Anna Elisabeth Mohrmann

My 2nd great-grandmother was named Anna Elisabeth Mohrmann. According to family stories Anna immigrated in 1864 from Germany to Cleveland, Ohio. She was supposedly about 17 and came with other young women from her community to marry men who had preceded them to America. For some reason Anna and her intended husband did not marry. I always wondered what happened. Maybe her betrothed was dead? Maybe he had married someone else? Maybe Anna called off the marriage?

Whatever the case, soon after her arrival Anna met Henry Dauber, a “perfect stranger,” and supposedly married him after three days. The family story ends with the following description, “He was 6'4" and she was 4'10" and they were an odd looking but very happily married couple.” 

Anna about 1890 in Cleveland
The picture was colorized with image software.
Unfortunately, her face was not in focus in the original.

My research into Anna discovered that she arrived in New York on 24 May 1864 with a group of other young women of similar age. However, she was not 17, as the family’s story stated, but instead she was 22. Her final destination was Cleveland as was that of three of the other women.

Anna Elisabeth Mohrmann married Henry Dauber in Cleveland on 28 December 1864. I wrote about Henry before and you can find that post here. He was born in New York City in 1834 but then his family returned to Marburg, Germany, where he grew up. Henry returned to New York in 1860 and a year later became a Civil War soldier. He was mustered out in New York City on 13 June 1864. Family stories stated that after his discharge he went west looking for work and he liked Cleveland and stayed. As far as I have been able to determine, Henry had no previous connections to Cleveland. This means the family story that Anna and Henry were strangers could be true. I am not sure if they married within three days of meeting, but they did marry within six months of Henry’s arrival in Cleveland.

Anna Elisabeth and Henry had three children, Henry J. born in 1867, William Frederick born in 1873, and Anna born in 1878. Anna Elisabeth died on 15 July 1907 and Henry died on 4 March 1911. They are both buried in Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland.

For years I’ve tried to figure out where in Germany Anna was from. However, I could find no record that named her parents or a place in Germany where she was born. The closest I could get was a census record that stated she was from the German state of Hesse, the same area where Marburg is located.

However, recently I had a breakthrough! Anna’s civil marriage stated she was married by the Reverend H.C. Schwan. He was the minister of the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cleveland. Earlier this year I discovered a new volume of Roger P. Minert's German Immigrants in American Church Records had just been published that included the church’s records. I immediately ordered a copy and eagerly turned to the page for Anna and Henry’s marriage. And there it was.

Anna Elisabeth Mohrmann was born in Raboldshausen, Hesse, Germany. No parent names were given but now I had a location in Germany I could search for records.

Annotated map from David Rumsey Historical Map Collection

In Raboldshausen’s church records on Archion I discovered that Anna Elisabeth Mohrmann was born on 26 November 1841 and was the daughter of Jakob Mohrmann, a linen weaver, and his wife Anna Margaretha Paul.

I also found two further confirmations that I was in the right place. Four of the young women traveling with Anna in 1864 also appeared in Raboldshausen church records.

Anna and these four women were also named in a commemorative publication by the village of Raboldshausen. In 1999 the village celebrated their 775th anniversary and published the names of auswanderer (emigrants) who left Raboldshausen between 1854 and 1873. In 1864 five women with the occupation of dienstmagd (maid) were named. They included Anna Elisabeth Mohrmann.

Raboldshausen was and still is a small farming village. When Anna was born in 1841 there were about 850 residents. Today there are about 650. The village is located almost in the middle of Germany, in the modern Neuenstein municipality in northeastern Hesse. It is about 40 miles east of Marburg.

Annotated map of modern Germany from Wikipedia

The village is nestled in the gently rolling Knüllgebirge mountains. This arial view shows the surrounding fields and countryside.

Image from Raboldshausen's Wikipedia page.

Historically the village had the usual assortment of blacksmiths, tailors, carpenters, cobblers, and bricklayers. But a larger number of people worked as linen weavers. Linen was an important commodity. It was used for all types of clothing, bedding, and even ship’s sails.

Linen is made from the fibers of flax but is a labor-intensive process. The flax needed to make the linen was probably grown locally. Once harvested the flax stalks were left to rot in pools of water. When it was decayed enough it was dried out and then pulled through nail-like combs to release the fibers. The fibers were then spun into thread and woven into linen cloth.

Anna’s father Jakob Mohrmann was a linen weaver and would have worked from his home. This painting from a German artist in 1896 gives you a sense of what that may have looked like.

Bernard Winter, Die Webstube, 1896, Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Oldenburg. Used with permission from Maggie Blanck.

Jakob Mohrmann and his wife Anna Margaretha Paul only had 2 children, a son named Valentin and Anna. Valentin stayed in Raboldshausen and had 5 daughters. Sadly only one survived to adulthood. She was also named Anna Elisabeth Mohrmann (my Anna was her godmother in 1857) and in 1882 married Justus Peter. This Anna had 4 children and died in Raboldshausen in 1924. There may be descendants of this Peter family who still live in Raboldshausen today. I’d love to find them someday and reconnect the families!

Jakob Mohrmann was the son of Valentin Mohrmann and Anna Catharina Heinzerling. Jakob was born in Raboldshausen in 1802 and died there in 1876. However, the Mohrmann family was not originally from Raboldshausen. Jakob’s father Valentin Mohrmann was born in the nearby village of Saasen in 1776. His parents were Johann Henrich Mohrmann and Anna Martha Winnefeld.

The Heinzerling family has a long Raboldshausen history. Jakob’s wife Anna Catharina was the daughter of Johann Henrich Heinzerling and Anna Martha Wambach. Johann Henrich was born about 1743 and died in 1808 in Raboldshausen. Anna Martha was born about 1739 and died in 1804 in Raboldshausen.

I still have more research on the Paul family and lots of translating of old German church records to do. Once that is done I’ll know a lot more about these families. But I’m so glad I finally know where Anna Elisabeth Mohrmann was from.