The Bartsch name can be traced to John Carl William Bartsch and his son William C, long known in the Royal area. John Carl William Bartsch was born in Breslun, Germany and settled in the Marquette, Wisconsin area. He met and married Rosa Brown in Wisconsin. The family lived in Chickasaw, Iowa for a number of years before moving to Savage, later known as Royal, Nebraska. They homesteaded south of the village.
William C. Bartsch was born in Green Lake County, Wisconsin. As a young man while the family was living in Chickasaw, he married Edith Miller of Chickasaw on Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1883. Parents of both young people came to Antelope County to settle and William and Edith followed in 1884 and homesteaded south of Royal. They farmed for forty years.
William C. and Edith adopted twin boys from New York. They grew to manhood at Royal with Oscar farming the homestead and Emmett leaving the farm and settling in Portland, Oregon. Oscar married Ellen Rebecca Wade, whose family lived near Wayne, Nebraska. They were married on June 17, 1924, at Council Bluffs, Iowa. They spent their entire married life at Royal and were the parents of two daughters. Ellen was a teacher for more than 30 years. Both of the girls became teachers. Elaine married Charley Meyer and Eloise married Lawrence Johnson on March 17, 1948.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in June 2007