ALBERT HENRY LEHMANN, son of John Michael Lehmann and Mary Catherine Mills, was born at home in Piqua, Miami County, Ohio on 24 April 1896. He was the third child and first born son. The baptismal record of St. Boniface Catholic Church, Piqua, indicates his name to be "Albert Henry Lehman" (sic) born 24 April 1896 to John & Mary and that his father's origin was Fort Loramie, [Shelby County,] and his mother's origin was Newport, [Shelby County,] Ohio.

Courtesy of: Audrey (Lehmann-Shields) Hancock The John Lehmann Family
ca 1901
Back Row: Jennie, John, Catherine
Front Row: Albert, Heine (Henrietta) being held, and Leo
To his family he became known as Al. Albert's sister, Rita (Lehmann) Shields, remarked in her memoirs, "Mom [Mary Catherine (Mills) Lehmann] said that since he was the first boy Dad (John Michael Lehmann) was very proud of him. He took him with him to saloons and other places to show him off; and he spoiled him."

Courtesy of: Audrey (Lehmann-Shields) Hancock The John Lehmann Family
ca 1904
Back Row: Leo and Albert
Front Row: Heine and Jean

In those early years, many saloons were open to families as eating establishments and gathering places for families and friends to meet. One such place was the Caserta Saloon. As with the other children in the Lehmann household, Al attended St. Boniface Catholic School, received his first communion there and was confirmed in the faith.

Courtesy of: Audrey (Lehmann-Shields) Hancock John Lehmann Family ca 1909 Standing in Back: Catherine, Albert, Jennie, & Leo
Parents Sitting: John & Mary
Children in Front: Martin, Jean, and Heine (Henrietta)

"I remember Bob Rittenhouse (Sr.) [Bob, husband of Regina "Jean" Lehmann, Al's sister] and the orchestra Bob played with often practiced down home. They would often throw their cigarette butts out a window. Al would tell Gert and me if we'd pick them up for him, he'd give us a penny or two. Al wanted to smoke the rest left on the cigarettes. And...of course, we being in need of pennies happily obliged."

Courtesy of: Audrey (Lehmann-Shields) Hancock Albert Henry Lehmann

Albert married 24 November 1917 to his first wife, Mary Frances Kerrigan, daughter of John Kerrigan and Mary Holten. They eloped first, and then were remarried at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Piqua, Miami County, Ohio.

(Source: "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XDL5-DPN : 8 December 2014), Albert Lehmann and Mary Frances Kerrigan, 24 Nov 1917; citing Miami, Ohio, United States, reference cn 29522; county courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 550,155.)

This union produced three children--Richard, Margaret [aka Marjorie] who was born and died in 1920, and Charlotte. Rita (Lehmann) Shields indicated, "Al was older and married probably when I was around four. He worked hard in his first marriage...feeding the babies, cleaning the house, doing the dishes, mopping the floor, and washing the clothes, particularly the old soiled diapers that had laid for days. Al did this after working all day at the Wood Shovel Company in Piqua. He kept himself clean, and he was a very good cook."

1920 United States Federal Census Miami County, Ohio Washington Township Piqua, OH Ward 2 District 182 647 South Avenue 8 January 1920 #647-190-207 Lehman (sic), Albert, Head, Rents, male, white, 23, married, b OH; father b OH; mother b OH; Shovel Worker, Shovel Works Lehman (sic), Mary F., wife, female, white, 22, married, b OH; father b OH; mother b Ireland Lehman (sic), Richard, son, male, white, 1 1/12, single, b OH; father b OH; mother b OH

Even after doing all of this his marriage fell apart...ending in divorce. Rita (Lehmann) Shields indicated that the animosity between him and Mary Frances appeared to be too great to bear. After their divorce, Al paid support for Richard and had Saturday afternoons for visitation privileges. Mary Frances had evidently encouraged discord between Albert and Richard (having told Richard to spit on his father). She eventually denied Al access to Richard, who Al loved very much. "When he'd go to pick Richard up, Richard was 'taking a nap, sick, wasn't there,' etc. Al tried to get custody, but a lawyer told him it was useless."
(Source: Rita Marie (Lehmann) Shields)

"Finally, Al said, that if he couldn't see Richard, he wouldn't pay support. When he finally left home after his divorce, we didn't hear from him for years. He left the night the circus left town, so we always thought he left with the circus. We had no contact with Mary Francis nor the children after that. Mary Francis preferred it that way."
(Source: Rita Marie (Lehmann) Shields)

According to her obituary, Mary Frances later married Herman J. Leugers who preceded her in death in 1957. Mary Frances was born on 1 August 1897 and died 28 November 1976. [OBITUARY, Piqua Daily Call, 29 Nov 1976] She was survived by a daughter, Charlotte A. (Lehmann) Fincel of Middletown, Ohio and a son, Richard Lehmann of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Another daughter, Margaret E. Lehmann, died at 8 months of age in September, 1920. Margaret was buried 20 September 1920 in Grave #109 in the St. Mary's Section of Forest Hill Cemetery, Piqua, Miami County, Ohio. Mary Frances (Kerrigan) Lehmann-Leugers was also buried at Forest Hill Cemetery.

Albert had disappeared from Piqua, and had no contact with his Lehmann family for years. It appears that during the interim that Albert had assumed the alias of Albert Henry Snyder per records below.

Albert Henry Lehmann, as Albert Henry Snyder, married 14 February 1925 in Lake County, Indiana to Mary Edna Davis, daughter of Joshua W. Davis & Hattie M. Boynton.

Albert was still known as Albert H. Snyder when his first child with Mary Edna, Marjorie Mae, was born. Marjorie Mae's birth certificate names her as Marjorie Mae Snyder.
(Source: "Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPH-B9WV : 18 May 2016), Mary Edna Davis in entry for Marjorie Mae Snyder, 11 Apr 1926; citing Oak Park, Cook, Illinois, United States, reference/certificate 712, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm 100,380,282.)

("Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VNTF-83T : 21 January 2016), Albert H Snyder and Mary E Davis, 14 Feb 1925; citing Lake, Indiana, United States, various county clerk offices, Indiana; FHL microfilm 2,414,789.)

Eventually the LEHMANN family learned that Albert had remarried and was living near Chicago (later learned they lived in Peoria, Illinois and Princeville, Illinois). At that time they learned he was the father of a number of children.

1930 United States Federal Census Peoria County, Illinois Peoria Township 28 April 1930 District 99 Family #375-388 Lehmann, Albert, Head, Rents, $10, male, white, 33, married; age of first marriage 27, b OH; father b Germany; mother b United States; laborer, hospital Lehmann, Mary, wife, female, white, 23, married, age of first marriage 17; b IL; father b IL; mother b IL Lehmann, Marjorie, daughter, female, white, 5, single, b IL; father b OH; mother b IL Lehmann, Dorothy, daughter, female, white, 3 2/12, single, b IL; father b OH; mother b IL

Rita (Lehmann) Shields said of her oldest brother, "We learned that the family was in need, and so Mom and some of us busied ourselves making clothing for the family." Evidently in this time period, Al worked for the railroad as a cook and would come and go from his family's home for weeks or months. However, time passed and his mother and siblings again lost track of Al and his second family. Albert's daughter, Jane, recalled, "He was a smart man, beautiful voice, and sang around the house a lot. He was very clean, and he loved to cook. Mom never said anything but good about him."

Years later it was learned that Mary came down with consumption (tuberculosis) in 1939. Due to her condition she went to the T. B. Sanitarium on Galena Road in Peoria, IL; and circumstances being as they were, the children were all put in the Guardian Angel Orphanage. Jane recalled, "She spent years off and on in that sanitarium. She really loved us and couldn't see any of us except through a glass partition at Christmastime. At last she agreed to let the four smaller kids be adopted." Their father (Albert Henry Lehmann) had disappeared from their lives. Al seemed to have had a propensity for walking away in the face of adversity. Upon leaving work and in the midst of conversing with friends, it appears that Mary, shielded from the onslaught of a driving wintry snow with a hooded coat, accidentally crossed a railroad track walking into the path of an approaching train.

1940 United States Federal Census Peoria County, Illinois Peoria 1940 Employees of St. Francis Hospital Lehmann, Albert, male, white, 42, married; 1 year of High School education, Residence: Princeville; b OH; laborer, hospital

1940 United States Federal Census Peoria County, Illinois Peoria 1940 Children in the Guardian Angel Orphanage Lehman (sic), Marjorie, 14y Lehman (sic), Dorothy, 12y Lehman (sic), Alberta, 1y Lehman (sic), Rita, 4y Lehman (sic), Neva, 7y Lehman (sic), Mary, 9y Lehman (sic), John, 2y

REST IN PEACE Mary Edna (Davis) Lehmann Loving Wife of Albert Lehmann Loving Mother of Seven Oh, Lord, so many crosses to bear!

For Jane who remembers her softly spoken mother
who gave 'til she could give no more.

Children of Albert and Mary included: John and Neva who were adopted by a Murphy family in Rock Island. Rita and Alberta became members of the Peter Trost family in Peru, Illinois. The older ones who were not adopted are: Marjorie, Dorothy, and Jane.

Alida Lehmann, widow of Martin Lehmann [brother of Albert], recalled that Al came home in the summer of 1949, and he did some painting for them. He painted the exterior of the house.

Mary Eileen (Lehmann-Quinlisk) Hanlon mentioned to Rita that Al happened to be home at the time that she was married to Thomas Hanlon in 1949. Heine (Mills-Lehmann) Quinlisk was sick, and Albert came down and "took over." He cleaned up the basement where the wedding drinks were to be served; he cleaned the house; he cooked; etc. Mary Eileen said that they don't know what they would have done without his help. Mary Eileen added, "He was a worker." He kept himself very clean, made friends easily--everyone liked him.

One of the last known Lehmann family contacts with Albert was at Christmastime of 1951 when my [Audrey's] family went from our home in Decatur, Illinois to Piqua for a visit with Grandma Lehmann [Mary Catherine (Mills) Lehmann]. Grandma was still living in the big house, and we hadn't moved to Anderson, Indiana yet. Uncle Al was also home visiting. Very early one morning my mother awakened to find Al in the bedroom where she and my father were sleeping. He had perhaps been going through their pockets, but she never saw that. My mother kept her money in her girdle and it was untouched! Then Al crept out, went down into the cellar, and out the cellar door. My grandmother awakened to find Albert gone. Rita said, "We realized he was really gone when Karen (Lehmann-Shields) Richey, then but a toddler, happened to pick up a little cotton bag where Mom [Mary] kept her money. She had the bag in a pocket of a dress, which was hanging in her closet near the back. Karen started playing with the little bag, and Mom [Mary] recognized it. Al must have laid it down by the cushions. The money was gone and so was Al. Mom [Mary] had always kept repeating, when money came up missing when he was around, 'He's never stolen from me,' but when she realized it was her little bag and her tax money she'd been saving all year that was gone, it just did something to her. It just sort of broke her heart, and I could never forgive my brother for that." I [Audrey being 12 years old] can remember seeing the anguish yet in her aged face. My father [Dale Caleb Shields] took off to check the bus station and railroad station, but to no avail. Al had stolen away in the night and broken his mother's heart!

Margaret Ann (Hallatt-Rankin) Rittenhouse, wife of Robert J. Rittenhouse and daughter-in-law of Jean (Mills-Lehmann) Rittenhouse recalled the following about this same incident. "I met him once. What a charmer! He was witty, very interesting, could tell the best stories and was such a scoundrel all at the same time. The time I met him, he quickly took most of your grandmother's cash and just vanished!"

Margaret continued, "The year when I would have known him must have been 1951. We [Robert & Margaret] were married in 1950 so it must have been the winter of 1950-1951 (probably Christmas holiday time) when Bob and I visited and Uncle Al was there. He prepared some food on Jean's stove and it was really good - quite a cook. Never used a recipe, just kept adding this and that until it was completed. I recall he did it all in a deep frying pan."  [Margaret, E-mail: 15-16 July 2001]

Later, I [Audrey] can remember Albert tried to contact my mother [Rita] in Decatur, Illinois via the phone. I don't know what transpired as everything was kept from us children. It seemed important, and it appeared that my parents did not wish for additional contact with him. Mother [Rita] said that Al had a charismatic personality and was a very likeable person.

Rita said it was as if Al "had two personalities. He adored Richard and perhaps years ago when it became apparent he'd never really have him, he just took off and ran and kept running the rest of his life. We wouldn't hear from him for years, then I guess, he had to come home and rode the freight trains, etc. to get home. He came in looking so dirty--looking like a hobo--so the first thing was a bath and some clean clothes which we'd hunt up." He'd stay for a time, and then steal away in the night without a word...just take off! "Occasionally we'd rake up enough to get him a ticket back, but he could have kept the money and 'hit the rails.' I think we showed we loved and cared, but that wasn't enough for him. He had to get goin'--somewhere! No one could figure out the why -- it was his way of life."

It is interesting how children perceive events in their lives. An e-mail from Catherine "Cathy" Mary Wilkins-Sherman on 28 May 2001 revealed this instance. "One time we were visiting Aunt Heine & Uncle Jack in Dayton. Mom & Dad [Ivo and Mary Catherine (Lehmann-Wilkins) Sherman] went shopping, and we three kids stayed behind. Well, there was a knock on the door and Aunt Heine answered. It was the FBI looking for Uncle Al! Aunt Heine told him she hadn't heard from her brother in a long time and had no idea where he was. Well, I thought that was just the most exciting thing, the FBI looking for my Great Uncle. I told everyone at school the next week!!!"

Here is a copy of an undated letter written to the Piqua, Ohio Police Department from Mrs. Marjorie (Davis-Lehmann) Tucker, R.R. #1, Princeville, Illinois, and given to this writer years later by Gertrude (Mills-Lehmann) Beihl. A police friend of Gertrude eventually brought this letter to her, but still not knowing the whereabouts of Albert, Gert did not contact Marjorie. It has only been since 1982 when this writer started searching for the lost cousins did Gert share this letter.

"Dear Sir, Would you please see if you could find out if any of the Lehman family still live around there and if so have some of them contact me. My father was Albert Lehmann and I have only seen him once since 1939. That was in July 1951. Since then he has not been heard from. I believe his father's name was Henry but he has been dead since my father was a young man. I don't know any of the rest of the family but believe there were several brothers and sisters. One sister has a daughter that is a nun, I believe. One has a child named Delores as I remember. I never met any of them that I can recall. I think my father was married in Piqua to his first wife. He had a daughter, Marjorie, and a son, Donald, as I understand it. The daughter died as a child and he named me after her when he married mom and had me. There are seven of us kids. We had Snyder, Layman, and Lehmann for names and I'm not sure whether he and mom were even married. I know he left us kids setting in an orphanage and mom with T.B. that couldn't be cured. When she couldn't take it any longer she went out and stood in front of the Rock Island Rocket. What was left of her they put in a basket. For years I was bitter toward Dad but he's an old man now and who am I to judge. I'd like to find him to come and live with us if he needs it. For all he did to her, mom still loved him when she died. I think she'd like to know he was here with us. I hope you can locate some of the family for me and maybe they will know where he is. He may even be there. Thank you, Mrs. Marjorie Tucker R. R. #1 Princeville, Illinois"

Leo Lehmann received a letter from his brother, Al, in the 1960s. He stated he had remarried and his stepchildren were very good to him. His last known address was P.O. Box 67, Bokoshe, OK 74930. When Gert asked her brother, Leo, for the address, he didn't give it to her. He only told her what was in the letter. Later, another letter was received in 1971. At that time Al told Leo that he was going into the hospital. Occasionally, brother Martin would get a phone call from Al, but no phone calls were received after 1971.

The whereabouts of Albert Henry Lehmann was discovered by this author [Audrey] in 1982. It was found that he had married for the third time on 8 October 1967 at Stigler, Haskell County, Oklahoma. His wife was Nell Ollie (Beutelschies) Stinnett, a widow of Floyd George Stinnett. He had two stepdaughters being Lavern (Stinnet) Fesperman, wife of W. L. Fesperman, and Helen Ozeal (Stinnett) Culwell, wife of Edmund Culwell. A letter from James E. Fesperman, postmaster of Bokoshe, Oklahoma stated, "I personally knew Mr. Lehmann and treasured his friendship. He was a likeable person, no bad habits, was very good to Mrs. Stinnett, and was well liked in Bokoshe the time that he lived here. He is buried in the Old Bokoshe Cemetery about a mile north of Bokoshe in the Stinnett plot."

Courtesy of: Lavern (Stinnett) Fesperman
Albert Henry Lehmann
1969

A letter from Lavern Fesperman gave the following information. "He married mother at Stigler, Oklahoma on October 8, 1967." They were only married eight months when her mother, Nell, passed away. Lavern states that he was very good to her, to her sister's family, and to her family. She further states, "Albert got awfully sick. My sister and me took him to the hospital in Poteau, OK. He had surgery. They removed stones from his liver. He developed a bad infection, and passed away October 30, 1971. We were with him most of the time. I asked him if there was anyone he would like for me to contact, and he said,'No.' When he and mother married the only work he ever did was cooking for a large ranch or cooking for a railroad crew. He was a very good cook. He was on Social Security when he met my mother. We have no idea how long he and mother went to church together."

The following information was obtained from the Social Security Index on the internet:
ALBERT LEHMANN Birth: 24 Apr 1896; Death: Oct 1971; Last Residence: 74930 (Bokoshe, Le Flore, OK); Last SS Benefit: (none specified); SS# 359-03-0110; Issued: Illinois

In 1982 this writer was able to track down and make contact with Jane (Davis-Lehmann) Weber. Jane is one of the older daughters of Albert and Mary Edna (Davis) Lehmann. Jane had initially visited Piqua and while there had made an attempt to contact the LEHMANN family in a phone conversation with Mrs. Alida Lehmann, widow of Martin, Al's brother. Alida had passed the message onto Gert, Al's sister. However, the address or phone number was lost in the interim, but a tidbit of that message was recalled. Being the sleuth that I am at times, I ferreted out possibilities and found Jane. Jane shared some facts about Albert and filled in some missing pieces of his life. We all have met Jane and she is now a part of our lives. What a joy to find a new cousin! Welcome to the family, Jane!

This information is gathered and written in the hope that those descendents of Albert who knew very little of him would discover that Albert's life seems to have been in turmoil after he was divorced from his first wife. It appears he had some wonderfully good qualities, yet failed to get his life together and be the responsible husband and father he should have been, considering the role models of his loving parents. The LEHMANN family continued to love him, in spite of his digressions. What pains and hurts did he suffer, and what were the reasons for his transgressions? We will never know. Time has a way of healing some wounds, but memories still linger and hurts still remain for those still alive, who ceased to truly know their loved one and experience a true father's love. Life soon slips away as it has for him, his parents and siblings, and with each new generation, like theirs, comes more barriers to cross and wounds to be healed...some never truly healing, as all of us walk the road of life.

Courtesy of: Jane (Davis-Lehmann) Weber



     Courtesy of: Jane (Davis-Lehmann) Weber

Children of Albert⁶ and #1 Mary Frances:
                                                             1. Richard⁷ Lehmann
                                                             2. Marjorie⁷ Lehmann
                                                             3. Charlotte A.⁷ Lehmann


Children of Albert⁶ and #2 Mary Edna:

4. Marjorie Mae⁷ Lehman(n) married #1 Herschel Tucker; married #2 Bernard McGuire. (3 known McGuire children)

5. Dorothy Ellen⁷ Lehman(n) married Arnold Hendricks. (5 known children)

6. Mary "Jane" (aka Ethelberta)⁷ Lehman(n) married Donald Weber. (6 children)
[Information courtesy of Jane (Lehman(n)) Weber]

7. Neva Maria⁷ Lehman(n) (adopted by Murphy Family of Rock Island, IL) (no additional information)

8. Rita Marie⁷ Lehman(n) (adopted 30 December 1942 by Peter & Helen Trost Family of Peru, LaSalle County, IL along wit her sister, Alberta); born __ ____ ___ in ___, ____ County, Illinois, married _ __ ____ in __, ___ Co., Illinois to #1 Dale Sparling (3 children) & they divorced ____; married _ __ ____ in __, ___ Co., Illinois to #2 Ronald Karczewski; deceased 18 January 1999 ____, ___ Co., Illinois. Family resided in Peru, Illinois. [Adoption papers: Dated 12/30/1942]

Rita was taken ill in 1998 and went to the hospital where they discovered she needed heart surgery. Surgery was scheduled for 2 weeks before Christmas. She suffered a stroke while under anesthesia and was in a coma for about a week, and was deceased a few weeks later. She never made it back home to celebrate Christmas (on-hold) with her family. (Source: Dec 2012: Her daughter, Kaye (Sparling) Loebech)

9. John E.⁷ Lehmann (adopted by Murphy Family of Rock Island, IL)

10. Alberta "Birdie"⁷ Lehman(n) (adopted by Peter & Helen Trost Family of Peru, LaSalle County, IL along with her sister, Rita); married #1 ??? Ewend (2 children) & divorced; married #2 Richard Roedell.

Dec 2012, Courtesy of: Kay (Sparling) Loebach, dau/o Dale Sparling & Rita Marie (Lehman(n)-Trost) Sparling.

1941
Mary Edna (nee Davis) Lehman(n) and 5 of her daughters
Back: Mary Jane & Marjorie
Front: Neva, Mary Edna (Davis) Lehman(n), Rita, Dorothy
Missing: 2 year old Alberta; and brother, John.

The four younger children were adopted. Adoption papers dated 12/30/1942 for Rita Marie indicated the following:

"Albert's address was listed as unknown. The court papers say they placed an ad in the Republican Times published in Ottawa, IL to let him know of the adoption. They ran it 6 months continuously until the 10th of December 1942. It says that he 'has been called to open court three times by the sheriff to appear and answer said petition for adoption. He, nor anyone on his behalf came in.' It says that Mary gave her written consent for adoption, but did not appear."
(Source: 18 Dec 2012, E-mail to ASH: Kaye (Sparling) Loebach)

See: LEHMANN FAMILY HOMEPAGE

Story/Photo Contributors: Mary Catherine (Mills) Lehmann (Albert's mother) Audrey Ann (Lehmann-Shields) Hancock Margaret Ann (Hallatt-Rankin) Rittenhouse, wife of Robert J. Rittenhouse, dau-in-law/o Jean (Mills-Lehmann) Rittenhouse Rita Marie Margaret (Mills-Lehmann) Shields (deceased)         Jane (Davis-Lehmann) Weber Catherine "Cathy" Mary Wilkins-Sherman

Webpage by:   Audrey (Lehmann-Shields) Hancock of Portage, Michigan

Created: 14 July 2001 Revised: 18 December 2012
Revised: 20 July 2017

Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/yc257r37