Laur Family and others

Genealogy of the Laur, Lauer, Soos families together with information on cities in Germany including Laichingen, Feldstetten and Machtolsheim.

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MAURER, Sarah

Female Abt 1878 - Yes, date unknown


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Generation: 1

  1. 1.  MAURER, Sarah was born about 1878 in NY (daughter of MAURER, Benedict and WITMER, Sarah); and died.

Generation: 2

  1. 2.  MAURER, Benedict was born about 1827 in Bern, Switzerland; died about 1889.

    Benedict married WITMER, Sarah about 1860 in Sanborn, Town of Wheatfield, Niagara County, NY. Sarah (daughter of WITMER, Samuel and CROUT, Mary) was born in 1841 in Town of Lewiston, Niagara County, NY; died in 1889 in Niagara County, NY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 3.  WITMER, Sarah was born in 1841 in Town of Lewiston, Niagara County, NY (daughter of WITMER, Samuel and CROUT, Mary); died in 1889 in Niagara County, NY.
    Children:
    1. MAURER, Anna was born about 1863 in NY; and died.
    2. MAURER, Bennie was born about 1869 in NY; and died.
    3. MAURER, Maria Catherine was born on 26 Feb 1870 in Sanborn, Town of Wheatfield, Niagara County, NY; died on 2 Jun 1926; was buried in Gracelawn Cemetery, Flint, MI.
    4. MAURER, Mary S was born about 1874 in NY; died about Feb 1940 in Flint, Genesee County, MI.
    5. MAURER, Birdie was born about 1876 in NY; and died.
    6. 1. MAURER, Sarah was born about 1878 in NY; and died.


Generation: 3

  1. 6.  WITMER, Samuel was born on 27 Oct 1803 in Manor Township, Lancaster County, PA (son of WITMER, John and HERSHEY, Barbara); died on 5 Apr 1897 in Niagara County, NY; was buried in Marne Cemetery, Marne, MI.

    Samuel married CROUT, Mary on 4 Oct 1832 in Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY. Mary was born on 15 Jun 1801; died on 17 Oct 1867 in Fairfax, IA; was buried in Fairfax, IA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 7.  CROUT, Mary was born on 15 Jun 1801; died on 17 Oct 1867 in Fairfax, IA; was buried in Fairfax, IA.
    Children:
    1. WITMER, Emanuel Burnell was born on 3 Aug 1833 in Town of Lewiston, Niagara County, NY; died in Apr 1914 in Kinney, MI; was buried in Berlin, Ottawa County, MI.
    2. WITMER, Maria was born in 1834 in Town of Lewiston, Niagara County, NY; and died.
    3. WITMER, Barbara was born in 1836 in Town of Lewiston, Niagara County, NY; and died.
    4. WITMER, Fanny was born in 1837 in Town of Lewiston, Niagara County, NY; and died.
    5. WITMER, Elizabeth was born in 1839 in Town of Lewiston, Niagara County, NY; and died.
    6. 3. WITMER, Sarah was born in 1841 in Town of Lewiston, Niagara County, NY; died in 1889 in Niagara County, NY.


Generation: 4

  1. 12.  WITMER, John was born in 1760 in Lancaster County, PA (son of WITMER, Johannes Christian and SCHALLENBURGER, Maria); died on 26 Mar 1842 in Town of Niagara, Niagara County, NY; was buried in WItmer Memorial Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY.

    Notes:

    Niagara Gazette - 7/1957

    IN 1810.JOHN WITMER and
    his family consisting of his wife
    and eight children left Lancaster,
    Pa., in a Conestoga wagon with
    a four horse team. All their worldly
    possessions were in that wagon.
    They were bound for the
    Niagara Frontier. The trip was
    made in late August and early
    September and required 18 days.
    The route was circuitious until
    they reached Batavia from whence
    they followed the Buffalo road
    to Black Rock and thence down
    the river to Devil's Hole where
    they took a road which had been
    chopped out by Isaac Swain. This
    led to his clearing where the Military
    road crosses Gill Creek, dose
    to the northern boundary of the
    Town of Niagara.
    Mr. Swain had. partially cleared
    the timber from about 40 acres
    and erected a good-size log house.
    John Witmer had purchased this
    100 acre farm of Mr. Swain who
    then moved to the Town of Porter
    and settled south of Youngstown.
    At this period (1810) there was
    only one other clearing on the
    Military road in the present town
    of Niagara.
    A short time before John Witmer
    brought his family from Pensylvania,
    he bad ridden through
    on horseback and purchased his
    land. When he left his old home
    he had cut a slender branch from
    a Locust Tree to use as a switch.
    When he reached his new home
    he planted the switch in the rich
    soil in front of the log cabin. The
    switch, so the family tell me, took
    root and today one may see as I
    did, on the east side of the military
    road some 25 odd feet north
    of the Gill Creek crossing, a large
    gnarly old locust tree that has
    every earmark of being old enough
    to verify the family legend.
    * ° *
    WHEN THE TOWN of Niagara
    was organized in April 1812.
    John Witmer was elected one of
    the "pathmasters." In 1817 he
    built a small sawmill on Gill
    Creek near his home and in 1818
    began to saw and sell lumber.
    "A great many of the first frame
    houses in that part of Niagara
    and adjacent towns were built of
    lumber from his sawmill. Last
    week I called on Mrs. -Theresa

    Morrison and Miss Serena Witmer
    of 1024 Grove Ave., who are great
    granddaughters of John Witmer.
    They were most hospitable and
    very willing to help me complete
    this story. One incident they told
    me was about Benjamin Witmer
    son of John, and their great uncle
    who as a boy of 17 during the
    War of 1812, ventured down to
    the bank of the Niagara opposite
    one of the teaters of battle on the
    Canadian, side and as he peered
    through the bushes a four-pound
    cannon ball came whizzing across
    the river and took hit hat off his
    head. When be had recovered
    from the shock he found the cannon
    ball imbedded in the earth
    and took it home and it is still
    kept by these ladies as a memento
    of those troublous times of long
    ago.
    Abram Witmer, a brother of
    John, came to the Frontier in
    1811 from' the same place in
    Pennsylvania. His wife and four
    children came with him. Their
    trip was similar to John's. They
    settled on a tract of land purchased
    from the Holland Land
    Co. It was on the Saunder's Settlement
    road just east of Sugar
    Street, and on the west abutted
    on the Mile Reserve. He built,
    a log house and began to clear
    his land. At the first town meeting
    in 1812 he was also elected
    a pathmaster. When the War
    broke out he took his family back
    to Pennsylvania. The Witmer brothers
    were Mennonites and had
    religious scruple against war.
    « » *
    OUT OF AN estimated total of
    337 homes along the Frontier, the
    English and Indians looted and
    burned all but a few that were
    somewhat isolated. Fortunately
    Abram Witmer was one of these,
    so that when they returned everything
    was just as they had left it.
    When the weather was too bad
    to go to Porter's Grist, Mill at
    the Falls they used a hollowed
    [out stump and a spring pole with
    a stone tied to it for a pestle to
    grind their grain.
    In the spring of 1836 Benjamin
    Rathbun came to Niagara Falls
    to invest in real estate and erect
    buildings. He heard that Abram
    Witmer Jr., had a brick kiln
    where he was making brick for

    his house. Mr. Rathbun entered
    into a contract with father and
    son to make 300,000 brick for
    him which he would pay for on
    delivery. They had made and delivered
    about two-thirds of the
    contract when Rathbun's business
    empire founded more or less on
    credit, failed - partly, on account
    of the financial panic of
    that year and partly because of
    unscrupulous deals.
    The Witmers lost heavily but
    made the best of a bad deal, selling
    the bricks left on their hands
    wherever they could find a market.
    Abram ST., was a carpenter
    and cabinet maker as well as a
    farmer.
    Among documents found in the
    old Court House attic were two
    legal papers dated 1853 containing
    the signatures of Abram 'Witmer
    and Tobias, another son.
    Abram, ST., died Sept. 4, 1851.
    Christian H. Witmer, the oldest
    of Abram's seven sons operated
    Judge Porter's Grist mill near the
    present River end of First street
    He also had a mill of his own
    somewhat later, on the high bank
    of the River near the Whirlpool
    Bridge. On Sept. 17, 1859 while
    working on the raceway he fell
    into the water and was carried
    down into the River and to his
    death in the Whirlpool.
    ,* ° *
    TOBIAS WITMER was born in
    1816 at Bellvue, (Suspension
    Bridge). He was one of the first
    surveyors of that region, his maps
    being still the main reliance for
    lot lines, etc. He was quite a
    genius, being an inventor, author,
    poet and a preacher' besides a
    Civil Engineer. One of his inventions
    was the bicycle wheel. He
    made the spokes of the wires from
    an old hoop skirt. He also invented
    a corn sheller, an automatic
    railroad switch,- pile driver,
    portable signal tower for use
    in the Army, fire escape, etc.
    -He-taught school for a time.
    In 1861 although he had a family
    of 12 children he enlisted in a

    Civil War Regiment He died in
    1897 in Williamsville, Erie Co.,
    leaving a record of accomplishments
    that seldom is equalled.
    Elias Witmer, twin brother of
    Tobias, finished his schooling at
    the Lewiston Academy after which
    he learned the tailor's trade. Later
    he taught school, but finding his
    health impaired he stuck' to farm-
    ing the rest of his long life.
    Practically all the advancement
    of the Niagara Frontier, from its
    wild state to the highly developed
    status? of 1918, was. encompassed
    in his life. In his youth oxteams
    were a common sight along Portage
    road. He "was in Buffalo oh
    Oct 26, 1825, to see the official
    opening of the Erie Canal and saw
    DeWitt Clintonon the "Seneca
    Chief and heard the cannon
    "telegraph that carried the notice
    of the starting of the Seneca
    Chief on its voyage to the Atlantic
    Ocean.
    # ° °
    ELIAS WITMER was greatly
    interested in the Niagara County
    Pioneer's Assoc, organized in 1877
    and was one time vice president
    He was a regular attendant at
    the Olcott Pioneer's Picnics. In
    1914 when he was 98 years old
    he planned to attend the picnic,
    writing, a card to the Secty., George
    S. Gooding in advance signifying
    his intentions. He died Feb. 23,
    1918, aged 102 years, in the
    homestead built by his father in
    1821.
    On the 1852 map of Niagara
    County there are shown nine
    families of Witmer's living at different
    points in the Town of Niagara.
    The two first Witmers,
    John and Abram, reared 17 children,
    most of whom survived and
    married.
    A few moved out of Niagara
    County, but the majority of them
    lived and operated various types
    of business in this County. The
    Witmer road connecting Hyde
    Park Blvd. with the Military
    road perpetuates the family name.
    There are today in Niagara

    Falls six families descended from
    the two pioneer brothers, .John
    and Abram. They are Orlando
    B. Witmer, 2215 Pierce Ave.; M.
    T. Witmer, 1301 Ferry Ave; Miss
    Emma A. Witmer, 1600 Cleveland
    Ave.; Christian H. Witmer. 1174
    Haeberle Ave.; and my collaborators,
    Miss Serena T. Witmer and
    Mrs. Theresa Morrison, 1024
    Grove Ave. Also a great great
    grandson, Robert C. Witmer,
    2913 Michigan Ave.

    Article by Clarence O. Lewis, Niagara County Historian

    ALSO

    Tonawanda News - 7/18/1970

    By WILLARD DITTM AR

    President
    Historical Society
    of the Tonawandas
    Witmer Road, connecting
    Niagara Falls Boulevard
    and River Road in North
    Tonawanda, was named for
    a family of early frontier
    settlers.
    In 1810, John Witmer and
    his family, consisting of his
    wife and eight children, left
    Lancaster, Pa., and settled
    on a 100-acre farm on
    Military Road, which he had
    purchased from one Isaac
    Swain. At that time there
    was only one other clearing
    on Military Road.
    Abram Witmer, a brother
    of John, came to the Niagara
    Frontier in 1811 from the
    same place in Pennsylvania
    with his wife and four children.
    They settled on a tract
    of land purchased from the
    Holland Land Co. on
    Saunders Settlement Road.

    When the War of 1812 broke
    out, Abram took his family,
    which had grown larger,
    back to Pennsylvania. The
    Witmer brothers were
    Mennonites and had
    religious scruples against
    war.
    Tobias Witmer, one of
    Abram's seven sons, was
    born in 1816 at Bellevue
    (Suspension Bridge) and
    became one of the first
    surveyors of the region. He
    made several maps of early
    Tonawanda which are still
    the main reliance for lot
    lines and street boundaries.
    On an 1852 map of Niagara
    County there are shown
    nine families of Witmers
    living at different points in
    the Town of Niagara. The
    two first Witmers. John and
    Abram. reared 17 children,
    most of whom survived and
    married.

    John + HERSHEY, Barbara. Barbara (daughter of HERSHEY, Christian and HERR, Barbara) was born on 13 Apr 1767; died on 4 Nov 1856 in Town of Niagara, Niagara County, NY; was buried in WItmer Memorial Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 13.  HERSHEY, Barbara was born on 13 Apr 1767 (daughter of HERSHEY, Christian and HERR, Barbara); died on 4 Nov 1856 in Town of Niagara, Niagara County, NY; was buried in WItmer Memorial Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY.
    Children:
    1. WITMER, Abraham
    2. WITMER, Christ
    3. WITMER, Henry died in 1832 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
    4. WITMER, John
    5. WITMER, Benjamin was born on 21 Mar 1795 in Lancaster County, PA; died on 10 May 1881 in Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY; was buried in WItmer Memorial Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, NY.
    6. 6. WITMER, Samuel was born on 27 Oct 1803 in Manor Township, Lancaster County, PA; died on 5 Apr 1897 in Niagara County, NY; was buried in Marne Cemetery, Marne, MI.
    7. WITMER, Barbara was born about 1805 in PA; and died.
    8. WITMER, Nancy
    9. WITMER, Rudolph



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