Well, I will discount Joseph and Catherine Zwiefelhofer as Eleanor (Zwiefelhofer) Barthen's parents. I still have the census records of when she arrived, and the Biography (I use that term loosely) of Eleanor's brother Bert (Albert) Hofer.

Interesting that you are related. Did you know about Conrad Barthen's body being found floating in a river in Milwuakee? According to news articles, the family suspected foul play because he always had money in his pocket, and there was none found on him when his body was found. I talked to a long lost cousin about Conrad. His grandmother was a little girl living in Milwaukee at the time. She told him that "the mob had done him it". On the other hand, he also said Conrad kissed his grandmother goodbye on the forhead that morning when he left (which was usual), so was it suicide? We will never know.

Barb