The Hyphen Family Lineage

Note: Researching the family of Henrietta Sophia Melcher

More verification work will need to be done yet, but so far I am at least somewhat confident that I have identified Henrietta's family. On her marriage record (in 1862) to Friedrick W. Lehmann, her parents' names are given as Michael and Dorothea Melcher. The various census records for her post-marriage life indicate she was German-born - so I assumed this meant that she must have immigrated prior to marrying, but obviously after her birth.

Searching the immigration records on the CastleGarden.org website for her parents' names did not lead to anything that seemed reasonably concrete, but searching for Henrietta's name yielded a list of Melchers - all likely one family - who arrived on 23 Oct 1847 on the ship Savannah, having left Prussia and embarking through Hamburg before arriving in New York. Those family members were apparently:

Martin Melcher, 47, M
Anna Melcher, 42, F
Martin Melcher, 19, M
Ludwig Melcher, 15, M
Henrietta Melcher, 10, F
Maria Melcher, 5, F
Heinrich Melcher, 3, M

This same family (minus brother Ludwig) can be found in the 1850 US Census living in Hubbard, Dodge Cty, Wisconsin; in 1860, parents Martin and Anna are found with 26-year-old son Ludwig (calling himself "Lewis") and younger son "Henry," now age 15, in Hustisford, Dodge Cty, Wisconsin. The remainder of the children (Martin, Henrietta, and Maria) were either married by this point or single adults living on their own, most likely.

Tying this family to the Henrietta Sophia Melcher in our lineage comes from parents' names in marriage records. As noted above, Henrietta's marriage record named her parents Michael and Dorothea; most of the other marriage records I can find (the younger Martin's in 1857, and Maria's in 1861, both in Hustisford, Dodge Cty, Wisconsin) name the parents Martin and Anna Melcher. A later marriage for Martin in 1884 (in Sheboygan Cty, Wisconsin) gives his parents' names more fully, as Martin Friedrich Melcher and Anna Dorothea Melcher. I will admit to assuming that each of them bore three given names (as did most of the Lutheran Prussian immigrants to Wisconsin in the mid-19th century), and that Martin also bore the name Michael. (It is also possible that Henrietta's marriage record was mistranscribed, and that "Michael" is an erroneous reading into the index.)

Interestingly, Ludwig's death record (from 1901, in Watertown, Jefferson Cty, Wisconsin) gives his birthplace as Brandenburg; the younger Martin's second marriage record has his birthplace transcribed (in the index) as "Cuestrichen, Neumark, Germany." This is almost certainly the city of Küstrin, in the Neumark region of Brandenburg - a city that is now Kostrzyn nad Odrą in western Poland, at the confluence of the Oder and Warta rivers.

ADDENDUM: There is a burial listing on the FindaGrave.com website for a Dorothea Melcher, b. 7 Dec 1806, d. 11 Nov 1865 in St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery, Ixonia, Jefferson Cty, Wisconsin; the listing has no photo of the grave itself, so a visit to the cemetery might be in order to verify, as well as to see if more information can be found to help tie this listing to the parents of Henrietta (Melcher) Lehmann.

SECOND ADDENDUM: A broader records search shows a household in Stanton Cty, Nebraska in the 1870 US Census that consists of a seventy-year-old Martin, a twenty-five-year-old Henry, and a fifty-four-year-old Anna Melcher, all Prussian-born. Further down on the same page is another household headed by Martin Melcher (age forty-two), also Prussian-born, with his wife and Wisconsin-born children. The elder Martin and wife Anna show up in the town of Humbug, Stanton Cty, Nebraska in the 1880 US Census, with ages given as seventy-nine and seventy-three, respectively.

I have not yet fully determined whether these two households connect to the family that arrived on the Savannah, nor for certain that all these connect to Henrietta (Melcher) Lehmann, as that work is still ongoing.

THIRD ADDENDUM: A document search on FamilySearch.org shows the original passenger manifest for the barque Savannah, listing the family described above from the CastleGarden.org search and confirming the date of arrival.

FOURTH ADDENDUM: More broad searches show a large number of Melcher families in Dodge Cty, Wisconsin in the US Census - five households in Hubbard alone in 1850, and at least ten in Hubbard and another five in Hustisford in 1860. Furthermore, there is a lot of overlap in names - multiple Martins, Friedrichs, Ludwigs, Johns, Augusts, Annas, and Charlottes. From the given birthplaces and ages of the children in some of these households, it's clear many of them arrived in Wisconsin after 1850, allowing us to narrow the candidates for our Henrietta's family. The ages of the parents in some of these households also allow the field to be narrowed somewhat - as the parents are often too young to be Henrietta's parents, and too old to be her siblings. (I feel quite certain, though, that many of these families were related, with many of the men likely siblings or cousins.)

Currently, the records in which I have the strongest confidence are the immigration record form Castle Garden (the original of which is visible on the FamilySearch.org website), and the 1850 US Census record for the town of Hubbard. There are many marriage and death records as well as the census records for various Melcher individuals, but the preponderance of common names makes sorting some of the identities difficult. I'm slightly less certain of the 1860 US Census record for the family in Hustisford, but I believe this is also the same family. Additionally, the confidence I had that the elder Martin and his wife, the younger Martin and his family, and youngest son Henry all moved to Nebraska by 1870 is somewhat lessened, though I still think this is likely the family of our Henrietta.

There is a Ludwig Melcher of the appropriate age who died in 1901, and is buried in Watertown, Dodge Cty, Wisconsin. I may well find his obituary in the Watertown Daily Times, which may shed some light on which Melcher family is his. That would help clarify matters further.

[Article from the Watertown Republican, 30 Sep 1903, p2.]

[headline] Another Milk Case

Mrs. Henrietta Lehmann of Ashippun, plead guilty in Justice Stacy's court Wednesday morning to the charge of selling unmerchantable milk to a cheese factory. The suit was brought by C.W. Sweeting of Madison, assistant state dairy and food commissioner, on September 4. The state alleged that the milk was watered. A fine of $25 and costs was imposed, amounting in all to $41.24. A test of the milk showed 2.4 per cent, of butter fat, while the statute calls for no less than 3 per cent.