THE STORY OF JOHANNES & MARIA ANNA KÖCHLY George Cooper

With the help of Mary Beth Koechley Cooper & Holly Cooper WhismanMay 2016

UNRAVELING A BALL OF TWINEWhere should we begin to tel l the story?  The beginning that starts with Johannes

& Maria Anna l iving in Lutzelbourg, France, or the one that starts all the way back in the 1600s with Jögly Köchy l iving in Sarmenstorf, Switzerland? What makes the most sense?

One of our distant French cousins, Louis Kuchly, faced the same question when he started tel l ing our family’s story in his book Nos Aïeux Venus d’Ailleurs (1980), a fascinating account of the family history from a French perspective. His storytell ing analogy was that of pull ing a   thread from a ball of twine. It seems to be so full of tangles, i t ’s hard to know where to start.

Researching and tell ing our family history is also a bit l ike mining for precious gems that are so covered with debris that i t ’s diff icult gett ing at the important details. Regardless, the gems are there for the taking. All we need is patience and perseverance.

It seems appropriate with our Koechley Family Reunion (KFR as the younger generation loves to call i t) approaching that we should pick up the story from a damp, rainy June evening in 1982 at Ruggles Beach on the rocky shores of Lake Erie. It was one of the very early KFRs attended by the children of Henry & Elizabeth Koechley. We happened to drop by to f ind them gathered in the sitt ing room at the Ruggles Hotel enjoying a quiet evening of reminiscing. Then Uncle Bob Koechley began to tel l us about his grandfather, Johannes Koechle. He pulled out a long l ist of relatives going back to the early 1800s, typed on a carbon-copied sheet of onionskin paper. That started the ball unraveling!

By the way, the t i t le of Louis Kuchly’s book roughly translated reads Our Forefathers Came from Somewhere Else . As odd as the tit le sounds, our ancestors did come from somewhere else—first from Switzerland, then France. We trust that we won’t leave out anything important. Welcome to the story of our family.

ELIZABETH’S LETTERPerhaps the best place to start is with a letter written by Elizabeth Schott

Koechley, Henry’s (or Doc’s) wife. Elizabeth was writ ing to Doc’s niece, Loretta Koechley Jacobs, daughter of John C. Koechley. Part of her four-page letter is transcribed below. The rest wil l fol low.

September 24, 1955Dear Loretta,

We are sorry that we do not have the book that you want. [1] We have never seen it. Uncle Louie’s house was so cluttered no one had time to go through the maze of old newspapers, boxes, etc., so the house was sold with everything in it.

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In Peru, Ohio there is a little country church, schoolhouse, and graveyard with many old tombstones. Your great grandfather's tombstone is there. 

I will tell you as much as I can of the family history. Your grandfather, John Koechle, was the first child born in Peru. He married Margaret Rubeck who came from Metz, Germany when three years old. [2] They were married in New Washington where the first child, John, was born and died at the age of three months.  Uncle Jake was also born in New Washington. Your father, John Christian Koechley, was born at Saint Stephen, Ohio and all the other children were born in Bellevue.

Sincerely,Elizabeth A. Koechley

PS The following is from Dad (Henry),

John Koechle [Johannes], born 1793 was killed when a chain holding a load of logs broke and caused the logs to fall on him. The date of his marriage to Maria Anna Roahr or Rohr is unknown. They probably came from Lutzelberg (Lutzelberg) between the cities of Zabern and Sarrburg in the area of north France. It is said that they also lived in Metz, France. [2] They had two daughters when they came to the United States in about the year 1825. Uncle Louie used to say that grandfather (Dad's grandfather) used to go around on horseback in the wintertime with his tools and leather and  make shoes.   In the summertime they cleared land.

[1] The book she mentioned was one put together by Louis Koechley, the  original family historian. It was probably lost at the t ime of his death in 1947.

[2] This would appear to be a discrepancy, but, in fact, Metz was sometimes under French control and at other t imes was part of Germany, depending on the polit ical cl imate.

As you can see, there’s a lot to tel l and many loose ends that need to be connected. Thankfully, over the years we’ve been able to unwind a great deal from this ball of twine.

MOVING WESTWARDTo say that l i fe was diff icult across Europe in the early 1700s is an

understatement. The ThirtyYears War ended in the mid-1600s, leaving the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine devastated. To restore stabil i ty, Duke Leopold offered land reform and a form of tax abatement to anyone wil l ing to repopulate the region. One of those wil l ing to immigrate from Switzerland was Johannes’ great grandfather, Hans Jacob Kochly. He and several others from the area around Sarmenstorf accepted the offer and moved their famil ies. Hans settled in the small French vil lage of Lutzelbourg.

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[St. Alphonsus Church][Photo by George Cooper]

Sadly, l i fe there was no better in the early 1700s than in Sarmenstorf. A series of wars ripped across Europe, including the Seven Years War (known in North America as the French & Indian War), the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars, just to name a few. Nearly every European superpower plowed through the area around Lutzelbourg, devoured crops and l ivestock, conscripted young men, and destroyed nearly everything. It must have been very diff icult to raise a family! No doubt, this was the reason they decided to move to America. How they decided on Ohio isn't clear, but there are a couple possible answers.

One possible explanation is this: our French ancestors may have learned about Ohio from the many veterans who returned home from the Ohio Valley fol lowing the French & Indian War. They would have known about the rich valleys and lush hardwood forests of Ohio.

Former Huron County historian, Henry Timman, suggested that many of the early settlers who came to the Norwalk area were from Alsace and Lorain. They were encouraged to do so by friends and family who had already moved to Cincinnati.

The following are some of the details we’ve come across in our search for information:

• Four famil ies who sett led is the smal l community of Peru south of Norwalk, Ohio, boarded the ship Henry IV at LeHarve, France in early September 1828. They landed in New York at Birth 427 on October 2. On board were more than 560 passengers including Joseph Kochly, Peter Bauer, Anton Phil ipps, Clement Baumgartner, and Joseph Carabin. All were from Lutzelbourg (National Archives, 1828).

• Joseph and Johannes were first cousins. It ’s not clear why Joseph and his family didn’t continue with the rest of their party to Ohio, or why Johannes wasn’t with them. We do know from the records that Joseph and his family f irst sett led in Constablevil le, NY, located just a short distance from the Erie Canal.

• Around 1860, Joseph and Genevieve moved with their children to Napervil le, IL. There, Joseph established a general store in partnership with B. J. Slick, a dentist. Their son, Jacob, married Elizabeth Hauck in Constablevil le, NY on 7 January 1847 before moving to Napervil le. Then, at the start of the Civi l War, Jacob and another brother enlisted in the Army. Jacob is buried in Arl ington National Cemetery.  We'll share more of his story later. (See page 35 for more information).

• As mentioned above, Johannes and Maria Anna were not with this init ial group that sett led at Peru. According to Father Jurgens in his book A History of the Diocese of Cleveland, the Kochly and Hoeffel famil ies arrived around 1829 (Jurgens, 1980).

• According to Henry Timmon, those early sett ler travelled by boat up the Hudson River to Albany to make their way across New York through the Erie Canal. It would have been a long trip and progress would have been exceedingly slow. No doubt they had hoped to make it to Cincinnati before snowfall. We’re not sure when they reached Buffalo, but it would have been in mid to late October 1828 (Verbal account from Henry Timmon, 1983).

• To get to Buffalo they would have taken an overcrowded, 70-foot canal boat along with 70 to 100 other passengers. Traveling at a speed of 3 miles an hour, the 360-mile tr ip would have taken nearly a week, but sti l l this would have been better than traveling by wagon (Koeppel, 2009).

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• At Buffalo they would have been standing on the dock facing Lake Erie, gett ing ready to start another leg of their long journey. This t ime they were headed to Portland, Ohio, now known as Sandusky. At that t ime of year, the average daily temperature is generally in the 50s and gale force winds are not uncommon. The weather  would  have certainly made the trip to Portland excit ing! The following is a f irst-hand account from a woman who made that voyage in 1827.  Her story is very descriptive, to say the least.

…We left Buffalo on a sail vessel. The boat did not make much progress blown about by head winds…Finally when our boat with others was anchored at Erie [Pennsylvania] Harbor, there came a wind which increased to a gale and our boat, losing her cable, ran afoul of the ‘Decatur,’ and you can judge the consequence. It was in the night. Waves were dashing over our boat threatening to engulf her every moment. Every light was extinguished. The most I can remember [was] the dreadful noise and clamor of the sailors, and especially, the Captain swearing; he was a wicked man. My mother’s prayers were heard above the storm pleading with her Heavenly Father for protection and deliverance from peril (Oddo, 1984).

[Note: The Firelands Historical Society first published this account 31 December 1896].

• At Portland, the small band of immigrants set out in their wagon in the direction of Cincinnati, a distance of 230 miles south.

• Ohio’s roads in the early 1800s were “roads” in name only. Many roads were simply “blazed” through the woods. Blazed roads were nothing more than a “path through the forest, with the stumps of trees cut just low enough to allow a wagon axel to clear.” (Jurgens, 1980). And the potholes were known to be downright treacherous. In fact, some were affectionately named “no bottom” roads, meaning that the road had “no bottom” during rainy spells. And a few residents took it upon themselves to make sure that these primitive roads also served as a source of revenue, as this account tells.

A mud-hole Franchise: Among the cultivated industries…at that time was the furnishing of relief to travelers, chiefly emigrants, whose teams were found to be incompetent for the conditions of the road, the chief difficulty arising in their being stalled in the successive ‘mud-holes.’ So common had this become that some landlords provided themselves with extra yokes of oxen with which to extend the needed relief. This business came to be so far

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[Photo: Early immigrants to Ohio from Peter

Parley's Recollections, Jurgen, 1980].

[Photo: The Erie Canal at Buffalo drawn by Henry Howe, c. 1845].

systemized that the rights of settlers to the ‘mud-hole’ nearest them was mutually recognized. It was told that, on a time, a certain tavern-keeper who had long held undisputed possession of a particularly fine ‘mud-hole,’ which he had cultivated with special care for the profit it brought him, sold his stand, preparatory to leave the country. Regarding his interest in the ‘hole’ as a franchise too valuable to be abandoned, he finally sold his quit-claim thereto to a neighbor for the sum of $5, being probably the only case on record of the sale of a ‘mud-hole,’ for use as such” (Howe, 1896).

• Thankfully for them, towns in northern Ohio at the time were spaced out about every five to seven miles, roughly a day’s journey considering road conditions and modes of travel. This would have allowed them to reach Milan, the birthplace of Thomas Edison, around midday and Norwalk later that first day. When they got to Norwalk, this band of immigrants must have presented an unusual sight as shared in this account.

“One…evening in 1828, just as the sun was setting, there came into Norwalk, along the East Main street road, two queer looking wagons, each drawn by a yoke of oxen. They drove into a livery barn and put up their cattle for the night directly opposite the present Williams mansion. Mr. Theodore Williams, then a lad of eight years, saw them and imparted this information…Early on the following morning the party left Norwalk and proceeded in the

direction toward Cincinnati, where they were expected to meet friends. All went well as far as Vredenbourgh, such as then the name of Peru. At this place the Carabin wagon broke down beyond repair. It was impossible for the Carabin party to proceed farther, and after some deliberation, they concluded that they had gone far enough and began looking around for a homestead. The Bauer party—among whom was Sister Francisca, who had been exiled by the French government, and who was an aunt of Mr. Bauer, not wishing to leave the friends, with whom they had come from Europe, alone in the woods, determined to remain with them and make the best of it. Land was $5 per acre in that vicinity. They took up the sites upon which they lived long and expired in peace. They were all from Lorraine, and were, of course, all Catholics. They wrote to their friends at home and soon attracted others to their neighborhood” (Rupert, 1899).

PERU Originally named Vredenbourgh for the person who owned the land, the name of

the township was later changed to Peru. According to an advertisement in the Norwalk newspaper in 1828, the original owner was an “absent debtor” who owed Huron County more than $1600 in back taxes.

Vredenbourgh was l ikely granted the land by the State of Connecticut before Ohio became a state. Dating back to the 1600s, Connecticut laid claim to an area in what is

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[Photo: Norwalk, Ohio drawn by Henry Howe, c.1846].

now known as the Western Reserve. Connecticut used this part of the state to pay those who had served during the Revolutionary War in the form of land grants. The Western Reserve stretches from the Pennsylvania-Ohio l ine all the way to Bellevue, Ohio, a distance of approximately 140 miles.This tract of land is roughly 50 miles from north to south.

This particular portion of the Western Reserve was “reserved” for those individuals whose homes were burned by the Brit ish during the Revolutionary War. Hence, this area became known as the Firelands. It was speculated that Vredenbourgh received land as payment from Connecticut, but never moved to Ohio. Instead, he sold the land to early sett lers, including Johannes.

In the early 19th Century the settlement called Peru wasn't much more than a smattering of log homes built around St. Alphonsus Catholic Church. In spite of the fact that Peru never was a vi l lage, the community itself was as important to the Catholic Church as larger sett lements l ike Cleveland. For a number of years the church at Peru served the the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, otherwise known as the Redemptoris. As a Roman Catholic missionary congregation founded by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, the order ’s focus was to labor among the neglected country people. In the early 1800s, rural Ohio became the perfect missionary f ield. One of the young priests who served there for six months in 1841 later on became known as St. John Neumann. And the broken wagon wheel—the mechanical fai lure that prevented our ancestors from reaching their destination of Cincinnati—can sti l l be seen in the old Carabin cabin located next to St. Alphonsus Church.

The original community at Peru depended heavily on Sister Francesca Bauer, Peter Bauer's aunt. Fr. Jurgens called her the “Mother of Peru,” but many of those around her simply called her the “Hermitess.” Having l ived a somewhat secluded l i fe, she also earned the t i t le of “Waldschwester,” or “Sister of the Woods .” Fr. Jurgens wrote:

If anyone was il l , she was their doctor. If young people were in need of instruction, she was their teacher. I f neighbors quarreled, she was their arbiter. If anyone was in financial straits, somehow she found a l i t t le money to lend them. I t was because of her strong character and determination that the parish was ever organized and the church built (Jurgens, 1980).

It was also said that she chided the men of the community relentlessly unti l they f inally built a log church, working along side them to fel l the trees needed for construction. Unti l that was done, mass was often held at the Carabin house when a priest passed through Peru.

Survival at Peru would have been the top priority for sett lers. All this sounds fairly simple: build a house for shelter, plant a garden to grow what you need, etc. But they needed everything and all the basic necessit ies of l i fe had to either be found or made. It was said that many sett lers “did not handle three dollars in money during an entire year” (Rupert, 1899). Since the entire area was covered with a dense hardwood forest ful l of maple, oak, and hickory, the trees had to be cleared in order to prepare their farm for planting.

Peru also had its share of problems. Clean drinking water was scarce.  Brother Joseph Reisch, who l ived at Peru in 1833, said, “Drinking water was so bad and nauseating, especially in the summer that it could hardly be drunk with open eyes;

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for in the front and back of the house there was a big swamp, foul water from which filled also our cistern” (Jurgens, 1980).

It was no surprise that there were so many i l lnesses including malaria, known by them as Maumee Fever, cholera, and yellow fever. They were plagued daily during the summer by mosquitos and fl ies, and the smudge pots and fires used to chase the insects away “hurt their eyes” constantly.

Fr. Jurgens put it this way: “One might have supposed that [those living at Peru] had enough problems without looking for more. But whatever the case, anyone looking for ‘snakes, toads...vermin...thistles and thorns could not have erred greatly nor gone far wrong in seeking out Huron County and the Norwalk-Peru area” (Jurgens, 1980).

And the so-called “cures” for the diseases they encountered were both disgusting and barbaric, including spiders worn on strings around the neck, spoonfuls of urine, sheep-turd tea, and the l ike. No wonder the infant mortality rate was so high!

On a posit ive note, they had ample t imber for the construction of homes. Their cabins were solid and well built—a refuge against the harsh, cold winters. In fact, the Carabin’s log house sti l l stands. In 1996 it was moved from the main road to a place next to St. Alphonsus Church to serve as a prayer and retreat center. It ’s worth a tr ip to Peru just to visit the old Carabin house and the cemetery in order to experience the quiet serenity that Johannes and Maria Anna would have known. It ’s also important to note that the Kochly and Carabin famil ies were related, so it ’s l ikely they gathered there and shared meals often.

OFFICIAL DOCUMENTSRecords from the early 1800s were often incomplete and inaccurate. Most of the

Ohio records came from church sources, and a wealth of information was also found in court records. Through both we were able to f ind a number of birth and death records, Johannes’s oath of cit izenship, transactions for the parcels of land bought and sold, and his last wil l and testament.

It ’s also important to point out that in the early 1800s, the states managed cit izenship, not the Federal Government. After meeting the five year residency requirement, any land-owning male would simply petit ion the local county court to become a cit izen, swear an oath of al legiance to the United States, and sign the required document. By the way, since women’s suffrage had not yet become a fact of law, women were not cit izens!

As mentioned above, Fr. Jurgens documented that Johannes and Maria Anna arrived in Ohio around 1829 or 1830 (Jurgens, 1980). This is supported by the fact that he became a U.S. cit izen in 1835.

EVOLUTION OF THE KOECHLEY NAMEFirst, we should talk about the spell ing of the family name and how it has changed

over the course of t ime. The largest factor influencing the spell ing of surnames resulted from the fantasy of clerks and clerics as they inscribed certif icates of birth, baptism, marriage and death. Most often names were spelled phonetically and according to the local language.

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Our family name was previously spelled KÖCHLY as found in the earl iest records (around 1600), but when the spell ing stabil ized around 1800, it became known as KÖCHLI to these who l ived in the Zurich area. To those l iving in France, the spell ing varied by community. By searching through both civi l and church documents, the following variants of the name were discovered. In all, 37 spell ings were found in Swiss and French records and at least 19 forms were found in Ohio documents.

SPELLINGS FOUND IN SWISS RECORDS BEFORE 1800Year Spelling Year Spelling

1622 KÖCHLY Jögly 1729 KEGHEL Marie Agathe

1648 KÖCHLI Bernardus 1733 KISCHLY Marie

1673 KÖCHLIN Joannes 1736 KIECHEL Mathias

1704 KOCHLIN John Jacob 1746 KIEHEL Joseph

1704 KIKELY Jacob 1746 QUICHEL Marries Françoise

1709 KÖCHLIN John 1746 QUIECHEL Joseph

1712 QUQUELY 1746 KIECHELIN Barbara

1715 KÖCHLIN Nicolas 1755 KIECHLYE Mathias

1716 KICHEL Jacob 1757 KICHLY John Michel

1718 KUECHEL 1758 KICHELE Mathias

1718 KIEGHLEL Jacob 1760 KUGLIE Jacques

1719 KIEGHEL Anne Marie 1761 KUCHLIE John

1720 KIECHEL Marie Madeleine 1762 KUGLIG Christine

1722 KÖKLI Joannes 1764 QUICHLER Anne Marie

1722 QUIECHEL 1770 KUCHLY Madeleine

1724 KIECHLY John 1772 KÖCHLY

1726 KÖCHLY Marie Elisabeth 1772 KUKLY Marie

1727 KIEGEL Christine 1792 KÖCHLY Joseph

1728 KIECHEL Joseph

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SPELLINGS FOUND IN SWISS AND FRENCH RECORDS AFTER 1800

SPELLING FOUND IN OHIO RECORDS

EXAMPLES OF JOHANNES’ SIGNATUREBy looking at samples of Johannes Köchly’s signature, one can see why it was so

diff icult to decipher his surname. The two examples below were found on his oath at the t ime he became a cit izen in 1835 and from his wil l in 1866.

CITIZENSHP

John Kachle | This day came in open court John KachleForeigner | a native citizen of France and filed under oathState of Ohio | the following declaration viz: | John KachleHuron County | now a resident of said County of Huron being duly sworn do declare before and say that I am a native citizen of the Kingdom of France and that it is bona fide my intention to become a citizen of the United States and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty whatever and particularly to renounce

Spelling Locations where spelling is found

KÖCHLI Zurich and Bonstetten, Switzerland

KÖECHLIN Mulhouse, France

KÖCHLY Lutzelbourg, France

KUCHLY Arzviller, France

CACHLEY KAHLER KOCHLY KOECHLEY

COCKLEY KAKELER KOCKLY KOECKLEY

KABLER KEACKLY KOCHLEY KOHLER

KACKLEY KOACHLEY KOECHLE KUCKLEY

KAEBLE KÖCHLY KOECKLE

Citizenship Oath Last Will & Testament

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forever all allegiance to Lewis (sic) Philippe King of the French or King of France and to the Kingdom of France.

(Signed) Johannes Köchly

Subscribed and sworn in open court June 2, 1835

(Signed) D.Gibbs, Clerk

JOHANNES’ FARMIn addit ion to being a shoemaker, Johannes was a farmer, and in order to farm

and become a U.S. Cit izen, he needed land. In total, Johannes’ farm amounted to 54 acres and was valued at $700 (National Archives, 1850 Census). Below is a l ist ing of land transactions for the years 1831 through 1863.

BIRTH & MARRIAGE RECORDSJohannes’ place of birth took some time to figure out. Elizabeth’s letter mentioned

that he was born in Metz, but Roland Lack, a city official from the village of Lutzelbourg, France, was able to provide a copy of his birth certificate. That document shows that Johannes was born in Lutzelbourg. [See page 13].

His gravestone also generates a bit of confusion, with the date of his birth shown as 1793. However, his birth certificate tells us that he was born 20 September 1796.

Year Number of Acres Type of Transaction [Source: Huron County, 1831-1863]

1831 18 Purchased land from Edward Vredenbourgh

1843 12 Purchased land from Francis Amend

1849 5 Purchased land from Joseph Hoover

1853 19 Purchased land from Jacob Reimer

1861 54 Sold his farm to his son John

1863 54 Purchased the farm back from John

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[Facsimile of Johannes’ sworn citizenship statement.Source: Huron County records].

The confusion can be explained very simply. In all likelihood, the difference in dates can be based on revisions made to the calendar. Prior to 1793, dates were based on the Gregorian calendar. It’s possible that Johannes never accepted the revisions.

His birth certificate also tells us that his father ’s name was Jacob Kochly, a cordonnier, or French cobbler. From reading Elizabeth’s letter, it’s obviously that he learned this skill from his father.

Johannes’ mother ’s maiden name was Appolonia Hoeffel. Johannes and Maria Anna were accompanied by members of the Hoeffel family when they arrived in 1829. In all likelihood, they were related.

Maria Anna was born in 1795 at Walsheid, France to Asa and Pamelia Roehr. As with the spell ing of other surnames, her family name was sometimes recorded as Rhohr, Roahr, Roeher, and Röhr. We have not yet found her certificate of birth and little is know about her life before their marriage at Walsheid on 26 October 1825. [See page 14].

THEIR CHILDRENDuring their years together, Johannes and Maria Anna gave birth to seven known

children. Johannes' last wil l and testament l isted the names of f ive. Two more children, Jacob and Margaritta, died in infancy. Two of their daughters are believed to have moved to America with them, while the others were all born at Peru. In fact, their son John was said to be the first surviving male child to be born at Peru.

Below is a l ist of the children's names and dates of birth and death as revealed through Huron County records, St. Alphonsus Church documents, and family sources.

Child Birth/Baptism Death Spouse(If married)

Marriage

Barbara 21 Feb 1826Walscheid, France

3 Apr 1876Milan, OH

Franz Joseph Lorenz1826 - 1876

19 Nov 1850Peru Twp, OH

Veronica about 1829Unknown — Possibly

France

9 May 1900Peru Twp, OH

Leonard Sickinger Unknown - 1887

23 Sep 1850Peru Twp, OH

Maria Anna 21 Feb 1832Peru Twp, OH

19 Feb 1896Milan, OH

Henry Randolph MillerUnknown - Unknown

20 May 1850Peru Twp, OH

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[Baptism of John Koechley, Peru, Ohio 1836].

Veronica & Kathrina

As shown in the table above, Veronica and Kathrina married brothers, Leonard and Phil l ip Sickinger, respectively. Both couples l ived in Manitowoc, Wisconsin for a t ime, but Veronica and Leonard returned to Ohio after the Civil War. Veronica was also known as Verona or Sephrona.

Leonard was drafted into the Union Army during the Civi l War and served as a Private in Company E, 13th Wisconsin Volunteers. His regiment was attached to the1st Brigade, 4th Division, 20th Army Corps, Department of the Cumberland. After being drafted on 30 September 1864, Phil l ip would have seen service at Huntsvil le, Alabama, as the Regiment guarded the Memphis & Charleston Railroad from Huntsvil le to Stevenson, Alabama. While there, they were attacked by the notorious Confederate General, John Bell Hood and the 4th Texas Infantry. His advances were repelled by the Wisconsin Volunteers. Then during the final months of his service, his Regiment was sent to serve in Nashvil le and eastern Tennessee. Leonard was mustered out of the Union Army on 13 June 1865.

It ’s l ikely that Leonard and Veronica bought her father ’s farm in 1866 when Johannes died. In fact, Sickinger descendants sti l l farm the land northwest of St. Alphonsus Church in the area where the Koechle farm was thought to be.

Barbara and Maria Anna

Both the Mil ler and Lorenz famil ies l ived in Milan, Ohio, fol lowing Barbara's and Maria Anna’s marriages in 1850. Since Milan is such a small town, it was l ikely that they would have known the Edison family. The famous inventor, Thomas, was born there in 1847.

Jacob 8 Jun 1834Peru Twp, OH

1834Peru Twp, OH

(Died in infancy)

John 24 Jul 1836Peru Twp, OH

29 Nov 1887Bellevue, OH

Margaret Catherine Rubeck

1837- 1912

16 Jan 1863New Washington,

OH

Kathrina 13 May 1838Peru Twp, OH

24 Dec 1912Twin Rivers, WI

Phillip Sickinger1828 - Unknown

2 Jun 1857Kossuth, WI

Margaritta 13 Jul 1840Peru Twp, OH

30 Mar 1841Peru Twp, OH

(Died in infancy)

Child Birth/Baptism Death Spouse(If married)

Marriage

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[Johannes’ Birth Certificate complete with official State seals, 1796].

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[The Marriage of Johannes Köchly and Maria Anna Röhr, Walsheid, France, 1825].

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENTJohannes died in 1866. Elizabeth’s letter tel ls us that he was clearing a f ield when

a load of logs broke, spil l ing the load, and kil l ing Johannes.Although tragic, this shows that he was sti l l was sti l l ambitious and in otherwise good health at the age of 70.

While the actual date of his death is unknown, his wil l was fi led on 5 June 1866 and it was probated on 19 July the same year by Judge George Q. Adams.

Peter Hohler served as executor and Herman Reuss, editor of the local German newspaper, translated the wil l into English. A search of the Norwalk newspaper from that period did not reveal any news of his death, possibly because his obituary was published in the German-language newspaper, which we have not been able to f ind.

We can add an interesting side note about Mr. Reuss' translation of the wil l . In the transcript below, Reuss stated that he had carefully translated Johannes’ words “to the best of his ability and knowledge...in a verbatium, literatim, and punctuating one .” However, Mr. Reuss fai led to translate a portion of one sentence in the second paragraph, erroneously l ist ing Veronica as being married to Kathrina's husband, Phil l ip. The error was apparently inconsequential. [Note: The portion of the missed text can be found in the second section below denoted in brackets].

Regardless, Johannes’ wil l is a great example of his love for his wife, as well as of his sense of fairness to his f ive surviving children. In many ways, his wil l is a very poetic and romantic letter to his wife and children. He referred to Maria Anna as his “affectionate wife.” He also reminded his children of their responsibil i ty to their mother, stating that she bore them “beneath her heart .” The transcription follows.

In the name of God, Amen:

I, Johannes Koechle, of Peru Township, in the County of Huron, and the State of Ohio, of the age of sixty-nine and being of sound mind and memory, do make, publish, and declare this my last will and testament, in manner following, that is today:

First: I give and bequeath to my affectionate wife, Maria Anna Koechle, with whom I happily lived for a period of forty-nine years, all my household furniture, beds, tables, and other furnitures which she may use undisturbed and in peace until her blessed end. Of my children I expect that they will love and respect their mother, whom she has borne beneath her heart, and raised that they also will provide her with all the necessary wants of life.

Second: I give and bequeath to my five children Barbara Koechle married to Franz Lorenz, Maria Koechle married to Henry Miller, Veronica Koechle married to […Leonard Sickinger, Kathrina Koechle married to…] [3] Phillip Sickinger, and John Koechle, all of my real estate property, chattels, farming utensils and other furnitures, which is not unconditionally necessary for the support of their mother, the same to be divided into five equal parts, so that each of the children will receive his or her equal share.

Third: I demand and order that, after my death the farm together with all what belongs thereto, in the case one of my children or sons-in-law should wish to

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acquire the same, shall be appraised amongst themselves aided and taxed by impartial men; and that him or her of my children, or one of my sons-in-law, shall pay the price so stipulated and appraised, and that the sum so realized shall, after the costs accrued being deducted, be divided into five equal parts amongst all my children.

Fourth: In order that, in case none of my children or sons-in-law, desires to buy said farm, then and in that event the same shall be publicly sold to the highest bidder, and the sum so realized shall be equally divided into five equal parts amongst my children, or to their heirs and assigns.

Fifth: In order, that, in case any said farm or lands is not acquired by one of my heirs, but is publicly sold to other parties, my five children or their heirs and assigns shall furnish their mother with proper lodgings, and decent sustenance at their expense.

Sixth: In order that, while my son John Koechle has already received in advance the sum of eight hundred dollars; and because I mean to treat all my children alike and impartial, shall have deducted from his share, realized from the proceeds of said farm the sum of six hundred dollars. The remaining two hundred dollars I give and bequeath him for labor done and performed on the farm.

Seventh: In order that my wife, Maria Anna Koechle, shall be the lawful executrix of this my last will.

In witness where of I have here unto set my hand and seal this third day of July A.D. One Thousand Eight-Hundred and Sixty-Five.

(Signed) Johannes Köchly

The above instrument consisting of one sheet was at the date thereof, signed, sealed, published, and declared, by the said Johannes Koechle, as and for his last will and testament, in the presence of us who, at request and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto.

Hermann Reuss, residing at Norwalk, Huron County, Ohio J.D. Haderman, residing at Norwalk, Huron County, Ohio The State of Ohio.

Before me the undersigned Geo. Q. Adams, Judge of the Probate Court of the county and state aforementioned, personally appeared Hermann Reuss of said county, who after first being sworn, according to law deposeth and saith that he carefully translated the last will and testament of the late Johannes Koechle from the German into the English to the best of his ability and knowledge. Deponent further says that the said translation is verbatim, literatim, and punctuating one. And further this deponent said not.

(Signed) Hermann Reuss

Sworn to and subscribed before me in my presence and office at Norwalk, Huron County, Ohio, this f ifth day of June A. D., 1866.

(Signed) Geo. Q. Adams, Probate Judge

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In the matter of probing the Last Will and Testament of John Koechle Deceased, Testimony of Witnesses, taken at Norwalk in proof of the due execution of said Will, this 19th day of July A.D. 1866.

We, J.D. Haderman and Herman Reuss each beIng first duly sworn and examined in open Court of Probate, this 19th day of July A.D. 1866, do depose and say, that we are subscribing witnesses to the last will and testament of John Koechle late of the Township of Peru in the County of Huron aforesaid, deceased. And these deponents further say that the said John Koechle the said testator did in the presence of these deponents subscribe his name at the end of the instrument now shown and exhibited to these deponents hereunto annexed, and which purports to be the last will and testament of the said John Koechle and which bears date the 3rd day of July in the year 1865. And these deponents further say that the said testator did at the said time of subscribing his name as aforesaid, at the end of the said will, declare the said instrument so subscribed, to be his last will and testament; and these deponents, J.D. Haderman and Hermann Reuss, did thereupon subscribe their names at the end of the said will, as attesting witnesses thereto, in the presence and at the request of the said testator, and in the presence of each other. And these deponents further say that at the said time when the said testator subscribed his name to the said last will as aforesaid, and at the said time when the said testator subscribed his name to the said last will as aforesaid, and at the time of these deponents subscribing their names as such attesting witnesses thereto as aforesaid, the said testator was of full age and sound mind and memory, and was not under any restraint to the best of their knowledge and belief; and that said will now appears in all respects as when so executed, without any alteration whatsoever, except such as appeared thereon at the time of executing the same as aforesaid.

Which said testimony was reduced to writing, and subscribed and sworn to by said witnesses in open Court, before me, as Judge thereof, this 19th day of July A.D. 1866.

(Signed) Geo. Q. Adams, Probate Judge(Signed) J.D. Hadermann and Hermann Reuss

DEATH COMES TO ALLThe deaths of both Johannes and Maria Anna were sudden. Johannes died

working to clear the land and Maria Anna's death was equally tragic. According to Huron County death records, she drowned on 11 Apri l 1868 at the age of 73. No details were found in the Norwalk newspaper for her death either, but it was said that it had been quite rainy that spring and she may have fallen into a rainy, swollen creek while walking near her home.

Out of respect, their grandson Charles Koechley, replaced the headstones on the graves a number of years ago as the original l imestone markers began to erode. Then, in 2015, a few of her great, great grandchildren had Maria Anna’s headstone repaired as the footer began to shift.

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We should also mention that although the name was originally spelled Kochly, Johannes and Maria Anna changed the spell ing to Koechle. The next generation changed it to the spell ing we recognize: Koechley. All who spell their name accordingly are related.

JOHN KOECHLEY & MARGARET RUBECK

To continue our story we need to return to Elizabeth’s letter to Loretta Koechley Jacobs. That letter indicates that John and Margaret were married 16 June 1863. Up unti l that t ime John owned the land his father, Johannes, sold him two years earl ier. Young John sold the farm back to his father that year and moved to New Washington, a small farming community located between Bucyrus and Bellevue. It was there at St. Bernard Church that he and Margaret were married. The couple l ived for a short t ime in New Washington before moving a few miles north to the area known as St. Stephen.

St. Stephen is a lot l ike St. Alphonsus and Peru. The settlement is l i t t le more than a small Catholic church in the middle of farming country. As told by Elizabeth, i t was there that they began their family. We’ve extracted as much detail from her letter as possible.

[Note: Items appearing in brackets are details we added for clarif ication].

John Koechley: Born 1836. Died 1887. Son of John Koechle and Maria Anna Rohr was the first child born in Peru. He had four sisters as far as Dad [Henry Koechley] can recall. John was the youngest in the family. He died in 1887 of a paralytic stroke. He is buried in Bellevue Cemetery.

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[Marriage of John Koechle and Margaret CatherineRubeck, St. Bernard Church, New Washington, Ohio,1863].

Margaret Rubeck whose mother’s maiden name was Martin, had three sisters, Mrs. Steinmetz, Mrs. Reamer, Mrs. Long and two brothers. John and Margaret were married in New Washington. Their first child, John, lived only three months. Jake was born in New Washington. John Christian, your father, was born in Saint Stephen. Mary, Rose, Henry, Joe, Veronica or Fronie, [and] Louis were born in Bellevue, Ohio.

THEIR CHILDRENElizabeth’s letter continues…

John, the oldest child died in infancy at the age of three months. [This was the first of two sons named John. See John Christian below].

Jake was born in 1866…and died in 1947. Jake married [Cathrine] Heinen and they had two children, Cornelius and Josephine…Jake was a cooper by trade.

John Christian…was born in November 19th, 1867 in St. Stephen. Married Lucy [Miller]. Four children: Loretta married Orrin Jacobs; officer of a steel company. Children: Jeanne C. married [Walter] Bokros. Gertrude…Syracuse, New York. Leona is a physical therapist…Lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Raymond married Hazel [Hollenbeck]. [Raymond is a] Yard Conductor for NKP [Nickel Plate Railroad]. [Children]…James…Janet…Joann…John.

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[Baptism of Jacob Koechley, St. Stephen, Ohio, 1866].

[Baptism of John Christian Koechley, St. Stephen, Ohio, 1867].

Mary Koechley married Michael Perl, who died about 1926 of creeping paralysis. Mary died in 1942. No children.

Rose died after Aunt Fronie. [See Veronica below].

Henry Anthony [was] born…April 22, 1873 married Elizabeth A. Schott in 1903. [He] worked for the railroad for sixty-four years. Retired in 1954 at the age of eighty-one. Eleven children. Six boys and five girls….

Joseph [was] born March 19, 1857. Died January 25, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois.

Veronica or Fronie…Sister of the Franciscan Order. Sister M. [Mary] Francis died at the convent at Tiffin, Ohio of heart trouble. Buried at the convent graveyard.

Louis P. [was] born 1881. [He] died an accidental death June 15, 1948. (Fell down the basement steps). Retired mail carrier.

John Christian (and Lucy), Mary, Rose, Joseph, and Louie are [buried] in Bellevue Cemetery. Jake is buried in Toledo. Fronie in Tiffin.

The following are addit ional details about Loretta Koechley Jacob’s father, John Christian Koechley, the son of John Koechley found in Elizabeth’s letter.

In 1888 Uncle John was a locomotive fireman and was getting out from under the engine after cleaning the fire box, when the engine started and caught his leg and slid him along the track for twenty or thirty feet tearing out the calf of his leg and shattering his bone. This eventually resulted in his death by gangrene setting in.

Dad said that Uncle John was good at doing everything. He was a good carpenter, cooper, at plastering and one whole winter worked on the inside

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[Baptism of Henry Anthony Koechley, Bellevue, Ohio,1873].

finishing the woodwork in the Congregational Church in Toledo, Ohio. He also went to Saint Stephen to learn the shoemaker trade.

After John was hurt he worked at the above mentioned jobs. John worked in Toledo and came home quite often. One weekend Dad (Henry) suggested that John come and work for the Nickel Plate Road. During the first part of World War I, John came back to Bellevue and worked for the NKP as a car repairman.

Mother, Dad and I have given you as much as we know….

Lovingly, Elizabeth and Doc and Rita

CHILDREN OF JOHN & MARGARET KOECHLEYFollowing the births of their f irst two sons, Jacob and John Christian, John and

Margaret moved to Bellevue. There’s no record of where they first l ived, but the 1900 U.S. Census, shows Margaret (age 65) as the head of household l iving at 127 McKim Street. Living with her were Mary (30), Rose (28), Joseph (26), and Louis (17). Living next door at 129 McKim Street was John Christian (32) and Lucy (30) (his wife), along with their two children: Loretta (4) and Gertrude (3). John died in 1887 at the age of 51 and was buried in Bellevue Catholic Cemetery.

There are many details that have not been included in the paragraphs below. In part, this is due to the fact that we’re limited primarily to the information that Elizabeth wrote in her letter. A few documents have been found, so we’ll share what we know.

• Jacob (1866-1948) the oldest of their children, was known as Jake. He moved to Toledo and raised his family there. As Bellevue continued as the center for much of the Koechley family, and as Jake’s branch of the family had less and less contact with those who stayed in Bellevue, the two branches of the family became disconnected. Happily, during a chance encounter between second cousins, our bond was reestablished. We know now that Jake married Catherine Heinen (1868-1939) and they had two children: Josephine (1893-1979) and Cornelius John (1896-1979). Cornelius served in the U.S. Army during World War I.

• John Christian (1867-1939) stayed in Bellevue, married Lucy Miller (1870-1947), and had five children: Loretta (1896-1984), Gertrude (1897-1985), Leona (1900-1985), Raymond (1909-?), and Edward (1912-1913). Loretta is the cousin to whom Elizabeth Schott Koechley’s letter was written—the letter we quoted liberally throughout our family’s story.

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Jacob Koechley and family

John Christian

•Mary Catherine (1870-1942) married Michael Perl (1858-1926). Mary and Michael had no children and both are buried in Bellevue Catholic Cemetery.

• Rose M. (1871-1945) lived in Bellevue and never married. Her cause of death was listed as nephritis (kidney disease). She is also buried in Bellevue Catholic Cemetery.

• Henry Anthony (1873-1969), otherwise known as “Doc,” was a longtime employee of the Nickel Plate Railroad [New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad (NYC&St.L)]. Interestingly, Henry spent his last few years at St. Frances Nursing Home in Tiffin where his sister served as a Nun. He’s buried at Bellevue Catholic Cemetery beside his wife, Elizabeth (1881-1963).

• Joseph J. (1875-1952) never married and little is known about him. It was said that Joseph died while in Chicago on a business trip. Although the circumstances surrounding his death were somewhat unusual, the family never discussed it. His body was brought back to Bellevue, where he is buried. (There is no known photograph of Joseph).

•Veronica (Fronie) Sister Mary Francis (1877-1946) served with the order of St. Frances at Tiffin, Ohio. As a part of her ministry, Sr. Mary Frances would have been involved with the care of orphans and the elderly. Her occupation on the 1910 U.S. Census listed her as a cook for the orphanage. The designation of her “Relationship” to the proprietor of the convent is enlightening. She and the other Nuns were listed as “Inmates.” Her death certificate listed her occupation in 1946 as a teacher at the convent. Her cause of death was listed as “myocarditis” (an inflammation of the heart) and “mitral insufficiency” (mitral valve disease). Sr. Mary Francis was buried in the St. Francis Convent Cemetery.

• Louis Phillip (1882-1948) was the family historian. Unfortunately, as Elizabeth’s letter tells us, his house was less organized that we would have hoped. When he died, all contents, along with the family history, were lost. According to his Selective Service Registration Card from World War I (1918) Louis was a letter

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Mary Catherine

Rose

Henry

Louis

Sr. Mary Francis

carrier for the U.S. Post Office in Bellevue. By that time, he and his sister, Rose, were living at 148 Wood Street. His death certificate listed his cause of death as a skull fracture. That document suggests that he may have suffered a heart attack while on the basement steps that resulted in a fall. Louis is also buried in Bellevue Catholic Cemetery.

OBITUARY OF MARGARET RUBECK KOECHLEY After a lingering illness, Mrs. Margaret Koechley, widow of the late

John Koechley, and one of Bellevue's oldest and most esteemed residents, died at her home on Wood Street this afternoon, at 2:45, aged about 74 years.

The deceased had been in impaired health for some time and death was due to the infirmities of old age.

Margaret Catherine Rubeck, daughter of John and Mary Rubeck, was born in Germany, and when three years of age, came with her parents to America, settling at Frank. [4] Here the subject of the sketch grew to womanhood and was married to John Koechley at New Washington, June 16, 1863. Shortly after they located in Bellevue, where Mr. Koechley died 24 years ago last November.

Mrs. Koechley is survived by five sons and three daughters: Jacob of Toledo; John C., Henry A., Joseph J., and Louis P., of Bellevue; Mrs. Michael

Child Birth/Baptism Death Spouse(If married)

John ? ?(Died at 3 months of age based

on Elizabeth’s letter)

Jacob(Jake)

1866St. Stephen, OH

1948Toledo, OH

Catherine Heinen1868-1939

John Christian 1867St. Stephen, OH

1939Bellevue, OH

Lucy Miller1870-1947

Mary Catherine 1870Bellevue, OH

1942Bellevue, OH

Michael Perl1858-1926

Rose M. 1871Bellevue, OH

1945Bellevue, OH

Not married

Henry Anthony(Doc)

22 Apr 1873Bellevue, OH

6 Jan 1969Bellevue, OH

Elizabeth Schott7 Feb 1881 to9 Mar 1963

Joseph J. 1875Bellevue, OH

1952Chicago, IL

Veronica(Fronie)

Sister Mary Francis

1877 1946Tiffin, Ohio

Louis Phillip 1882Bellevue, OH

1948Bellevue, OH

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Perl, of Carey; Sister Frances of Columbus [5], and Miss Rose, at home. One son died in infancy. She also leaves two brothers and three sisters; Peter Rubeck of Marion; Michael of Clyde, Mo.; Mrs. John Long, of Tiffin; Mrs. Albert Reamer, Tiffin, and Mrs. Michael Blinzley, of Blakeslee, Ohio.

It was the life long wish of the deceased to live to see her children grown up and this wish was gratified, and all were present when she passed away. She was conscious to the last, and recognized those about her.

Mrs. Koechley was a devout Christian woman and a life long member of the Catholic church. She was a devoted wife and loving mother and woman whose live was exerted for good, and the deepest sympathy is extended to the bereaved ones in their affliction.

Funeral arrangements have not been made but it will probably be Wednesday morning.

[Source: Unknown, but this most likely came from The Bellevue Gazette , date unknown].

Margaret is buried in the Bellevue Catholic Cemetery next to her husband, John.

[4] Frank, Ohio was a small German-speaking community south of Bellevue. This is also the location of Sorrowful Mother Shrine and the Maywood Convent.

[5] Sr. Mary Frances was actually l iving at the Convent in Tiff in, not Columbus.

HENRY ANTHONY & ELIZABETH SCHOTT KOECHLEYHenry, the sixth child of John and Margaret, married Elizabeth Catherine Schott on 22

June 1904. As you read the announcement below, you’ll notice that their wedding took place at 6:30 in the morning. This is not a typo!

Apparently early morning weddings were the norm at the turn of the last century. Priests were limited to performing only one mass each day, so weddings were rarely conducted on Saturday, as that might interfere with weekend services. Additionally, couples rarely went on honeymoons. Since weddings took place on weekdays, they often had to work following the ceremony. As a railroader working seven days a week, Henry probably had a “run” scheduled later in the day. Also, since receptions were not commonly held, the wedding party, consisting of the immediate family and close friends, attended a breakfast hosted by the bride’s parents. The newspaper announcement follows.

BUCYRUS WEDDING

Henry A. Koechley and Miss Elizabeth SchottMarried Wednesday Morning

Holy Trinity Catholic church at Bucyrus, was the scene of a brilliant wedding this morning at 6:30, the contracting parties being Mr. Henry A. Koechley and Miss Elizabeth Schott, both of this city. The ceremony was performed byRev. Chas. Braschler in the presence of a large number of relatives and friends and the services were beautiful and impressive.

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The church was elaborately decorated for the occasion, the altar being graced with cut flowers and ferns while the sanctuary was banked with palms. The groom’s best man, his brother, Mr. Louis P. Koechley, of Bellevue, entered the church together and walked down the center aisle to the chancel gate. The best man entered the sanctuary and took his place to the right of the altar. The groom awaited the coming of the bride at the gate. The maid of honor, Miss Antoinette Schott, sister of the bride, was unattended and took her place at the left of the altar.

Leaning on the arm of her father came the bride. They were met in the communion court by the groom and there the father gave the bride to the groom. The bridal couple ascended the sanctuary steps to the altar where they were met by the pastor who performed the marriage ceremony, the ring service being used. Nuptial mass followed, and at the conclusion the newly married couple ascended to the altar where they received the matrimonial blessing.

The ceremony was followed by a wedding breakfast at the home of the bride’s parents.

The groom is a former Bellevue boy having been born and raised in this city and is now employed as a conductor on the T. & O. C. Ry. The bride is a popular young lady of Bucyrus.

Those from Bellevue in attendance at the wedding are the groom’s mother, Mrs. Margaret Koechley, his brothers Joseph and Louis, his sister, Misses Marie, Rose, and Veronica Koechley.

[Source: Unknown, but this most likely came from The Bellevue Gazette, Wednesday, 22 June 1904].

This story is not only a fascinating glimpse into their wedding, it also tells us a great deal about the origin of Henry’s lifelong work—railroading. Henry was employed as a conductor on the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad (T. & O.C), a subsidiary of the New York Central. He first worked for the T. & O.C. as a brakeman between Toledo and Columbus. His first railroad job, however, started in 1890 at the age of 17. It’s said that he was a flagman with the Nickel Plate Railroad for a crew that was busy installing oak railroad ties to replace the cedar one that were laid in 1881 when the railroad was first built.

The year following their wedding, Henry and Elizabeth moved to Bellevue where he took up employment on the Nickel Plate Railroad in May 1905. He stayed in that job until his retirement on 13 July 1954, ending a 64 year railroad career. Fifty of those years were spent with the NKP. The article below appeared in the Nickel Plate Magazine (1954) at the time of Henry’s retirement:

During his career, Mr. Koechley witnessed tremendous changes in railroading. He points particularly to the improvements in safety and working conditions. He recalls the days before automatic couplers when cars were joined together by links and pins, and before air brakes when head and rear brakemen had to hand-set enough individual car breaks to slow or halt the train. Too, he tells that before the modern-day work practices, it was not uncommon to come in from a 16 to 20-hour run and within an hour or two to be called for another train.

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Without a mandatory retirement age, Henry remained with the Nickel Plate Railroad until he was 84 years of age!

CHILDREN OF HENRY & ELIZABETH KOECHLEY• Charles William: Following graduation from high school,

Charles earned a degree in architecture from The Ohio State University. By 1930, the U.S. Census for Cleveland l isted him as a border in the house of Robert H. Koechley, his brother. It ’s been said that while l iving in Cleveland, he met an off icial from the U.S. Government who encouraged him to pursue a career in Washington. That career began in 1935.

In 1940, the U.S. Census l isted Charles as a border in the house of Robert A. Mattingly, 707 East Capital Street, Washington, D.C.; occupation “Civil Engineer” performing aerial survey work. This was, in fact, a fair ly new form of mapping and to his credit Charles became Director of the Regional Cartographic District in Albuquerque, NM in 1942.

Charles was married to Juliet Peterson of Superior, Wisconsin on 1 March 1941. Juliet was an occupational therapist.

Due to the classif ied nature of his work, Charles was not able to openly discuss what he did, and we now know he was actively involved with the Manhattan Project. One of his roles in that work was to pick the site and conduct mapping for the f irst atomic test on 16 July 1945 near Alamogordo, NM, not far from Holloman Air Force Base, White Sands Missile range and, of course, Roswell. It was this work that enabled the U.S. to bring an end to World War II, when President Truman authorized the mil i tary use of atomic weapons. For those who have never seen the outcome of a nuclear device, i t ’s diff icult to understand the power and devastation. Charles, no doubt, understood the gravity of that weapon first hand.

His work for the government continued unti l retirement in 1973. Prior to that, Charles was also involved in providing detailed photographic surveil lance at the highest levels of the Kennedy Administration during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The work he performed, no doubt, helped the President avoid a more serious confl ict with the Soviet Union. As we now know, Kennedy’s actions, based on aerial photographic analysis provided by Charles and others, helped to avert war when the U.S. launched a Naval blockade against ships carrying missiles to Cuba.

Charles also earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence at George Washington University, wrote papers for the American Society of Photogrammetry and served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve. During his prestigious career, Charles’ work took him to every state in the Union and to 12 foreign countries.

We also learned that Charles had an artist ic side. He designed the large stained glass window for First Presbyterian Church, located at Jackson and West Washington Street, Sandusky, OH.

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Charles

Charles and Juliet are buried near his parents’ graves in Bellevue Catholic Cemetery.

• Robert Henry: Robert (Bob) was quite an athlete. In fact, there’s a story told by Bellevue historian, Bil l Oddo (Oddo, 1995), about Bob’s skil l both as a basketball player and a crime fighter.

The year was 1924 and Bob was playing for the Bellevue Redmen basketball team. At the t ime, the games were played at the former Harkness Home turned YMCA. According to the story, Koechley scorched the nets for 19 points…with the Redmen holding a commanding 28—16 lead over Clyde at the home opener, when suddenly the l ights went out. As the l ights came back on, Koechley was missing from the bench and the YMCA! (Oddo, 1995).

It was soon learned that Bob ran out of the YMCA to the nearby gas station where he worked in order to avert a possible robbery. Knowing the procedure for a power outage, Bob ran to help coworkers lockdown the station. This was in response to a previous incident in which Bob was robbed at gunpoint at the station by two bandits who had been holding up fi l l ing stations from Toledo to Bellevue. The robbers were arrested shortly after these incidents. After high school, Bob studied first at John Carroll University and then earned a degree in dentistry at Case School of Dental Medicine, now part of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. Bob was l isted as l iving in Cleveland according to the 1930 U.S. Census.

In 1938, Bob married Mary Wolohan, a social worker and Cleveland resident.

During World War II, Bob served with the U.S. Army in both North Africa and Italy. The following is a transcript of a letter he wrote to his mother, Elizabeth, during the war describing both the horror and beauty found on the battlefield. (Our copy of Bob’s letter was not dated).

Mother:

I wish you could see the wild flowers. They are simply gorgeous and so many different kinds. In one area—the other day about a yard square I counted 24 different wild flowers; some of the kinds that I recognized are wild poppies, gladiolas, morning glories, daisies—both white and yellow and little flowers which some of our men say is a wild orchid.

Some of the men with colored film are having a “field day” and taking shots with them.

In one field not far from here, where a big battle was fought there are two tracks out into the field by a tank which was later knocked out. In these tracks there are many poppies growing as if someone had planted them in the tracks. These are right up to the tank, which is still there. No where else in the field are there any poppies growing, altho (sic) there are

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Bob

many other kinds of flowers. You wonder if it is symbolic of the bloody end the tank met, or the bloody havoc it caused before it met its fate.

Bob and Mary were l i felong partners in raising their family and were frequent visitors to Ruggles Beach for family reunions. As mentioned above, it was Uncle Bob who sparked our interest in capturing the family history on paper. Bob’s dental practice was centered in Ravenna, NY where Bob and Mary are buried.

• Margaret Virginia : Sadly, Margaret died in 1917 at the age of 7. With all our medical knowledge and the benefit of antibiotics and immunizations today, it ’s diff icult to understand the endemic nature of childhood diseases experienced a century ago. The death certif icate tel ls us that Margaret died of nephrit is fol lowing diphtheria, a very common cause of childhood deaths in the early 1900s.

• John Frederick: John was born prematurely in 1912 and l ived only one day. His death certif icate l isted his cause of death as compression of the umbil ical cord and placenta previa, which results in a blockage of the birth canal. There is no known photograph of John Frederick.

• Marion: As the wife of Paul Herbert, Marion moved to Pittsburgh shortly after they were married. Paul was employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Marion and Paul are buried in Pittsburgh. Marion’s obituary tel ls us that she was a homemaker and an active volunteer.

•Betty Ann: Remaining in Bellevue, Betty raised her four sons alone following the tragic death of her husband Ignatius (Nish) in an automobile accident in 1952. Nish was an executive with the Union Bank in Bellevue and Betty worked for years as a clerk at the R&R Drugstore on East Main Street. She was also a consummate volunteer for the Immaculate Conception Church, frequently visit ing the sick and constantly encouraging those in need.

• John Edward: Jack, as he was known, married Elinor Ell iott fol lowing his honorable discharge from the U.S. Army after World War II. Elinor majored in journalism. Her father was a Radiologist and one of the founders of Blue Shield medical insurance.

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Margaret Virginia

Marion

Betty

Prior to the War, Jack attended St. Joseph College, Rensselaer, IN, graduating in 1939, and received his master ’s degree in psychiatric social work from Catholic University of America in 1941.

His obituary tel ls us that most of his career was spent working for the Veterans Administration Hospital in New York City. He retired in 1985 and moved to Chapel Hil l , NC, where he attended classes at the University of North Carolina and enjoyed l i fe.

• Kathleen Ruth: Kathleen, sometimes known as Kay, married Al Suttmil ler in 1943 while Al was serving with the U.S. Army Air Corps. Al and his brothers were owners of a popular Dayton restaurant and dinner theater known simply as Suttmil lers. Popular performers of the day such as Frankie Avalon, Wayne Newton, Eddie Fisher, Florence Henderson, John Davison, and others appeared there regularly throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Kathleen was employed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base from 1939 to 1950 as a personnel technician for three Air Force laboratories: Aero Med, Materials, and Photographic. She was also active with the Christ Child Society at St. Albert the Great Catholic Church, Dayton.

• Rita Joan: Aunt Rita was the much-loved friend of al l the nieces and nephews. During World War II, Rita worked for the U.S. Navy and was later employed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where she led museum tours fol lowing her retirement. Rita and Aunt Kathleen loved to show family members around Dayton and were wonderful hosts.

• James Francis: As with John Frederick, James died at birth. His cause of death was l isted as possible aspiration of amniotic f luid during a premature delivery. There is no known photograph of James Francis.

• Lawrence Theodore : Ted returned home to Bellevue following an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army in 1945. While serving our country, Ted was assigned to the 282nd Field Arti l lery Battalion in France and Germany. Colin Powell, in a congratulatory letter on the 50th anniversary of the unit ’s activation, wrote the fol lowing:

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Jack

Kathleen

Rita

From your landing in Normandy to the final days of World War II near the northwestern boarder of Czechoslovakia, your battalion delivered devastating fire against the the Nazis. In December alone, as the Battle of the Bulge raged in Belgium, your battalion fired a total of 1,236 missions, accounting for 10,571 rounds. During one period of intense combat you fired repeatedly within 50 yards of friendly lines with pinpoint accuracy. And this accuracy was achieved even though your batteries were set up in staggered formation and your guns separated by 100 yards between pieces. An incredible achievement! And one that I am sure made you quite a few friends in the Infantry and Armor.

In so doing, Ted assisted with the l iberation of France, and in particular, the area around Metz and Lutzelbourg, France—the Koechley homeland!

Following the War, Ted married Mary Ellen Mack of Norwalk, worked at Spencer Kellogg, later Central Soya, raised his family and enjoyed l i fe. He spoke l i t t le about the War. Perhaps he saw too much! Raising his children in Bellevue allowed him time to enjoy l i fe and his children—in that he was content.

Child Spouse(If married)

Marriage Children/Comment

Charles Williamb. 27 Mar 1905d. 9 Apr 1976

Aagot Juliet Petersonb. 20 Nov 2015d. 23 Jul 1975

1 Mar 1941 •Peter Charles (b. 4 Feb 1942)•Michael William (b. 29 Jan 1943)•Karen Sue (b. 12 Nov 1946)•Julie Ann (b. 23 Oct 1955)

Robert Henryb. 17 Jun 1906d. 9 Mar 1990

Mary Colette Wolohanb. 10 Dec 1909d. 15 Oct 2003

22 Oct 1938 •Collette Ann (b. 31 Oct 1941)•Robert Henry Jr. (b. 14 Aug 1946)

Margaret Virginiab. 22 Apr 1910d. 21 Jun 1917

Died at the age of 7 due to diphtheria

John Frederickb. 13 Feb 1912d. 14 Feb 1912

Died at birth

Marion E.b. 26 Mar 1913d. 18 Apr 1986

Paul Leroy Herbertb. 12 Apr 1912d. 30 Jul 1983

Unknown •James Farrell (b.15 Apr 1932)•Nancy A. (b. 18 Jul 1933)•Charles L. (b. 21 May 1938)•Laura (b. 27 Oct 1950 d. 1950)•Linda (b. 27 Oct 1950 d. 4 Oct 2010)•Molly (b. 18 Mar 1954)

Betty Annb. 19 Oct 1914d. 8 Mar 2006

Ignatius Henry Kahleb. 17 Dec 2014d. 19 Dec 1952

13 Nov 1943 •Robert James (b. 25 May 1945)•John William (b. 14 Mar 1947)•Albert Lawrence (b. 11 Mar 1948)•Roger Henry (b. 24 Jun 1953)

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Ted

OUR STORY CONTINUESThe story does not end here! As long as there are descendants who can trace their

roots back to Johannes and Maria Anna Koechley, the story will go on. Descendants marry and new children are born into the family every year. So we are always interested in adding to the information we already have and would love to include other stories and new legends. Members of our family are encouraged to share those tales with us.

OTHER NOTABLE MEMBERS OF THE KÖCHLY FAMILYSo often we hear individuals talk about a “family tree” and we can instantly picture

all the l imbs and branches that make up a family. What we don’t often consider is the root structure that holds the tree up. That part of the tree is as wide and diverse as the branches. Our roots run deep and spread out far and wide as well. Over the years, we’ve had contact with a number of individuals who have provided a glimpse into several related family members, albeit distantly related. We want to share a few very interesting stories about past members of the family. With some, our connection can be easily documented. With others, our the connection isn’t as apparent. The roots of the tree are sometimes tangled, but the work of Louis Kuchly and others has helped bring us closer.

RUDOLF KUCKELIAlthough it is possible to track our family’s l ineage back to the late 11th Century—

the earl iest mention of the family name is with Rudolf Kucheli—it would be diff icult to trace back any farther.

John Edwardb. 12 Sep 1916d. 5 Jun 1995

Elinor Olive Elliottb. 26 Feb 1919d. 24 Apr 2011

1 Sep 1949 •Frederic Jerome (b. 17 Nov 1950)•Christopher William (b. 20 May 1953 d. 31 May 1953)•Elizabeth Elliott (b. 9 Sep 1956)•John Christopher (b. 1 Jan 1963)

Kathleen Ruthb. 30 Jan 1918d. 19 Jun 1994

Alvin H. Suttmillerb. 14 Sep 1917d. 22 Jan 1993

22 Feb 1944 •J. Gregory (b. 9 Mar 1950)•Michael David (b. 6 Dec 1955)

Rita Joanb. 4 Jun 1919

d. 21 Nov 2010

Unmarried

James Francisb. 29 Jan 1922d. 30 Jan 1922

Died at birth

Lawrence Theodoreb. 18 May 1924d. 21 Jan 1999

Mary Ellen Mackb. 14 Jul 1919d. 10 Jul 2011

4 Nov 1950 •Mary Elizabeth (b. 28 Jan 1952)•Kathleen Ann (b. 19 May 1953)•Lawrence Thomas (b. 23 Jun 1954)•James Anthony (b. 2 Oct 1957)

Child Spouse(If married)

Marriage Children/Comment

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We learned from Louis Kuchly that Rudolf was Director and Governor of the Ballei Elsass-Burgund, a subdivision for the German Order of the Cross and Sword, which was also part of a Teutonic Order connected with the Knights Templars. Rudolf commanded the group in the year 1292 and again from 1298—1299.

Due to diff iculty f inding records from that period, this is al l we know about Rudolf and we are not able to draw a direct connection between Rudolf and future generations other than the fact that we were all from the same region in Switzerland.

JÖGLY KÖCHLYWith the help of our distant cousin, Louis Kuchly, and Roland Lack, a city off icial

in the vi l lage of Lutzelbourg, we’ve been able to track our family’s l ineage back to Jogly from the early 1600s.

Though we’ve not been able to learn much, we know that Jogly l ived in Sarmenstorf, Switzerland, and that his descendants emigrated to France in the early 1700s.

We know from the history of the period that the peasants in Switzerland were hard pressed and there were armed confrontations in and around Sarmenstorf. In fact, the mid 1600s witnessed a mass revolt of peasants who increasingly threatened those l iving in the cit ies, but the peasants were too poorly commanded to gain the upper hand. During that t ime, a certain Adam Kochi was charged with sedit ious acts, barely escaping the death penalty for his actions.

As peace was restored, Duke Leopold (1690—1729) made an effort to repopulate the Lorraine region by opening the frontier, f irst to Catholic foreigners and then to others interested in restoring the land. He achieved this through some very progressive policies of land reform and tax abatement. This prompted some of Jogly’s descendants to leave Switzerland. As they moved north into France, some settled in Mulhouse, Arzvil ler, Sarrebourg and Lutzelbourg. The following is a l ist of our ancestors from this t ime period.

Name Spouse (if known)

Children

Jögly Köchy(about 1600 — ?) born Sarmenstorf

• Bernardus• Others?

Bernardus Köchli(about 1620 — ?)born Sarmenstorf

Anna Kundig(? — 1697)

Married 1647

• Johannes• Magdalena• Barbara• Jacob

Johannes Köchli(1648 — 1690)

born Sarmenstorf

Apollonia Zelor (or Zaylor)(1649 — 1693)Married 1672

• Hans Jacob• Johannes• Jacob• Barbara

Hans Jacob Köchy(1680 — 1755)

born Sarmenstorfmoved to Lutzelbourg

Anna Catherine Walter(1691 — ?)

Married 1709

• Nicolas• Anne Marie• Joanne• Anna

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MAURICE KOECHLIN: EIFFEL TOWER ENGINEER AND DESIGNERAnother relative that has gained a degree of a celebrity within the past few years

is Maurice Koechlin for his work on the design and construction of the Eiffel Tower, known in France as the Tour Eiffel.

In his book, Louis Kuchly tel l us that Maurice came from the Swiss branch of the KÖCHLY family tree, also originating in Sarmenstorf. His father chose instead to emigrate to Mulhouse, France, about the same time that our ancestors moved to Lutzelbourg. Later, when France lost the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), residents in the region were given an option to remain loyal to France or become German subjects. Those who decided to retain their French cit izenship were forced to leave and were not al lowed to return for any period longer than two days (Kuchly, 1980).

Maurice Koechlin’s father, John Frédéric, didn’t want to leave, but he had no desire for his six sons to grow up to serve the King of Prussia. In order that Maurice

Nicolas Köchly(1716 — 1786)

born Birkenwald, France

Jeanne Baptiste Bouillon(1723 — 1789)Married 1742

• Jean Jacques• Antoine• Francois• Nicolas• Anne Marie• Jean Baptiste• Marie Elizabeth• Joseph• Jacob• Francisus

Jean Jacques Köchly(1749 — 1800)

born Lutzelbourg, France

Appolonia Hoeffel(? — ?)

Married 1787

Note: Appolonia was a relative of the Hoeffel family who immigrated to Peru, Ohio in 1828 with the Carabin party.

• Appolonie• Martin• Etienne• Marie Therese (b. 1786)• Michel• Louis• Marie Therese (b. 1792)• Johannes• Charles

Johannes Köchly(1796 — 1866)

born Lutzelbourg, FranceSurname changed to Koechle

Note: These are our first generation ancestors who immigrated Ohio in 1829

Maria Anna Röhr(1799 — 1868)Married 1825

• Barbara• Veronica• Mary Ann• Jacob• John• Katrina• Margaritta

John Koechley(1836 — 1887)Born Peru, Ohio

Margaret Rubeck(1837—1912)Married 1863

• Veronica (Sr. Mary Francis)• Jacob M.• John C.• Mary C.• Henry A.• Joseph J.• Louis P.

Name Spouse (if known)

Children

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could return to his studies, John Frédéric decided to move his family to Zurich, Switzerland. It was there that Maurice f inished his education, earning a degree in civi l engineering.

Maurice and Emma Rossier (1867-1965) were married in 1886 and the couple raised three sons and three daughters. Around 1880, Maurice had the opportunity to begin working for Gustave Eiffel in Paris, so he moved with his family back to France.

Shortly after joining the firm, Maurice and another engineer by the name of Emile Nouguier, began giving consideration to the construction of a very large, freestanding steel structure. This was in preparation for the Exposit ion Universelle (World Exhibit ion) planned for 1889.

He wondered what appeal an exhibit ion of this type would have on those attending. So, in 1884, Maurice init iated a pilot study with the help of Nouguier to develop sketches for a tower of 300 meters in height. Maurice’s brother, Henri Koechlin assisted with the project, with Maurice as managing director.

When they first submitted the pilot study to Eiffel, he showed l i t t le interested, but gave approval to continue their work. To assist with large-scale drawings, an architect by the name of Sauvestre was engaged to collaborate with them. With his drawings they were able to convince Eiffel of the feasibil i ty of the project. The concept was then submitted to Frederic Bartholdi of Statue of Liberty fame for his assistance.

Following construction, Eiffel attempted to give credit to those who helped him capture the vision for the renowned tower. In so doing, Maurice and Nouguier were awarded the Legion of Honor for their

work. Over t ime, however, i t quickly became known simply as the Tour Eiffel and, l i t t le by l i t t le, al l the glory focused on Eiffel.

Then, during the centennial celebration of the tower in 1989, journalists rediscovered the origin of tower ’s design and construction. Their efforts restored the names of Koechlin and Nouguier to their r ightful place as the true visionaries. Articles published in France began to reveal that without their persistence, the Eiffel Tower would not have been built.

Maurice Koechlin died in 1946 and is buried in Veytaux, Switzerland near the home he and Emma built years earl ier.

JACOB KOCKLEY, PVT 8th ILLINOIS CAVALRY REGIMENT CO. E When the small group of immigrants from Lutzelbourg landed in New York in 1828, one of the famil ies was that of Joseph & Genevieve Kochly. Joseph and Johannes were first cousins. Along with Joseph (b. 1779) & Genevieve (b. 1782) were their eight children. (See page 3 for more information).

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[Tour Eiffel][Photo by Holly Cooper Whisman]

[Source: Roland Lack, Lutzelbourg, France]

Their son, Jacob, married Elizabeth Hauck on 7 January 1847 in Constablevil le, NY, and, then, moved to Napervil le, IL, between 1859 and 1861 to be near his parents.

Shortly after the start of the Civi l War, a call went out to the cit izens of I l l inois to raise a mil i t ia. Jacob responded by enlisting in the 8th I l l inois Cavalry Regiment on 18 September 1861 leaving his wife and seven children behind. In letters sent home to Elizabeth, Jacob talked about the war coming to a speedy end, but history proved otherwise.

Jacob would have benefited from an early end to the war. He died in Washington, D.C. in 1864 at Judiciary Square Hospital, one of the many Army Hospitals set up in the city during the Civi l War. Jacob is buried in Arl ington National Cemetery, Section 13,  Site 7147.

The 8th I l l inois Cavalry Regiment was involved in the fol lowing engagements while serving with the Army of the Potomac (1861—1864) and the Defense of Washington (1864—1865).

• Williamsburg, Fair Oaks (Seven Pines)• Seven Day, South Mountain• Antietam• Fredericksburg, MD • Chancellorsville Campaign [Stoneman's Raid]• Gettysburg, PA• Mine Run Campaign• Monocracy, MD

[Source: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilcivilw/reg_html/cav_008.htm].

Charles Jacques Koechly, Commandant of French Colonial Troops This Charles Koechly is not to be confused with our uncle, Charles Wil l iam

Koechley (notice the sl ight spell ing difference in the last name). Uncle Charles, of course, was the son of Henry and Elizabeth Schott Koechley and had a distinguished career working for the U.S. Government. This Charles Koechly was the last representative of the Köchlin family of Lutzelbourg, France, and he also had a

Name Year of Birth Comment

Jean Joseph 1800

Michel 1806

Catherine 1815

Antoine 1817 May have died as an infant

Antoine 1819

Marie Anna 1820

Jacob 1823 Died in 1864

Marie Antoinette 1825

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distinguished career serving his country—France. Interestingly, through the maze of relationships, both men shared the same ancestor—Nicolas (1716-1786)—making the two men third cousins.

Thanks to the work of Louis Kuchly and documents found in the archives at Fénétrange, we know a l i t t le about the l i fe and adventures of Charles Jacques Koechly.

Recruitment for mil i tary service at that t ime was done by competit ion after graduation. It was originally assumed that he would fol low in his father ’s footsteps and pursue a career as a pharmacist. Instead, Charles decided to fol low in the footsteps of his father ’s older brother and enter the mil i tary.

His uncle, Jean Jacques, was born in 1828 at Fénétrange, and originally planned to study theology. Instead, he enlisted in the French Army in 1852. At f irst he was assigned to the 42nd Troop of the Line and was deployed to the Orient as Sergeant-Fourrier (quartermaster). Then, in 1855, after being wounded while serving in the trenches before Sébastopol, he was awarded the Médail le Mil i taire for bravery. He also participated in the Campaign of Italy (1859—1860). In 1863, Jean Jacques decided to retire from mil i tary l i fe and he returned to Vézelise where he died in 1886 at age 58.

Two months after Jean Jacques’ death, young Charles enlisted as a Second Lieutenant. He was promptly sent to Toulon with the 4th Marine Infantry Regiment, where he embarked for Saïgon. By 1890, he was placed in charge of a regiment of Tonkinois (Vietnamese) skirmishers. It ’s l ikely that his adventures rivaled those of his uncle!

Young Charles took advantage of his stay in Indochina to learn the Annamese (Vietnamese) language and culture of that country. Not only did this benefit his mil i tary career, we learned that he took a wife there as well. This union gave him a daughter, Charlotte Jeanne.

Charles served in Saïgon and Haïphong where he remained for two years before returning to France for the f irst t ime. It was l ikely that he was i l l during his return tr ip as his mil i tary record indicated that he was on a convalescent leave for 3 months at Vézelise.

Upon return to duty, Charles was appointed Lieutenant First Class and was deployed once again to Vietnam in 1894 for three years, this t ime as Officer of Information. Following a three month furlough to Vézelise, Charles was then assigned to the 8th Marine Infantry Regiment in 1898 in preparation for a brief tour of service in Crête.

But Indochina kept call ing him. When he was appointed Captain in 1898, he set out for Haïphong. Upon arrival, he took command the 8th Company Second Tonkinois, but his stay was cut short; this t ime stricken with a fever. He entered the hospital at Hanoï in September 1899 before returning home. His furlough this t ime lasted more than a year. There are no indications what type of tropical disease he contracted, be it malaria or yellow fever. When he returned to duty in 1902, he was deployed once more to Indochina, but his health continued to be a problem. This forced him to spend even more time recovering at Vézelise and at the mil i tary hospital in Nancy.

Then, in 1906, he was deployed to Guiana where he participated maneuvers, but the South American climate and his health issues continued to plague him. Charles entered the hospital at Cayenne in July 1908 and was later sent back to France for another period of convalescence, one that lasted unti l early 1909.

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In February of that year he was promoted to the full rank of Captain and took command of the 1st Sénégalais Skirmishers as Chef de Batail lon (Battalion Chief). This was during the war in Haut Sénégal and Niger. However, he once again returned to France to enter the hospital in July 1912, again for health reasons. Then, in 1913 when he retired at the age of 46. His service with the mil i tary had been exemplary and he was entit led to highly earned rest. Litt le did anyone know, however, that World War I was going to explode within just a few months.

At the start of the war in 1914, he was once again mobil ized; this t ime in operations against Germany with the 6th Colonial Regiment. While serving there, he was decorated for personal bravery with the Croix de Guerre avec Palme (Cross of War with Palm) and was promoted to the Légion d'Honneur (Legion of Honor). He was wounded and had to be evacuated to the hospital at Montereau.

Once healed, Charles was sent to Djibouti in February 1916 and, from there, to the Greek port of Salonique, otherwise known as Thessalonia, where he remained unti l March 1918. This t ime he took command of a battalion of Sénégalais f ighters unti l the end of the war.

Finally, he was able to return home to Vézelise and Fénétrange and to his daughter, Charlotte Jeanne. There was no mention of his wife.

His mil i tary record was replete with awards and accounts. As was typical for those who served during the era of colonial wars, Commandant Koechly spent the greater part of his career in Indochina—nearly 11 years. Some of his accolades included Officier du Dragon de l 'Annam [Officer of The Dragon of Annam (Vietnam)] and Officier de l 'Ordre Royal du Cambodge [Officer of the Royal Order of Cambodia]. Charles was buried at Toulon, the vi l lage where he enlisted.

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REFERENCESHowe, H. Historical Collection of Ohio in Two Volumes, The Ohio Centennial

Edition. Norwalk, OH: The Laning Printing Co., 1896.

Huron County Court. Record of Births, Deaths, Deeds, Marriages, and Probate, various dates.

Jurgens, W.A. A History of the Diocese of Cleveland. Vol. 1. Youngstown, OH: Catholic Publishing Company, 1980.

Koechley, E.S. A letter to Loretta Koechley Jacobs, 24 September 1955.

Koechley, H.A. A letter to Mr. Maloney of the Nickel Plate Railroad. July 1954.

Koechley, R.H. A l ist of birthdays & anniversaries, 1976.

Koepple, G.T. Bond of Union: Building the Erie Canal and the American Empire. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2009.

Kuchly, L. A letter to George Cooper, 30 December 1997.

Lack, R. A letter to George Cooper, 10 January 1993.

National Archives. 7th U.S. Census. Microcopy 432, Roll 697, September 26, 1850.

National Archives. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York. Microcopy 237, Roll 12, 2 October 1828.

Nickel Plate Road Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 6, July — August 1954.

Oddo, Bill. Stories of Old Bellevue Book IV: January 1990 — June 1995, 1995.

Rupert, F. An Outline History of St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Church, O., also containing The Early History of St. Alphonsus, Peru, O., and St. Mary’s, Norwalk, O. Norwalk, OH: St. Paul’s Church, 1899.

St. Alphonsus Church. Our Parish of Yesterday . Galion, OH: United Church Directories, 1978.

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