Martin was prominently identified with the early
history of Athens and Poniatowski, as a pioneer,
farmer, and lumberman. Over twenty years he held
various town offices in the Town of Rietbrock.
In the year of 1929, they sold the farm and returned
to Milwaukee. Here Martin died December, 1940,
and his wife Julia lived until March, 1963.
Albrecht
Adam and wife Franziska (Habla) Albrecht came
from Germany to America on November 11, 1877.
They settled at Saukville, for a time, before coming to
the Town of Rietbrock in 1880. Adam was born in
Kscheutz, Bohman, in 1853, and wife Franziska was
born in Leskau, Bohemia, in 1848. They purchased a
tract of land now owned by Gordon Thurs. Living
here for awhile they then purchased land in the Town
of Halsey and built a home. Not finding it to their
liking, they later moved back to the Town of Riet-
brock, settling on a tract of land now owned by John
and Leona Schaetzl, a great-granddaughter. It was
Adam & Franziska Albrecht with their two children Anna (Andris) and Frank.

here that they spent the rest of their lives. Adam died
in 1925 and his wife Franziska in 1931.
Like all other settlers, their hardships were many:
clearing lands and getting buildings built for their
shelter. They had six children-four died in infancy.
Daughter Theresa, born in 1882, was the first baby
baptized at St. Anthony's Congregation at Athens.
The only two children who survived were Frank,
born in Town of Rietbrock in 1885, and Anna
(Albrecht) Andris in 1890.
The graddaughter Frances (Andris) Artman recalls
her mother telling of many incidents taking place-one
of how the Indians roamed the area and camped for
the winter in the area; sometimes they came to the
homestead out of curiosity and would ask to use the
family dog for hunting purposes. In return they always
remembered them with some game.
When the new mission church (now St. Anthony's)
was organized at Black Creek Falls, Adam Albrecht
was one of the charter members.
Herman Mueller Farm
Herman Mueller was born April 20, 1855, in
FREISTADT, Wisconsin. He received very little
formal schooling- actually about two years of
grammar school. His parents deemed it more im-
portant for him to give assistance on their eighteen-

THE FARM OF HERMANN MUELLER. By looking at such a home, you might
ask yourself, whether the lucky children in the swing, would even consider
trading with the city children.
acre farm near Mequon. Until he was twenty-five
years of age, he continued to assist with the farm work,
and in addition, he helped his father Melchior in a
carpenter business, learning the trade for himself.
Interested in getting cheap land, he contacted the
Rietbrock Land and Lumber Company in Milwaukee,
Wis., and from them purchased two eighty-acre tracts
of virgin timber for five hundred dollars each, in
Section 7 in the Town of Rietbrock. Moving to
Athens, together with his brother Frank, he cleared
part of the land, sold the logs, and did some part-time
carpenter work. He was employed by the Rietbrock
Company to help build the first sawmill at Black
Creek Falls, as the community was known at that time.