Andrew Barthle, the founder of St. Joseph, Pasco Co., Fla., arrived in March, 1883, and, after three months, returned to Minnesota to tell his friends the wonderful things of “The Land of Flowers.” Born in Oberbettringen, Jagstkreis Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany on 16 Nov 1802 to Joseph Josef Barthle and Christiana Dorothea Katharina Trinkle. Andrew Barthle married Barbara Blessing and had 5 children. He passed away on 6 Feb 1891 in Saint Joseph, Pasco County, Florida, United States of America.
His brother, Bernard A. Barthle, settled in St. Joseph with his family in June, 1883, and Andrew and his family in January, 1885. Others soon followed, and the place became known as “Barthle Settlement” and later as “St. Joseph.” At that period San Antonio, Fla., was the nearest post office and place of worship. In 1888 the settlers were numerous enough to have a church, and on July 1, they requested the Rev. Gerard M. Pilz, O. S. B., who came to San Antonio on May 12, 1886, to sanction their project. He did so, and the parishioners then acquired five acres of land on which to erect a German Catholic school or a church. The school was completed on September 30, 1888, and dedicated on Oct 1 by Father Pilz. It is a frame structure, one story high, with a bell tower n the rear, and served as a church until 1892. In it the first Mass in this settlement was celebrated by Father Pilz.
Today, a historic marker commemorates the Barthles Family.
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