My Lehmann Family Line

This is my story about my Lehmann Family line.

In an article about Heppenheim an der Wiese, the Mennonite Encyclopedia states that the LEHMANN family originated in the Emme River valley (Emmenthal) in or near the towns of Langnau and Hassli (Hasle) in Switzerland.

In a sales contract (Kauf=Protokol) observed by Adolph Hertzler, dated 23 February 1753, a Johannes Lehmann in Harxheim an der Pfrimm exchanged a grist mill (Mahlmühl) and some surrounding property owned by him at Harxheim for the Weidenmühle bei Heppenheim an der Wiese owned by Friedrich Gramm. This would seem to establish 1753 as the date of the arrival of the Lehmann family at Heppenheim. This sales contract gave ANNA as the name of Johannes Lehmann’s wife.

In the Census Lists (Verzeichnis der Wiedertäufer) of Palatine Mennonites for the year 1759 it shows that on 27 April 1759 there was a Johannes Lehmann with wife and seven children listed as a resident at Heppenheim auf der Wiese. He was identified as a miller (Müller) with an assessed capital of 625 florins. These lists also establish that Friedrich Gramm was associated with the Weidenmühle as early as 1736 and continued there until the exchange made with Johannes Lehmann in 1753. Habegger suggests that one of the seven children was Johannes Heinrich Lehmann (RID#6) and that Johannes Lehmann (RID#5) and Michael Lehmann (RID#6) were sons of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann and, therefore, grandsons of Johannes Lehmann (RID#1). Since no other line of Lehmanns can be found in Heppenheim before or after these dates, this lineage of Johannes Lehmann is accepted as valid and this Johannes Lehmann is, thus, the patriarch of the Lehmann family of Heppenheim an der Wiese.

The birth date of Johannes can not be established from documents. Allowing 25-30 years for each generation and using 1775, the earliest date of the birth of his grandchildren, his birth year would be about 1715 at the earliest to 1725 at the latest. Taking the mid-point this would put his year of birth at 1720 ± 5 years. He might have been born in Switzerland or in the Palatinate.

The death year for Johannes Lehmann, likewise, can not be established with any certainty. An article in the Mennonite Encyclopedia describing Heppenheim a. d. Wiese indicates that a Johannes Lehmann family arrived after 1749. Habegger places the date at about 1750. The Census Lists indicate that he was still living in 1759. The death records for Heppenheim, which are presently in the Rashi House in Worms, Germany, from 1799 on do not include a death record identifiable with this Johannes Lehmann. It is assumed, therefore, that he died before 1799. This assumption is supported by the fact that he is not mentioned in a birth certificate for his grandson Johannes, born in 1799.

It is possible that another of the seven children mentioned in the Census Lists was a daughter named Maria. This suggestion is based on this evidence:

Barbara Bergthold Lehmann Krehbiel was first married to Johannes Lehmann, a son of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann. Her death certificate († 15 January 1830) states that her parents were Johann Bergthold and Maria Lehmann. Both died at St. Grethin near Bad Dürkheim. Barbara and her husband Johannes were the same age. The age of Barbara’s mother Maria Lehmann, therefore, could have been close to that of Barbara’s father-in-law Johannes Heinrich Lehmann. Thus, Maria Lehmann might have been a sister to Johannes Heinrich Lehmann and from that a daughter of Johannes Lehmann.

In some of his writings, Adolph Hertzler states that Elisabetha Lehmann, a daughter of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann and Katharina Krehbiel, married a Johannes Leisy. Leisy’s maternal grandmother was an Anna Lehmann, wife of Abraham Risser. This Anna Lehmann might have been a sister of Johannes Lehmann (RID#1).

Nothing more is known about Johannes’ wife. Her given name of Anna is known only from the sales contract for the exchanges of properties between her husband and Friedrich Gramm. This contract contains the following statement:

Johannes zu Harxheim und mit ihm seine eheliche Hausfrau Anna (Johannes at Harxheim and with him his legal wife Anna)

Her date of birth is estimated to be about 1720. She was probably deceased by 1799.

The only child of Johannes and Anna more or less positively identified by name is Johannes Heinrich Lehmann. Johannes Heinrich was born around 1750, possibly in Switzerland but more likely in Harxheim an der Pfrimm. Harxheim at this time was in the possession of the Heidelberger Hochschule, and because of this was never included in the Census Lists at that time. He was married, probably before 1775, to Katharina Krehbiel (Krehbühl). He died before 1799, probably at the Weidenmühle bei Heppenheim an der Wiese, which at that time was in Hesse/Darmstadt.

In most of the documents (BMD certificates) that I have seen this person is identified as Johannes, eg., in the marriage certificate of Johannes Lehmann (RID#14) and Veronika Gramm he is referred to as Johannes Lehmann. In some of his writings Adolph Hertzlerrefers to this person as Heinrich. Specifically, he refers to Elisabetha Lehmann as the daughter of Heinrich Lehmann and Katharina Krehbiel and shows that Elisabetha Lehmann married Johannes Leisy, son of Abraham Leisy and Elisabetha Risser. He further indicates that Elisabetha Risser was a daughter of Abraham Risser and Anna Lehmann. This Anna Lehmann might have been an aunt of Joh. Hnr., ie, a sister of his father Johannes. On his family sheet for Michael Krehbiel Hertzler shows that Michael’s daughter Katharina married Johannes Lehmann of Heppenheim a. d. W. David Habegger in his monograph about the Lehmann Family used both names when he described Johannes Heinrich Lehmann and Katharina Krehbiel as the parents of:

Johannes *1775 OO Barbara Bergthold

Michael *1777 OO Magdalena Strohm

Barbara *1782 OO Johannes Strohm

Elisabetha *1788 OO Johannes Leisy

Maria *1783 OO Jean Rohrer

Katharina *1780 OO Franz Kraemer

Anna Maria *1793 OO Jean Hüthwohl

There is a question concerning the wife of Joh. Hnr. Lehmann. The marriage certificates of Katharina (RID#13) and of Johannes (RID#14) describe them as Enkelin (granddaughter) and Enkel (grandson) of Johannes Lehmann and Catharina Bergthold. In these two marriage certificates it states that death certificates for Johannes Lehmann and Catharina Bergthold could not be presented to the civil authorities for confirmation because these two were Mennonites and death certificates for them did not exist. From an analysis of a number of sources which I have examined it is my conclusion that Katharina Krehbiel was, indeed, the wife of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann.

Although it is assumed that the Lehmanns came to the Palatinate from Switzerland, the exact time of their arrival and whether or not they came directly from Switzerland is not known. It has been established that Johannes Lehmann and his wife Anna were living in Harxheim in 1753, the year that they exchanged their property at Harxheim for the Weidenmühle near Heppenheim. The Census Lists place them at the mill in 1759. They are not shown in the lists for 1753, nor are they shown after 1759. If his parents had come directly to Harxheim from Switzerland, Joh. Hnr. could have been born in Switzerland. On the other hand, since we know that his parents were living in Harxheim in 1753, he might possibly have been born in Harxheim.

A birth certificate for Johannes Lehmann (RID#419), born in 1799, the first-born child of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann’s son Johannes (RID#5), describes the grandmother Katharina Krehbielin as the wife of the deceased Bürger (citizen) and Müller (miller) Johannes Lehmann. Joh. Hnr had, therefore, died before 1799. Since his widow and two sons were living at the Weidenmühle in 1799, it is assumed that Johannes Heinrich Lehmann died at the Mill, as did his wife in 1806.

Johannes Heinrich Lehmann married Katharina Krehbiel in or before 1775, the year his first son Johannes was born. They had at least seven children:

  1. Johannes: Born 1775. He lived in Heppenheim. He was married to Barbara Bergthold and was the ancestor of those Lehmanns who emigrated to Ohio and then to Kansas in and near Halstead. One of those who provided me with help and information was Lois Lehmann. I met and talked with Lois in Halstead and several times when she was in a rest home in Moundridge, KS. Lois passed away on May 11, 2000. She had reached the age of 95.
  2. Michael: Born 1777. Michael will be discussed in more detail later.
  3. Barbara: Born 26 April 1782. She lived in Kriegsheim, at the Boßweilerhof, and from 1820 in Wagenried, Bayern where she died on 18 February 1833. On 11 November 1802 she married Johannes Strohm in Kriegsheim. He was born 16 July 1781 and died in West Point, Iowa, on 2 September 1852, eleven days after his arrival in Iowa. He was the son of Peter Strohm and Susanna Galle. Barbara and Johannes were the parents of Barbara Strohm, author of a diary entitled "Remembrances of 1807." This diary is cited frequently by persons researching the Palatine-Bavarian Mennonites.
  4. Anna Maria: Born in 1783. She lived in Eppstein. She Married Johannes Rohrer of Eppstein.
  5. Elisabeth: Born 1 March 1788. She lived in Friedelsheim. In 1810 she married Johannes Leisy in Friedelsheim. He was born 28 May 1787 and died in Friedelsheim on 21 February 1870. He was the son of Abraham Leisy and Elisabeth Risser.
  6. Katharina: Born in 1790. She lived in Wagenried, Bavaria, from 1820 until she died there on 23 March 1825. She was buried on 25 March 1825, as Hertzler says, "auf eigenem Acker (in her own field." I assume this to be a cemetery that existed in Wagenried at that time. In 1984, when I visited in Wagenried, this cemetery was no longer in existence. Katharina was married to Franz Krämer in Heppenheim. He was born there in 1785. He lived in Wagenried on the farm "Schwaige" from 1820 until he died there on 2 April 1824. He was buried on 4 April 1824, as Hertzler says, "auf eigenem Grund und Boden (on his own grounds and land)."
  7. Anna Maria: Born in 1793. She was married to Johann Hütwohl. He was born in 1790.

It is possible that Johnnes H. Lehmann and Katharina Krehbiel might have had an eighth child. In the diary of David Ruth, whose wife was Katharina Strohm, it states that in 1852 the Ruths stopped in Buffalo, NY, to visit with "our Aunt Anna Frei, sister of Mother Strohm." "Mother Strohm" was #3 Barbara above. If "Aunt Anna Frei" was not #4 Anna Maria, who had married Johann Rohrer or #7 Anna Maria, who had married Johann Hütwohl, then she might have been an eighth child.

In the death certificate of Barbara Bergthold Lehmann Krehbühl (* 1774; m. first to Johannes Lehmann, m. second to Christian Krehbiel) it states that her mother was Maria Lehmann. This Maria might have been a sister of Joh. Hnr. Lehmann and thus could account for the names of two of his daughters.

David Habegger believes that Joh. Hnr. was the Elder at Heppenheim. In a letter he states: "J.H. was seleceted to be minister in the congregation and in 1782 he became the elder of the Church. It was the following year (1783) that the church was built." An article in the Mennonite Encyclopedia states that a Johannes Lehmann was Elder from 1782 to after 1802. If Johannes Heinrich Lehmann was deceased before 1799, he could not have been Elder until after 1802. The Elder might have been Joh. Hnr. followed by his son Johannes.

Documents in which Johannes Heinrich Lehmann is mentioned:

As Johannes:

Birth Certificate of Johannes Lehmann (*1799)

BC of Jean (Johannes Lehmann) (*1775; †1806)

BC of Michael Lehmann (*1777; †1828)

Marriage Certificate of Katharina Lehmann (*1780; OO1802)

MC of Barbara Lehmann (*1782; OO1802)

MC of Maria Lehmann (*1783; OO1804)

MC of Anna Maria (*1793; OO1812)

MC of Johannes Lehmann (*1805; OO1836)

MC of Katharina (*1804; OO1831)

As Heinrich:

MC of Elisabetha Lehmann (*1788; OO Johannes Leisy)

Hertzler Familienblatt for Michael Lehmann: "Son of Heinrich Lehmann and Katharina Krehbiel"

The next male in this Lehmann line is Michael Lehmann.

Michael Lehmann, a.k.a. Johannes Michael Lehmann, was born on the 7th or the 9th of March in 1777. No birth certificate is available so the date of his birth is derived from other sources. He died 27 October 1828. His death certificate states that at his death he was 51 years 7 months and 20 days old. From this his birth date is determined to be 7 March 1777. He was buried 29 October 1828 in Obersülzen; Prediger Jocob Herstein officiated. His death certificate describes him as the husband of Elisabetha Lattschar (his second wife) and the son of Johannes Lehmann and Katharina Krehbühl. To be more specific, his death certificate states that Michael died around eleven o’clock in the morning at his residence at #119 Mitteldorfstraße on the 27th of October 1828. His death was reported by his son Johannes, aged 23, a farmer and by a neighbor Daniel Steil, aged 27, also a farmer, both living at Heppenheim. It further indicates that Michael was a farmer, who had been born in and lived in Heppenheim.

Adolph Hertzler, on his Lehmann Familienblatt, said Michael was the son of Heinrich Lehmann. On the Familenblatt for Johannes Leisy, Hertzler identifies Elisabetha Lehmann, the wife of Johannes Leisy, as the daughter of Heinrich Lehmann and Katharina Krehbiel. He further states that Michael was buried 29 October 1828 by Prediger Jakob Herstein in Obersülzen. Obersülzen is a village about eight kilometers by road from Heppenheim. Why Michael was buried in Obersülzen, instead of in Heppenheim, is open to speculation. Although there was for a period of time a cemetery at Heppehneim, it might have been closed at the time of Michael’s death. Heppenheim was the center of the combined congregation of Heppenheim-Obersülzen-Gerolsheim, as well as for the Mennonites living in Dirmstein and Offstein. It is possible that at this time the cemetery for these people was at Obersülzen.

Michael Lehmann was married twice. His first wife was Magdalena Strohm. They were probably married in or before 1804, the year of the birth of Katharina, their first child. They had at least five, possibly six, children:

  1. Katharina: Born 1804 in Heppenheim. She died 16 March 1833 in Obersülzen. She was married to Jakob Strohm. He was born 30 April 1806 in Obersülzen as the son of Daniel Strohm and Katharina Rings. Hertzler says that Jakob died in the USA in 1854,
  2. Johannes: He will be discussed later
  3. Jakob: He will be discussed later
  4. Barbara: Born 1810 in Heppenheim. Died in 1810. Barbara, a logical name, is not listed by Hertzler or by Habegger; however, in the List of Names in the Register of Births (Namensverzeichnis zum Geburts Register) in the City Archives in Worms there is a Barbara, daughter of Michael, born 1810. The Death records show the death of a Barbara in 1810.
  5. Christian: Born 1811 in Heppenheim. This child is called CHRISTINA by Hertzler and, therefore, by Habegger; however, his birth certificate in Worms, which I have seen, gives his name as CHRETIEN, French for Christian. He is believed to be the Christian mentioned in the Auctions of 1829 and 1831; however, there was a Christian Lehmann in the Death records in Worms who died in 1811.
  6. Anna Maria: Born 18 September 1812 in Heppenheim. Died 7 January 1838 in Obersülzen. She married Jakob Strohm on 27 April 1834. He was previously married to her sister Katharina (#1 above).

Michael’s first wife Magdalena Strohm died at #86 Mittleldorfstraße in Heppenheim on 17 March 1814. Seven and a half months later on 1 November 1814 Michael married Elisabetha Latschar. They had one daughter, Elisabetha, born in November of 1816.

Two of the children of Michael’s son Johannes were born at #113 Mittleldorfstraße and his second wife Elisabetha Latschar, who probably inherited Michael’s property, died at #120 Mitteldorfstraße in 1850. In that year the property probably passed to Elisabetha’s daughter Elisabetha and her son-in-law Daniel Hirschler. There is a residence in Heppenheim which has two cornerstones at roof line which have the names Elisabeth Lehmann and Daniel Hirschler carved into them. It would appear that Michael may have had a block of property, a Hof, stretching from #86 to #120 on Mitteldorfstraße.

Michael Lehmann owned other property in or near Heppenheim. These properties were described in an interesting way in two auctions (Versteigerung). The first was on 20 March 1829 and the second was on 17 November 1831. In the descriptions of the properties in the 1829 auction compass directions, i.e., north, east, south, and west, were not referred to by their names, but by geographic locations. Bingen was used for North. Bingen am Rhein is a town quite some distance north of Heppenheim. On an island in the Rhine River near Bingen is the famous "Mousetower on the Rhine." Rhein was used for East. The Rhine River is some 10-12 miles east of Heppenheim. Wald was used for West. The Palatine Forest (Pfälzische Wald) is to the west of Heppenheim. Speier was used for South. Speyer is some distance south of Heppenheim. In addition to the directions the properties were identified as to their locations and the owners on two sides of the property to be auctioned. I shall quote three of these descriptions, one from the first auction and two from the second, and then translate.

Zweÿ Morgen zweÿviertel Aker in Pfiffligheimerweg, beforcht Rhein Matheus Mänchen, Wald Johannes Gerth der dritte;….

Two Morgen and two Quarters of fields on the Pffiffligheimer Road, bordered to the east by Matheus Mänchen, and to the west by Johannes Gerth III.

Drei viertel Aker in der obere Gutgewann, befurcht nach Bingen den Weg, Speier Georg Michael Hena;….

Three Quarters of fields in the upper Gutgewann [a plat of land], bordered to the north by the road, to the south by Georg Michael Hena.

Ein Morgen Aker auf der Wiesoppenheimer Gewann, befurcht einseits Peter Frei, anderseits Wittib Lehmann;….

One Morgen of fields in the Wiesoppenheimer Gewann, bordered on one side by Peter Frei, on the other side by the Widow Lehmann.

Records in which Michael Lehmann is named and from some of which his birth year can be estimated:

BC of Johannes (*1799), first born son of his brother Johannes: 1799 - 22 = 1776

BC of Abraham (*1806), last born son of his brother Johannes: 1806 - 30 = 1776

DC of Michael (†1828) 1828 - 51 = 1777

MC of Barbara Bergthold Lehmann (OO1808), Michael's sister-in-law, and Christian Krehbiel: 1808 - 31 = 1777.

MC of his daughter Katharina Lehmann and Jakob Strohm: (OO1831)

MC of his son Johannes Lehmann and Veronika Gramm: (OO1836)

MC of his daughter Elisabetha Lehmann and Daniel Hirschler: (OO1840)

BC of Michael (*1804), son of his brother Johannes: 1804 - 30 = 1774. This one is the fartherest off.

BC of Jacques (*1809), son of Barbara Bergthold Lehmann and Christian Krehbiel

BC of Jacques (*1810), son of Barbara Bergthold Lehmann and Christian Krehbiel

BC of Chretien (*1811), one of Michael’s sons

DC of Barbara Bergthold Lehmann Krehbiel (†1830)

DC of Jakob

BC and DC of Barbara (*†1811)

BC of Anna Maria (*1812)

Following Michael in this descendancy are his two sons Johannes and Jakob. I shall discuss each of them separately

Hertzler says that Johannes Lehmann was born 15 July 1805 in Heppenheim an der Wiese. His birth certificate, which is in French, gives his birth date as one in the afternoon on 14 Prairial XIII. This date in the French Revolutionary Calendar corresponds to 3 June 1805. His marriage certificate states that in September of 1836 he was 31 years and two months of age. This would make July the correct month for his birth.

On 27 September 1836 Johannes married Veronika Gramm from Eppstein. Since the marriage record is in the records for Heppenheim in the Stadtarchiv in Worms, it is assumed that they were married in Heppenheim. The marriage certificate of this couple provides some interesting insight into the lives of Mennonites in the Pfalz at this time. In the document it states that the deaths of the parents of the bride and of the groom could not be confirmed by death certificates because, since the four persons were Mennonites, registrations of their deaths did not exist.

In June of 1852 Johannes Lehmann with his wife and five children travelled, with others of his faith from the Pfalz and Bavaria, to Amsterdam and then to Le Havre. In Le Havre they boarded the SS (Sail Ship) "Samuel M. Fox" and sailed to New York where they arrived on 4 August 1852, after a voyage of 52 days. From New York they travelled to Albany and from there to Buffalo. In Buffalo Johannes contracted cholera and died on board the lake boat a few hours after departing for Toledo. The Captain of the vessel was persuaded by others in the party to put them ashore with Johannes' body and Johannes was buried on the shores of Lake Erie. The exact date in August is uncertain.

Johannes' wife was Veronika Gramm. She was born in Eppstein, Rheinpfalz, on 8 July 1807. She died in West Point, Iowa, on 21 March 1881. There are some discrepancies about both the 8th of July and the year of her death. Some give her birth as the 15th of July. The records of the West Point church state that she was 72y8m13d of age when she died. Eight months 13 days would make the 8th of July the correcft day. Seventy-two years would make 1880 the year of death; however, Howard Raid of Bluffton, Ohio, wrote on the back of the envelope containing his letter to me: "Death of Veronika was March 21, 1881." Hertzler gives 8 July 1807 as the date of her birth but does not give a death date.

Veronika married Johannes Lehmann of Heppenheim on 27 September 1836. They had five children:

  1. Elisabetha: Born 29 April 1837 in Heppenheim. On 10 November 1861 she married Peter Augustus Hoehn. She died in Halstead, Harvey County, Kansas on 11 October 1883. She is buried in the Halstead cemetery near her brother Johannes but not in the same plot. Elisabetha was an ancestor of the Hoehns that my parents and I and my siblings visited several times in the 1930s. The Hoehns lived on a farm between Jetmore and Hanston, Kansas. She was also the ancestor of Doris Griffith whom I first met in Omaha. She and her husband lived in Lincoln and they visited me and my wife once in Omaha to discuss relationships. Doris and I are third cousins.
  2. Johannes: He will be discussed later
  3. Jakob: Born 2 November 1841 in Heppenheim. He is believed to have lived and died in Redlands, California.
  4. Christian: Born 23 January 1849 in Heppenheim. He is believed to have lived and died in Dallas City, Illinois, a small river town across the Mississippi River from Fort Madison, Iowa.
  5. Daniel: Born 17 May 1851 in Heppenheim. He died in his mother's arms, possibly of cholera, somewhere between Peoria, Illinois, and Fort Madison, Iowa. He was buried under a tree along the side of the road in late August or early September, 1852.

Copies of the birth certificates for all five of the children are available. They show the following:

  1. Elisabetha: Born at #113 Mitteldorfstraße. Mayor was Mattäus Mänchen; witnesses were Johannes Mundorf, farmer (Ackersmann), and Martin Emrich, city worker (Gemeindediener).
  2. Johannes: Mayor was Johann Peter Schach; witnesses were Wilhelm Käth, Evangelical minister (Evangelischen Lehrer), and Martin Häflich, policeman (Polizei).
  3. Jakob: Mayor was Johann Peter Schach; witnesses were Jakob Krämer, tailor (Schneider), and Michael Racquet, farmer.
  4. Christian: Mayor was Johann Hannstein; witnesses were Martin Pfister, cabinet maker (Schreiner), and Martin Häflich, shoemaker (Schumacher).
  5. Daniel: Born "an der Wiese". Mayor was Johann Hannstein; witnesses were Christoff Hildenbrand, army marksman (Feldschütze), and Philip Hannstein, farmer.

In June of 1852 the Lehmann family emigrated to the USA. After Johannes died and was buried on the shores of Lake Erie, Veronika proceeded on with her children and with the others of the Mennonite group to Cleveland by boat and then by train to Chicago. After several days in Chicago the group continued by river boat down the Illinois River to Peoria, Illinois. At Peoria Veronika and her children took the stage toward Iowa. Somewhere along the way between Peoria and the Mississippi River, Daniel, Veronika's youngest son, died in his mother's arms. At the end of the day when the stage stopped for overnight, Daniel was buried under a tree near the road. Eventually, Veronika reached West Point, Iowa, near where her brother Christian and his family were living on a farm. Many of those with whom she had travelled reached Iowa in late August and early September.

In the 1870 census Veronika Gramm Lehmann was shown as: "Lehman F. [Feronika or Fronika], aged 64, keeps house." Her name was listed as part of the household of Peter and Elisabeth Hahn.

Peter Hahn 35 Farmer b. Darmstadt

Elizabeth 31

Mary 5

Elizabeth 1

Lehmann, F. 64 Keeps house

It would appear that Veronika, or the census taker, had changed the spelling of her name to Feronika to conform to the German sound of "V." Her name was spelled the same way in the West Point Church records. She was evidently working as a housekeeper for the "Hahn" family.

Several inaccuracies appear in the census record and on the tombstone of Elisabeth Lehmann Hoehn in Halstead, Kansas. If Peter A. Hoehn was 35 in 1870, his year of birth would have been 1835. Howard Raid says he was born in 1833 and Doris Griffith, his great granddaughter, says he was born in 1831. Elisabeth Lehmann Hoehn was born in 1837, not in 1839 as shown on her tombstone in the Halstead cemetery and by calculation from the census record.

The following are some additional bits and pieces about Veronika Gramm Lehmann that I have picked up from Howard Raid of Bluffton, Ohio; Roberta Leisy Krehbiel of Donnellson, Iowa; and Doris Griffin of Springfield, Missouri. Roberta and I are are 4th cousins from Veronika Gramm's parents and Doris and I are 3rd cousins from Johannes and Veronika Gramm Lehmann.

On January 21, 1857, Veronika Lehmann purchased Lot 3 in Block 31 in West Point, Iowa for $350. When I saw this property in 1986, it was a well-kept vacant lot.

Veronika Lehmann was "among those who signed as full members at West Point church." The date for this might have been November 5, 1853.

Christian Lehmann when baptized on May 14, 1863 was designated as "son of Joh. Lehmann, b. January 24, 1849."

The second son of Michael Lehmann who is a part of this family line is Jakob Lehmann. Jakob was born in Heppenheim an der Wiese, Hesse, on 1 September 1807. He died, I believe, in or near St. Clair County, Illinois. The Records of Deeds (Book 149, p. 215) in the county court house in Bellville, Illinois, show that Jakob sold lots 11 and 12 in Block 6 in Summerfield, IL, in 1879 to a Michael Seger for $345. I presume, therefore, that he was still living in Summerfield in 1879. By that time his daughter Maria had already married her cousin (his nephew) Johannes Lehmann; had died one week after the birth of her third child; and been buried in the Summerfield cemetery. Edith Hock of O'Fallon, Illinois, has been unable to find any further information to establish positively that Jakob died and is buried somewhere in St. Clair County; therefore, we can only assume that he did.

Jakob married his first cousin Susanna Seitz at the Eichstok church in Bavaria on 4 March 1838. Jakob was living in Hesse and had to obtain permission to emigrate from Hesse to Bavaria. In 1832 he received from the government of the Grand Duchy of Hesse (Großherzogthum Hessen) a Permit to Emigrate (Auswanderungsgesuchs). Just what year Jakob moved to Bavaria is not known. Prior to their marriage Jakob and Susanna, with her father, signed a marriage contract, a pre-nuptial agreement so to speak. This contract gave to Susanna, therefore to Jakob, a piece of property at the place called Thann in Bavaria. Thann is just a few miles from the Eichstok church and was included within that Mennonite congregation. In 1984 Suzette and I visited in Thann and spoke with a farmer who, we believe, told us that his Hof was the Hof (Thann 1 1/3) previously owned by Jakob Seitz and Jakob Lehmann. In 1852 or 1853 Jakob and Susanna sold their property to a couple named Waldmaier. The Sales Contract, which was filed in the Royal Land Court in Dachau, contains a date "5 Juli l.Js." meaning 5 July of the present year (l.Js = laufendes Jahres) but the year is not given in the document. Since the Lehmanns arrived in the USA in May of 1853, it is assumed that the property was sold in 1852.

Jakob and Susanna and their three children, Maria, Johanna, and Jakob, all born in Thann, arrived in the USA on the SS (Sailing Ship) Mercury on 30 May 1853. Thay had travelled with others of the Palatinate with whom they were related. Jakob Lehmann and Peter Strohm, one of the passengers, were first cousins. In her monograph describing the genealogy of the Lehmann and Seitz family Edith Hock gives this information:

Jakob, Susanna, their three children, and their eight year old niece Susanna Seitz (Abraham Seitz's daughter) arrived in the United States on 3 [should be 30] May 1853 on the ship SS Mercury. Their children were 7, 5, and 3 years of age. They went to Fort Madison, Iowa. In 1860 [Census] they were living in Lebanon Township, St. Clair Co., IL.

In 1870 [Census] they were living with their daughter, son-in-law, and family [Maria and Johannes Lehmann, and their children] in Trenton, Clinton County, IL. Their son-in-law was a storekeeper. Jakob and Susanna were retired.

Susanna died sometime before 1880. In the 1880 St. Clair Co. Census, Jakob Lehmann, age 73, widower, retired farmer, was living in Summerfield. His niece, Mary Seitz, was caring for him. I have not found death or burial for Susanna or Jakob.

In her diary "Remembrances of 1807" Barbara Strohm Ruth, who was living in Iowa, indicates that "on the first day of August in the year 1853" visitors from Illinois, among them Jakob Lehmann, visited her in Iowa. This suggests that Jakob Lehmann and his family, if they did go to Fort Madison, Iowa, as stated by Edith Hock, did not remain long in Iowa, but must have proceeded on to St. Clair County in Illinois. This trip, as described by Barbara Schowalter Strohm, the wife of Peter Strohm and another one of the travellers, seems to have gone something like this:

Departed Le Havre 28th April 1853

Arrived in New York 30th May 1853 [32 days]

Left NY by railroad 1st June 1853

Cost $4.75/person

Arrived Cleveland, OH 5th June 1853 [4 days]

Departed Cleveland 13th June 1853

[Arrived Fort Madison ?]

In addition to the three children who came with them to the USA, Jakob and Susanna had two other children, Jakob and Abraham, both of whom were born and died at Thann in Bavaria. The daughter Johanna married Julius Keller. These two are buried in the Halstead cemetery. Johanna and Julius were the ancestors of Clayton Weyant Keller of Overland Park, KS. Clayton and I are third cousins (3C) from Jakob and Susanna Seitz.

Susanna Seitz was born 7 April 1805 in Kriegsheim, Hesse. Kriegsheim is just a few miles from Heppenheim, the home of the Lehmanns. She died on 29 November in Trenton, Clinton County, Illinois. She may have been living with her daughter Maria and son-in-law Johannes Lehmann. Although no tombstone can be found for her in the Mennonite Cemetery south of Summerfield, Illinois, her obituary says that that is where she was buried. The 1870 census for Trenton shows that she was living in Trenton in 1870; and her obituary shows that she was still living in Trenton in 1873.

Susanna's obituary appeared in the Der Mennonitishe Friedensbote on 15 January 1874. This newspaper described itself in the following way:

Der Mennonitische Friedensbote

 

ein christliches Familienblatt zu Beförderung wahrer Religion, zunächst bestimmt für die Glieder der Mennoniten Gemeinschaft, erscheint monatlich zweimal in Milford Square, Bucks Co., Pa., für den im Voraus zu bezahlenden Betrag von $1.25 des Jahres. Mit Porto kostet der Friedensbote

Nach Europa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2.00

The obituary follows:
Gestorben

Den 29th November entschlief sanft und selig im Herrn Mutter Susanna Lehmann (geborene Seitz). Dieselbe wurde geboren den 7th April 1805 in Deutschland in der Rheinpfalz. Sie kam mit den Ihrigen 1853 nach Amerika und ließ sich in Summerfield, St. Clair Co., Illinois nieder.

Die Beerdigung fand statt den 30th November, auf den Summerfield Mennonite Kirchhof. Rev. Chr. Krehbiel leitete das Gebet und Rev. Kost predigte. Die Leichenfeier war eine feierliche und segenreiche, für Alle die daran Theil namen. Die Entschalafene hinterläßt ihren trauernden Gatten ein Sohn und eine Tochter. Möge es dem Herrn gefallen, die gesammte Familie, endlich beim zu führen ins Vaterhaus.

Several points can be made from this obituary:
  1. It established the date of death for Susanna Seitz Lehmann, a point not known until viewing the obituary.
  2. The US Census for 1870, courtesy of Edith Hock, indicates that Susanna was living in Trenton, Clinton County, Illinois, with her daughter and her son-in-law, Maria and Johannes Lehmann, in that year. Although no burial place can be found for her, the obituary states that she was buried in the Summerfield Cemetery. This and the fact that Christian Krehbiel, a minister of the Summerfield Mennonite Church, gave the prayer would associate Jakob and Susanna with the Summerfield congregation.
  3. Susanna's husband, Jakob Lehmann, her son, Jakob Lehmann, and her daughter Johanna Lehmann, were still living in 1873. Her daughter, Maria Lehmann, had died in 1871.

Another interesting aspect of the the marriage of Jakob Lehmann and Susanna Seitz is that prior to their marriage they signed a prenuptial agreement. I received a hand written copy of the this agreement from Richard Ringenberg of Augsburg, Germany. He had copied it from records in Munich. To understand the agreement I first had to transcribe his handwriting into my own. I then typed it and returned the typed copy to Ringenberg with a request for interpretations of some of the words. He obliged. For the sake of brevity I provide here only my translation of the agreement:

#112

Vol 91 page 209 Dachau

2. Marriage Settlement Dachau, 19 Feb./ 1838

Jakob Lehmann, son of a farmer of Heppenheim in Kanton Pfeddersheim of the province of Rheinhessen, after receiving permission to emigrate, proceeds to Bavaria to establish residence there and to marry Susanna Seitz, the daughter of the owner of real estate at Thann, and concludes with the latter, who is assisted by her father Jakob Seitz, the following marriage settlement:

I

 

This marriage should be consummated shortly according to the custom of the Mennonite religion which both parties have embraced.

II

The bride brings to her groom the property acquired today by transfer from her father, more than the balance of 500 Gulden hereafter remaining to her, as a proper dowry.

III

 

The groom matches this dowry with his wealth of 1062 Gulden.

IV

 

If for any reason whatsoever there should be a death in this marriage without children, both parties promise that:

  1. If the groom dies first before the bride, then the latter must pay to the next legal heirs of the deceased within a year and a day after the death 300 Gulden as a compensation and afterwards remains in unconditional possession and occupation of the remaining estate.
  2. If the bride dies before the groom, then the latter within the previously specified period of time must remit 200 Gulden to the next legal heirs of the deceased as a compensation and he himself likewise remains in total possession of the remaining estate.

V

 

The bride being of age has definitely made known that she is at liberty to permit the transfer of her dowry to the possession of her groom to be recorded in the Mortgage book.

Herewith after this was completed, read aloud, and all parts of the contents were verified, it was signed:

/s/ Jakob Lehmann

/s/Susanna Seitz

/s/ Jakob Seitz

 

In 1852 Jakob and Susanna sold the property before emigrating to the USA in 1853. Suzette and I saw the property in 1984.

That Jakob and Susanna and their children were living in Illinois in 1860 is established by this record from the Census records for 1860:

Illinois, St. Clair County

Lebanon Township (T2N R6W)

Family 4616 Leaman

Jacob, 53, Darmstadt

Susanna, 55, Bavaria

Mary, 15, Bavaria

Johanna, 13, Bavaria

Jacob, 10, Bavaria

 

Next in this descendancy list are a child of each of the two couples just previously described: Johannes, the son of Johannes Lehmann and Veronika Gramm, and Maria, the daughter of Jakob Lehmann and Susanna Seitz.

Johannes Lehmann was born around 9 am on 22 September 1839 at 113 Mitteldorferstrasse in the village of Heppenheim an der Wiese, a village about 8 kilometers (5 miles) southwest of Worms in the present Land Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. At the time of his birth Heppenheim was just within the southwestern border of Hessen-Darmstadt. Just to the south and west was the Rhenish or Bavarian Palatinate [Rheinische or Bayerische Pfalz). At that time the Pfalz was part of Bavaria. He married his cousin Maria Lehmann in Trenton, Clinton County, IL on 26 March 1865. John died on 15 January 1921 in Halstead, Harvey County, Kansas. He is buried in the Lehmann plot next to his second wife Eliza Risser and their son Frank in the Halstead cemetery several miles north of Halstead. Johannes had three children, Maria Johanna, John William, and Jakob Benjamin, by his first wife Maria Lehmann, and seven children, Abraham, Anna Veronika, Klara R., George Albert, Franklin, Emil R., and Edgar J., by his second wife Eliza Risser.

During the late 1840s and early 1850s there was considerable unrest in Europe, and many persons of the state and independent religions emigrated to the United States. From 1851 to 1853 many Mennonites from southern Hessen, the Pfalz, and Bavaria emigrated to near Mansfield, OH, Lee County in southeastern Iowa, Summerfield in southwestern Illinois, and Harvey County in Kansas. In 1852 the Johannes Lehmann/Veronika Gramm family of Heppenheim an der Wiese joined other Mennonites from the Pfalz and from Bavaria and emigrated to the Franklin, Donnellson, and West Point area of Lee County, Iowa. John’s father Johannes Lehmann contracted cholera in Buffalo, NY, and died on the lake steamer on Lake Erie a few hours after departure; so he arrived in August of 1852 in West Point, Iowa, with his mother and three siblings. His mother Veronika Gramm had a brother Christian Gramm who had arrived in Iowa in 1845 and who owned a farm just a few miles south of West Point.

Little is known of John’s life in Iowa or how his mother was supporting herself and her four children. From 1858 to 1860 a number of the Palatine and the Bavarian Mennonite families in Lee County moved to the area of Summerfield, St. Clair County, Illinois and the adjacent, nearby Clinton County. The members of the Summerfield congregation were closely related by blood and by marriages to the Lee County group. At some time in this period John also left his home in Iowa and moved to Illinois. The 1860 Census for Lebanon township in St. Clair County shows him in the household of a John Reimann, a merchant, in the Town of Lebanon, a village just 3-4 miles west of Summerfield. Apparently only John went to Illinois. Census and church records for the Iowa area show that Mother Veronika, sister Elisabeth, and brothers Jacob and Christian were still in Iowa in 1860 and 1870.

Little is known of John’s activities in the Summerfield area. Since the 1860 Census showed him living with a merchant, he may have plied that trade as he did later in Halstead, Kansas. Some time between 1860 and 1865, if not before 1860, John met his cousin Maria Lehmann. She was born in Bavaria in 1845 and arrived in the United States in 1853. If they had not met previously in Germany, we can assume that John and Maria met at the Summerfield church. They were married 26 March 1865. Their marriage certificate was issued in Clinton County and it is believed that they were married in Trenton, Clinton County, IL by W. Shook, a Minister of the Gospel. On 17 July 1866, John Lehmann purchased, from John and Mary Hensen, Lots 1 and 2 in Block 1 in William Lewis Addition of Trenton, Illinois. The price was $150. From this we can conclude that John and Maria were living in Trenton at that time. This is attested to by the fact that the Halstead (Kansas) Mennonite church records indicate that all of Maria’s three children were born in Trenton. The 1870 Census for Clinton County show the following:

Lehmann, John 30 Storekeeper Bav

Mary 26 Bav

Mary 4 IL

J. Peter 2 IL

Jacob 65 No occupation Bav

Susanna 65 No occupation Bav

Jacob and Susanna were Maria’s parents, Jakob Lehmann and Susanna Seitz, who were evidently living with their daughter and nephew/son-in-law. Maria died 25 January 1871, one week after the birth of her third child Jacob Benjamin. She was buried in the Mennonite cemetery south of Summerfield, Illinois.

On 25 February 1872 John married Eliza Risser, daughter of Jakob and Maria Risser. Eliza was born in Mansfield, Richland County, OH, in 1848. In 1876 John, with his wife Eliza and three children, Mary J., John Peter William, and Anna Veronika (all born in Trenton) moved, with others of the Summerfield congregation, to Halstead, Harvey County, KS. On 1 May 1879, John Lehmann and his wife Eliza of Halstead, Harvey County, KS, sold lots 1 and 2 of Block 1 in Trenton, IL., to Jacob Kuhn for $100. In Halstead John was Merchant, Assistant Postmaster, Postmaster, and Farmer. According to his obituary in the Halstead Independent, he was a much beloved and respected citizen of Halstead. He died in Halstead on 15 January 1921 and was buried several days later in the Halstead cemetery (Block 9, Lot 7, Grave #5) several miles north of Halstead.

Maria Lehmann was born on 21 April 1845 in Thann, Kreis Dachau, Oberbayern, Bayern. She died 23 January 1871 in Trenton, Clinton County, IL. She was buried in the Mennonite cemetery about three-quarters of a mile south of Summerfield, St. Clair County, IL. She married Johannes Lehmann, her cousin, on 26 March 1865 in Trenton, IL. They had three children: Maria Johanna, John Peter William, and Jakob Benjamin. Maria died one week after the birth of her third child.

Thann, Maria’s birthplace, when I saw it in 1986, was a cluster of 5-6 farms (Höfe). My wife Suzette and I spoke with a man who, we believe, said that the farm where we were talking with him had at one time been owned by Jakob Lehmann, father of Maria. The farm had been given to Susanna Seitz by her father as part of the dowry that she received when she married Jakob Lehmann. I have pictures of this farmstead and a panoramic view of the community. Maria travelled to the United States with her parents Jakob Lehmann and Susanna Seitz, her brother Jakob, and her sister Johanna. They crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the SS (sailing ship) Mercury, arriving in New York City on 30 May 1853. According to Edith Hirstein Hock, a 4th cousin of mine, Maria’s parents and siblings settled near Fort Madison, Iowa; however, in her diary "Remembrances from 1807", Barbara Strohm states that "on the eighth day of August in the year of 1853" Jakob Lehmann was among some visitors to Iowa "from Illinois." It would appear likely that, although many of this group from Bavaria and the Pfalz went to and settled in the Lee County area, the Jakob Lehmann family did proceed on to the St. Clair County/Clinton County area in Illinois. It was in this area that Maria married her cousin Johannes Lehmann.

Last in my Lehmann line is my grandmother Maria Johanna Lehmann.

Maria Johanna Lehmann, or Mary Lehmann as she was known, was born on 17 July 1866 in Trenton, Clinton County, Illinois.. She married David von Riesen on 19 October 1887 in Halstead, Harvey County, Kansas. She died in Marysville, Marshall County, Kansas on 14 July 1951. Her funeral service was at the Evangelical Church where I used to take her for Sunday services. She is buried in the Marysville cemetery next to her husband David von Riesen.

Mary J. Lehmann’s birthplace is given by her husband in his Stammbuch and in the records of the Halstead Mennonite Church as Trenton [Clinton County], Illinois. The marriage certificate of Mary’s parents, Johannes Lehmann and Maria Lehmann, was issued in Clinton County for which Carlyle is the county seat. The certificate shows that they were married in Trenton. This is also the location given in the church records as the birthplace of Mary's two siblings, Johannes William Peter and Jacob Benjamin, and her two half-siblings, Abraham and Anna Veronika. Mary’s mother died one week after the birth of Jacob Benjamin. About one year after the death of her mother Maria, Mary’s father married Eliza Risser. Eliza was the mother of Abraham and Anna as well as five other children. One of these children was the uncle Lehmann who lived in Geary, OK that my father worked for one summer and who may have been instrumental in my father's baptism in the Mennonite church.

In 1874 Mary J. moved with her parents and siblings from Trenton, IL, to Halstead, Kansas. Halstead was a growing Mennonite community with arrivals from both the Palatinate [Pfalz] and Bavaria in Germany. She met her future husband David von Riesen in Halstead. After moving to Marysville, Kansas, sometime between 1896 and 1900, Mary attended a church which I knew as the German Evangelical Church. This church had services in both English and German. I used to drive Babette Schmutz, the von Riesen children’s Nanny, to German services and my grandmother Mary Lehmann to the English services. The church was on the corner of Tenth and Elm streets in Marysville.

Mary Lehmann and David von Riesen had five children: Waldemar, Gertrude, Roland, Ralph, and Emil. The first four were born in Halstead, Kansas. Emil, the last, was born in Marysville, Kansas. Roland was my father. This is the end of my Lehmann Ancestry.

V. Lyle von Riesen

December 5, 2000

636 Cheyenne Drive #6

Fort Collins, CO 80525