Levenhagen
Henry Levenhagen (1824-1896)Almost everything I know about Henry Levenhagen, my 2nd great-grandfather, comes from the book History of Manitowoc County Wisconsin by Dr. L. Falge, 1911-1912, v.2, p.256-257. "In 1853 with his wife and two children, Charles and Henry, Henry Levenhagen came to America and first located at Trenton, New Jersey, where he secured employment in a brick-yard, working there from January until August. The family then went to Canada, and Mr. Levenhagen, who was a carpenter by trade was employed at Devereux Creek, and later in the construction of the bridge of the Grand Trunk Railroad. Coming to Manitowoc, the family remained for a short time in the city and then purchased eighty acres of wild land two miles north of Mishicot, on which was situated an old shack which became the family residence. "Mr. Levenhagen worked at his trade until he earned enough money to buy a team of oxen with which to clear and develop the raw land. There were no roads at this time and on many occasions he had to carry flour on his back from Manitowoc and Two Rivers to the little log cabin home which he had erected to replace the old one. "After remaining on this land for three years, Mr. Levenhagen traded it for a house and two acres of village property, and for a number of years was employed in the gristmill that had been built by Ira Clark and Alfred Smith. For a number of years previous to his death, which occurred in 1896, in his seventy-second year, he was the proprietor of a saloon. "Politically he was a democrat. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also assisted in the work of the Lutheran church of Mishicot, of which he was a member. His widow, who was born December 23, 1826, still survives and makes her home with her son Charles. The following children were born to this worthy couple in America: Louis, Tilda, Fred, Mary, Ernst, Ira, Sophia and William...."
Mary Levenhagen Miller(1860-1934)
My great-grandmother, Mary Levenhagen (shown standing, at left, with her mother, Sophie Marie Frederika Kepke), grew up in Mishicot, one of the ten children of Henry and Sophia Levenhagen. She married Albert Miller in October, 1880 and the couple had three children, all girls. Eldest of the three was
Cora June, my grandmother, who was born June 28, 1881. My Aunt Mabel was born October 14, 1884, and Aunt Lydia followed on February 26, 1888.
In 1890, when Cora was nine, the family moved to Tacoma, where Albert Miller established a successful contracting business. Over the next several decades he built a large number of buildings, including an apartment house at 909 North M, which became the family home. My mother and grandmother lived there with Albert and Mary for several years following Cora's divorce. Mother recalls that her grandmother Mary was an excellent cook! The apartment across the hall, where my Aunt Mabel and Uncle Oscar lived, holds a special place in my memory for it was there that the extended family gathered every Christmas eve for a grand and glorious evening that culminated in the exchange of Christmas gifts! I only wish that Albert and Mary would have lived long enough for me to know them and for them to have enjoyed a Christmas Eve with the rest of the family. Mary died in October, 1934, when I was two years old.
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