DiMezza Family Farm

10/21/2025

We received word from the Wisconsin Historical Society on our application to list the Hruska Farm house in the national and state historical registries. They passed us for the fist of two reviews to list the farm under the under the criterion of local architecture significance of the Italianate style and potentially for ethnic heritage of the Czech migrants in the Stangelville and Pilsen area that my wife is descended from.

We are going to continue to gaher more information on how Sarah’s Czech ancestors who lived and farmed here connected with the rest if the Czech’s in the area. Luckily recently deceased Ray Selner wrote several books that showcase different businesses the Hruska family was involved with in Stangelville. More research to come as we piece by piece stitch the farm house back together.

02/23/2025

Over the past 2 years we have been doing research on the farm & the girl's ancestors that got us talking to the Catholic Parish in Mrakov Czech Republic. This picture is no where near all the relations, but it's a nice direct line of the owners of the farm since the 1880s that also pays honor to the Czech descent WWII Veterans we are aware of.

Thank you to the Diocese of Green Bay, the parishes around Stangelville who submitted their records to the Diocese, & the Norberteen brothers who translated the latin that many of the original documents we obtained were written in.

We plan on using this information, along with some historical tax records, to apply for the farm to be listed on the National and State historical societies' registries.

Below is a TLDR run down of John Nepomunk Hruska & his family of Mrakov CZ. He and his wife Annie Schleis are the first two Hruskas to own the farm.

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Jan Hruška and Anna Halada wed on 17 February 1829 at the Roman Catholic church in Taus, Taus District, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (now Domažlice, Domažlice District, Czech Republic). Their marriage record confirms that Anna was the 18-year-old daughter of Kryštof Halada and Kateřina Ticháček, and identifies Jan as the 21-year-old son of Jan Hruška and Markéta Selner. We identified six children born to Jan and Anna in Tlumačov, including Jan Nepomuk “John” Hruška, who was their youngest identified child:

Dorota, born 8 November 1832
Kryštof, born 3 November 1835
Josef, born 22 September 1838
Maria, born 15 March 1843
Anna, born 20 April 1848
Jan Nepomuk, born 27 April 1852

Jan Nepomuk, immigrated to the United States through the port of Maryland in 1866. It is unclear how or when he arrived in Stangelville, WI.

Dorota Hruška married Václav Forst and immigrated to the United States in July 1870. She settled in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, where her husband went by Wenzel Forst. Kryštof Hruška married Maria Hrubý and immigrated to the United States, also in July 1870, although his naturalization declaration in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, states that he immigrated in August 1869. Kryštof went by Christoph in the United States. His signature on his naturalization declaration matches that of the witness Christoph Hruska who signed his name on the marriage record of Sarah’s second-great-grandparents John Hruska and Anna Schleis in 1875.

Maria Hruška immigrated to the United States in July 1870 with her parents and some of her siblings. She went by Mary in the United States. Mary married Joseph Konop on 23 May 1872 in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin. Their marriage record identifies Mary’s parents as John and Anna Hruska, and one of the witnesses was John “Hallada.” Anna Hruška also immigrated to the United States in July 1870. Jan Nepomuk “John” Hruška declared his intention to naturalize in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, on 20 October 1888.

01/15/2025

Responsibility means that sometimes you have to wait to do something until the time is right for the safety of others.

The Resource Center provides checklists for each of the NPIP biosecurity principles in multiple languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Arabic. Download them and share with your personnel, friends, and family.
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/defend-the-flock/resources

01/14/2025

Something we hope to contribute to as we figure out what we will be growing at the farm. Midwest Elderberry Cooperative.

Midwest Elderberry Cooperative: high quality environmentally and humanly sustainable native elderflower and elderberry ingredients

01/14/2025

So happy to be a part of the Farm Fresh Story Time Snack Program that Rooted In Inc. And Brown County Library organized. The program gets food from local farmers and vendors to offer healthy snacks and teach composting basics at the Denmark Story time.

Plus it gets our kids into the library!

12/14/2024

As we care for our own littles, this FREE Supporting Aging & Caregivers Luncheon event put on by Denmark Connects reminds us that part of our work raising these future farmers is to make sure they can be great future caregivers themselves in the future.

We’re looking forward to doing our part to ensure all these resources stay available for them as they get old enough to benefit from caregiver support.

12/06/2024

Joel Salatin, the lunatic farmer, being appointed to USDA secretary advisory is an excellent outcome. When he came on my way to visit Growing Power Inc on a greyhound bus I read the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma which heavily featured Joel and his Family’s Polyface Farm.

Little did I know… he was a speaker at Growing Power! I took a job at Growing Power that year… and I consumed so many of Joel’s books to help me while I went from Biotechnology plant researcher / lab assistant in the North East, to regenerative agriculturalist by working hands on at farms in the Mid West.

Small farmers need a voice and they got it. We now hope it will be allowed to turn into action!

November 6, 2024 — Breaking news for the ardent followers of the modern homesteading movement was announced late on Wednesday afternoon. Joel Salatin, the self-described “Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer” has received an appointment by congressman Thomas Massie ...

11/27/2024

Got these pictures and a nice litter in the mail the other day related to the farm’s history as well as some of the familie’s!

Thanks to the Glasser-Farenchek family for hunting down our mailing address and sending us our first confirmed pictures of Louie Hruska (the girls great great great grandfather) and potentially a picture of John and Anna Hruska, Louie’s parents.

11/23/2024

Thanks to Katie Shefchek for teaching me about Plat Maps and the tip to use them to research the farm history.

We found an 1876 Kewaunee county plat map at the University of Wisconsin Libraries digital archives linked here. https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ATES47S7N4OINR8G/full

We also found an 1895 Kewaunee county plat map at The Library of Congress linked here. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012593199/

We were able to determine that sometime after John Hruska and Anna Schleis got married in 1875 but before 1895, they purchased two 40 acre parcels and combined them into an 80 acre plot in section 34 within the township of Montpelier of the Kewaunee county map.

The 40 acres that had our house was owned by a J. Silsby and a farm/ house was there back then. So still no idea when our house was built.

The 40 acres where Krohn Dairy Store is now was owned by an A Schleis back in 1876… which is suspiciously the same last name as Anna’s maiden name.

Here’s pictures.

11/20/2024

We would like to thank the 83rd Infantry Division Research & Documents, 83rd Infantry Division Association, as well as Dan Zellner of Luxemburg.

When Great uncle Bob Hruska passed away in 2022 Dan, who is the son of Clarence Zellner, a man who served in WWII through Boot camp and at the Battle of Barby in Germany, sent in a memorial announcement of Bob’s death to the 83rd. They printed it in their Winter 2022 magazine.

The 83rd sent us a physical copy of that magazine and we are keeping it for our historical records as we are fixing up the farm.