John B. Alt was born in Franklin Township (near Plain) in Sauk County, Wisconsin, to Wolfgang Alt and Margaretha Bindl; he was the second of 10 children. John's father, Wolfgang, was born in Eixendorf (by Neunburg vorm Wald) in Kreis Schwandorf, Bavaria, Germany, a very small village of a handful of homes and farms. For descendants trying to find Eixendorf, it no longer exists. By 1975, all the villagers of Eixendorf had to leave because the "Eixendorfer Staussee" (a reservoir bridge, dam, and new highway #2151) was built over the Schwarzach river at Eixendorf where homes and farms once stood. At age 24, Wolfgang immigrated from Schömersdorf in June 1863. John's mother also immigrated at age 13, on the same ship as Wolfgang in June 1863; she came from Treffelstein. John Alt and Katherine Ringelstetter were married on May 30, 1894 by Father Ignatz Schaller at St. Luke Catholic Church, Plain, Sauk County, Wisconsin. Witnesses were Joseph Alt and Emilia Alt according the St. Luke's marriage record. A writeup in local newspapers has not been found, nor has a marriage record been found at the Sauk County courthouse. Their wedding portrait showed 4 attendants, believed to be Emma Alt [Gruber], Joseph Alt, possibly Katherine Alt Peterson, and either Michael Ringelstetter or Joseph Ringelstetter. In 1919 they purchased a farm that included an octagon barn built in 1900 located north of Plain in Franklin Township (current address S9692 County Road N). As their son Herman Alt recalled in a September 30, 1981, article in the Weekly Home News (Spring Green, Wisconsin), "My father helped to raise the barn and the bee lasted for three days. It was the biggest barn raising bee ever held in these parts." Katherine and John Alt had 4 children: Ludwig "Lute" Alt, Emma C. Alt, Herman John Alt, and Clarence Alt. (Bio updated 2/10/2024 by ID# 46865269)