George Vogel was born December 24, 1842 in Wintzenheim, Alsace. As a young man he was a soldier for France and was decorated in battle. He must have been proud of his service because he brought his uniform to America and had his photograph taken wearing it in his later years. (Alsace belonged to France at that time, though they spoke a Germanic dialect.)
George was a tailor by trade and could make suits, coats, and pants to fit without a pattern.
The Franco-Prussian war of 1870, when George was 28, was mostly fought in Alsace and resulted in terrible destruction and loss of life and German control of the people who were patriotically French. The French language was banned in school and all newspapers had to be printed in German. At this time, George took his wife Anna Marie Delandre and two daughters Amalie and Rosalie out of the now German controlled Alsace into France. They were in exile from Alsace for fifteen years. When they returned, the girls only spoke French and had to learn German.
The occupation of Alsace by Germany continued into the First World War. Alsace became a battlefield. After a battle fought near their home, George, then about 60 years old, went out on the battlefield to count the dead. (Too see which side had won the battle?) He was apprehended but released with the words, "If you weren't such an old man I would shoot you on the spot!"
During another battle, a shell hit their house and mostly destroyed it. The shell landed in the bedroom of George"s deceased wife Anna Marie. The villagers said if the cancer hadn't already killed her the shell surely would have!
At the conclusion of World War I (1914-1918) Alsace returned to French control. But George, his daughter Rosalie, and her Swiss husband Ferdinand Flicker(spelling?) decided to join George's other daughter Amalie Hoffman, and her family, in America. They traveled on the ship La Lorraine from Le Harve, France. George came to America January 31, 1921 at the age of 78.
He died at the age of 82 on February 8, 1925 and is buried at Calvary Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.
-biography written and
researched by Linda Rawles
with details as told to Linda by her mother and grandmother. Copywrite 2002 Linda Rawles
Note
George Vogel's parents were from the village Wintzenheim in Alsace France. Email me for further information. On the Ellis Island manifest the nearest relative listed is Martin Beintz of Emphisheim. If you can shed any light on this, I would love to hear from you!
| August Hoffman | George Vogel | Rosalie Marie Hoffman |
copyright 2002 Linda Rawles all rights reserved.
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