Dec 12

Tombstone Tuesday-Frederick & Catharine (Koch) Kable

Frederick & Catharine (Koch) Kable, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2023 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Frederick and Catharine (Koch) Kable, located in row 12 of Kessler, aka Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. This marker is unusual because the vital information about the individuals is inscribed on the ends of the marker and a verse is inscribed on the front. The marker faces west, Frederick’s inscription is on the south end and Catharine’s inscription is on the north end. The inscriptions:

FREDERICK
Died
Apr. 29, 1886
Aged
68Y. 10M. 17D.

CATHARINE
Died
July 5, 1911
Aged
73Y. 8M. 8D. 

MOTHER and FATHER
O, let us think of all they said
And all the kind advice they gave
And let us do it now they are dead
And sleeping in their lonely grave.
KABLE

Frederick Kable inscription, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2023 photo by Karen)

Catharine (Koch) Kable inscription, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2023 photo by Karen)

Frederick Kable was born in Fechingen, District Saarbrucken, Kingdom of Prussia, on 10 June 1817, the son of Jean “Christian” Kable (c1782-?) and Catharina Elisabeth (Muller) (c1791-1864).

Frederick Kable immigrated with his parents and brothers Ferdinand, Daniel, and Christian in 1849 on the ship Henrietta, arriving in New York on 8 May 1849. Immigrating with them was the Christian Kessler family. Christian Kessler’s wife Margaretha (Kable) Kessler (1816-1862) was Frederick Kable’s sister.

After immigrating, some of the Kables attended St. Paul Lutheran, Liberty Township, and Zion Lutheran, Chatt.

In 1850, brothers Frederick Kable, 30, and Ferdinand Kable, 25, and Margaret Kable, 50, [relationship unknown] lived in Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. [2]

Frederick Kable’s brother Ferdinand married Catharine Bollenbacher in 1853 and they started their own family.

In 1860 Frederick Kable, 40, single, resided with his mother Catharine Kable, 71, widow, in Liberty Township. They had a Skeels Crossroads post office. [3] Frederick’s mother Catharine [Muller] Kable died 8 January 1864.

About five months later, Frederick Kable married Catharine Koch, married on 2 June 1864 by Rev. George Heintz, the pastor of Zion Lutheran Chatt’s parish.  Witnesses to their marriage were Karl Bollenbacher and Barbara Koch.

Catharine (Koch) Kable was born in Trossingen, Wuerttenberg, Germany, 27 October 1837, the daughter of Jacob & Maria (Messner) Koch. She was baptized on 29 October 1837. [4]

One Catharine Koch, born 27 October 1837, applied to emigrate to America in April 1862. [5] I could not find a Catharine Koch of her age enumerated in the 1860 census, so she may have immigrated around 1862.

The Frederick Kable family in 1870: Frederick Kable, 52; Catharine, 33; Jacob, 6; Christina, 3; Frederick, 4 mo. Frederick was a farmer. [6]

The Frederick Kable family in 1880: Frederick, 64; Catharine C, 43; Jacob, 14; Christina, 12; Frederick, 10; and John 2. This enumeration actually notes that Catharine‘s parents were born in Trossingen,which agrees with Zion Chatt‘s records, and that Frederick was born in Rhein-Beiern/Bayern. [7]

Frederick Kable, died in Liberty Township, Mercer County, on 29 April 1886, aged 68 years, 10 months, and 19 days, per Zion Chatt’s records, aged 68 years, 10 months, and 17 days per his tombstone. He was buried on 1 May.

In 1900 widow Catherine (Koch) Kable, 63, head, resided with her four unmarried children Jacob, 35, farmer; Christina, 33; Frederick, 30, farmer; and John, 23, schoolteacher. [8]

In 1910 widow Catharine Kable, 72, resided with her son John Kable, 33, and his family, Viola, 21, wife; Walter, 2, son; and Larena, 3 months, daughter. This enumeration indicates that Catharine (Koch) Kable immigrated in 1862, which agrees with the emigration application information mentioned above. [9] 

Catharine (Koch) Kable, died from a stroke on 5 July 1911, aged 73 years, 8 months, and 8 days. She was buried on the 7th. According to church records she was survived by 3 sons, 1 daughter, and 1 sister.

Frederich and Catharina (Koch) had the following children:
Jakob Kable (1865-1946), never married
Christina Kable (1867-1939), married John A. Baumgartner
Frederich Kable (1870-1934), married Mary Ann Wendel
Christian Friedrich Kable (1872-1876)
Katharine Kable (1876-1876) 
Johann Heinrich Kable (1877-1957), married Viola L. Baumgartner

[1] New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, ship Henrietta, arrival 8 May 1849; database online, Ancestry.com.

[2] 1850 U.S. Census, Liberty, Mercer, Ohio, p.286a, dwelling & family 7, Fredk Roble [sic]; Ancestry.com.

[3] 1860 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer County, Liberty Township, p.359, dwelling 1014, family 1019, Fred Kable; Ancestry.com.

[4] Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898, Catharine Koch, 27 Oct 1837; database on-line, Ancestry.com.

[5] Trudy Schenk, Wuerttemberg, Germany Emigration Index, Katharina Koch, b. 27 Oct 1837, applied Apr 1862; database on-line, Ancestry.com.

[6] 1870 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, p.148B, dwelling 105, family 97, Fredrick Kable; Ancestry.com.

[7] 1880 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 188, p.473B, dwelling 43, family 45, Frederick Kable; Ancestry.com.

[8] 1900 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 85, p.6, dwelling 115, family 120, Catherine Cable [sic]; Ancestry.com.

[9] 1910 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, Ed 119, p.3B, dwelling 212, family 219, John Kable; Ancestry.com.

Dec 08

J Jacob Loehr Theological Book, 1865

Last week I featured a picture postcard sent by Nellie Loehr in 1911, postmarked Rockford, Ohio. Nellie and her husband, Rev. Lincoln Luther Loehr, had just arrived in Chattanooga, Ohio. Rev. Loehr was the new pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Chatt.

Thanks to a Karen’s Chatt reader, I have another item related to the Loehr family, an old book that once belonged to Rev. Loehr’s father, John Jacob Loehr: The Distinctive Doctrines of the Different Christian Confessions, In the Light of the Word of God, by G. Graul, DD, Director of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission House at Leipzig, translated from the Fifth German Edition by Rev. D.M. Martens, A.M. Columbus, Ohio: Osgood & Pearce, Printers, 1862.

The Distinctive Doctrines of the Different Christian Confessions, 1862; owned by John Jacob Loehr

That is quite a long title for a book that measures only about 4½ x 7 inches and 133 pages.

The Distinctive Doctrines of the Different Christian Confessions, 1862; owned by John Jacob Loehr

The well-worn book dates back to the time of the Civil War, a time when not everyone could read and write, let alone read a scholarly book like this. Although John Jacob Loehr was born in Germany, he obviously knew how to read English very well. And it appears he was very interested in theology, which undoubtedly influenced his son Lincoln Luther to become a minister.

The Distinctive Doctrines of the Different Christian Confessions, 1862; owned by John Jacob Loehr

The book was published in 1862 and written inside the front cover is J Jacob Loehr 1865. 1865, the year his son Lincoln Luther Loehr was born. I wonder if Rev. Lincoln Loehr read this book as well.

J Jacob Loehr, 1865, signature

John Jacob Loehr was born in Rhineland, Germany, 26 August 1814, and died 4 April 1888 in Stark County, Ohio, aged 73. He is buried at Mapleton Cemetery, Canton, Stark County, Ohio. [1] John Jacob Loehr was a farmer.  

John Jacob Loehr immigrated sometime before 1837 and may have immigrated with his parents. He married Catharine Shearer (1819-1891) on 15 June 1837 in Mapleton, Stark County, Ohio. [2] John Jacob Loehr and wife Catharine remained in Stark County all their lives and both are buried at Mapleton Cemetery at Canton.

John Jacob and Catharine (Shearer) Loehr had a large family, predominately sons:

Caroline Loehr (1838-1917)
Josiah Loehr (1840-1917)
Washington Loehr (1842-1863)
Rueben Loehr (1844-1852)
Henry Shearer Loehr (1847-1921)
John J. Loehr (c1850-1924)
Edwin A. Loehr (1853-1910)
Charles Loehr (1856-1922)
George Loehr (1860-1863)
Lincoln Luther Loehr (1865-1954)

Because Lincoln Luther Loehr was born in 1865, you have to wonder if he was named after Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther. There is a lot of meaning and alliteration going on in his name. Rev. Loehr finished seminary and became a minister in 1899, eleven years after his father died. His father would have been very proud of him. 

[1] FindaGrave.com, John Jacob Loehr, memorial no. 53790390, Mapleton Cemetery, Canton, Stark Co, Ohio.

[2] Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Stark County 1809-1874, p. 43, John Jacob Locher (sic) & Catherine Shearer, 15 Jun 1837; Ancestry.com.

Dec 01

1911 Postcard with Chattanooga Connection

This is an interesting picture postcard, postmarked Rockford, 7 June 1911. The photo on the front is a common picture that I have seen before, labeled St. Mary’s River, Willshire, O. I wonder if the photo was actually taken on the St. Marys River at Willshire. Did the St. Marys River ever really look like that at Willshire? Did people boat on the river? Perhaps.

1911 postcard from Nellie Loehr

But that really doesn’t matter. I did not purchase the postcard for the photo or for the date. I purchased the postcard because of who wrote the message on it. The name, Nellie Loehr, caught my eye. I recognized that name right away.

In 1911 the Loehrs had just moved to Chattanooga, Ohio.

Nellie’s husband, Rev. Lincoln Luther Loehr, was the new minister at Zion Lutheran, Chatt.

Rev. Loehr; at Zion Chatt, 1911-13.

Written on the postcard:

Rockford, 7 June 1911, 7 p.m.
To Mrs. Ralph Weaver, Chicago, Ohio

Parsonage, June 5, 1911
Dear Friend,
Well we got here safely and are now all settled in the parsonage. We have a real pretty and comfortable home, and good kind people. I hope everything is going all right up there at Chicago. Please tell Mr. Vogel that we have had 4 horses offered us but we have not bought any yet. We send best regards to you all and hope to hear from you

Cordially,
Nellie Loehr

1911 postcard from Nellie Loehr

The note is short, but it tells us a lot.

The local people were good kind people. That is always good to hear.

The Loehr’s new home, the church parsonage, was pretty and comfortable. In 1911 that would have been the old frame parsonage, which was destroyed in a fire during the WWII years. The current brick parsonage was built soon after, in the same general location. The church at Zion Chatt would have been the old frame church. The current brick church was built in 1916/17, in the same general location.  

The old parsonage, south of the Lutheran School, c1900.

Zion Lutheran, Chattanooga. Old frame church beside new brick church. (1917 photo)

It appears the Loehrs would not have any trouble finding a horse. Although automobiles had been invented and were in use in 1911, apparently horse and buggy transportation was the norm in the Chatt area.  

About that address, Chicago, Ohio. I had never heard of Chicago, Ohio, and at first I thought that was a mistake. But Nellie was a school teacher and she probably would not have made a mistake like that.

I am always learning and I learned that there was indeed a Chicago, Ohio, aka Chicago Junction, located in New Haven Township, Huron County, in north-central Ohio. The village was established about 1875 at the junction of two railroads, where the Chicago division of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad joined with the Mansfield-Columbus division. The extension was known as the Baltimore, Pittsburgh, & Chicago Railway. The community was incorporated in 1882 and they had a post office. [1] The name of the village was changed to Willard in 1960, renamed after the president of the B & O Railroad.

Rev. Lincoln and  his wife Nellie lived there in 1910. They resided on Rant Street, in the Village of Chicago Junction. Lincoln Loehr, 45, head, born in Ohio, preacher at German church; Nellie M, 34, wife, born in Ohio, not employed. They had been married 8 years, the first marriage for both, and they had no children. [2]

Nellie Mae Knepper was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, on 8 November 1874 the daughter of George A. and Emeline A. (Hoover) Knepper. In 1900 Nellie lived in Pickaway County, Ohio, and was a teacher.

Rev. Lincoln Loehr married Nellie Knepper 23 May 1901 at the home of her parents, near St. Paul, Pickaway County. At that time Rev. Loehr was the minister of Fairview Lutheran Church, Hiawatha, Kansas. [3]   

Rev. Loehr and Nellie were only in Chatt for two years. In 1913 they moved on to the Auglaize/Shelby County area, where he continued his ministry.

Rev. Lincoln Luther Loehr died in Columbus, Ohio, on 26 June 1954 and his wife Nellie (Knepper) Loehr died in Columbus on 29 March 1964. They are both buried at Reber Hill Cemetery, Pickaway County, Ohio. Nellie’s parents are also buried at Reber Hill Cemetery.

I have been to that cemetery. That is the same cemetery where my Revolutionary War ancestor, Christian Whiteman, is buried.

It is indeed a small world.

[1] Larry L. Miller, Ohio Place Names (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1996) 48. And Julie Minot Overton, Ohio Towns and Townships to 1900: A Location Guide (The Ohio Genealogical Society, Mansfield, OH: Penobscot Press, 2000) 69.

[2] 1910 U.S. Census, Ohio, Huron, New Haven Township, ED 31, p.2a, dwelling 32, family 33, Lincoln  Loehr; Ancestry.com. 

[3] The Kansas Democrat, Hiawatha, Kansas, 6 Jun 1901, Lincoln Loehr & Nellie Knepper marriage; Newspapers.com, viewed 30 Nov 2023. And Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Pickaway County 1896-1906, p.268, Lincoln Loehr and Nellie May Knepper, 23 May 1901; Ancestry.com.

Nov 23

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Karen’s Chatt! Wishing each of you a Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving

Nov 21

Tombstone Tuesday-Katherine C. Kable

Katherine C Kable, St. Paul UCC Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. (2023 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Katherine C. Kable, located in row 9 of St. Paul UCC Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Katherine C.
KABLE
1868-1950
Aunt

Katherine C. Kable was born in Mercer County, Ohio, 15 March 1868, [1] the daughter of Ferdinand and Catherine (Bollenbacher) Kable. Both of her parents were German immigrants.

The Ferdinand Kable family in 1870: Ferdinand, 43; Catharine, 37; Adam, 9; Caroline, 7; Louisa, 3; Katherine, 1. [2] The Ferdinand Kable family in 1880: Ferdinand, 54; Catharine, 45; Adam, 17; Caroline, 16; Louisa, 13; Katherine, 12; and Nettie, 8. Their father Ferdinand was a farmer. [3]

Katharine Kable married Thomas Jefferson “T.J.” Dellinger 21 February 1895 in Mercer County, married by Samuel Egger, a Chatt-area minister who was likely the minister of her church. [4]

The Ferdinand Kable household in 1900: Ferdinand, 72, head; Catharine, 67, wife; Louisa, 33, daughter, single; Kattie [Katherine] Dittinger [sic] [Dellinger], 32, daughter, widow; Emil Kable, 11, grandson; Henrietta Bollenbacher, 95, mother-in-law, widow. [5]

T.J. and Katherine apparently divorced sometime before 1902, when in 1902, T.J. Dellinger (1876-1931) married Margaret Brunstetter. Katherine Kable took back her maiden name and continued to live with her parents.  

The Ferdinand Kable family in 1910: Ferdinand, 82; Catharine, 77, wife; Louisa [Kable], 43, daughter, single; Katherine [Kable], 42, daughter, single; Henry Leininger, 23, nephew, single. [6]

The father Ferdinand Kable, a Civil War veteran, died 14 January 1912.

In 1920 Katherine, 51, reportedly divorced, lived with her widowed mother Catherine Kable, 87, and her older sister Louisa Kable, 53, single. The three women resided in Liberty Township and none of them were employed outside the home. [7]

The mother Catherine (Bollenbacher) Kable died 25 June 1922.

After their mother’s death Katherine Kable and her sister Louisa moved to Pleasant Township, Van Wert County, to live with their sister Henrietta and her husband Christian Merkle.

Katherine’s sister Louisa died there on 10 February 1930. Katherine was enumerated later that year in the Merkle household: Christian Merkle, 66, head; Henrietta Merkle, 58, wife; Catherine C Kable, 61, single, sister-in-law. [8]

Between 1935 and 1940 Katherine, age 72, moved back to Liberty Township, Mercer County, where she owned and resided in a home in Chattanooga. [9] Katherine remained in Chatt for the next 10 years. According to the 1950 census she lived on the south end of Chatt, on the west side of State Route 49. [10]

Katherine Kable died in Gibbons Hospital in Celina on 24 September 1950 of pneumonia and colon cancer. She was buried on the 27th. [1]

Katherine Kable’s obituary:
Mrs. Katherine Kable
Chattanooga, Sep. 25
Mrs. Katherine Kable, 82, last surviving member of a family of seven, died Sunday in Gibbons hospital, Celina. She was a member of the St. Paul Evangelical and Reformed church, Liberty-tp, and its Ladies’ Guild.

The body will remain at the residence until final rites at the church at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. Burial will be in the church cemetery with arrangements in charge of the Ketcham funeral home, Rockford. [11]

Katherine C. Kable had the following siblings:
John George Kable (1855-1865)
Jacob Kable (1858-1865)
Adam Kable (1861-1948), married Catharine Hoffman
Caroline Fredericka Kable (1863-1934), married Theobald Leininger
Louisa M. Kable (1866-1930)
Henrietta “Nettie” Kable (1871-1946), married Christian Merkle
Mary A Kable [according to Sutton’s 1882 History of Van Wert & Mercer County]

[1] “Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953,” Mercer County, Katherine C Kable, 24 Sep 1950; FamilySearch.org.

[2] 1870 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, dwelling 100, family 92, p.148B, Ferdinand Kable; Ancestry.com.  

[3] 1880 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 188, dwelling, 51, family 54, p.474C, Ferdnand [sic] Kable; Ancestry.com.

[4] Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Mercer County 1887-1904, p.92, TJ Dellinger & Katie Kable, 21 Feb 1895; Ancestry.com, viewed 17 Nov 2023.

[5] 1900 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED, dwelling 162, family 167, p.9, Ferdenand [sic] Kable; Ancestry.com.

[6] 1910 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 119, p.17B, dwelling 391, family 342, Federinand [sic] Kable; Ancestry.com.

[7] 1920 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer Liberty, ED 140, p.10A, dwelling 190, family 206, Catherine Kable; Ancestry.com.

[8] 1930 U.S. Census, Ohio, Van Wert, Pleasant, ED 12, p.7A, Dwelling & Family 167, Christian Merkle; Ancestry.com.

[9] 1940 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 54-22, p15B, household 315, Catherine Kable [sic]; Ancestry.com.

[10] 1950 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 54-33, p.18, dwelling 158, Catherine Kable [sic]; Ancestry.com.

[11] Katherine Kable obituary, The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, 25 Sep 1950, p.2; Ancestry.com.