Eda Lisonbee - Remembrance - Miraculous Protection at End of Fred's Mission

Following up on my last post, I've included another remembrance of Eda's in relation to Fred Kohlhepp. In the prior post, the story was around the family supporting Fred on his mission and the sacrifices (and ingenuity) they had to enable that. This next story contains an account of miraculous protection on Fred's behalf from the Lord in two separate instances when he was wanted by the German police. This oral story I've transcribed should be compared with Eda's written account of her father's life, which has a similar experience, and the notes I've made from Fred's mission letters and journal in that same entry (see note #2). They substantiate that Fred was running from the police, and this did cause a premature end to his mission. Frank V. Anderson was the companion listed in the story with the first event likely be in Köln, and the latter perhaps in Duisburg. This account is more fleshed out/dramaticized than Eda's written one, and does containing a nice touching family reunion at the end of it. Eda's story goes:

And I'll tell you another story. While he was over in Germany he converted a lot of people to Mormonism and they were baptized. And the whole lot, it was against the law. The government said they couldn't go in and preach the gospel, the Mormons over there in that country. But They did it anyway. And they baptized them and made a lot of friends. And then they got our father. He was quite an outstanding looking man. He had a beard that was trimmed down, and a mustache, it came out the corners.  And he had nice, thick curly hair, and it was getting grey. He was a handsome man. And they had his picture in the paper where the police were all after him. And they came to find out where he was staying, him and his companion. They were staying upstairs in a little attic room. And "The police!" a man yelled up, "They're coming, they're here, they're here!" And they run there. And the young man he was only eighteen years old, but my Father, he was forty five. And the young man went through the window and he held on to those steep shingles with his fingers and hung on to the roof out there.

 And father he couldn't go out there, he was too old. It wasn't the place for him. So you know what he did? He went into the clothes closet, he got way back in the corner. And he pulled everything he could around him. He could hear those policemen coming up the stairs, and up the stairs, and they went in there and looked all over the room. They couldn't see him. And they said, well they have to go look in that closet. He said they put their hands on him and felt all over him in that closet. And you know they, he said he could feel their hands go all over his body. Belly, legs, and his head, and feet, but he said they said we can't find him. He isn't here. They couldn't feel him because Heavenly Father blessed him, and they got away.

And then he went to another friend and he hid out. He tried to back to the mission office to tell them how it was that he had to leave the country. They will put him in jail for two years. There were all the newspapers that had his pictures after him, the government was after him,  they were going to put him in an old dungeon for two years. And then he had to make his get his companion to get his suitcase. He had to go right down to the Depot. And he got word to his cousin to be sure and have it there. At 1 o'clock I'll be there waiting. And you know 1 o'clock comes and his companion wasn't there. He is still on, on the edge of the sidewalk at the Depot and a woman come up there when he's on the sidewalk there. She bumped into him. She had a big old tray of something in front of her. "Oh," and she said, "Oh, excuse me. I did not see you." And she went on. Soon a man came along and bumped into him. "Oh," he said, "I didn't see you." And then there's two or three people came right along they bumped into him. And he knew that Heavenly Father made him invisible. They couldn't see him. 

Then pretty soon his, his companion came along with the suitcase, and he got on the train. And he went into Berlin, to the mission office headquarters. And his, and his president, thought sure they'd had him because his picture had been in all the papers in the, in the whole state. So they said, "Oh, are you here? Oh, it's a fact that we've been praying for you." And he was there and he says, "We'll send you home just because we can. We'll send you out of the country, send you home. He'd been there over two years, and he talked the German language very well. And so he got out of the country and he came home to his, to his family. I'll always remember how happy we all were when dear father came home and how good he felt when he put our arms around him, and how he hugged all of us children, and Mother. How happy we was. And we sure thank the Lord for saving him and bringing him safely home.

Here is the audio version (always happy to have someone check my transcription):

Eda Lisbonbee - Remembrance - The Five Dollar Gold Piece

Joan Sowards, a descendant of Fred's daughter Eda, collected some audio clips of stories of her father on his mission in Germany and Switzerland, and the family's efforts to support him while he was overseas. I have made the effort to transcribe and annotate the transcriptions (see comments in brackets).

Well when I was oh, about 12 years old [1905], my father went on a mission over to Germany. We didn't have very much money and mother had a little store, and she'd tried to sell things [my prior entries note Ella's second hand store] to get enough money to send to my father. Because over there, he's way, way from home and had to have money to buy food. And so, we children -- My brother, he was a little older than me -- he was about 12 -13 years old [Frederick William Kohlhepp; he would have been about 14, even 15 at the time] -- And my sister. I had a sister too, three years younger than me [Sara Ella Kohlhepp]. Made her about, she was about 7 - 8 years old. And we used to go out, and take the wool that was along the fence and off of the barbed wire. And you know they'd been shearing the sheep in town. We lived in a town there. And we, My brother came in, and said, "All through shearing sheep," he told his sister and I. He said, "If we go there right now," he said, "there's boys, boys that go over there and they're picking it up all off the ground." And so we went over there and we got quite a bit. And then those boys they're with the sack, A lot just hanging down. Well we didn't hardly feel like taking it. But it would have just fell off when they went to load it in. So we picked it off the ground and off the sack, and we mixed a clean nice wool with other wool. And we got home with half a gun sack full or more. The three of us. And then we, after we'd all been gathered up around, we went home.

And my brother he, he took that sack of wool, and he sold it. And you can't guess how much he got for it. But you know he got a 5 dollar gold piece. They didn't have bills in those days. It was gold about the size of a quarter. A 5 dollar gold piece. And so there we had it. And my mother she'd worried, she was sick in bed, and she laid in bed all day, and she was just praying and crying that she could get money to send our poor father on that mission. And we came in, my brother  said, "Shut your eyes and hold out your hands, and I'll give you something to make you bright." So she shut her eyes, and she put out  her hand, and he put that 5 dollar gold piece right in the middle of her hand. And she looked at it and she looked at it. Oh, if you could have seen the look that came to that dear soul. Oh, it just brightened up her eyes and she just looked so happy. And she went like this, and she'd been praying all day, we knew she had been a-praying all day long. Then she sighed and said, "Thank thee dear Lord, for this money." And the next morning we sent it to Germany. And father then he had money to buy him food.

Her brother's five dollar gold piece would have likely looked this coronet head gold piece, which was minted from 1866 to 1908.

Church Callings, Faithfulness, and Character (Lisonbee Account 7)

This is sadly the last entry in Eda Kohlhepp Lisonbee's short history of her father, but I am very grateful to have found it. The last memories and facts she writes are these:

Father was a faithful L. D. S. He was a High Priest, he was a home missionary from American Falls to Malad for 20 years and preached in all the communitites [sic.] and valleys. He was Ward Clerk at Neely and American Falls for many years.

He lived and taught his children the Gospel and the finer things of life. He was always a gentleman. His daughters were always proud to go out with him.

Not long ago I attended Sacrament meeting at Grants Pass, Oregon. The Bishop was Davis Staufer who had been raised near American Falls. He spoke in the meeting, telling the people about father, how he was always a gentleman. He was always dressed neat and clean. He had never seen father without a coat. He also waid [sic.] what a good man he was. I am proud to be a daughter of Frederick John Kohlhepp, and I hope I can hand down to my children some of the things my father taught me.

Written by Eda Kohlhepp Lisonbee
August 28, 1959

My commentary:

1. Church callings. Eda fills us in on Fred's church callings throughout his life. She notes that he did 20 years of home missionary work (likely referring to his calling as a seventy). I wonder if all those years of work on the homefront encouraged him to go on a fulltime mission in Germany. Apparently, preaching the gospel to those around him was no challenge for him. We also learn of his being ordained to be a High Priest (was this standard procedure to ordain someone a high priest if they reached a certain age, or did it signify something else? Did it come with being called to be say, the Ward clerk?) and that he served as a clerk, which would suit his well-educated background.

2. Fred's Gentlemanly attire and personality. Fred seems to have been known for his constant good manners, which he probably learned in Boston. According to Staufer, Fred always watched his appearance and wore a coat. What a strange sight that must have been in rural Idaho and Arizona! Perhaps it worked well in the cold winters, but it seems rather a strange attire for the climate during much of the year.

3. Child's Pride. It looks like Eda really loved her father, and enjoyed having his company. Minerva expressed the same sentiments in many accouts herself. It is impressive how gentlemanly and kind Fred was able to be even with all his illness and suffering. He seems to have inspired goodness in his children.

German Police, Providence, Consumption and Spiritual Gifts (Lisonbee Account 6)

I recognized that I did not finish Eda's great account of the history of her father. I continue on with her account and my commentary today:

Elder Frank Anderson (now in the presidency of the Mesa Temple) was his companion. Both told me soties [stories]. They were staying in a little room up in the attice [sic.] under the eves. When the police came to search for them[,] Brother Anderson (18 years old) climbed out the window and humg [sic.] on to the shingles. Father hid in the clothes closet. The police looked all over the room and felt all over it. Father said they felt all around him but could not find him. The Lord had protected him.

Another time he had to wait at a railraod [sic.] station for Brother Anderson [p. 4] to bring his luggage, somehow Brother Anderson missed the right time and father had to wait an hour or two in the busy station with the police walking all over the place. While waiting father said several people knowcked into him. They looked at him in surprise and said "Excuse me I did not see you." Father knows the Lord had made him invisible to those around him. If he had been caught he would have been sent to prison for two years. Father had contracted a cough which later turned into T. B. He could never had lived two years in prison.

Father had the gift of preaching the Gospel and explaining it. He talked with authority. He also had the gift of healing. At one time he and another elder raised a lady from the dead through the power of the priesthood. Then he had the gfit [sic.] of vision and beheld many wonder ful things. He was never well after returning from his missions, and after suffering many years he died at American Falls, Idaho on 15 Sept. 1919. He is buried there.

And some commentary:

1. Frank V. Anderson. Eda lists Frank Anderson as being Fred’s missionary companion. In this Fred’s missionary journal corresponds. According to his 12 March 1907 journal entry, a Frank V. Anderson arrived in Köln where Fred was serving to labor with him there. They stayed together as companions until 31 May 1907 when Elder Anderson was sent to work in Duisburg. The events in the mission that Frank and Fred describe must have taken place in Köln. At this time, Frank was not 18 as Eda notes, but 19 years old. I suspect Fred would have been Frank's trainer, as this was his first area. Frank was set apart in February and arrived in the field on March 9.

2. Divine providence and Police investigation: These stories by Frank and Fred are great additions to Fred’s missionary history. I do not have accounts of them anywhere else. They are completely absent from Fred’s journal and correspondence. The journal does not even attest to his being hunted by the German police. However, his correspondence does note tension around July 1907. At first there is a vague problem. Owen Nebeker writes him on 2 July and tells him that he feels very sorry “to hear what I have,” and that if Fred is bothered he should write him. Then he urges, “you had better go to Elberfeld,” suggesting that there was a reason Fred needed to leave Köln. A letter from a J. C. Boyer on 8 July is more explicit. He notes how the saints and a Bro. Fuch is waiting for Fred in Elberfeld, and adds “The police have been at [the] Busse’s again this morning, charging you with encouraging emmigration. He [the police officer] made particular mention of two years imprisonment and conviction. Bro. Busse reported [that] you [are] in America, but you know a little different story from each member may lead to your discovery. Be as careful as you can. We will do what we can to avert the storm. I wish you all success and will be glad to help you in any way.” Boyer shows how the police were a real threat for Fred, and confirms Eda’s account where she noted Fred could have been convicted for two years imprisonment. Whether such a harsh punishment actually would have occurred, or if it was rather meant to threaten and frighten Fred, is of course open to question.

Regardless, it seems to have worked in encouraging Fred to leave the country, who did so by the next month. In this he had some mission support. Boyer wrote at the end of his letter, “In fact, I question if it is good for you to remain in Germany. It may go hard with both you and Bro. Stastman.” Fred likely agreed. The day after receiving Boyer’s letter (9 July), his journal, which had been silent since 26 June, noted that he “left Duisburg for Eisenach” on the way to visiting the land of his ancestors in Stadtlengsfeld. Duisburg was where Frank Anderson had been sent to work after finishing his labor in Köln. It looks like Fred was in hiding with Elder Anderson as he tried to figure out the situation in Köln. While Fred had been considering heading home before, the active pursuit of the German police seemed to have been enough to convince him that now was the time to actually do so.

3. Coughs and TB: Fred’s missionary journal does mention him at times being ill, having coughs, and burying a man who had TB. However, knowing exactly when or how Fred got TB is hard to pin down. Family lore has assumed it was on his mission while burying the man who died with consumption. It seems rather that Fred just had bad health and weak lungs. Eda’s account earlier claimed that a doctor diagnosed Fred with consumption in his teenage years and said he would not live to see 20. Fred left Boston to work outdoors thinking it would be better for his lungs (part of the whole historical romanticism with the healing powers of being with nature). So there are multiple accounts of how/when Fred got TB. It was my impression that consumption tended to kill quickly. If so, Fred lived 12 years after returning home from his mission. I am sure that the weather and conditions in Germany and Switzerland weakened his health and immune system, but I am not sure he contracted consumption there. Eda just says that Fred contracted a cough, which later “turned into” TB, suggesting he had a cough throughout the years and then was later diagnosed with it. She also writes that he “suffer[ed] many years” before his death in 1919.

4. Spiritual gifts: Eda’s account shows again their prominence in the Kohlhepp home. While she notes Fred’s ability to preach and his rhetorical persuasion, Fred also had the gifts of healing (even raising the dead! I find no other account of this miracle in his journal or correspondence; Eda is also very vague with just stating Fred was with “another elder”) and of visions (which is interestingly a gift that seems to have run down the family line). I noted how the Legacy of Faith volume attested of Fred’s wife, Mary Ella, as prophesying in tongues. There is also the account of how Mary Ella commanded the waters to lower, so some of her family could cross a river. This place for the immanence of God in terms of spiritual gifts to both Fred and Mary Ella again shows how Annalee would have thought that she too would be given or at least could expect such gifts from God herself. Such gifts she proported to have received included healing and visions.

Idaho, Shakespeare and the German Police (Lisonbee Account 5)

I continue on with Eda’s account:

“They lived in North Ogden after their marriage with grandma, Minerva Wade Hickman. They bought a home later in Pocatello, Idaho, Fred and Eda were born here but father never was happy there. Then they moved to Plain City, their son Moses was born here. Father had a back injury and and eye blinded in a R.R. shop accident in Pocatello. They couldn’t make a living on their small fruit farm in Plain City, so they homesteaded land 6 miles south of American Falls, Idaho. It was the beloved home of the family. There we were raised. The house was big with a dirt roof. The roof leaked when the storms were too long. The long winters were spent father reading aloud to the family. One winter he read all of Shakespeares plays, and acted them out. He read them in such a way we could understand and love them. We all spent the winter quoting Skhakespear. He read the best leterature, histories. When we were in High School all his reading really helped us. Fathr was the first person to raise dry land wheat in Idaho, there was an article in the newspaper about this. He may have raised the best wheat in the whole West.

When my father was 45 years old he was called to Germany on a mission for the Church. He knew the language and being an older man did a lot of good. People listened to him and he made many converts. The German police finely got after him for preaching the Gospel, and encouraging the people to leave Germany and come to Zion. He had a hard time excaping from them.”

Commentary:

1. Eda is helpful in giving us some details about Fred’s life after his marriage and before his mission, of which there is little information. She does not mention how long they were in North Ogden before they moved to Pocatello, but the birth places of the children help. Marie Elizabeth was born almost exactly 9 months (plus 8 days) after their marriage, so she must have been a honeymoon baby (or so we hope). They must have been sealed right after they had Marie. It would be good to find the original temple sealing date from the Logan temple. Minerva was born also in North Ogden on August 28, 1888. However, by Fred’s birth in July 28, 1891, they were living in Pocatello, Idaho (Although my PAF states American Falls; might want to check the records here). Eda’s birth on January 25, 1893 does correspond with the Pocatello location, as does Moses Wade’s Plain City birth location on November 7, 1894. She doesn’t mention Sarah, so she likely was born in American Falls, but I will have to do the homework here.

2. I appreciate Eda mentioning that Fred didn’t like Pocatello, but she does not explain why. That is too bad.

3. Eda mentions the eye incident, but combines it with a back injury I was unaware of. Were they separate events? No record that I am aware of explains HOW Fred got the eye injury. But oral history and my family’s PAF has explained how Fred got blind in the one eye. I will bring up the PAF account later. It is interesting to note that Fred does not complain about his back or eye in his correspondence. That he has a fake/lame eye is easily observed from later photographs, which I will also begin to post soon.

4. Eda is the only person I know who mentions they tried to live off a small fruit farm in Plain City. I will have to look into this more.

5. Homesteading. I know that Fred and Mary Ella successfully homesteaded in American Falls, and I know that Minerva tried to do so as well, but failed. I would like to read up on what actually is required in this procedure to gain this land.

6. The beloved home. I am glad that Eda speaks warmly of the home here. I ordered scans of the home from the Minerva Teichert papers available at BYU and there are also some pictures available from the Hope Hilton papers at the University of Utah. I will post as I can. I would like to do some photo restoration work with Photoshop before I upload them, to get rid of damage, tears and splotches.

7. Literature. This is one of other accounts where I have heard Fred read Shakespeare to the children. He also had various history books in the home. My mother has some of the books that Fred once had, and I believe one was on the history of the punic wars. Again, I will have to check my information, but I will be at my mother’s home tomorrow to check to make sure.

8. Dry wheat farming. Eda is correct in stating Fred was the one he introduced the dry wheat farming according to the tradition and according to newspaper articles. Tom Dille, whose father lived next to Fred, wrote about how Fred brought in the dry wheat farming to Idaho. I will post those articles soon.

9. Called on a mission when 45 years old. This cannot be correct, Fred was 43 when he started his mission, based on his birthday, passport application, and mission correspondence. How did mission calls work back then? Did Fred apply for the call, or was he independently called?

10. Mission success. Eda claims Fred had a lot of success on his mission. He did baptise and confirm some people based on his journal account, but he wasn't the most explicate in spelling out how many converts he made. I have gone back to some of the branch records from Switzerland and gathered some information, but there is still more work to do here.

11. Towards the end of Fred's mission, his record gets sparce, but based on his correspondence you can tell that there is some problem going on. Eda more fully expounds the issue being with the German police. Some BYU Student wrote an excellent dissertation on the missionary effort in Germany right around this time that I will have to read more fully to understand the exact tensions.

Religious Experience, Mormons, Marriage, and Miracles (Lisbonbee Account 4)

Continuing Eda's account:

“Well back to the story again, as father wnet on his Westward travels. He had many interesting experiences I have heard him say ( many times) he awoke at night hearing his name called and heard a voice say, “Fred, Fred why are you wasting your time here.” He was raised in a religious home, and always no matter where he was said his prayers before going to sleep at night. The Lord was with him.

He had heard about Utah and the Mormons. The most he had heard was none too good. In his journey he came to a fork in the road. One road went south the other to Utah. He let his horse choose the way. The horse took the road to Utah. So father came to Utah, in 1886 when he was 24 years old.

Along about this time he dreamed of a beautiful girl. He never forgot the dream, and was always looking for the girl. In Utah he went to work in a mine near Toole. Father Guilliand, a Methodist Minister he had met before in his travels, looked him up to keep him from the Mormons. One Sunday night walking down an aisle in the Methosids churchin Toole, he came face to face with the girl of his dream. My father was a handsome young man 6ft. tall. He had black cury hair and dark brown yees, and there was beautiful little mother, just five ft. 2 inches with beautiful big blue eyes, and brown hair. Her skin was white and clear as lily. It was love at first sight. He looked at her and she at him. Thinking they know each other. After an embarrassing monment they excused themselves and parted. Later they met again through a mutual friend. Mother was visiting a brother in Tooele, and had attended the Methodis church with a girl friend. Mother preached the gospel to my father. He had found what he was searching for. He was baptized 6 days after they were married, nine months later they were sealed in the Logan Temple. Mother was ill at the time with rheumatism. She went into the temple on crutches and came out walking. She had been healed. [3]”

Commentary:

1. The Call. Eda emphasizes how Fred was strongly impressed by the need to stop wasting his time by wandering from place to place. Or was he pushed from place to place by being told that that he was wasting his time here?

2. I think Eda is the only one to mention Fred’s religious upbringing and his attention to personal prayers.

3. The horse story is further elaborated in Fred’s partial autobiography.

4. The Methodist Church and Mary Ella. Eda’s account here is unique in being so detailed. We learn why Fred went to the Methodist church and what minister was guiding him. We see that he met Mary Ella at this Methodist church. What she was doing in the church was another question, given that she was a Mormon. I believe another account claims she was singing in the choir, and he noticed her there, while walking down the aisle. Eda’s account has her just visiting a brother, and attending the Methodist church with her friend.

5. Although Eda is romanticizing their physical descriptions, it is still nice to receive them. The description of Fred somewhat matches the description given in the passport application. This is the first description of Mary Ella that I have ever read.

6. Fred’s conversion. It is interesting that they were married before Fred joined the church. She must have had a lot of confidence in his decision-making. Of course, his baptismal date must have been set before then. I think it shows of Mary Ella’s personality that she preached the gospel to him. While Fred must have been receptive in many senses, I don’t think he immediately “fell in.” There is a copy of a letter from this time period in the special collections at BYU in the Minerva Teichert papers from Mary Ella to Fred, which seems to note some possible tension here. I will transcribe the letter when I locate it later.

7. The healing story that occurred at the temple sealing is unique, noted only here in Eda’s account to my knowledge.

Frontier Travel, Fire, and Storytelling (Lisonbee Account 3)

I continue on with Eda’s account:

“The first few years he traveled West always West., on horse back mostly. He worked in cattle ranches, lumber camps in Minnesota etc. He was in Montana at a Fort when Custer went out that fateful day, when he and all his soldiers were killed by Indians. My father said he was as the Fort when in the morning the dog came into the Fort, in the afternoon the horse was brought in. (If Frederkick John Kohlhepp really witnessed this event he must have left Boston in his 14th year, not his 17th year as he always claimed because the Battle of the Big Horn was in June, 1876 when he would have been 14½ years old).

He was working in a lumber camp in Minn. one winter. He was bringing in a load of wood when three black crows flew over the house. They screeched what soulded like “Fire, Fire, Fire! He told the men what he had heard, they laughed at him but a few minutes later some of the men’s clothing that had been drying by the fireplace caught on fire. It took the efforts of all to put it out before the whole place burned down. No one laughed then. If it had burned, the men would have all frozen before they could have reached shelter.

He used to tell stories of haunted cabins etc. He was a great story teller. He and his friends used to sit around the fire in the winter and tell tall tales. We children sat with our ears open. Later I read many of his stories in O’Henry’s books. [2]”

Commentary:

1. Horseback. How did Fred learn to ride a horse? Was this common to learn for middle class people from Boston? I am sure it was the method of public transportation, but did young people learn to do it? And did Fred really travel most of the way to Utah all on horseback? I know railways were definitely in place by then, so it seems that one could make it to Utah or at least far off west using the railways. Obviously he got to Utah from Boston, but it is hard to know the real way he got there.

2. Work. Eda claims Fred worked on ranches and lumber camps. This coincides with Fred’s account, that I will address eventually. However, she claims he worked at a lumber camp in Minnesota. I am pretty sure that it was in Wisconsin in Fred’s account.

3. Battle of the Big Horn. It is difficult to accept Fred was at the fort near where the Battle of the Big Horn was, but perhaps I am of little faith. I can understand that perhaps he was at a fort where Custard’s horse or dog eventually lived AFTER the battle, but not at a fort the day of. Perhaps his story telling stretched too far? One hates to doubt the reports of their ancestors, but it’s quite a claim.

4. Crows and the Fire. I will have to compare Eda’s account with Fred’s. I believe Fred reported they were ravens (but could he tell the difference?), and that the Fire was started in the kitchen, not from men’s clothes that were drying by the fireplace.

5. Story telling. Eda’s account is the only one that tells of her father sharing stories of haunted cabins. I am happy Eda gives us a source for Fred’s tall tales that he had fun sharing. I wonder which of O’Henry’s books she is referring to. It would be good to locate these books and go through them.
Tags: 1876, frontier travel, Minnesota, lumber camps, fire, storytelling

Dye Business, Education, and Health (Lisonbee Account 2)

I continue on with Eda’s account:

“My grandfather was the first person in America to dye human hair. He came just in time for the Civil War in American and he dyed the material for the northern soldiers uniforms during the war. Grandmother’s first husband had a dying business, he died, Frederick John Kohlhepp was one of his employees[.] He married his former boses daughter and then he owned the dying establishment.

My father was educated in a private school where he was taught German half the day and English the other half. In his home the children spoke English while the parents answered them in German. His people weree of the finest class, and they came from the fest families of Europe. The VonRosens of France, Abies from Germany, and the Juesiers from Switzerland. [1]

My fahter never got along well with his father. His father wanted him to carry on his business, he was the only son, which by then had grown into quite a large concern, the family became very wealthy from their dying business. Then my father became ill, finally a doctor advised my grandmother that her son would never live to see 20 years because he had “consumption.” The damp climate of Boston the Dr. told the mother was very bad for his health. So at a very early age, he always said 17, he left school and headed out West.”

Comments:

1. It is an interesting oral history that Johann Friedrich (Fred’s father) dyed the uniforms for the civil war. It is a little surprising that Johann could set up a factory and become prominent enough for the Northern troops to employ his work for uniforms. Of course, I do not know when he moved to Boston. He lived in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania beforehand. They were not in Boston at least by 1855 when Amelia was born. I suppose it’s possible, but I wonder how that information could possibly be verified. I could learn some general information about Boston during the Civil War, but beyond this it would be quite difficult. I wonder what information or papers is available about long dead companies, besides just being in directories and advertisements. But a business directory doesn’t say much. For instance, I found Johann’s business in the 1871 Jamaica Plains business directory.


All it tells you is the name of the business “Jamaica Plain dye house” and that it was located on Brookside Avenue. It is nice to be able to plot where it would have been on a 1870s Boston map, but you can’t tell about what sort of business they did. This makes substantiating the claims about hair dying and soldiers’ uniforms quite difficult.

2. The statement about Johann marrying the former boss’ daughter to own the dying establishment has been recorded in other records too. I believe Minerva or my Grandmother (Laurie) wrote an elaborate description of the situation that may have been an oral history or their speculation about what happened. I will get to those records later.

3. Fred’s education: I think Eda’s account here is the only document where Fred is described as attending a private school where he learned German and English, or how languages were used in the home. Fred’s education is problematic since many documents claim different things; it will be difficult to pin down.

4. Eda claims he came from some of the best families in Europe: how is this claim made? How does she know what are good European families? All of our Abes are from Saxony/Germany as far as we can go back in 1502. By Juesiers, Eda must mean the Heuszers who we have located in Hessen, Germany. As for the Von Rosens, I need to check up on them in another PAF.

5. There has been a lot of mythology on Fred’s consumption. True, it seems he died of it; it killed a lot of people. But how did Fred live relatively well with consumption until the age of 57? People have claimed he also contracted it on his mission in 1905, but he lived another 12 years. I doubt the historicity of these claims. Regardless, there was definitely a movement going on with transcendental idealism in Thoreau and also in the Boston climate of the need to get out into nature for the good of one’s lungs. People feared their health when they were around industrialized cities. I read in some education books on Boston schooling from Fred’s time period on children’s needs to get out of the city for fresh air. I will have to locate my source there and place it up, and place some of Thoreau’s statements.

Jewish Ancestry Mythology (Lisonbee Account 1)

Hope Hilton was a freelance historian (much like I hope to become) who studied the Kohlhepp family generally to obtain a basis for information to understand the upbringing of her mother (Annalee Skarin) for her works like "Descent into Madness." I think she did a lot of great work, even if I do not agree with the conclusions she makes about the family in her Skarin writings. Her research was donated to the University of Utah, and greatfully made available to me. Amongst her papers I located a short biography of Frederick written by his third daughter, Eda Kohlhepp Lisonbee. It has several items of interest that I will try to study topically. First, let me paste the first section of the text, from which I will analyze and discuss it.

"Handwritten by the daughter of Frederick John Kohlhepp, Aug. 28, 1959. From the memory of Mrs. Eda Kohlhepp Lisonbee of Ashland, Ore. Sent to her neice, Hope A. Hilton also the granddaughter of Ferderick John Kohlhepp in 1959.

HISTORY of Frederick John Kohlhepp 1862-1919

My father frederick John Kohlhepp was born in Boston 13 Feb. 1862. His parents were Frederick John Kohlhepp and Elizabeth Wetzler who came from Germany in 1860 and settled in Boston. Frederick John Kohlhepp I started a dying establishment as the family had been dyers in Germany (Poland) and Russian since the Middle Ages, the name Kohl still means dye or dyer in the Middle East while the word “Hepp” meant “Jew” in Poland in the Middle Ages. Kohlhepp therefore meant a Jewish Dyer, as Jews were the only people allowed to be engaged in the dying business we know for certain that the family were Jewish in their culture and background, however as was common in Europe in the 1860’s to avoid persecution by the Gentiles[,] many Jews adopted the Christian religion or quit [being] their Jewish customs. Grandfather and his children were of this caliber[.] the only thing they refused to give into was the eating of pork. To my knowledge they never tasted it or allowed it in the home."

Commentary:

1. Eda informs us that her account is from her memory, so that it does not appear that she consulted any journals, letters, or other persons regarding the information she provides here. The document proports to have been written in 1859, which means Eda would have been 66 years old at the time of its production. The question then is if it is accurate. Even if it not, it still can give us an understanding of the family's impression of themselves and their history.

2. Eda refers to her paternal grandparents as Frederick John Kohlhepp and Elizabeth Wetzler. Their official names were Johann Friedrich Kohlhepp and Marie Elisabeth Wetzler. Is Eda flipping the grandfather's name and shortening the mother's, or is she referring to them the way the children and the grandparents actually referred to themselves? The best way to know this I suppose would be to examine correspondence and observe how they are referred to and refer to themselves.

3. Came from Germany to Boston in 1860? I don't believe that they immigrated so close to Fred's birth or that they initially settled in Boston, Massachussetts. I think that they had one stop before then. Here is where I will have to prove otherwise; the burden is with me.
NOTE: Having consulted my PAF, Fred had two sisters born earlier than him in the United States. One was born in 1853 (Elizabeth/Lizzie) in Rhode Island, the other in 1855 in Pennsylvania (Amelia). I should locate some Census records to verify this, but it seems very likely that they immigrated to the states at least by 1853.

4. The dying business. It is true that Johann Friedrich did run a dye factory in Boston, located in Jamaica Plains. I have an advertisement for the business as well as some listings in Boston and Jamaica Plains business directories. I will post these up later. However, Eda here does make a sweeping claim: that the Kohlhepps had been dyers since the Middle Ages (I am not sure how far back she means here--the Renaissance, earlier?) in Germany, Poland, and Russia. That she cites these three countries is interested, because due to family genealogical records, we have not found any Kohlhepps in Poland or Russia. Her reasoning (if not including word of mouth accounts) rests upon a folk etymology of the family surname, the Kohl and Hepp supposedly meaning Dyer and Jew in Middle Age Polish. I wonder how she came across this etymology. I need to conduct a surname search to see the possibilities of the meaning of "Kohlhepp" and if her interpretation was at all in vogue with the etymologists of her time period. Otherwise, did this come from subtle imagination?

5. This of course drives immediately to the Jewish question. Minerva Teichert had long claimed to come from Jewish ancestry. She drew a painting of Jewish immigrants coming to America, and associated with many Jewish people. The Mormon church (of which I am a member) had long connected itself with the House of Israel, and in patriarchal blessings assigns members to a tribe, which typically has a mission or role for the earth. Their is an idea of literal adoption into the House of Israel. Did the Kohlhepps wish themselves into Jewish ancestry? They did have a history of tall tales and exaggeration. I cannot find evidence that there was any Jewish blood that came into their lineage (though I am sure if we went back far enough we would, just as would be the case for nearly every human being on the earth). Fred's autobiography does not mention Jewish heritage either. Eda's further claims to support the Jewish theory are:
- Only Jews were allowed to be dyers. How so? Why?
- She claims Jews migrated from Germany to America and gave up their Jewish customs. I am sure this was true in some sense, but was it true on the whole? Why would the Kohlhepps participate? There is also a more fundamental problem here: Fred's mother was born a Christian, christined in a Christian church. I am not sure about Johann Friedrich, although he was a freemason. I will have to double-check my sources and post them up here. If these accounts are true, it seems strange to state they have Jewish heritage.
- She notes that the family refused to eat or have pork in the home. Even if this is true, did not other religious groups despise pork? I am sure there were many Christian groups that did the same from reading scriptures. It could also have just been family tradition or taste. I don't find this fact conclusive.

Given Eda's claims, did any of the other Kohlhepp sisters substantiate them, or back them up for the same reasons? This would be a difficult thing to find. I have heard that Fred's son, Fred, thought he had the natural right to be a Bishop do this jewish ancestry mythology. I will explain this claim more when I revise this post later.