By Roger and Marcia Eaton, grandson*
*Relation to Andy and/or Flora Lehr
Born in Dudenhofen, Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Christopher Lehr’s father, Johann Adam, was 50 years old and his mother, Mariam Sabinam Nuss was 29. During his life, several different versions of his name have been listed.
- Christophorus Lehr – baptismal record
- Christophorum Lehr – marriage record to Anna Barbara Koenig
- Christoph Lehr – passenger list for the passenger ship Superb
- Christopher Lehr – marriage record to Catherine (Gasser) Meier
- Christof Lehr – death certificate of his son, Joannes Adamus Lehr
He seems to have adopted the name Christopher, when he moved to the USA.
At the age of 29, he married Anna Barbara Koenig. She was 22 years old. Their family included eight children.
With his wife, Anna Barbara Koenig, Christopher sailed from Rotterdam, Netherlands to New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. One daughter and two sons traveled with them to the USA. The passenger ship Superb arrived on December 26, 1845. From there, they traveled to Spencer County, Indiana.
During the mid-nineteenth century, over seven million people immigrated into the United States. Most of them fled Ireland and Germany. During that time, nearly half of the population of Ireland immigrated to the U.S. They sought the prospect of self-determination.
Most of the European land was occupied, so establishing a homestead, farm or ranch was unlikely. Large farms controlled agriculture and livestock operations. Many of the Irish and German immigrants were Catholic and were seeking relief from religious bigotry. In Germany, there was political rebellion. The social structure protected the wealthy class from the poor and ensured that the poor stayed poor.
Indiana became the 19th state in 1816. As the German immigrants settled in Indiana, they established communities. They frequently named the newly formed towns after German villages, e.g., Fulda and Ferdinand.
Many of the German immigrants had funds to acquire land. It was common for them to space the towns by the distance that a horse-drawn wagon could travel in a day. In this case, the locations of Fulda and Ferdinand were selected to provide rest stops for the travel between Troy, Indiana (on the Ohio River) and Jasper, Indiana. A priest assigned to the Jasper area, devised that urban plan, so he could service his vast area.
After Anna’s death, in 1862, he married Catherine Rose (Gasser) Miers. She was 24 and he was 53. Catherine’s husband also died in 1862. She also had a newborn, William, and a daughter, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Rose Miers. Christopher and Catherine had seven children.
Lizzie later raised Christopher’s grandson, Andrew Lehr (1895-1964), when his parents died from pneumonia.
After living in Spencer County, Indiana for twenty-five years, Christopher moved to Butler County, Kansas. He and his wife, Catherine, and their blended family of six started a new life. He acquired 155 acres of land in 1874 from the US government as part of the Osage Indian Treaty and sold it in 1883. The purchase price was set at a minimum of $1.25 per acre.
Christopher and Catherine had seven children. Three of them didn’t live past the age of two.
- Andrew Joseph Lehr 1864-1911
- Stephen John Lehr 1865-1946
- Mary Catherine (Lehr) Shanley 1867-1965
- Anna Theresia Lehr 1871-1873
- Christopher T. Lehr 1874-1875
- Charles John Lehr 1877-1960
- Gurty F. Lehr 1878-1879
Christopher and Anna had eight children.
- Barbara (Lehr) Dilger 1840-1899
- Joannes Adamus Lehr 1842-1922
- Joannes John Lehr 1844-1909
- Heinrick Lehr 1847-1882
- Frederick J. Lehr 1849-1883
- Nancy Lehr 1851
- Franciske “Frances: (Lehr) Altmeyer 1851-1934
- George John Lehr 1857-1879
Catherine had two children from a previous marriage.
- Elizabeth “Lizzy” Rose Miers 1859-1945
- William Henry Miers 1862-1887
From there, he rented a house on John Knapp’s land.
He made extra money by selling rabbit furs.
Christopher Lehr passed away on March 4, 1887 from Bright’s disease. He is buried at Fowler Cemetery, Butler County, Kansas. The cemetery is also known as Bloomington Township Cemetery and Bogle Cemetery.
After Christopher’s death, Catherine married James Murphy in 1898. She was 59 and he was 40 years old.
Note: The year on the headstone is incorrect. It should be 1887
Resources
https://www.ushistory.org/us/25f.asp
https://www.mygenealogyhound.com/maps/indiana-maps/IN-Spencer-County-Indiana-1908-map.jpg
Additional Information
By Marcia Eaton, wife of Roger Eaton, grandson
*Relation to Andy and/or Flora Lehr
I began corresponding with Dennis Kordes in 1998. His ancestor is Joannes Adamus “Adam” Lehr, the first son of Christopher and Anna (Koenig) Lehr. Dennis lived in Bloomfield, Indiana, near Mariah Hill.
In 2007, the children of Andy and Flora gathered for a reunion in Indiana. Dennis joined the Lehr clan in Mariah Hill. He was a second cousin to them. Dennis bonded with Jim Lehr during the reunion. They corresponded with each other until Dennis’ death.
In a letter that Dennis sent me, dated October 5, 1998, he wrote, “The question of what happened to Christopher Lehr always bothered me as I was unaware, he is buried in Kansas. I spent one day at the church in Mariah Hill everything was written in Latin or old German. I can read some of both and was able to interpret most. Christopher must have been a virile character because he had 15 kids. I was in the U.S. Army in German in the 1950’s and stopped by Dudenhofen. I did find the entry on Christopher’s birth.”