March 22nd was the birthday of Dr. Gotthilf Adolph Palisch.  Dr. Palisch was the doctor serving the Frohna community for many years.  He was the youngest child of Ernst and Juliane (Hofstetter) Palisch of Frohna.  He was born in 1875.  A little over a year after Gotthilf was born, his father died.  He hadn’t even reached his 48th birthday when he had a stroke and died.  The church record also indicates that he fell into some water when he had that stroke.  Therefore, the widow, Juliane, had to raise young Gotthilf more or less by herself.

The 1880 shows the Palisch family with Juliane’s niece, Carolina Hofstetter, living with them as a housemaid.  I am sure she was a big help to Juliane.

Since there is no 1890 census available, we next find Gotthild in the 1900 census.  By this time he is a medical doctor living with the Martin Fischer family in Frohna.  The following household in the census shows his mother living with her sister-in-law, Josephine, who had become a widow in 1896.

Two years later, Dr. Palisch married Josephine Lottes.  She was the daughter of the saloon keeper in Altenburg, Gabe Lottes, and also the sister of the three Lottes brothers which have been discussed in previous posts, The Dreaded Doc Lottes and Let the Children Come to Us and A Whole Lottes Jobs.  Here is their marriage license.

In the 1910 census, we see Gotthilf and Josephine living with Gotthilf’s nephew, 15 year old Otto Palisch, who is called a stable boy.

This was still in the days when one of the main means of transportation was the horse and buggy, before the automobile became common.  Or sometimes it was a mule and wagon.

This photo shows Dr. Palisch (left) and Dr. Schall (with the mustache).  This is the Dr. Schall who was mentioned in the post titled, A Tornado Tale of Two Towns.

In 1912, Doc Palisch applied for a passport and took a trip to Germany.  I have no idea what the purpose of this trip was.  I do know that he went without his wife, Josephine.

Gotthilf and Josephine had no children.  In the 1940 census, they are living with Josephine’s mother, Maria (Ludwig) Lottes.

The Palisches built and lived in this home which we still find in Frohna.

This is the house that is featured on the cover of Ann Hazelwood’s book, The Forgiving Quilt.

Ann, who also has Perry County roots, has written several books which use East Perry County as their setting.  Her book, Josephine’s Guest House Quilt, indicates that Josephine Palisch’s home had been turned into a guest house.  These books can be purchased at our museum.

Doc Palisch died in 1951.  Josephine followed him in death in 1954.  They are both buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna.

One interesting story is told by one of our local historians.  It seems that Doc Palisch came to a farmhouse because a baby was ready to be born.  During the delivery, Doc Palisch is said to have taken the time to spit some of his tobacco juice into a spittoon he had brought with him.  That mother never was a big fan of the Frohna doc.