1718265

[Byrne]
! George Hartman was born October 31, 1854. He was the third
child of John Joseph and Elizabeth Wissel Hartman. He met Katherine
Metz when he came to build a barn for her father near Highland Center,
Indiana (St. Peters Parish). They were married in St. Peters Catholic
Church, (Franklin County Indiana) on April 27, 1880 After their
marriage they lived in the home of Katherine's parents and it was
there their first child, Barbara, was born. Soon after they moved top
Fairmont, Illinois. They lived there only a short time and their
second child, Mary was born there. Then they moved to Pesotum,
Illinois in a time of depression and times were extremely hard for
them. Two more children were added to their family there. After a
while, times became better and they moved to Tuscola, Ill. where they
bought a farm and built a new house and barn. More children were born
and they realized the need of a Catholic school for their children.
They decided to move to Hayes, Ill. to get their children in a
catholic school. They still had to travel a considerable distance.
They started looking for better church and school facilities for their
children. Then they heard about Muenster---a town in Texas. It was
founded by Germans and strictly Catholic. They thought this would be
the ideal place to raise their children, so they moved to Texas. They
lived on a farm about one-fourth mile from the Catholic school and
church. George was a great civic and church leader and Katherine kept
the house and was a good and loving mother for their children. This
was not to last, for in 1911, at the age of 49, Katherine became ill
with cancer which took her life. This left George with eight children
at home, the youngest not quite five years old. Katherine is buried
in the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Muenster, Texas. After this George
struggled as best he could to raise the children as true Christians,
and his efforts were not in vain. His last years were spent in a rest
home in Belleville, Illinois where it was convenient for him to attend
Mass daily. Diabetes had caused him to have his leg amputated below
the knee. Although handicapped with the loss of a leg he still loved
to travel and he visited his children frequently. He died in St.
Vincent's Hospital in Belleville at the age of seventy five on March
23, 1930. He is buried beside his wife, Katherine, in the Sacred
Heart Cemetery in Muenster, Texas.