All Together Now

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» Johann Christian Friedrich Dickfoss
and Johanne Friederike Riek (1st marriage)
and Dorothea Runge (2nd marriage)

Johann Christian Friedrich Dickfoss was born in Gerswalde in 1816 and died in Mt.Walker in 1894. In 1841 in a place called Fergitz in the Uckermark region of Prussia, Johann married Johanne Friederike Riek (1818-1844) born Strowig, out of wedlock, in Potzlow. Their son, Johann Friedrich August Dickfos (1842-1926) who was born in Gerswalde and eventually died in Ipswich, was married in 1819 to Christine Sophie Schneider (1843-1917) who was born in Eberstadt and died in Coleyville. Christine Sophie was the sister of our 2x great-grandfather, Henry Schneider (sen.). Two of the children from Johann's second marriage also married Henry's siblings.

Johann's first wife, Johanna, died early in 1844 and Johann remarried a few months later to Dorothea Runge. On the 13th of October, 1865, Johann and Dorothea left their home in Strehlow and migrated to Queensland with their five children. They departed from Hamburg on board the Cesar Godeffroy, a ship newly built in Hamburg in the same year as their departure.

Strehlow is a village in the Uckermark that lies a couple of kilometers north east of the Upper-Ucker-Lake (Oberuckersee). Their particular place of abode was most likely the Gutshof (Estate) belonging to the von Arnim family, originally known as a Ritterhof (Knight's Estate).

Nowadays Strehlow belongs to Potzlow in the district of the Oberuckersee which in turn is part of the Uckermark. The village was first written down in 1317 as Strele, and was later known as Stelow. The name is derived from a Slavic word meaning 'arrow' noting its location on the Mühlgraben which flows into the Ucker River.

The only child from Johann's first marriage to Johanne Friederike Riek, was named Johann Friedrich August Dickfoss, known later as simply August Dickfos, dropping one 's' from the end as was the fashion in Australia. He married Heinricke Sophie Schneider, the daughter of Johann Georg Schneider, in 1869. The eldest son of Johann and Dorothea, Johann Carl Dickfos, married Christine Schneider, another child of Johann Georg Schneider, in 1871. The second youngest child of Johann and Dorothea, Johanna Caroline Wilhelmine Dickfos (Caroline), married another child of Johann Georg Schneider, Gottfried Friedrich (Fred) Schneider, also in 1871.

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» Johann Friedrich "August" Dickfos
and Christine "Sophie" Schneider

August Dickfos must have been a family man in the true sense of the term. Telling from the lack of information in the newspapers about him or his wife Sophie, it can only be assumed that they spent their life looking after their own affairs, farming and raising a family.

A major factor bearing upon their circumspection could have been the sad loss of three of their children who had died in infancy, one after the other, and that Sophie's eldest child, Charles had also died at the age of eleven.

Sophie predeceased August by nine years, passing away at the age of 70, while August managed to live on till he was 83. They both lived to see all of their children who had reached adulthood get married and start families of their own.

Of August's half-siblings who had also migrated to Australia, the eldest, Minnie and the youngest, Hermann, had also passed away by the time of August's death. The other two, Carl and Caroline, lived to 87 and 97 respectively.

During his lifetime, August enlarged his farm by acquiring some of the adjoining land from the Mandelkow family, who became related by his son William's marriage to Edith Mandelkow, August's farm was eventually passed on to his son, Alfred (Alf), who was more of a community man, being involved with the Coleyville Dip Association and even instigating a telephone exchange started in his own home. Alf also actively participated in the school's P&C Association and was both organist and Sunday School teacher for the Baptist Church. He eventually had a new farm, further up the hill, and August moved in with him after Christine passed away.

» More about Sophie's family can be found on the page about the Schneiders.

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» Johann "Carl" Gottlieb Dickfoss
and Christina Schneider

According to the articles in the Queensland Times dated 2nd July 1931, Carl's father, Johann Dickfos selected land in 1871 at the Normanby Reserve, where Carl worked until he was able to secure his own 120 acres at Coleyville. That was also the year he was married to Christina Schneider and the newly wedded couple remained on that property for the next 27 years.

There they raised a family of five boys and five girls. The farm itself became "an inspiring scene of industry" with a cheese factory, bacon-curing plant and a sugar mill for which horses supplied the power. The products of all this industry were sold in a store established by Carl and successfully run for many years in Ipswich.

Then the couple moved to Redland Bay where they spent a further nine years fruit farming. In 1919 they settled into retirement at their seaside residence in Wynnum, planting, growing and tending to a couple of acres of thriving fruit and vegetables.

Yet life hadn't started out easily for young Carl Dickfos. In an attempt to earn enough money for his father to pay the rent, Carl set out on foot looking for work. His mother had put two shillings and sixpence in his pocket to see him through till he could look after himself. He made it all the way to New England in northern New South Wales still without luck. There he met up with two other travelers and together they approached a station manager who only had enough work for two. So he set out again, intending to return home, covering another 45 miles till reaching Rosenthal. Being Sunday, he rested there for the day and then proceeded on through Drayton, Gatton Bridge, Laidley, Grandchester and finally to a place called Mount Alfred. There he discovered pine was being loaded and saw a man and woman sawing wood. He offered to help and appreciatively found himself five weeks work, securing him enough for his father's rent.

Although Carl lived through the rough days of the bush, he was grateful for having been baptised when only 17 years old and "by the Grace of God I was not greatly affected". He later became a foundation member of the Coleyville Baptist Church, started a Sunday School, led the congregation and for 36 years preached and taught in German. This work he continued later on when he lived in Redland Bay.

Carl even built a barn out of rough slabs on his father's property which served as the church for many years. He was also a member of the original Coleyville school committee and helped build the school without government aid. He was a member of the Mutdapilly Divisional Board and upon formation of the Normanby Council had a seat at the table.

» More about Christine's family can be found on the page about the Schneiders.

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» Johanna "Caroline" Wilhelmine Dickfos
and Gottfried Friedrich (Fred) Schneider

Caroline and Fred became grand old pioneers of the Boonah area and could tell many a tale of their hardships and successes across very many decades in early Queensland. They were not only renowned for their long life in the district, Caroline managed to live to the age of 98 years and Fred to 93, which was quite remarkable for the time. Indeed Fred later became well known as "The Grand Old Man of Boonah".

Caroline at the age of ten arrived with her family after a four-month journey from the north of Germany. Upon arrival they journeyed further along the Brisbane and Bremer rivers until reaching Ipswich at a spot close to the site of where the North Ipswich Woollen Mills would stand. From there they moved to Mutdapilly to work for a Mr Nutley and his family, picking cotton. Caroline then went to work for Rev. and Mrs. Heiner at the Lutheran Parsonage in Ipswich.

Later she met Fred Schneider and much later in life still recalled the amusing tale of how the two of them had to ride to Ipswich on horseback to get married. That was in 1871, one week after her brother, Carl, had married Fred's sister, Christine. Two years before that, in 1869, Caroline's eldest brother (a half-brother), August, had married another of Fred's sisters, Sophie.

The young couple first settled at Black Flat in Rosevale and then selected land at the foot of Mt. Walker. Towards the end of 1878, they sold that land and established a farm on some land they selected near Boonah. Of course, at that time the land was just a brigalow scrub and Fred apparently picked up the challenge of clearing it which proved to be a back-breaking task.

Fred was a master wheelwright by profession and built wagons to transport water from the Dugandan Lagoon and also for conveying goods back and forth to Ipswich. Fred also built a church on his property to serve the growing Baptist community. The building was later moved into Church Street in Boonah and remained in service. The couple were not only founding members but also devoted supporters of the Baptist Church. Fred even sent off to America to purchase a Cornish Organ at a cost of 17 pounds so there would be music for the services.

» More about Fred's family can be found on the page about the Schneiders.

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» Hermann Wilhelm Christian Dickfoss
and Anna Fischer

Having arrived in Queensland in 1865, the family of the seven year old Herman Dickfos first settled in Churchbank, not far from where Fernvale and Mutdapilly are nowadays. Here they were engaged in cotton picking for the Nutley family.

At the age of 21, Herman married Anne Fischer and the couple took up residence in Rosevale. There they remained farming for 26 years followed by another 8 at Cunningham's Gap where Herman also took a prominent part in the building of the road over the Gap. They then moved to Wynnum and then to Aratula where Herman spent his time in retirement.

It has been noted that Herman "was of a cheerful and jovial disposition and was well liked by a large circle of friends." (QT 16-06-1928)

Herman also took an active interest in local affairs, becoming elected as a member of the Divisional Board in 1893. He had also been contracted to improve the roads around where he lived.

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» Johanna "Wilhelmine" Friederike Charlotte Dickfoss
and Johann "Karl" Martin Neuendorf

Karl and Wilhelmine voyaged to Australia in 1865 on board the "Wandrahm" but the passage was nothing short of horrendous, having lost both their children during the trip. According to the research of Allan L. Neuendorf, the couple first settled in the Lockyer valley where they had a further six children.

Allan also told a story which had been passed on down through the generations. When his ancestor, August Neuendorf, was released from the quarantine of the ship La Rochelle, he went into town and ran into his cousin. He was unaware that that they had both migrated to Australia at almost the same time. It is not definite but very likely that this cousin was Karl who had also just been released from quarantine since the Wandrahm had arrived only two weeks after the La Rochelle which had even more deaths occur on board.

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» Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Dickfoss
and Wilhelmine Caroline Henriette Hass