The Family of Jacob Greff and Maria Zehler
Second Generation
Jacob and Maria Greff - late 1880s
Maria Zehler was born in Nuhweiler, Rhine Province,
Prussia, and came to America in 1856, with her parents. She married Jacob
Greff at St Cecilia's in Sheldon. Jacob and Mary settled in Bennington,
New York, where they raised their children.
The children of Jacob and Maria are:
Third Generation
| i. |
William Graves
| William was born on December 10,
18651.
|
| ii. |
Ida Graves
| Ida was born on July 27
18671,
and she died about 1904. Ida married Fred A. Jenss.
|
| iii. |
Mary E. Graves
| Mary was born on November 27,
18691,
and she died in 19501. Mary married Theodore
Martin.
|
| iv. |
Frederick William Graves
| Frederick was born on May 26,
18721. He married Helen
Mooney.
|
| v. |
John August Graves
| John was born on Juy 28,
18772,
and he died on September 8, 196518,34. John married Clara
Amelia Schwatz.
|
Maria Zehler was born May 14,
18395, in Nuhweiler, Rhine
Province, Prussia, the fifth child of Peter Zehler and Anna Maria
Klasen. Her birth was registered the following morning at the
district administrative center in Wadern5. This record is
the source for her date of birth of May
3rd. Maria's
baptismal record4, however, gives her
date of birth as July 26th, a
discrepancy which is common
for four of his siblings. (see Peter for
additional comments).
Maria grew up in Nuhweiler, where she received her education and training on the family
farm. She came to America in 185697,98, along with her
parents and siblings. As the oldest child on the vouyage, she was undoubtedly a great
help to her mother in caring for her eight younger brothers and sister. (Maria is listed as
the second child on the passenger list of the ship. For some mysterious reason, the boys names and ages were falsified.) After
joining the parish community at St. Cecilia's, Maria would have busied herself on the family
farm or worked as a servant in another household.
On February 13, 18651, Maria married
Jacob Greff at St. Cecilia's Roman Catholic Church in Sheldon. Jacob was the
son of William Greff and Anna Gaugle. The Greff family had
arrived in Sheldon about the same time as the Zehler family and joined St. Cecilia's. The
Greff family came from the Germanic area of Belgium, near its border with Germany and
Luxembourg.
After their marriage, Jacob and Maria began a life of farming. In March 1866, they
purchased land on Center Line Road just East of Sheldon Center23, where their
first children were born. Then in January 1870, they purchased the Tharnish farm on the
Allegany road in Bennington, just north of the Sheldon Town line23. In
the early 1880's, Jacob and Maria opted for a new start when they moved with their family to
Iowa40. This
period was one of economic difficulty in America and many of the local families moved west in
hopes of a better life. This included the Jacob's relatives, who homesteaded in Plymouth
County, north of Sioux City. Life on the frontier was difficult, however. Pioneers
lived in sod huts with few amenities and with few neighbors and friends nearby. Jacob
and Maria were unsuccessful in their pioneering effort and after about a year, Jacob and Maria
moved back to Sheldon, New York, minus their oldest son, William, who remained with his
relatives40.
The surname of Jacob and Maria's children as listed above is Graves, a clear departure from the
original family name of Greff. Hilda Graves, granddaughter of Jacob and Maria, related
a family tradition that the name change came about because a school teacher insisted that, since
they lived in America, the Greff children should have an American
name40. This
may not, however, be the reason, since the family name is rendered as Graves in the 1870 U.S.
Census46, when the
oldest
child was only four and not yet in school. In addition, the obituary of Maria uses the
name Graves for both her and her husband96. This all
suggests that Jacob and Maria may have decided on the change for some unknown reason.
After returning to New York, Jacob and Maria lived in Sheldon, though it is not clear whether he
resumed farming. Jacob's died on April 26, 19001. Maria
continued to live in Sheldon with her son, John, and when
John moved to Lancaster, New York, Maria moved with him. She died their on December
27, 19031,99. Jacob
and Maria are buried in the cemetery at St. Cecilia's in Sheldon.
William Graves:
William Graves - early 1880s
William Graves was born December 10,
18651, in Sheldon, New
York, the oldest child of Jacob Greff and Maria
Zehler. William grew up on the family farms in Sheldon and Bennington.
Then, in the late 1880's he moved with his family to Iowa. When Jacob and Maria
decided to move back to Western New York, William elected to stay in Iowa with
relatives40.
Nothing
further is known about his life.
Frederick William Graves
Frederick Graves - early 1880s
Frederick Graves was born May 26, 18721, in Bennington, New
York, the fourth child of Jacob Greff and Maria
Zehler. As related by Hilda Graves40, Fred worked
for the Nickel Plate Railroad and they lived in Conneaut, Ohio.
From the available information, it appears that Fred left Sheldon sometime in 1890's and
probably began work with the railroad at that time. About
1898102, he married
Helen Mullen, the daughter of Thomas Mullen and Catherine
Shea100. Helen
was
born on February 11, 1871, in Conneautville, Pennsylvania100. Fred
and Helen's whereabouts is unknown until 1920, when they are living in Conneaut, Ohio in a
house they owned on Depot Street101. Fred
is
working as a conductor for the railroad. In 1930, Fred was a widower and
retired102. He
was
still living in Conneaut, in a boarding house near the Nickel Plate Railroad.
Helen died in Conneaut on February 12, 1927100, and Fred died
in Cleveland on April 9, 1938100. They
had no children
These pages are our initial attempt to capture the history and genealogy of the Zehler
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