Maria Paulina Leutbecher Grossenbacher & Family

Maria Paulina Leutbecher was born on 18 May 1865 in Prussia. According to the information published in a local newspaper*, she came to Texas with her parents, Karl and Elizabeth in about 1879. Her brothers, William and Robert, had already settled in Fredericksburg, Gillespie, TX.

⚭ 27 October 1885, she married Johann Hermann Grossenbacher (1). Johann was born on 22 February 1862 in Bandera, TX, to Johann H. Grossenbacher and Elizabeth Abe of Switzerland.

♦ 24 May 1887 - daughter Hulda (stillborn?) came to this world at Pecan Creek, Gillespie, TX. Her death is given as the same day.
♦ 3 August 1888 - second daughter was born to the family. Her name was Anna Louisa.
♦ 28 December 1890 - son Richard August was born.
♦ 27 April 1894 - son Arnold John arrived.
♦ 31 August 1897 - daughter Ida came to this world.

🏡 29 June 1900 - Census clerk Charles F. Luckenbach recorded the family of John and Maria at Justice Precinct #4 Gillespie, TX. John run his own farm (2).
A few years after that, the family moved. In 1900, they lived in Justice Precinct #4, Refugio, TX (3).

👉1918 - WW1 - Richard and Arnold were drafted (4,5).

Arnold served with 51st Company 3 Battalion 165 Department brigade up to 11 March 1918. Then, he was assigned to Company F 58th Infantry. Private Arnold J. Grosenbacher was severely injured at Chateau Thierry on 18 July 1918. He was honorably discharged on 24 May 1919 (6).

 Richard served with 165th Department Brigade and, later, with Company D 105th Infantry. He served overseas and was honorably discharged on 20 May 1919 (7).

👉 Census 1920 shows that they had moved again - to Justice Precinct #3, Starr, TX. Richard, a single man then, had his place next to his parents' home. (8).

⚭ Ida Elizabeth was married to Mr. Edwin C Ahrens on 31 December 1922. 

👉 At the end of 1925, John Grossenbacher's house got burned with everything that was inside (check out the newspaper clippings). It let to another move (in January 1926) that took  John, Mary, and their daughter Anna, to Roosevelt, Justice Precinct #2, Kimble, TX (9).

 

Clippings source: Davis, Fletcher. The Hondo Anvil Herald. (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 23, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 2, 1926, newspaper, January 2, 1926; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth564608/: accessed August 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hondo Public Library.

⚭ Richard married around 1920/1921. In 1930, The man lived with his wife Mary in Precinct #2, Kimble, TX. On the day of their marriage, Richard was 30 years old, Mary 17 (10). The marriage did not survive.

⚭ Arnold John married in about 1924 - his wife Mildred M (Milda), born on 24 January 1905, was around ten years younger than him. In 1930, the couple lived in Justice Precinct #2, Kimble, TX. Arnold owned a farm (11).

Clipping source: Source: Davis, Fletcher. The Hondo Anvil Herald. (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 23, Ed. 1 Saturday, January 2, 1926, newspaper, January 2, 1926; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth564608/: accessed August 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hondo Public Library.

♦ 18 June 1937 - Maria's husband, John Hermann passed due to cardiac failure (12).

👉 1940 - Annie (age 51) and her mother Maria (age 74), lived at the same place in Kimble County. Annie was recorded as a "ranch woman", she ran the family stock ranch. The record also tells that Maria had completed 8 years of education, and Annie 5 (13).

♦ 23 January 1941 - Maria (Mary) Grossenbacher left this world.

Source: The Harper Herald (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, January 31, 1941, newspaper, January 31, 1941; Harper, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth896774/: accessed August 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Harper Library.

⚭ 17 July 1952 - Richard remarried. His second wife was Mrs. Allie Lee Smith nee Davis, born on 10 January 1902. She was the widow of Mr. L. L. L. Smith (14).

♦ Richard August Grosenbacher died on 23 January 1956, at his home in the rural area of Kimble County, TX, due to chronic heart related condition (15).

♦ Arnold John Grosenbacher passed on 30 December 1963 at his home, 18 miles north-west  of  Junction, Kimble, TX (16).

♦ Anna Louisa died on 1 March 1967 (17).

♦ Ida Elizabeth Grosenbacher Ahrens passed on 8 December 1977 (18).

Clipping source: Source: Dietel, Norman J. The Harper Herald (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 50, Ed. 1 Friday, December 16, 1977, newspaper, December 16, 1977; Harper, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1034986/: accessed August 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Harper Library.

 
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I did not find any information, regarding the passing years of Maria's parents, Karl and Elizabeth. However, there is a Census record that mentions Carl Liebacher (?), age 73, who lived with his 56-year-old wife Johanne in Justice Precinct #5, Bandera, TX. The couple married in 1893. The record also gives Carl's arrival in America as 1856

* I am not sure whether that info is precise/correct. There is an immigration record of Carl Leutbecher, born in 1823 in Germany, who came from Bremen to Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland on 18 September 1868. The man was a musician (0). Perhaps the father of the Leutbecher family came to America first and the rest of the family, the 2 brothers (Robert and Wilhelm), Maria with her mother Elizabeth, and then Louise with her husband and children followed Carl later.

Sources:
0. "United States Germans to America Index, 1850-1897," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDSQ-TFQ : 27 December 2014), Carl Leutbecher, 18 Sep 1868; citing Germans to America Passenger Data file, 1850-1897, Ship Baltimore, departed from Bremen, arrived in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, NAID identifier 1746067, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
1. "Texas Marriages, 1837-1973", , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK1T-F3F : 22 January 2020), Maria Leutbecher in entry for Johann Grossenbacher, 1885.
2. "United States Census, 1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3GC-BL1 : Tue Jul 23 18:38:58 UTC 2024), Entry for John Grossenbacher and Maria Grossenbacher, 1900.
3. "United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M23R-ZLG : Thu Mar 07 20:59:45 UTC 2024), Entry for John H Grosenbacher and Mary Grosenbacher, 1910.
4.  "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZXV-G18 : 26 June 2024), Richard Guss Grosenbacher, 1917-1918.
5. "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZXV-G1Z : 26 June 2024), Arnold John Grosenbacher, 1917-1918.
6. "Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV18-JH26 : Sat Mar 09 11:00:32 UTC 2024), Entry for Arnold J Grosenbacher, 19 Sep 1917.
7. "Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV18-6VR5 : Wed Mar 06 21:16:53 UTC 2024), Entry for Richard Gus Grosenbacher, 27 Jun 1918.
8. "United States Census, 1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCSC-34G : Thu Mar 07 22:06:55 UTC 2024), Entry for John Grosenbacher and Mary Grosenbacher, 1920.
9. "United States Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CSP7-C2M : Wed Mar 06 17:12:16 UTC 2024), Entry for John Grosenbacher and Mary Grosenbacher, 1930.
10. "United States Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CSPF-X6Z : Wed Mar 06 17:12:15 UTC 2024), Entry for Richard Grosenbacher and Mary Grosenbacher, 1930.
11. "United States Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CSL8-F6Z : Sat Mar 09 06:17:03 UTC 2024), Entry for Arnold Grosenbacher and Milda Grosenbacher, 1930.
12. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3HY-VGK : Sun Mar 10 03:33:17 UTC 2024), Entry for John Grossenbacher and John H Grossenbacher, 18 June 1937.
13. "United States Census, 1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KW2X-SVC : Thu Jul 11 18:36:19 UTC 2024), Entry for Meria Grosenbacher and Annie Grosenbacher, 1940.
14. "Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2ZB-65XT : Wed Jul 31 23:51:25 UTC 2024), Entry for Richard August Grosenbacher and Allie Lee Smith, 17 Jul 1952.
15. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K37Q-QTJ : Fri Jul 12 06:23:04 UTC 2024), Entry for Richard August Grosenbacher and John Grosenbacher, 23 Feb 1956.
16. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3SL-BKB : Wed Jul 17 23:48:59 UTC 2024), Entry for Arnold John Grosenbacher and Aubrey C Tife, 30 Dec 1963.
17. "Texas Death Index, 1964-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JVB7-MY4 : 5 December 2014), Annie L Grosenbacher, Kimble, Texas, United States; citing Department of State Health Services, Austin.
18. "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V3D4-52G : 10 January 2021), Ida Ahrens, Dec 1977; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
Photos: 14 August 2020