Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-11-09

Steuben and Won Steuben tried to help
save the country"
WAS Won Steuben a near relative
Of your family?" the reporter asked
VERY close" said the baroness, mo-
tioning with her hands. 1.-THE general
was an uncle Of my husband, big
one of those what you call 1t, great
uncles Of my husband, and there is the
family connection Then later when the
city Of Philadelphia, in New Jersey"
Pennsylvania" suggested the re-
porter.
THAT is more correct" said the bar
oness alphabetically, when they held
this great fair in Philadelphia they
send for all General Won Steuben's rel
atives that were left and they came
back to be honored Now come back
and want my son Eric saved"
| Baroness Clementine Won Kutzleben
Of Germany who stands today in Mar
engo, pleading for. the life Of her son
Eric, in the courts of land that owes
her family a debt Of gratitude and as
final resort she may choose to re-
mind the Americans in Iowa that it
was member of her family, General
Won Steuben, who fought side by side
with Washington, coming to the aid Of
the colonies then struggling for indie
pendence, and it was her cousins who
came with Prince Heinrich at the in
vitation Of the President to visit the
Centennial exposition and make tour
of the United States in 1876.
Looks the Saxon.
There is no questioning the true
and blue Saxon blood that courses
| through her veins and the authenticity
of her Teutonic ancestry is attested
| by her grandfather, Baron Friedrich
August Heinrich Won Kutzleben, whose
last act was to sign and affix his seal
to document describing the lineage
of this old German family. This doc
ument will be filed as part of the evil
dence in the trial of Eric Won Kutzle-
ben for the murder of Engineer A. G..
Hotchlliss in wreclking a Rock Island
passenger train near Homestead on the
morning Of March 81.
The first nobleman Of the family of
Baroness Won Kutzleben was Hans Won
Zieten, who was knighted on the field
Of battle by Frederick Barbarossa, the
Oldest OF the leaders of the German
people known to history. The lineal
descendant Of Won Zieten is now plead
ing insanity as a defense in the MUIR
der trial now on at the county seat OF
Iowa county.
Marriage Of Her Daughter.
That the marriage of her youngest
daughter to an officer Of the German
army is conditional to the outcome of
this trial and It's publicity is a story
which has been rumored about the
court room. This story Is denied by
the baroness, who says that the mar
riage of her daughter to the officer In
question occurred on June "a, though
1t was not generally known that 1t
would occur so soon She is indignant
at the suggestion that this marriage
was fastened because of the fear that
the news Of her sons arrest should
travel abroad. "The officer was ordered
to the frontier at South Africa near
Zanzibar" she said, "and he wanted
the marriage to occur SO that his wife
could be with him. am shocked that
this other story should have been made
public, for it is not true"
1t Is great sacrifice which Bar
oness Won Klutzleben has made in sell
ing all of her interests in the once
great but now dissipated estate to come
to the aid Of her son. She has realized
what amounts to fey thousand dol
lars which she is giving for his de
tense in the courts Of strange land
Every day she sits at the trial and
watches every move Of the lawyers
with intense interest. Educated in her
own land to read English she Is fast
learning to read and understand it She
has been in Marengo less than two
weeks but can tell of her life and work
without much difficulty. She Is with
her son all the time he Is in the court
room and walks to and from the Jail
with him as he Is taken, handcufed,
by the sheriff
'The people are all kind to e,and
have already many friends, but
hope they will spare my boy she
said. IT cannot believe that he would
do such thing and If he did he must
have been insane.
Her husband who fed from Ger.
many more than twelve years ago be-
cause he could not bear the disgrace
when the once large estate became
practically bankrupt Is gradually be.
coming reconciled again to his wife,
and they have bought a modest home
in Oklahoma where they will live after
the trial is over. They hope to have
Eric with them together with the
younger son who came with his moth
er.
First Member Of the Family.
Hans wyprecht, the first member
of the Won Zienten family from which
the baroness descended, was born IN
1889 and as Frederick Barbarossa laid
the sword on his shoulders he was
made the first Marquis of Branden'
burg the province in which Berlin is
now located.
Bernd Won Zieten, born in 1916, Is
the next name that appears on the
| Family tree in the records tn be filed