By Julie Huebel, Pierce County Historical Association
ELMWOOD, WI — Selecting what family to write about for each letter can sometimes be a difficult decision. There have been times I’ve spent a number of hours researching before I’ve decided on what direction to go in, so sometimes a little help narrowing it down has been helpful. There was a family someone asked about in a Facebook comment, and since my career had been in adding efficiency I thought, let’s make it official…L is for Lecheler.
I’ve also already done some Lecheler research as part of my project to link how the Elmwood Class of ’97 is related to each other. It turns out, my classmates Adam Bauer and Brandon Pelzel are 3rd cousins through their fathers, who would then be second cousins. Their mothers, Marion and Olivia were first cousins, with their fathers being brothers. These brothers, Paul and John, were sons of George and Susana (Gindt) Lecheler.
George Lecheler was born in 1855 in Washington County, Wisconsin. Washington County is just north of Milwaukee. In 1884, he was married to Susanna Gindt who was born in Germany near Koblenz and came to the US at age six. They had eight children (seven of them pictured). George passed away in 1936, Susanna in 1920. They are both buried in the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery (Farmhill/Farm Hill). George had brothers that ended up in Chicago and one in Washington.
George’s parents were Anton (1821-1883) and Crescentia (Schirsner) (1820-1902). Anton was born in Briententhal, Germany. They settled in Theresa Township in Dodge County, Wisconsin. Anton filed paperwork for naturalization on October 23, 1858. They are farming there in the 1860 census with children George, Joseph and Anton, Jr.
Anton Sr. and Crescentia are buried in Saint Theresa Memorial Gardens Cemetery there in Theresa Twp, Anton with a beautiful headstone died in 1883 and his wife doesn’t seem to have a headstone (she died 1902). It’s a tale as old as time that the wives don’t always end up with a headstone, it’s a real shame.
Anton’s father was Pius Lecheler, born in Germany in 1782. I found this entry on the Ancestry website about him: “Pius Lecheler made his living as a blacksmith. When he handed his business over to oldest son, Pius II, his younger son, Anton, was so discouraged that he left Germany for the United States.” (per ‘suzbrunner’ on Ancestry).
This was not uncommon, many cultures see the family farm or business passed to the eldest son with the younger sons having to look elsewhere for opportunity.
After originally posting on this family back in February, several people reached out with family information and photos. One such person was Don Lecheler. He descends from George and Susanna’s son Paul and was born in La Crosse. He served in the US Air Force in Germany and while on leave decided to check a phonebook for some Lechelers to see if he could learn where his family came from. He met up with a Heiner Lecheler at a beer hall during Munich’s Oktoberfest and learned that under Hitler’s reign, everyone was required to have papers of their family origin. He said his mother’s papers named a town in eastern Bavaria and Heiner drove him there and dropped him off.
Don had no luck while researching at a church there. On a later trip, he enlisted the help of an enthusiastic gas station attendant that called about 25 Lechelers in the phone book asking if they could help with Don’s quest. He again returned to base disappointed, but a few days later he received a letter from someone that was contacted, a Pius Lecheler III. Pius still lived in the town where Don’s great-great-grandfather was born, making Don and Pius 1st cousins, three times removed. Don and Pius would write letters back and forth and eventually met in person.
