| Summary: | A history of Zap, North Dakota. 115 pages : illustrations 28 cm. Steve and Katharine Stern Steve and Katharine (Traxel) Stern Steve was born May 8, 1886 in South Russia to Frederick and Magdalena Boeckel Stern. In 1905 Steve migrated to the U.S. at only 19 years of age. On the advice of his father who was in the military and felt that this was not the life he wanted for his son, Steve came to the U.S. He did not have the finances for this journey, so he hired out as a shipmate and traveled fourth class. The only good thing about being a shipmate was that he also helped in the kitchen so would have some of the choice food. Steve said he never got seasick and attributed that to the fact that he could pick food that appealed to him. Steve worked as a laborer in the Sykeston area for about two years, then took up a homestead north of Golden Valley, ND. To prove his homestead, he had to live there for five years, have a homestead shack, a well, a team of horses, a couple of cows, and poultry to show that he meant to stay. Steve could neither read, write or speak English. He attended night school where he learned English. He had a good instructor because Steve was a good reader and much of his past-time was spent reading. Katharine Traxel was born July 28, 1894 in Krem, South Russia, to Gottlieb and Beata Muench Traxel. She came to this country in 1906 with her parents. They settled north of Zap where she was raised and attended school. Steve and Katharine were married January 3, 1915 at Golden Valley. They lived on Steve's homestead until 1948 when they retired and moved to Zap where they lived until Steve died March 3, 1969. In 1970 Katharine moved to Hazen where she lived in the housing for the elderly. In 1982 she became a resident of the Pioneer Park Retirement Home in Hazen. Katharine died May 1, 1983. Steve and Katharine were members of St. Matthew's Church at Neusatz where Steve held different offices on the church council. He also served many years on the Board of Education at Beaver Creek School District. Steve was a great pinochle player. Much of his leisure time was spent playing cards at Sandau's Bar or he would go visiting and, of course, play more pinochle. Katharine was known for her beautiful work in knitting, crocheting, and quilting. Most of her children and grandchildren have either a scarf, mittens, slippers, quilt or some rare doily made by her. Steve and Katharine were blessed with 13 children. Three died in infancy. Erhardt died in a car accident in January 1947. He is survived by one son, Roy, living in Columbus, IN. Gottlieb married Stella Weigum. They had six children: Sonja in Wyoming; June living in Texas; Fern and Dean living in Mandan, ND; Connie in Golden Valley; Luzina, deceased. Gottlieb farmed north of Golden Valley until he died in 1969. Ray married Shirley Weigum. They lived on the Stern homestead until Ray died in 1982. Shirley continues to farm with her son, Steven. They had four children. Fred and Myron of Hazen, ND; Brenda of Halliday, ND; and Steven, who farms with his mother. Erna Avey of Atwater, CA, has three sons: James, At- water, CA; Steven, Dayton, OH, and Michael, deceased. Erna is married to Roy Avey. Ruphina married Anton Schaff of Zap, ND. They have four children: Dale, residing in Wamego, KS; Tom in Underwood, ND; Lony, living in Minneapolis, MN, and Kathleen in Zap. Bea married Gordon Weigum. They now reside in Hazen, ND. They had three children: Larry, Bismarck, ND; Bonnie, Hazen, ND; and Gordon Jr., deceased. Hertha married Cliff Sandau and they live in Hazen, ND. They have two sons: Rodney at Provo, UT, and Glenn, living in Hazen, ND. Louise is married to Gerald Friese and resides in Garrison, ND. They have a son, Jerome, living in Bismarck, ND. Anne lives in Hazen, ND, and is married to Jerry Chase. Their children are: Jody, living in Hazen, and Jess, a student at NDSU. Ruby married Jerry Bauer. They live in Williston, ND, and have two daughters-Kim in Minot, ND, and Stacy, a student at UND. Elroy and Ella Taylor Family Ella was born December 1, 1921 in Zap to John and Eda Reinke Kaufmann. She is retired from the Minot school system. Elroy was born November 8, 1920 to Ed and Jennie Taylor in Milton, ND. He is retired from law enforcement. Ella and Elroy had five children, all born in Minot, ND: Douglas; Shirley, married to Doug Whitico; Rodney; Greg and Kevin, who is married to Cory Bentz. Elroy is a member of the Eagles, American Legion, VFW and the DAV. John Taylor, Zap Rural Mail Carrier, Honored by Patrons on Retirement After serving many of his patrons through all kinds of weather for nearly 27V2 years, about 100 persons gathered at the Zap Community hall to honor John Taylor, 65, on his retirement from the postal service. The occasion came as a surprise to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. Although at Zap only since October 1, 1940, Mr. Taylor has been in the postal service since March 8, 1926, when he started as a city mail carrier in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. After experiencing trouble with his feet he transferred to Blabon, ND, in Steele County in January 1936. For just under 20 years, Mr. Taylor was the carrier on what was known as route one out of Zap. He took over the delivery of all mail in the Zap rural area January 7, 1960, following the retirement of R.A. "Shorty" Norton as 105 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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