Many thanks to Christopher Wheeler (chriswheeler@mindspring.com)
who provided these
well-researched biographical sketches of
Frederick Dorner and
Margaretha Sophia Eihl Dorner of Lafayette, Indiana.
The only known child of Laurent K. and A. Margaretha (Kramer) Eihl,
1 Margaretha Sophia Eihl
2 was born at 3 am on May 4, 1845,
at 249 Robertsan in Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France. Catherine Müller, a mid-wife,
assisted in her delivery. 3 Margaretha's parents were not
married at the time, but they married five months later, on October 16, at which
time they declared her their legitimate daughter. 4
Margaret 5 presumably immigrated
from France with her parents in 1848, landing at the Port of New York on October 15, 1848.
6 In about 1850,7
she and her parents arrived in Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where she spent the remainder of
her childhood.8
In 1858, the family lived on the south side of Fountain Street, near Ohio Street.
9
Margaret received an education at least to the extent that by 1920, she was literate.
10
On March 2, 1861, Margaret married Frederick Dorner before a justice of the peace in Lafayette.
11 She was less than 16 years old.
Together, Margaret and Frederick had thirteen children, 12
who are listed below.
Following their wedding, Margaret and Frederick lived in Lafayette until 1865
13 or 1867,
14 when they moved to Kenosha,
Kenosha County, Wisconsin. By 1867, they were living outside Kenosha on a farm in Somers Township.
15
They remained on this farm until after June, 1870,
16 moving back to Lafayette
17 in 1870,
18 1871
19 or 1872.
20
Margaret was remembered as a jolly person. In quiet moments, she enjoyed playing
solitare by the hour.
21
Margaret evidentally loved to cook. One of her grandchildren, Lucille E. Dorner,
recalled that "my grandmother was a wonderful cook, a good old German cook.
I don't know how many kinds of Christmas cookies she used to bake. Every Saturday,
my family would go over to grosspapa's home and come back with coffee cake, white
bread, rye bread, all kinds of baked goods."
22
In 1910, Margaret and Frederick were living at their home 1922 Indiana Avenue, in
Lafayette.
23
In January, 1920, Margaret was living at her home, which she owned free of mortgage,
at 1922 Indiana Avenue, in Lafayette. Living with her were her daughter, Emily Dorner,
and Jennie McDougal, a 73 year old servant.
24
Margaret died at her home of a complication of diseases at 5:45 pm on January 24, 1920.
She was buried in Greenbush Cemetery, Lafayette,
25 on January 27.
26
Children of Frederick and Margaretha S. (Eihl) Dorner
Dale Brown's Family History Page
Author: Dale A. Brown
Last updated: March 29, 2002
If you find errors in the information presented here or have comments
that would make the site more useful or user-friendly,
my email address is dbcpa55@hotmail.com
.
