Luxemburg & Belgium: No Postal Mix-Up

It's a good story, and one that's been around for a long time. It is humorous, and even plausible, but it never happened. Or at least it didn't happen with the naming of Luxemburg, Wisconsin.

From time to time the story about the Wisconsin villages of Luxemburg and Belgium surfaces. Some wags contend they were misnamed in a postal mix-up by the Post Office Department in Washington D.C. back in the 1800s. When Peter Hanbrich* requested  a post office for the area in Northeast Wisconsin in 1880, he requested the name Luxembourg. Of that, there is no doubt. A portion of his approved site location request is at left. At the time, today's Town of Luxemburg didn't exist. It was mostly carved out of Casco Town by action of the County Board during a late night session in March 1883, three years after the naming of the post office.

It was the Belgians who populated the Towns of Red River and Lincoln, and there are Belgians living through out Kewaunee County, but it was Luxembourgers who settled what is now Luxemburg.  One who had a notable impact on the area was Nick Kaut, born in Luxembourg, Europe in 1847. He was 8 when he came with his parents John and Katherine Kaut to the Wisconsin wilderness. While initially living in a brush hut, the family began clearing land and building a new life. It was Nick who was later called "The Father of Luxemburg." His land purchases included four 40-acre plots along what today is the west side of Luxemburg's Main Street. In 1891 he began selling parcels and building homes, a grist mill and a hotel.

There were other Luxembourgers such as Nicholas Merens who were also were forces in the area.  When Michael Arndt filed his Naturalization documents, he said he was born in Luxemburg, however his brother Peter noted Saxonburg, Germany on his documents. Peter Mittler was Naturalized in 1914, saying he was born in Luxemburg. A look at Naturalizations in Kewaunee County reveals family members being born in the same place but noting a different country. It is especially true with those from southwest of Pilsen in today's Czech Republic who identified themselves as German, Austrian or Bohemian.

Luxembourg's post office was established at Freiman's Place in the Town of Casco, which was just about a mile south from today's location.*  Freiman was the operator of a saloon and store at the NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 in Section 28, but it was Peter Hanbrich who filed the application. On his application, Hanbrich noted the closest post office was at Peot, about a mile directly east of his, and the post office at Ellisville, a few miles south on the same road as his. Hanbrich said the Kewaunee River was the closest river and that School Creek was the nearest creek. Hanbrich indicated he would be serving about 350 families, but that line was crossed off. A note at the bottom said the post office "would serve 10-15 families, if that." It appears that Walhain postmaster J. B. Puissant added the notation.

The Enterprise felt Hanbrich would provide excellent service and that the office would be a great convenience to the populous neighborhood, which would be supplied with mail three times weekly from Walhain by the Green Bay carrier. Walhain was a commercial center that had one of Kewaunee County's earliest post offices. Of the three postal communities listed on the site request, Walhain and Ellisville each today have a crossroads' business while Peot is made up of farmers' fields. On the other hand, late-comer Luxemburg is Kewaunee County's most vibrant and fastest growing community.

Luxembourg's post office operated from April 21, 1880 and, for some reason, discontinued on October 12, 1882. The office remained at Freiman's Place at Joseph Filz' appointment when service was reestablished on January 17, 1895. Albert Liebl was postmaster on October 1, 1924 when the official name of the office was changed from Luxembourg to Luxemburg. Note: Luxembourg postmark.

So, where did the story of the postal mix-up come from? The following is from Belgium, Wisconsin's website, http://www.village.belgium.wi.us/ : "Belgic Luxembourgers - from the part of old Luxembourg annexed by Belgium - settled in the area of the present Township and Village of Belgium, Wisconsin, in the middle of the 19th century. Descendants of the original families still live in the area today, and preserve their heritage. While the first immigrants came from Luxembourg, neighboring settlers referred to this as "the Belgium area" because at that time much of Luxembourg was ruled by Belgium."

Both Luxemburg and Belgium have fascinating histories. Much is available on Northeast Wisconsin's Luxemburg in Kewaunee and Brown County libraries and in the Archives at UW-Green Bay. More about the Belgic Luxembourgers and the rich heritage of all Luxembourgers can be found by visiting the cultural center museum at Belgium or by going to its website: http://www.luxamculturalsociety.org/directions.html.



* In 1903 the Post Office Department ordered the office to move north into the village.

Peter Hanbrich signed the request with that spelling of his name. The approved document was sent to Peter Hanbrecht in care of the Walhain postmaster because it was the postmaster of a federally recognized post office that, in effect, vouched for the new office.

Information is taken from Here Comes the Mail: The Post Offices of Kewaunee County, c. 2010. Photos and documents are from the blogger's collection.