Family History Writing Challenge Day 10

Joseph Kubler and his family were still in Louisville as late as 1869 where he appeared in the City Directory. A second son, William, was born to him and Josephine on 1 May 1870. Multiple census records indicate that William was born in Tennessee, as does a California death index (the state where William died.) However, the 1870 federal census for Indiana shows Josephine Kubler, along with Henry and William, living in Laughery Township, Ripley County. That record has Indiana as the state of William's birth. Joseph is not listed in this record, nor does he appear in a census in Kentucky or Tennessee.

Did Joseph and Josephine separate so soon after the birth of their second child? Or was something else going on that Joseph felt it best to send Josephine and his children back to her hometown? Josephine was living on the same street as her sister Maryann and her family, which would have been helpful to her with a 2 year old and a new baby. What is known is that Joseph and Josephine had a third child together on 15 August 1873; son John was born in Indiana. By 1877 the family had moved to Connersville in Fayette County, Indiana, and that is where son Alfred was born in September of 1877. Joseph was supporting his family as a wood carver.

St. Gabriel's

The family worshipped at St. Gabriel's Catholic Church in Connersville. The parish was formed in 1851, and a school was opened in 1873. Plans for a larger church were begun in 1874, and the new church opened in 1884. The Kubler family would have attended services in both churches. Father F. J. Rudolf was the parish priest for much of the time period the family was in the area.

In 1883, Joseph opened a grocery and provision store at the corner of Central Avenue and First Street. Offering a general line of groceries and items such as teas, coffees, spices, tobacco and cigars, it was noted in an article that Mr. Kubler "...has built up his present prosperous and lucrative business, and earned an enviable reputation as a conscientious and upright merchant, whose representations will always be found to accord strictly with the facts." It is interesting, then, that two years later he sold the business to Adam Frank. Perhaps the death of his son Alfred, at the age of 8 years, was simply more than he could handle.

Family History Writing Challenge Day 9

Born on the 14th of March 1848 in Büsserach, Vinzenz Josef Kubler (my 2nd great-grandfather) was the fourth and final child of Vinzenz and Carolina. Of the family, he seemed to be the one with wanderlust. As a young man Joseph, as he was known, was making a living as a wood carver in Louisville, Kentucky. In light of the fact that the country was involved in the Civil War, it is curious that he would have chosen to move further south out of Ohio. There is a record of a Joseph Kubler serving as a Union Private in the 7th Regiment, Ohio Infantry so it is possible that he was in the military and that is what took him to Kentucky.

On the 26 of November 1867 he married Josephine Hillenbrand at the office of a Justice of the Peace in Louisville. One of the witnesses was Josephine's brother, William. Joseph was 19 and Josephine was only 15. It would soon become evident that Josephine was expecting a child when they were joined in matrimony.

Josephine was from Ripley County, Indiana. The 7th child of Wilhelmus and Maria Barbara (Schantz) Hillenbrand, she was born in May of 1852. She lost her mother at the age of 2. Maria died in 1854 at the age of 38, within months of giving birth to twin girls. Wilhelmus Hillenbrand was left to raise 9 children on his own, although the oldest children were no doubt of great assistance to him. Sadly, he passed just 6 years later.  Josephine was 9 at the time.

With both of her parents deceased, perhaps her older brother William had to give his approval for her to marry. Or maybe he carried a shotgun to the wedding because Josephine was pregnant. It is a mystery as to how she came to be in Louisville in the first place. The rest of the Hillenbrand family had remained in the Ripley County, Indiana area.

Greve, Buhrlage building today

Joseph and Josephine's first child Henry was born in Louisville in May of 1868. Josephine became a mother at the age of 16. Joseph was employed as a wood carver for Greve, Buhrlage & Co., a fine furniture company. Following the end of the Civil War in 1865, Louisville entered a period of growth with an increase in manufacturing and the establishment of new factories. This growth attracted rural workers from the south as well as immigrants. The new little family did not stay in Louisville for very long, however.