Joseph Hizer Image from Wikipedia: French Imperial Guard. A Grenadier from the Imperial Guard. Joseph Hizer was born about 1787 – census and immigration data indicates dates from 1778 to 1790 - the son of Barnabas Hizer and Agatha Ball Hizer who we believe were about 20 years old when he was born. An Alsatian woman in traditional garb c. 1870 He may have been raised in or near Stundwiller, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, as the Ball family name in Alsace seems to originate there. Stundwiller, in German Stundweiler, is located in the northeastern tip of Alsace. In 1780 it had a population of around 250 people, by 1800 that population had swelled to over 400. In the mid-1700s Stundwiller, along with Oberroeden and Aschbuch, formed the community of Obergericht. They separated and came back together again in 1974, then separated again. Today the population of Stundwiller is around 500. In 1800 the village was 100% Catholic. The upper red square depicting the general location of Stundwiller. Road map placing Stundwiller and affiliated villages in yellow. An aerial view of Stundwiller as it appears today. Stundwiller in its topographical setting. The area is very similar to southeastern Minnesota. The Steinbach House: A 1608 typical Alsatian home moved to Castroville, Texas “Little Alsace in Texas”. His father may have been Bavarian in ancestry as he identified the family as being Bavarian when they emigrated to America. The American Revolution, separating the American Colonies from the great super power of the day, The British Empire, had just taken place and France had been our primary ally. The Revolutionary War with Britain started in 1775 and lasted until September of 1783. American independence was declared on July 4th, 1776. It can not be overemphasized the impact of the American Revolution on Europe and the world as we know it today! Countries around the world were still being ruled by absolute monarchies privileged from birth, embroiled in the feudal system, aggressive colonization of under-developed nations/areas, with NO human rights and NO freedom of religion. The successful American Revolution and the establishment of Democracy led to revolutions throughout Europe and the world, and the end of absolute monarchies and the feudal system. For the next 140 years, at least, Europe and the rest of the World, would be embroiled in the Wars for Freedom. 1787 map of the United States of America Note that current day Minnesota and Trout Valley was in Spanish Territory in 1787, but historically it was French and eventually purchased from France. The French Revolution 1789 -1799 France was our greatest ally during the American Revolution. Our Revolution led to The French Revolution which spread to many European countries. However, the French Revolution was a debacle that Joseph Hizer grew up in. Whether the family lived in Stundwiller or not, the Bas-Rhin area of Alsace suffered a similar fate as this village during the French Revolution. To bring this into perspective, here is an excerpt from the Parker Ancestry on RootsWeb.com that would have been a common experience during this difficult time. Stundwiller during the French Revolution By K.M. Parker – Parker Ancestry RootsWeb.com “These villagers were virtually all Catholic, and the revolutionary changes which had perhaps the greatest impact on them were those which affected the practice of their religion. Most of the villagers were extremely devout and felt deeply threatened by the republican government's attacks on their religion. The people of Alsace, more than those in any other part of France, resisted the anti-clerical actions of the government. [Catholic Persecution] On November 2, 1789, land owned by churches or by various noblemen, which included a lot of arable land, was confiscated and put up for auction. The Catholic Church ordered the faithful not to participate in these auctions, so most of the church holdings in the Stundwiller area were purchased by outsiders. On 12 July 1790, the Assembly passed laws purporting to make all clerics subject to the state. All clergy were to be paid by the state, and elected by state or district electors. They were to swear an oath of allegiance to the Revolution, and the government would regulate their conduct. Any priest who refused to swear the Oath of Allegiance to the Revolution was forbidden to perform any of his priestly duties, and was subject to arrest and punishment if he were found to be ministering to his people. Whether this constituted as much of a difficulty for the Protestant clergy in France, I do not know, but since the Pope was the head of the Catholic Church, French Catholics were placed in an impossible situation. In France as a whole, about half of the clergy swore the required Oath of Allegiance to the Revolution, but in Alsace, only 8 percent did. For the purposes of the following discussion, those who swore the required oath of allegiance to the Revolution will be called "government" clergy, and those who refused to swear that oath will be called "refractory" clergy. The parish of Stundwiller included the villages of Oberroedern and Aschbach, and its pastor, Father Anthon, was among the many Alsatian priests who refused to take the oath. The government bishop tried to recruit replacements in Germany, some of whom had very little clerical training, but the people would not accept the government priests. By July of 1791 the pressure on the refractory priests was increased, and when they were given 8 days to take the oath or face banishment, many of the priests went into hiding. The people of the Stundwiller parish petitioned the government to let Father Anthon, who had been their pastor for 17 years, return to his parish and to his duties, but their efforts were unavailing. The government appointed a German pastor of the parish, but the people of the parish had almost nothing to do with him; the people conducted their own baptisms, marriages, and funerals. Once the government priest took over, Mr. Schimpf, the schoolmaster, refused to serve Mass or serve on the parish council. Mr. Schimpf took the position that he was only hired to instruct the children, but the authorities disagreed and ordered him to serve mass and serve on the parish council on penalty of dismissal. Mr. Schimpf bravely persisted in his refusal to assist the government priest, who accordingly secured Mr. Schimpf's dismissal and got his preferred candidate, Mr. Thomann, hired in Mr. Schimpf's place. The Directory not only fired Mr. Schimpf, but informed him that if he instructed any children, he would be prosecuted for treason. The death of Mr. Thomann at the age of 58 was entered into the parish registry only a matter of weeks later. A statement in the "Neueste Religionsbelegenheiten" of 27 April 1792 indicates that he was the victim of violence. In any event, the position was not filled, and Mr. Schimpf, though no longer a schoolmaster, remained in Stundwiller. [The Massacre at Stundwiller] Jacob Starck, a choir boy from the neighboring village of Trimbach, told of the day he disobeyed his mother's orders and accompanied the government priest to Stundwiller. When they got there, they were stoned. The next day (the feast of the Ascension in 1791), the government priest went back to Stundwiller with an escort of 27 national guard troops from Niederroedern, most of whom were massacred at Stundwiller. Government troops were called in to protect the government priest at Stundwiller, who very reasonably feared for his safety. Villagers shot at the soldiers, and beat to death anyone they suspected of helping the government priest. In April, 1792, the government priest quit, and it wasn't until July of 1793 that another government priest, another German, was appointed. This one was only 22 years old, but he was hired at a significantly higher salary than his predecessor. It isn't clear whether he ever actually arrived to take over his duties, though. In any event, shortly after he was hired, he took a non-clergy position elsewhere. De-Christianization As if things weren't bad enough already, they soon became much worse. On September 21, 1792, the Republic was established, along with a new calendar with 10 different days, every tenth day being designated a day of rest. Radical officials in some departments began a program of De- Christianization, which spread at various rates and in varying degrees to other departments. Religion was declared to be superstition, all religious things were either put to secular use, confiscated, or destroyed (if they could be found, that is; the villagers of Stundwiller hid the relics of St. Lucius). Priests were forbidden to say Mass or perform any clerical duties, and secular holidays were instituted to take the place of religious holidays. On May 30, 1795, as the result of a complaint filed by the municipal attorney of Stundwiller, an arrest warrant was issued for Father Spisser, who had been saying Mass and otherwise ministering to the people in the area of Stundwiller, and some months later, a reward was offered for his capture. Father Spisser was apparently a master of disguise, however, and wisely kept on the move, and with the help of the faithful, he managed to elude the authorities... War against the Austrians and the Prussians Other European monarchies, fearful that revolution would spread beyond France, became alarmed and, after Louis XVI [16th] was apprehended while he was trying to leave France, the Hapsburg Emperor Leopold II and King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia threatened military intervention. [The Occupation of Stundwiller] On April 20, 1792, France declared war on Prussia and Austria, and very shortly thereafter, an army of about 15,000 men, which lived almost entirely off the inhabitants, was sent to the area near Stundwiller.