Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA) Thursday 25 May 193330044

DEATH OF A PIONEER.

Mrs. Maria Augusta Walsgott.  

Among our fast, diminishing band
of pioneers to join the great  
majority was Mrs. Maria Augusta  
Walsgott, who passed away at the
residence of her daughter, Mrs. Alf  
Coutts, Bay road, on May 15, after a
brief illness.    
Mrs. "Walsgott wad born at Meck-
lenburg, Rostock, Germany, in 1843,  
and had she lived she would have  
been 90 years of age in September.
She left Germany as a child of nine
with her mother and two brothers,  
the late Messrs. Joachim and Carl
Schmidt, and setting out for Austra-
lia, they landed at Port Adelaide; she
was thus a colonist of 81 years. From
Port Adelaide they went to Lyndoch,
a German settlement about ten miles
from Gawler. There the family re-  
mained for about ten years. Later,
haying heard good reports of Mount
Gambier, they decided to seek their  
fortunes in this district. Packing up
their goods and chattels they travelled
to Mount Gambier via the Coorong in
a bullock dray. Mrs. Walsgott, who
was blessed with an excellent mem-
ory, would often entertain her friends
with descriptions of the hardships
that they underwent on that memor-
able trip. However, after several  
weeks on the track, they arrivd at
Mount Gambier.      
In September, 1862, she was mar-
ried to her late husband, the ceremony
being performed by me Rev. James
Don, the resident Presbyterian minis-
ter- After their marriage, the young
couple went to reside at Compton,
where her husband had selected a
farm of 107 acres. On this farm she  
lived for many years. As time went
on they increased their holding and    
also took up land at Millicent and
Dimboola (Vic.).
Mrs. Walsgott, owing to the cares
of an increasing, family and the hard
work the pioneers had to undertake,    
in her young days was unable to take
any part in public affairs or the plea-
sures that, were offering, but she al-
ways found, time for the duties of her  
church, and St. Martin's Lutheran    
Church had no more devoted member
than she was.
Mr. Walsgott died in 1917. Out of    
a family of twelve, nine are living -
three sons and six daughters. The sons
are Messrs. Gustav, East Melbourne;
John, Beulah; and Henry, Compton;
and the daughters are Mesdames B.
Dahlenberg, Invercargill; New Zea-    
land; A. P. Koop, Ni Ni Wells, Vic-  
toria; Alf Coutts, Mount Gambier;  
Carl Fechner, Dimboola; F. G. Grieve,
Moorak; and Edwin Kluge, Frewville,
Mount Gambier.
The funeral service was conducted
by the Rev. E. Sprengel, and Mr. W.
Pearce carried out the mortuary ar
rangements.