Family History Writing Challenge Day 12

Father Rudolph

At the age of 22, four years after the death of his father Joseph, Henry Kubler (my great-grandfather) married 20-year-old Louisa Boegel. On 18 January 1891, Father Rudolph joined the couple in Holy Matrimony at St. Gabriel's Church in Connersville. The priest offered a "dispensation from the impediment of mixed religion", as the bride was not Catholic. Louisa was born in Cincinnati in July of 1871 to Johann Boegel and Sophie (Suhre) Boegel, who were both from Westfalen, Prussia. Louisa was the 4th of 7 children born to Johann and Sophie.

Louisa was employed as a tailoress in Cincinnati when she and Henry met. It would be interesting to know how they met as Henry was working as a wood carver - a trade he no doubt learned from his father - in Connersville. He and Louisa not only married in Connersville, but they also set up their household in that community of around 4,500 people. Perhaps it was because Louisa was expecting when they got married. Their son Joseph Henry Kubler was born in Connersville on 22 July 1891. He was joined in August of 1894 by a sister named Ethel. Unfortunately, Ethel died on 3 June 1895 in Indianapolis.

Later in 1895 the family of 3 had settled in Cincinnati. His mother was married to her second husband and had a small child, so Henry must have felt comfortable leaving her behind. His two brothers were still in the area to look after her in the case she needed anything. Henry continued his occupation as a wood carver in Cincinnati, and then became a painter. Louisa was again working as a tailoress.

Henry Kubler's stone

On 11 February 1902, Henry died of an abscess of lung complicated by lobar pneumonia. He was just 34 years old. His burial preparations were handled by a funeral home in Connersville, and he was buried at City Cemetery there in the Kubler plot alongside his father and younger brother Alfred.

At the age of 31, Louisa found herself a widow with a 10-year-old son to care for on her own. It wasn't long before she found a help-mate in Charles Brinkman, and they were married on 9 November 1903 in Cincinnati. A son, Charles, was born to the couple on 6 January 1907.

Family History Writing Challenge Day 11

On Sunday morning, 19 September 1886, Joseph and his family attended Mass at St. Gabriel's Church. It was there that Joseph dropped dead of a heart attack. His obituary stated that he seemed to be in the best of health and spirits that morning, and that the sudden death of this prominent citizen was a shock to the whole community. It further elaborated that Mr. Kubler was a man of many good qualities; always kind and agreeable to his neighbors, and a kind husband and father.

Joseph Kubler stone

Joseph was only 38 years old, coincidentally the same age as Josephine's mother when she died. Josephine became a widow at 34 and their sons were the following ages: Henry, 18; William, 16; and John, 13.

The Indianapolis News reported on 12 December 1887 that Mrs. Josephine Kubler of Connersville sued Herman Jones for $10,000 damages for an alleged rape committed the last July. The defendant was fined $400 for the rape.

On 20 October 1889, three years and one month after the death of Joseph, Josephine married John Frederick. Father Rudolph of St. Gabriel's again officiated the ceremony. The couple welcomed a son, Claude, to the family on 19 November 1892 when Josephine was 40. Sometime before 13 July 1899, John Frederick either died or the couple was divorced. Because on that date Josephine married Francis Ashton in St. Joseph, Michigan. It was the first marriage for Francis, who was 10 years younger than Josephine. St. Joseph is 230 miles away from Connersville where Josephine and Francis were both living, so that is an interesting choice as they were married there by a Justice of the Peace.

Joseph and Josephine's son Henry (my great-grandfather) married Louis Boegel in Connersville in 1891, son William married Nellie Young in Connersville in 1894, and son John married Elenora Michael in 1896 also in Connersville. More details on the boys will be covered in the next post.

Josephine wrote up her will on 21 November 1902. In it, she left her money and possessions to each of her surviving children and grandchildren, as well as the sum of $4,000 to her 3rd husband. Additionally, she specified that $1,000 and all her diamonds and jewelry were to go to her son, Claude, who was a minor of 10 when his mother had the will drawn up. Josephine nominated her son John to be the guardian of the person and estate of Claude until he arrived at the age of 21. Son William was named the executor. She had quite a nice estate, a portion of which may have come from her previous marriages. But she was also part of the Hillenbrand family from Batesville, Indiana who had built quite an industry from the land and forests in the area. It is quite possible that she had some family money as well. Or did she end up getting the $10,000 rape settlement?

She died before May of 1905 as that is when her husband Francis filed papers with the Fayette County Circuit Court renouncing  and waiving all of his rights as surviving husband of the deceased Josephine Ashton beyond what Josephine had outlined in her will in 1902. Did Josephine enact an early prenuptial agreement with husband number 3?

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.

Family History Writing Challenge Day 8

The second child of Vinzenz and Carolina Kübler was Pius, who was born 17 April 1844 in Büsserach. In the United States he was known as John Kuebler. In the Cincinnati Directories his occupation was listed as stone cutter, and his residence as a boarder. It is unknown if he married or had children, and he hasn't been located in any census record so far except with his family in the 1860 Cincinnati census. His death date is also unknown.

Adelrich was the third child in the family, and he was born 6 December 1845 in Büsserach. His name appears as Adelrich and Henry in various records in America, and in the 1910 federal census he indicates that he arrived in the United States in 1853. This differs from the Swiss record of 1854 as well as the immigration year of 1850 that had been provided by his brother Victor in 1910.

Saint Francis

Like his father and brother Victor, Adelrich was a chair maker. On 14 January 1868, he married Elizabeth Wolf at Saint Francis Seraph Catholic Church in Cincinnati. He was 22 and she was 20. Established in 1859, St. Francis is located at the corner of Liberty and Vine Streets in an area commonly know as Over-the-Rhine. Many German immigrants settled in this part of Cincinnati in the middle part of the 19th century, leading the community to be called Over-the-Rhine.

Adelrich and Elizabeth had four children: Joseph born in 1870, Mary born in 1872, Bernard born in 1882 and Julia born in 1884. Adelrich died 16 November 1912 at the age of 65. At that time he, Elizabeth and daughter Julia were living with their other daughter Mary and her husband, Adam Dieter. The Dieter's son Adelrich was also in the household. The 1920 census shows Elizabeth living with son Bernard and daughter Julia. By 1930, at the age of 80, she was again living with Mary and Adam Dieter. Date of her death has not yet been located.

Family History Writing Challenge Day 6

America

The lyrics from Neil Diamond's song "America" seem to be torn right out of the minds and hearts of the immigrants who came to the United States seeking a better life for their families. They brought their dreams, seeking the light of freedom being offered here. Many of them came to parts of this country where other family members or neighbors had settled. Others sought out the parts of America that in geography reminded them of their homeland.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, large numbers of Swiss immigrants settled in the rural Midwest, particularly Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis were popular destinations. Immigrants who entered the United States through the port of New Orleans could take a riverboat up the Mississippi River to reach their final destination.

German-speaking immigrants continued to come to Ohio in large numbers after 1850, and set the cultural tone for many communities throughout the state. During the 1800s, they were the largest group of immigrants in Ohio. Cincinnati, in particular, was strongly influenced by its German population.

Cairo

If the Kübler family arrived at New Orleans after they left Switzerland, then it is possible that they traveled by steamboat up the Mississippi River to the area that is now known as Cairo, Illinois. Though Cairo wasn't officially founded until 1858, there was a small settlement in this area at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. From this confluence, the steamboats could continue their journey up either river, and the Küblers could have traveled up the Ohio River to Cincinnati.

Cincinnati

The first physical evidence of the Kübler family in the United States comes in the way of the 1860 federal census. Enumerated on the 6th of June, Vinzenz is now known as Joseph and lists his wife Caroline and sons John, Adloch and Joseph in the household. The family lived in the 8th ward of the city of Cincinnati. Names in census records are often spelled incorrectly, and many immigrants anglicized their names in their new country. The umlaut was dropped from the last name, though some of the descendants would later spell their last name Kuebler instead of Kubler. The ages of the inhabitants of this house match the family. Joseph Kubler is employed as a chair maker, and his oldest son John is an apprentice in the same trade. The family, from all appearances, was settling into life in Cincinnati.