Anna Ida Plohar was born on 24 December 1881 in Kewaunee, Wisconsin. She was the second child born to Matt and Mary Plohar, after her brother Mathias. Five sisters and three more brothers were born over the years.
Her father Matt purchased land from his father in 1878, the same year he married Anna's mother Mary Schuller.
The Plohar family (originally spelled Plouhar) came from Bohemia in 1858 and the Schullers arrived from Prussia in 1854. Both families settled in Kewaunee where they bought land for farming.
Anna met Charles Maigatter, the son of a farmer who owned land a few miles northeast of her dad's farm. She was 23 years old when she and Charles were married by clergyman Joseph F. Valecka in a civil ceremony on 07 June 1905. Subscribing witnesses to their marriage were Charles' brother Gustav (who signed the certificate "G.C. Maigatter") and Anna's sister, Emma Plohar.
