A childhood in Schleswig
Peter identified himself in his memoir as J. Jens Peter Paulsen Dortzbach. He was born in Ballum, North Schleswig, the youngest of George Frederick Dortzbach and Kjesten Schmidt’s four children. When he was about seven, the family moved farther south, where his father worked as a mail carrier. Peter attended school until fifteen and was confirmed in the Lutheran church in 1878. He then served a three-year apprenticeship as a tanner, receiving food and lodging rather than wages.
The journey to America
After working in Denmark, Peter left Europe in the spring of 1883. His account describes a journey through Norway and Scotland, an eleven-day wait in Glasgow, and an uncomfortable Atlantic crossing. He remembered poor food, crowded accommodations and icebergs. He gave April 12, 1883 as his arrival in New York. A railway ticket bought from another passenger took him to Chicago, where a friend suggested Racine, Wisconsin, with its Danish and German community.
Finding work and meeting Ida
Soon after reaching Racine, Peter became seriously ill and spent three weeks in St. Mary’s Hospital. He remembered the sisters’ kindness. After recovering, he took whatever work he could find before securing employment at a tannery. While boarding near the Falkenrath home, he met Ida through visits between neighbors. They married in Racine on March 23, 1889, and opened a small shoe shop in Milwaukee’s Silver City neighborhood.
Building a family
Peter and Ida’s first three children—Milly, Annie and George Karl—were born in Milwaukee. Peter credited Ida with helping the family through illness and difficult business years. He visited Cripple Creek, Colorado, in 1895 to investigate mining opportunities; in his account, the family moved there in 1896. Mining proved unsuccessful, so he returned to shoemaking while Ida took in boarders. Their son George Karl died in Cripple Creek in 1900. Their youngest child, Carl George, was born near Platteville in 1906.
Shops, a farm and a hotel
Following the disruption of the 1904 mining strike, Peter described exchanging the Cripple Creek property for a farm near Platteville. The family later moved to Boulder, where he ran a shoe shop and Ida and their daughters operated a hotel. When both daughters became ill with typhoid fever, they gave up the hotel and moved to Denver. Peter worked as a tannery superintendent, then again operated a shoe shop. He and Ida also owned residential and apartment property.
Later years with Milly’s family
After selling their Denver apartment property in 1926, Peter and Ida spent time in California before settling in Centralia with Milly and Otto Hilpert. In 1931 they bought a filling station with a garage, house and lunchroom, operated by their son Carl. They celebrated fifty years of marriage on March 23, 1939, with family and friends at Milly’s home and a gathering at Oak View Grange Hall. Peter died at Milly’s home on May 23, 1942. The family history records that his ashes were placed at Crown Hill Cemetery in Colorado, where Ida would later share his grave.
The memories he left
Eileen Townsend explained that her grandfather told these stories while they drank hot chocolate before bed. She wrote down his recollections and later typed them. His account closes in 1935 with gratitude for family, respect for other people’s religions, and hope that loved ones would meet again. Later family updates were added to the surviving versions.
A note on the records
The surviving versions differ on Peter’s departure day and some intermediate moves. This biography follows his own account where possible and leaves those disputed details approximate.
Sources for this biography
Based on the family’s written histories. Recollections and compiled records are identified here so they can be revisited as the archive grows.
- Peter P. Dortzbach’s biography — Peter’s recollections, recorded by his granddaughter Eileen Townsend; Word transcript and scanned versions RB010–RB015 and RB022–RB025B.
- The Falkenrath Family: Germany to America — Compiled by Dawn Kelm, September 7, 2010, including genealogical notes, photographs and family recollections. Her husband, Wayne Kelm, is a grandson of Ernest (Ernst) Falkenrath, Ida’s brother.
- Descendants of Carl F. “Charles” Falkenrath — Family genealogy, scans RB046–RB053; includes census summaries and transcribed obituaries.
- Personal History of the Dortzbach Family — Clara Dortzbach, October 25, 1984; scans HS001–HS011, incorporating material supplied by Jen Peter.