Great grandmother Baltzer (Dorothy Sattler) came from Grosz Liebetal.  Both Grandfather Frederick Stutz and Grandmother Maria Baltzer Stutz were born at Plotsk, Bessarabia.  The family resided at this village except for one short stay at Mareslienfeld, in the same province.

    In November of 1889, the family traveled to Odessa, having gone by horse and wagon, staying overnight at Ackerman with relatives, and ferried over the widened mouth of the river.  Grandmother Stutz became very ill as the family travelled by train through Austria and Germany.  After passing through Berlin, they arrived at Bremen.  From here they sailed for America aboard the steamship, "Saale", landing in New York after 9 days on the ocean.  This was in the latter part of November.  They moved to Scotland, Dakota Territory, only remaining about a month, before moving on to Colorado along with the other group that was also headed in that direction.  Crist and Jacob Strobel, Otto Winter, Frederick Stutz (our grandfather), Christ Baltzer, August Adolf, Sr., Christian Dobler (our dad's family), John Schaal, and Matthew Hefner were in the group.

    In the spring of 1897 the Stutz family travelled back to Scotland, Dakota Territory, after being in the area for a short time.  They travelled 3 weeks, using horses instead of oxen.  Following a 1 year stay, they returned to Colorado, again by covered wagon, when Grandfather Stutz suffered an eye ailment which threatened blindness for him if they remained in the Dakota climate.  Our mother, Magdalena and her older brother drove the cattle.  They crossed the Missouri River on the ferry at "Running Water" both trips.  The trip back to Colorado again took 3 weeks.  The cattle were shipped via rail and Frederick Stutz, an older son, accompanied the cattle.  William Stutz, born Sept. 8, 1898, was just 2 weeks old when they began the trip.  They arrived at their Colorado home in the middle of October, 1898.  They spent the winter with the Andrew Baltzer family, which was located just east of Immanuel Lutheran Church north of Bethune.

    Grandfather Stutz worked for the ranchers along the Republican River for 25 cents per day.  The family consisted of Frederick (who died at age 21), Maria, Ida (who died in infancy), Ida, Edmma, Lydia, Wilhelmina, Magdalena, Annetta (who died at age 15), and Martha.

    Grandparents Stutz passed away in 1928 and 1929, respectively.