Christian Charles Ziegenfusz, the eldest child of two German immigrants, Karl Friederich Ziegenfusz and Wilhelmina (née Busch, known as Mina), was born on the family’s 17-acre holding at Seventeen Mile Rocks on 15 September 1871. He took ill with a feverish condition and head pains on the morning of 26 May 1881; and, not having responded to traditional remedies, he died after a convulsive fit on the next day at 4.45 p.m. His mortal remains were interred in ‘Grenier’s Cemetery, Cooper’s Plains’—that portion of Thomas Grenier’s 640-acre farm which he set aside as a burial ground for family and friends. George Breadsell, a local farmer, acted as undertaker; and the official witnesses to the burial were Franz M Walz and Peter Belz.

On the morning of 28 May 1881 an inquest into the child’s sudden death was held by Henry Lucock JP at Seventeen Mile Rocks in the police district of Oxley. He took depositions from the boy’s parents and from George Breadsell’s wife Sarah who had visited the family during the boy’s illness and who had known the deceased for five years.
 

Karl Friederich Ziegenfusz, the son of Wilhelm (a labourer) and Louisa (née Fullgraff) Ziegenfusz, was born in the German village of Ecklingerode on 21 July 1842 and baptised there in the local Roman Catholic Church three days later. He was working as a labourer (‘arbeiter’ in the shipping records) when, at the age of 22, he emigrated to Australia on the 932-ton Beausite (Captain CJS Bruhn) of the Johann Cesar Godeffroy Line on the second of her three visits to Australia. The ship left Hamburg with about 300 passengers on board on 23 October 1864 and, having reached Moreton Bay on the morning of 6 February 1865, anchored in the Brisbane Roadside the same afternoon. The new arrivals were brought up the Brisbane River on the steamship Diamond on 8-9 February. Sadly, eight children died en route from Europe.

Karl, who had been brought up to the trade of weaving, worked in a variety of occupations, including shearing in the Nanango and Tarong districts, before taking up residence at Tingalpa. It was there on 21 April 1870 that he married Wilhelmine (Mina) Busch, the daughter of Christian (a shoemaker) and Christina (née Ziegenbein) Busch who hailed from Othfresen, Hanover. On 2 August 1871 he received his Certificate of Naturalization. Five days later he purchased a property at Seventeen Mile Rocks where he grew maize and potatoes, mainly for the Ipswich market.

On their farm Karl and Mina began raising a family: Christian Charles who was known as Carl (b. 15 September 1871; d. 27 May 1881), Louisa Christina (b. 3 October 1873; m. Benedick Belz 26 August 1896; d. 18 March 1943), Anna Augusta (b. 31 October 1875; m. John Percival Woodgate 3 January 1906; d. ?), William Henry (b. 2 February 1878; m. Emily Gertrude Josephene [sic] Langdon, known as Tottie, 5 July 1905; d. 20 July 1953) and Ernest August (b. 5 June 1880; m. Lavinia Orr 26 April 1905; d. 25 February 1962). According to Sr Mary Christina RPA (Martha Ziegenfusz, the daughter of William Henry), ‘The children were baptised by the priest who came to the O’Brien’s home at Fig Tree Pocket to celebrate Mass’.

In time, Karl and Mina moved to Wellington Point; and it was there, on 1 March 1883, that Mina passed away at the age of 30 or 31 years. Her burial service was conducted by the Reverend Robert Creyke of the Church of England in the presence of Wilhelm Wendt (acting undertaker?), and F Sinai and John Woodgate, her son-in-law, (witnesses).

Later in that year, on 4 October, Karl married his sister-in-law, Christina Augusta Busch at Ormiston. They had four children: Mina Mary (b. 13 April 1884; m. Bernard Edward Keegan 3 October 1910; d. ?), Frederick James (b. 14 September 1885; m. Beatrice Emily Sylvia Gray 29 January 1913), Edward Percival (b. 4 February 1887; m. Florence Schonrock 12 July 1911; d. 22 February 1956) and George Arthur (b. 22 February 1889; m. Barbara McNeill Reid 16 September 1918; d. 4 August 1951).

Karl Ziegenfusz, ‘a kind and affectionate husband, a loving father, and a true friend to all’, died on 26 September 1907 at his Wellington Point residence in his 65^th year. His remains and those of both of his wives lie in the Cleveland Cemetery (Protestant section, grave 61). Present at his burial in an official capacity were AA Hislop (undertaker), Reverend Father Thomas Enright, and Arthur Johnson and G McLellan (witnesses). His ‘loving [second] wife, sons, and daughters’ inserted an in memoriam notice in the Brisbane Courier on the first anniversary of his death.

Christina Augusta Ziegenfusz died on 13 July 1950 at the age of 88 years. .

The Ziegenfusz story is incomplete without some reference to Henry Busch, the brother of Mina and Christina Augusta, who also emigrated to Australia. He married Mary Prout, the daughter of John and Pamela (née Ware) Prout, at Tingalpa on 17 August 1867 and they became the parents of four daughters and one son: Christian William (b. 8 April 1868; d. 16 March 1881 in a fall from a horse), Annie Christina (b. 9 August 1870), Pamela (b. 22 September 1872), Mary Minnie (b. 14 May 1876) and Martha Jane (b. 7 May 1882). Henry died in Beaudesert on 5 February 1882.