Hosted by the Zonyx Report

Edited by Mike Zetteler

  Mandolin & Guitar Novelty Band
Great-Grandfather Charles G.E. Zetteler [left]
 & his brother
Frederik Tobias Zetteler [center]

Cathy Gubin 1977 Photo

The Editor at Bugle-American Office
Michael L. Zetteler
b. Nov. 21, 1939 in Madison, Wisconsin to
Frederick C. Zetteler (1916-1966) of
Milwaukee &
the former Alice A. R. Mickle
(1920-1995)
of Gotham, WI.
Married Susan M. Shippee of Milwaukee, 1966.
Divorced in 1968.  No children.
Attended North Division & Washington
High Schools & University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (BS-English).
Newspaper Library Clerk,
Social Worker, Reporter, Longshoreman, Freelance Writer
& Editor.
Resident of Milwaukee.
End of the line.

Maternal Great-Grandfather
Peter A. Mickle
b. 1829 in Kinderhook, NY
d. 1895 in Sextonville, WI
Family (Mickel) came
 from Holland, settled
 in Columbia Co., NY.
  Not a Zetteler, but
 notable for being the
 first mail carrier
 between
 Richland Center &
 Madison,
a route he traveled
 on foot.  Family lore
 has it that he was a
 giant for his time,
 about 6-foot-8.

Grandfather
Charles Gabriel E. Zetteler
(1868-1931)
b. Milwaukee, to Charles G. E. Zetteler
 (1846-1920) of Vlissingen,
The Netherlands, & Anna (nee) Wahlfort
 (1845-1931) of Switzerland
d. Milwaukee, WI
Father of Frederick C. Zetteler & daughters
Audrey Buchholz & Arlene Hawver, both deceased -- most recently of Tucson, AZ -- & Marion Witte Stephen.
Pose is characteristic of Milwaukee Turners (Turnverein) gymnastic club, of which he was a member.


Charles Gabriel Elias Zetteler
He died before I was born.  My Aunt
Marion said she always remembered
his muscular forearms, & passed along
to me his stamp collection -- acquired
through his work at Northwestern
 Mutual Life Insurance -- in junior high school.  I always regretted selling it for
almost nothing during a long slow
 spell on the docks in the 1980s.
My grandmother, who never remarried,
kept the brick duplex near Washington
Park, home of the County
 Zoo at the time.  [For an
 earlier view, click  here]  It was famous for
 Monkey  Island & Old Joe,  King of the Rhesus Monkeys.
I could hear the lions roar in the
 morning when I went down to the front
steps near the sidewalk to talk to the bus
drivers who parked at the curb on the boulevard during layovers.  Some of
 them remembered me for years, &
used to ask my relatives what happened
to that little boy that waited for them.
Something I wonder myself.
 

Grandmother
Christine Tesarek Zetteler
(1877-1952)
b. Tobar, Hungary
(Krytabor, Czechoslovakia)
d. Milwaukee, WI
Her birthplace (Bohemia) became part of Czechoslovakia, created in 1918, & she moved to Prague.
Two children, Dorothy & Charles, did not survive through childhood.
She died of cancer in 1952.

Christine Tesarek Zetteler
My primary care-giver
(as the term is today)
following my parents'
separation while my
mother, frozen in her
job as a nurse's aide by WW II, lived on
the County Institutions
grounds far to the west
in Wauwatosa.  Notably frugal (she made her own brown lye soap from old grease), though wonderful  to me, there are photos of her cleaning her daughters' formal gowns
in the back yard in tubs
of benzene, a known carcinogenic.

Great-Grandfather
Charles Gabriel Elias
 Zetteler
(1846-1920)
b. Vlissingen, The Netherlands
d. 1920, Milwaukee, WI
Married Anna Wahlfort
 (1845-1931)
 of Switzerland.
Occupation: Upholsterer.
  Father of
 Frederick Tobias,
 Charles Gabriel Elias
 &
 Josephine Zetteler.
  Shown in Knights
 of Pythias  Uniform,
 a tradition passed to
 his son (below).

Grandfather
Chas. G. E. Zetteler
[Also at far left]
In Knights of Pythias
 uniform.
  He was a local
 General in the group,
 founded in
 Washington, DC
 during the Civil War
 as a fraternal order to
 keep alive the
 camaraderie of Union
 officers.  They
drilled in large
encampments in
Waukesha Co.
He was employed in
 the foreign
 correspondence
 department of
 Northwestern
 Mutual Life Insurance
 Co. because of his
 knowledge of
 languages.  Died of a
 stroke at 63.

Nostalgie de l'horizon,
with flying colors

The Zettelers: generations of travellers and entrepreneurs

No needle has points at both ends.  The truth expressed by this eastern saying is like a mirror held up to us by life.  It confronts us with the ceaseless alternation of sunshine and adversity.  A family tree is like a blueprint of that life where it has assumed specific form.

The history of the Zettelers is rich in drama.  For nine generations now a thread has been running, a pattern has developed whose elements are long-lived, even in many cases longer than life itself.

The lines that we can trace back towards our eldest ancestors -- whether they called themselves Sitler, Van Zetteler or simply Zetteler -- undoubtedly extend even further, into the early Middle Ages.  However, in our quest for these deepest roots we are thwarted by as yet insurmountable obstacles.  It is up to the generations after us to try , with this genealogy in hand, to clear the path further back in time.

We pick up the thread of our history in the United Netherlands halfway through the Seventeen Forties.  No one had heard of Napoleon Bonaparte yet, but already the outline of the Batavian Republic was slowly becoming discernible.  If one is prepared to overlook some of the facts about the true balance of power between Stadtholder William IV and the all-powerful States representing the population, the country might still, with some fantasy, be called a monarchy in those days.

As far as our present knowledge goes it remains a mystery what made our German ancestor Friederich August Zetteler decide to try his fortune in our country.  Born in Darmstadt (Hessen, Germany) around 1720, the then 20 years old Friederich Sitler, his German name at that time, set out on a westward trek.  Most probably he went on foot, his knapsack full of strength and optimism.  Whatever it was, the attraction of the United Netherlands in those days lay not in its sunny economic climate, for the chronicles speak of dire times, certainly for the common people, to which Friederich must have belonged.

At the end we find him in Breda, where he changes his name into Zetteler and where in 1749 he marries 30-year old Willemina Streuyck from Werkendam.  Their marriage starts at a time when William IV tries, unsuccessfully, to break the traditional power of the ruling class and of the all-powerful States.  It is a time in which the well-to-do heartlessly enrich themselves while "the common working people live in misery and sorrow while the homes for the poor are packed full."

The long years of wars the Netherlands had to fight against well-nigh each of the neighbouring countries and in which the national resources were constantly threatened with exhaustion, must have been grueling, also for Friederich.  A common phrase in those years was: "The States without resolve, the people without work, offices without number, selling without sanctions, burdens without end -- and every man without hope!"

But Friederich must have been a real fighter, a man who didn't easily give up. Although his profession is not known, our ancestor could surely boast an enterprising spirit.  As family history develops and the family tree grows two major branches, that spirit will become more and more evident.  But whatever his achievements during his life in our country, a great fortune was not among them.  This must be the conclusion from the registration of his decease at the age of 80 in The Hague, on July 1801, and that of his wife Willemina fourteen years before, both by legal counsel paid from public funds.

Crystal Clear

For lack of crystal clear proof, this genealogy takes as its point of departure that the Zettelers, with Friederich August as first known ancestor and figurehead, came to the Netherlands from the East.  The author of the commemorative volume issued at the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the firm Molyn & Co. of Rotterdam, manufacturers of lacquers, varnishes and paints, may have been overstretching his fantasy a little when he had the Zettelers come to our country from Scotland, without either offering hard proof or quoting reliable sources for this; with this, we prefer to leave that statement as it is.

It should be added that the said author is right when he characterizes the Zettelers as enterprising, eager travellers.  With subtle understatement, he notes that the Zettelers "have always been driven by nostalgie de  l'horizon."  It may well be said that this suited the Molyns, the founders of the Rotterdam-based company, extremely well.  The Zettelers' nostalgia proved to be most fruitful, particularly in the geographically mobile and representative segments of the company.  It is not without reason that our coat of arms shows a proud, nervously bristling stag with impressive antlers.  The animal is all thirst for action, eagerness to undertake, drive to discover.  To me the image seems to convey a sense of initiative, as a common trait of the Zettelers.  This does not mean, however, that they were invariably successful.  Indeed, as family history shows, they weren't.

The commemorative volume on the Molyn company history does not mention our family in a cursory way, or in passing, as it were.  Willem Frederik Zetteler, born in Rotterdam in 1820, makes his career in the company all the way up from modest travel assistant to director.  His son Willem Frederik Jr., born in 1860 and identified by the numeral II in the company's records, continues along the lines laid out by his father.  In 1895 he becomes senior partner and director, continuing to lead the company until 1918.

Eagerness to Travel

Eagerness to travel and entrepreneurial drive, therefore, are two continuous threads woven into our family history.  In nautical history, too, the family made their contribution, albeit that the toll was high.

Before we set out to recount this voyage, though, we must make another excursion and explain why during a certain period the name Zetteler was dropped in favour of the French name De Bourghelles.  The explanation why that name came into use is, in fact, quite plausible.  The name first occurs in our genealogy in 1790, when the third child of our ancestor Friederich August and his wife Willemina, their son Frederik Tobias, marries Anna Judina de Bourghelles de la Vacquerie, from Waalwijk.  She may have come from a Huguenot family. Although people usually married within their own circles, this was not always the case, of course.  This is also true of the marriage of Frederik Tobias and Anna Judina.  Her distinguished name tickled the imagination of one of Frederik Tobias' sons, Wijnand Johannes, who decided to add "De Bourghelles" to his name, putting it in front of his own family name.  For a shopkeeper trading in drapery, first in Vlissingen (Flushing) and later in Rotterdam,  this must have been quite impressive, especially in a time when it was the French who were calling the shots in the United Netherlands.

An additional, but by no means unimportant, reason may have been that a French name such as that could have a favourable effect on the attitude of the French authorities.  Because the family counted many small businessmen, tailors, drapers and suchlike among its members, a French name meant a measure of safety and was considered an asset.

Towards the end of the eighteenth century the Seven United Dutch Provinces had to face another French invasion, the beginning of two decades of French rule that was to leave Napoleon Bonaparte's indelible mark upon the country.  The creation of a strict and well-organized Registry of BDM [Bureau of Deaths & Marriages] put an end to the existing chaotic practices with regard to family names.
          [continued below]

In all, Frederik and Anna Judina had six children.  One child was stillborn, while a son,  Frederik August, born in 1794, only lived for a month.  But two other sons, Wijnand Johannes (1791) and Willem Frederik (1797), both drapers like their father, were the progenitors of two family branches that were blessed with many children.  Today, in 1998, we see a numerous ninth generation.

Both branches are characterized by the pronounced nostalgie de l'horizon that we have seen before, the yearning to explore unknown countries and new worlds.  In Branch B this resulted from reasons of commerce or trade, while in Branch A it was often inspired by a love for the sea.

Two of Wijnand Johannes' sons (Branch A) set out to sea to become captains in the merchant fleet.  They were Wijnand Johannes Bourghelles Zetteler (1823-1901) and his younger brother Jan David Peters Zetteler (1831-1876).  The latter, who died in Probolingo (East Java) at the early age of 45, was shipwrecked off Cape of Good Hope in 1866 with his barque Johannes.
               [continued below]

Below:  Another view of Brady Street, looking
south from corner of Arlington Place, site of
Hi-Hat Lounge [right].  Tower in background is
HUD city housing, similar to the Editor's building
one block north.

                                            Tom Bamberger Photo

Elsewhere on Branch B we find the draper Willem Frederik (1797), whom we met before, and his energetic son and grandson, both also called Willem Frederik.  As we have seen, the latter two both left their marks on the varnish factory, originally a small business developed from the house-painter's workshop established by Francois Adriaan Molyn Danielszoon in Kralingen (Rotterdam) on the sixth of May 1828.  Subsequently, the third, fourth and fifth generations following Willem Frederik (Branch B) all produced family members who contributed to that business.

Rotterdam was the base from which the Zettelers developed their activities.  Unlike today, there used to be frequent contact between the two branches.  In 1849 W. F. Zetteler, office clerk, moved to more rural surroundings. The reason probably lay in the state of health of his eldest son Willem Frederik, born in 1820, the one who later became "travel assistant" at Molyn.  At the age of sixteen Willem Frederik the son left home, handing the key to his cousin, the later Captain Jan David Peters (Petrus), son of Wynand Johannes (Branch A).

But the lure of the sea was also felt in Branch B.  The fourth child of Willem Frederik and Jannetje Cornelia van der Tak, Bonifacius Johannes (1825), completed a study of medicine and then decided, after a brief spell as a pharmacist, to go to sea as a ship's doctor.  However, he met an untimely death sailing on the merchant vessel Amboina.  He drowned on the roads [sic] of Besuki (East Java), only 24 years old.

Surely, from time to time in Rotterdam the "seafarers" in our family, Wijnand Johannes (1823), Jan David Peters (1831) and Bonifacius must have spoken to each other of their love for the sea, though sadly enough their tales have not survived.  Their names, however, are known and recorded for posterity.

Below: Ad for Rotterdam's Molyn & Co. varnish & coatings factory, founded in 1828, a Zetteler family employer for generations.

Darmstadt, Hessen, 
Germany, birthplace
of Friederich August
Zetteler (Sitler) ca. 1720.
Family Home [above]
built ca. 1718-1722.

And yet, every family tree in the world is constructed along the lines connecting the male family members.  In the present state of affairs this is something we shall have to accept, taking our consolation from Pythagoras, who wrote: "Do not strive to put your stamp on history: those of whom one seldom speaks live happiest."