This genealogy is told from the perspective of Beryl and Leonard Mitchell.  William Marion Mitchell and Leah  Walker were their parents. Above, the first picture is of their great grandparents, Peter Huber and Theresa Resienger. The second is of their grandparents, Joseph E. Huber and Emma Rothmeyer. The third is their parents, Kathleen Agnes Smith and Joseph Peter Huber.

Although this site is called the Mitchells and the Walkers, we cannot go back very far on either side. Thomas Josephus Mitchell was William Marion’s father. What we know about the Mitchell family line ends with Thomas J.’s father, William C. Mitchell, who was born about 1801 in Tennessee.

Mary Isabell Bennett, Thomas’ mother, was born about 1816 in Missouri to Samuel Bennett and ___ Griffith. (first name unknown) This is as much as we know about the Bennett line.

Catherine Morgan Roberts, Thomas’ wife and William Marion’s mother, has a long family line that we can trace back to about 1558 in Holland. This line comes through her father, Caswell Roberts. Frederik Lubbersten, the 9th great grandfather of Beryl and Leonard, was in America by 1633. 

Then a 24 year-old sailor for the Dutch West India Trading Company, Frederik would become a prosperous businessman. To understand the role that the trading company played in the founding of New York, watch “The Magnificent Cities” on Amazon Prime. It provides insight into how the company shaped the lives of men like Frederik and his son-in-law, Jacob Vandergriff (also Vandergrift). The Vandergriff family also has a long and storied history in America.

Now, let’s turn to the Walkers. Leah (1880) was the daughter of Leonard Walker (1842)  and Sarah Ellen James (1879). Through her father, Leonard, we can trace the line back to David Walker (1735). He immigrated to the US  from Dublin and died in 1789. We do not know when he immigrated.

Leah’s mother, Sarah Ellen James, has a long family line through her mother Susan Remer (1812). We can trace this line to 1500 in Perthshire, Scotland. William Ruffin sailed from Scotland to America around 1635, He settled in Virginia. Bill M. and Mary Ann H. have DNA profiles that show this connection to early Virginia settlers.

Because we have ancestors who came to America so early, there are numerous books that speak to our genealogy. Of course, books are only as good as their researchers.

On that topic, we have a controversy. On Leah’s side, there is a possibility that we are descended from Pocahontas. This debate has lasted for generations. We leave it to you to decide.

None of  Theresia Resienger’s siblings immigrated. It appears that none of her extended family immigrated either. As far as we can tell, she never returned to Germany – so after she immigrated at 22, she never saw her parents or siblings again.

We know much more about the Hubers than we do the Rothmeyers, Resiengers or Leingartners. This applies to their lives in Germany and America.  

Dubbed by one newspaper as “the jolly farmer of Jamesville”, Peter was a prominent citizen and businessman and was often in the Dakota papers. Doane Robinson, who conceived the idea of Mt. Rushmore, wrote an admiring account of Peter in The History of South Dakota. Doane also wrote of Peter’s sons, Frank and Joseph.

Arriving in the territory 20 years before statehood, Peter played a role in discussions about the drafting of the state constitution. Keep in mind, for the majority of the time he lived in Yankton, South Dakota was not a state. For this reason,  sometimes you will see “south” Dakota because it refers to a section of the Dakota Territory, not the state of South Dakota.

As the territorial capital of the Dakotas, Yankton was the center of its political activity. Peter would play many civic roles – including being a  justice of the peace from 1875-1877. When President McKinley visited the new state in 1898, Peter was designated as a member of the Yankton welcoming committee. 

Among the largest landowners in south Dakota, Peter and Theresia were wealthy. Their home was the site of the 1888 wedding of their niece, Anna Huber to Louis Nipp.  Approximately 300 people attended the wedding. On his 1886 return from Germany, Peter reserved a special rail car to bring his relatives to Yankton. As you’ll read later, we can’t figure out who those relatives were. If you do, let us know!

Peter and Theresia also saw their share of tragedy. From 1894 – 1904, they lost three grown daughters as well as a granddaughter. Just when it seemed it couldn’t get worse, Peter died in 1905.

Aside from Peter and Theresia’s family, we also cover some of the extended Huber family which is full of characters and interesting stories – from a thief involved in running with the mob during prohibition to the founder of a successful brewery.

Inspired by a 2019 visit to the Huber Homestead in Pirking, Germany, the descendants of Peter Huber created this site.  The Huber family still farm and live on the original homestead.

More than 150 years have passed since the Hubers crossed the Atlantic. Please join us in reconstructing the family history by sharing your stories and photos. This site is just an attempt to get it right, so any omission is not a sin of commission.  If you see anything wrong, just email julie@hubersd.com and we will fixfro