Hey Joe, Where You Goin’ With That Knife In Your Hand?

[singlepic id=29 w=480 h=360 float=center]From the Milwaukee Sentinel, March 25, 1878:

“Joe Niesl and John Becker got into a street fight and one had drawn a jack knife to make mince meat of the other when Officer Huller and his assistant pounced on them.  They were no sooner collared, however, when friends of the belligerants appeared and interfered.  Joe Jaghuber was particularly active and gave Officer H. so much trouble that he was obliged to quiet him with a dose of hickory twig.  Niesl and Becker were locked up for disorderly conduct, and Jaghuber for disorderly conduct and resisting an officer.”

Joe Niesl is my 2nd great grandfather on my mom’s side of the family (her maiden name is Niesl).  He and his wife Katharina (Wadenstorfer) Niesl arrived in Milwaukee sometime around 1873 from Bavaria.  In the Milwaukee City Directories between 1880 and 1900, Joe’s occupations include laborer, teamster, then finally butcher.  In the 1905 Wisconsin State Census, his age is 71 and he’s still listed as a butcher.

Must have been hard to put that knife down.