German heritage.

[00:00:19]This interesting barn and farmstead were built near Wakonia.

[00:00:25]Carver County is in the southern half of the state just southwest of the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

[00:00:33]This 1874 Andreas map shows Carver County. And let's focus on the Waconia area.

[00:00:41]The town of Waconia lies on the southern edge of Lake Wakonia and the historic farmstead is located on the southwest edge.

[00:00:50]The 1874 map showed several names of farmers in this area.

[00:00:55]like Schnebel and Lemki.

[00:00:59]This 1880 plat map of Carver County shows all the land owners on the southwest side of Lake Wakonia.

[00:01:07]The names Shyel and Lumpky are still in this area, but the name George Bowen Schmidt is the person we are looking for.

[00:01:17]This old page shows the immigration log at the port of Baltimore, Maryland in June of 1866.

[00:01:26]George was on this list, which also shows him as being 45 years old. His wife's name was Barbara, and she was 46.

[00:01:37]Two sons were listed, George Jr. and Martin, ages 12 and nine.

[00:01:43]A daughter Anna was the final family member and she was six.

[00:01:49]After their arrival in Minnesota, the Bower and Schmidz lived in a log cabin on this small parcel of land.

[00:01:58]Back in those days, the land around Wakonia was covered with trees.

[00:02:03]In order to farm any of this land, the trees had to be cut down.

[00:02:09]Like many of the original farmers, they used oxen to help break the land.

[00:02:16]The 1870 US census showed the new family near Wakonia.

[00:02:22]George, listed at age 48, was not a young man anymore.

[00:02:28]It is likely his two sons had to do a lot of work on the farm as well.

[00:02:35]This 1875 Minnesota census also showed the Bowen Schmidt family.

[00:02:42]So on the George Bowen Schmidt parcel shown on the 1880 plat map. It was a family of five living on the small farm.

[00:02:51]Here is the 1880 census form which shows some interesting changes.

[00:02:56]George Senior was now nearly 60 years old and George Jr. no longer appeared in his household.

[00:03:05]It turns out that George Jr. had been married and there was now a George III.

[00:03:11]George Jr. purchased a farm of 73 acres one mile east of Wakonia.

[00:03:18]This 1898 plat map of Carver County showed George Junior's farm, which was really not that far from his father's farm.

[00:03:28]George Senior died in 1892 around the age of 69.

[00:03:34]Since George Jr. had already left the family farm, Martin took over the farm.

[00:03:40]This 1898 plat map of Carver County showed Martin Bowen Schmidt as the new owner of the farm on the southwest side of Lake Wakonia.

[00:03:52]Martin married Grace Han on February 24th, 1882.

[00:03:57]The 1900 census showed that Martin and Grace were 41 and 35 and had eight children, five boys and three girls.

[00:04:08]However, in 1901, Martin and his family moved to Texas. Then later to Oklahoma where they settled near Norman.

[00:04:18]Martin Bowenmid died in Oklahoma in 1918 at the age of 61.

[00:04:24]Martin sold the farm on the southwest side of Lake Wakonia to Aloise Zrust Senior who was also born overseas.

[00:04:35]Aloise had come to America in 1877 at the age of 19.

[00:04:42]Aloise settled in Henipin County, Minnesota in Minnitonka Township.

[00:04:48]He married Mary Zahula on January 27th, 1880.

[00:04:54]Aloise and Mary had three daughters in their family and a son Jr.

[00:05:01]The 1880 census showed Alise and Mary with their ages listed as 21 and 23.

[00:05:09]Aloise's occupation was listed as a carpenter.

[00:05:13]In 1884, the Zus family moved from Minnitanka to Aonia.

[00:05:19]Aloise had several occupations in Wakonia over the years. including one as the owner of the Northstar Saloon.

[00:05:27]The 1900 census listed Aloise and Mary with his occupation now listed as a hotel keeper.

[00:05:34]Aloise Jr. was now 17 years old.

[00:05:38]This old photo shows Mrs. Mary's Rust, although I am not exactly sure which one she was.

[00:05:46]Jr. married Mini Clatt on November 5th, 1902 and they had a son Warner and a daughter Evelyn.

[00:05:55]In 1901, Aloise Drus Senior bought the Martin Bowen Schmidt farm for his son Aloise Jr.

[00:06:04]Jr. endured many hardships on the farm.

[00:06:07]A fire destroyed the Zrust farm home, so they had to build a new one.

[00:06:13]Then a tornado caused extensive damage to their farm buildings.

[00:06:18]Although I am not entirely certain which tornado, it was likely the Wakonia tornado of August 20th, 1904.

[00:06:26]This may have been why the Zust family built a stronger brick barn.

[00:06:32]Carver County was famous for its brick manufacturing industry, which was mainly at Chaza.

[00:06:39]Chaza had a number of brickyards that produced a cream colored brick.

[00:06:43]If you are unfamiliar with brick manufacturing in Minnesota, make sure to watch my five-part series on the Chesa brickyards.

[00:06:53]Transporting brick from Chaza to Aonia was likely done by railroad.

[00:06:58]This included one segment on the Milwaukee road and another on the Minneapolis and St. Louis railway.

[00:07:05]The 1905 Minnesota census showed the Aloise Jr. was only 23 years old.

[00:07:12]The 1910 census showed him as a 28-year-old farmer.

[00:07:17]This 1916 plat map of Carver County showed the parcel of land that was now owned by Aloise Jr.

[00:07:26]The 1920 census showed that Warner was getting older and was likely helping out more on the farm.

[00:07:34]Aloise senior had built a new brick home in Wukonia where he died in 1922.

[00:07:41]The 1930 census showed that both Warner and Evelyn still lived on the family farm.

[00:07:48]Here is a 1937 aerial photo of the Zust farm.

[00:07:53]Let's zoom into the farmstead for a closer look.

[00:07:57]Although it is a fuzzy image, you can still pick out the brick house, brick barn, and a silo.

[00:08:05]There were a bunch of other buildings on the farmstead, but I am not exactly sure what they were all used for.

[00:08:14]The 1940 census showed that Aloise Jr.

[00:08:17]and Minnie still lived on the farm and were considered the primary operators.

[00:08:22]Their daughter Evelyn and her husband Ralph also lived there and Evelyn was the bookkeeper for the local crearyy.

[00:08:32]Warner wasn't shown as I believe he may have been helping out with the World War II effort in some way.

[00:08:39]This is an aerial photo of the Zust farm from 1940.

[00:08:46]The 1950 census showed that both Aloise Jr. and Minnie were now in their 60s.

[00:08:53]Warner was listed as the head of the household at age 45.

[00:08:59]Here is a 1951 aerial photo of the Zrust farmstead.

[00:09:06]Aloise Jr. died in 1952 when he was around 71 years old.

[00:09:12]This is the Zrust farmstead in 1963.

[00:09:18]1991, 2007, 2012, 2018, and 2026.

[00:09:40]Let's take a tour of these historic buildings.

[00:10:13]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Thanks for coming along for the tour.

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[00:23:35]That concludes the video. Make sure to check out my other YouTube videos and my primary website at mnicks.com.