Name: Gotthelf F. LEHMAN

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Birth: 7 Jul 1884 Johanka, Poland

Death: 14 May 1952 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Occupation: Silk Weaving

Father: Ferdinand LEHMAN

Mother: Christina GINTER

Obituary -

Mr. Gotthelf F. Lehman of Bethlehem, Pa., passed on to be with the Lord on Thursday, May 14, 1952, at the age of 68 years and 10 months. As he had expressed the desire just a week before at an old friend's funeral, that when his time came he wanted to go suddenly, so he entered into the joy of the Lord 'in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.'

Mr. Lehman was born on July 7, 1884, in Poland. While a youth, still in the homeland, he was born again and was baptized at the age of 17. He came to the United States at the age of 25, settling in Philadelphia, Pa., and joining in the Pilgrim Baptist Church. IN 1911 he was united in marriage to Irma Maletsky by Dr. William Kuhn.

He was a member of the Calvary Baptist Church, Bethlehem, Pa., for the past 35 years where he rendered faithful and efficient service as a Sunday School teacher, deacon, trustee and treasurer. Having retired only recently, he completed his lifetime work of silk weaving. He loved plants and flowers, and most of his spare time was spent in his garden."

Comments From Ken Larash -

(A note from my wife's first cousin.) "I spent a day at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. I was searching for a record of Gotthelf's entry through the INS records. I found he arrived in New York, on the ship "Scharnhorst' on March 17, 1909.

Even though I show both Gotthelf Lehman and Irma Maletsky as born in Poland, neither of them were really Polish. Both of their families only spoke German. You must also be a historian in order to help in your research of your family tree. Poland's borders, as did Germany's and the surrounding countries, fluctuated over the years as various battles and wars were won and lost, and it was not unusual for Poland and Austria, etc., to have a large portion of their population being German.

Gotthelf also told my mother about his experiences in the Army. At the time he turned 18 or 19 years old, Poland did not have a standing Army. All males were required to join either the German or Russian Army and serve the required term. Gotthelf and a group of his friends visited the local German Army post and upon seeing how poorly the troops were treated by their officers, decided to join the Russian Army. Gotthelf eventually became a quartermaster responsible for securing food for his troops and served in the Crimea (near Turkey). He had to cross the border every week into Turkey to obtain food, and he always said that the Turks had the prettiest women he had ever seen. In Bethlehem he worked in the Bethlehem Silk Company as a silk weaver.

NOTES (by Fred Coffey):

Even with Ken Larash's notes about the ship and arrival date, it was difficult to find the Ellis Island manifest for Gotthelf. The manifest writer had difficult handwriting, and Gotthelf did not get indexed properly on the Ellis Island site.

Gotthelf is shown on the manifest as Gotthelf Lehmann, but he is found in the Ellis Island index as Galthelf Schumann, age 27. He arrived on March 6, 1909. He was age 24 when he arrived, and gave his occupation as spinner. He was able to read and write, and his nationality was given as Russian. (Understand that he came from an area that is now in Poland. However in the 1700's Poland had been split up between Russia, Prussia, and Austria. When Gotthelf left in 1909, Poland did not really exist as a political entity. Therefore he had to say he was Russian. After WWI Poland was reborn as an independent country.)

Gotthelf gave his race/people as German, with his last residence in Russia. His city of birth was Johanka. His nearest relative is his father Ferdinand Lehmann, who remained behind in Russia, in Johanka. His final destination is Philadelphia. His passage to New York was paid for by himself. The amount of money he has in his possession is illegible (appears to be less than $50). However he did travel in a second class cabin (i.e., not steerage). He is going to join his step-brother* Wilhelm Tripke at 2831 Water Street in Philadelphia. He is not a Polygamist, and not an Anarchist. His health is good, he is not deformed or crippled, he is 5'4" tall, fair complexion, blonde hair, grey eyes, has no marks of identification.

*The word on the manifest is clearly "step" brother, but Gotthelf and Wilhelm both had Christina Ginter as their mother, but different fathers. They are clearly "half" brothers. I assume that Gotthelf make a mistake (German was his native language, not English), and he really meant “half” brother.

THE SHIP: The Scharnhorst sailed from Bremen, Germany on March 6 and arrive in New York on March 17, 1909. She was built by J.C. Tecklenborg, Geestemunde, Germany, 1904. 8,287 gross tons; 453 feet long; 55 feet wide. Steam triple expansion engines, twin screw.  Service speed 13 knots.  2,029 passengers (114 first class, 115 second class, 1,800 third class). Built for North German Lloyd, German flag, in 1904 and named Scharnhorst. Bremerhaven-Australia service and later Bremerhaven-New York service. Laid up 1914-18. Became Allied reparation ship in 1918. Given as reparations in 1920 and renamed La Bourdonnais. Le Havre-New York service. Scrapped in Italy in 1934.

INFO FROM 1920 CENSUS, PENNSYLVANIA, LEHIGH CO, ALLENTOWN:

Gotthelf (indexed as Gothilf) is age 35 and Irma is 28. They own their home and have a mortgage. Living at home are children Alice age 4, Irma age 2, Albert age 1. Gotthelf entered the country in 1910 and was naturalized in 1919. Irma entered in 1903, it is not clear if she has been naturalized. Nobody has been attending school, but everybody (including the kids!) can read and write. The adults can speak English, but none (!) of the kids can. Gotthelf and Irma are listed as born in Russia and as speaking Russian(!!). Gotthelf is a wage worker as a ribbon weaver in a silk mill. Their address is 438 Jordan Street, Allentown.

Living with them is a boarder, "Arellia Malosky", age 24, who is working as a ribbon weaver. That would be Irma's sister, Aurelia "Laura" Maletsky.

INFO FROM 1930 CENSUS, PENNSYLVANIA, LEHIGH CO:

Found the entire family, despite the best efforts of the census taker and the transcriber to create confusion -- Gotthelf was recorded as Gathelf and transcribed as Gathly, Irma as Irgma and Irgina, Alice as Alios and Alia, Irma as Irama and Iraina, Albert as Albert and Albert.

Anyway, they were recorded as owning their own home, worth $5500, and they had a radio. The family ancestry was “Poland”. Gotthelf was employed as a silk weaver in a mill. Their original language is listed as Polish (I don’t think that is true) and their year of immigration is quite illegible. Their address is 435 2^nd Avenue, Bethlehem.

WW-II DRAFT REGISTRATION:

Registered 22 Apr 1942. Lived at 435 2^nd Ave, Bethlehem, Lehigh Co., PA. Gave birth place as "Johanka, Poland". Works for Bethlehem Silk Co.

FAMILY MEMORIES:

I have been corresponding with Art Tripke and his sister Jean (Tripke) Tomes, who are grandchildren of Gotthelf’s half brother Wilhelm Tripke (see following discussion). Art wrote “I remember sitting on Uncle Lehman’s front stoop at night, watching the ‘fireworks’ down the hill as they poured molten steel.” His sister also reported fond memories of “Uncle Lehman” and “Uncle Al”, saying that she had some pictures of Uncle and Tante Lehman she could share. (I have the collection of pictures, but only have room for a few of them here.)

Their labels took some explanation. She explained “We always called (Gotthelf and wife Irma) ‘Uncle and Tante Lehman’. We called Carol Lee’s parents ‘Uncle Al and Aunt Carrie’. It was common to call a member of an older generation ‘Uncle’ or ‘Aunt’ even if they weren’t.”

(That makes good sense. Saying “Uncle Al” is a lot more convenient than saying “half first cousin once removed Al”! And Gotthelf was a “Half Great Uncle”, which is also awkward to say.)

THE TRIPKE CONNECTION:

As noted above, Gotthelf indicated on the ship manifest that he was going to join his step-brother (half-brother) Wilhelm Tripke in Philadelphia. In the hope that the "Tripke Connection" will eventually lead to understanding Gotthelf’s origins and family history, I offer the following notes on Wilhelm Tripke and his family:

Wilhelm appears to have traveled to the US at least 3 times, between 1905 and 1923. One of his trips coincided with Gotthelf's arrival in 1909 (but on different ships), and this suggests he was apparently helping Gotthelf get settled. However it appears that Wilhelm did not bring his own family until 1923. Would love to understand the full story of his life between 1905 and 1923!

Wilhelm is first found on the passenger list for the ship Chemnitz, arriving in Baltimore in March 1905. He is age 28 (born abt 1877), reports this as his first arrival in US. He is married, his occupation is "weaver", he is from Johanka in Russia, his people are German, and is going to join his brother-in-law Louis Ramminger/Runninger* at 2831 Water Street, Philadelphia. (Note that home, nationality, occupation, and destination are comparable to those for Gotthelf in 1909!)

*Can find Louis Romninger & wife Martha & son in 1910 census. But can’t track farther.

Wilhelm entered again on 9 Mar 1909 (that's 3 days after Gotthelf arrived – perhaps Wilhelm went back to recruit family members to come?), on the ship Zeeland. He reports his nearest relative as his wife Auguste Tripke, left behind in (Kadiz?)

Also, since his second son was born in January 1914, he must have made at least one more trip in 1913?

He arrives a final time, indexed as Wilhelm "Trepke", on 22 Sep 1923. Poland now exists as an independent country, and he claims to be "Polish", and was born there. This time he is travelling with his wife Augustyna (age 42), and sons Artur (age 15) and Hebert (age 9). When asked about his nearest relative in Poland, he names "brother, Frederyk Nater". And they are going to Bethlehem, PA. (Maybe he's going to stay with Gotthelf this time?)

1930 CENSUS: William (sic), Augusta, Arthur and Herbert are all found in the 1930 census for Philadelphia. They were all born in Poland, all immigrated in 1924 (actually their ship arrived in 1923), their language was Polish (I think the census taker made an invalid assumption – they were German speaking), and all except Augusta work as weavers or knitters. William and Arthur have been naturalized; Augusta and Herbert are still aliens. Rough ages show William born about 1876, Augusta 1881, Arthur 1908, and Herbert 1914.

JOHANKA, POLAND:

Both Gotthelf Lehman and Wilhelm Tripke indicate their origin was “Johanka”. This doesn’t appear on Google Maps, but some other documents gave the lat/long as “50.3333, 17.2167”. This is a rural area, right on the current border between Poland and the Czech Republic. The nearest existing village is Sławniowice, Poland, which has a population of 550 people (per Wikipedia). I found a map from the 2002 National Census in Poland, which shows this area to have a German minority of between 20 and 30%.

WILHELM & AUGUSTA:

Jean (Tripke) Tomes wrote: “Mother always told me that there was a very close relationship between Gotthelf and Wilhelm, but the same was not true between Wilhelm and his stepfather Ferdinand Lehman.

“Augusta’s family were dairy farmers, and her mother ran a very tight household. Augusta’s mother work a set of keys on her person and kept butter and other dairy products under lock and key til it went to market – even to the point of depriving her own family. Consequently, Augusta always had a full larder and was extremely generous with food – they would always invite folks or visitors to the house and gave of what they had.”
Marriage: 17 Apr 1911 Pompton Lakes, NJ

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Spouse: Irma MALETSKY

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Birth: 7 Mar 1892 Poland

Death: 14 Jul 1966 Baltimore, Maryland

Father: Anton MALETSKY (1859-1942)

Mother: Amelia SCHWERTNER

Misc. Notes

Following from Obituary -

"Mrs. Irma Lehman, of Linthicum Heights, Maryland -

Mrs. Irma Maletsky Lehman was born in Poland on March 7, 1892, and passed away on July 14, 1966, in the Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore, following a brief illness. She was 74.

At an early age, while still in Poland, she accepted Jesus as her personal Savior. In 1904, the Maletsky family immigrated to America and finally settled in Pompton Lakes, N.J. It was there that she married Gotthelf F. Lehman on April 17, 1911, with whom she spent nearly 42 blessed years. The young couple moved to Philadelphia for a few years, then on the Allentown, Pa., and finally to Bethlehem in 1920. Here they joined the fellowship of Calvary Baptist Church."

From Kenneth Larash -

"My mother was told by her mother (Irma Maletsky) that when her family moved into Poland (probably from Austria) that their last name was changed to Maletsky from Klein (both names translate to English as "small") in order to give their name a more Polish sound. Also her family converted to Baptist from Catholic, probably during her father's lifetime, and they were persecuted by the Polish Catholics for this.

My mother also remembers the name Dunskevolle*, Poland, and believes it was located near Kalisz, Poland and might be where her mother was born. (Note - Albert Lehman says it was near Lodz, Poland.)

*I’m sure this was “Zdunska Wola”, which is on modern maps and has a population of about 45,000. It is about 40 miles from Lodz. (Fred Coffey)

Note from F. Coffey:

See notes with Anton Maletsky (her father) for more information about Irma. One puzzling question is her date of birth (1892 according to her obituary): Immigration records show she was 9 when she entered the US in January 1904. That would suggest a birth date in 1895, give or take a year.

Children

Gotthelf F. LEHMAN (7 Jul 1884 - 14 May 1952) & Irma MALETSKY (7 Mar 1892 - 14 Jul 1966)

Arthur LEHMAN (? - )

Irma Virginia LEHMAN (19 Jul 1916 - ) & Harold J. LARASH

Kenneth E. LARASH

Alice LEHMAN (23 Sep 1915 - ) & Carl Heinz LESCHE

Virginia LESCHE

Robert LESCHE

Nancy LESCHE

Albert Llewellyn LEHMAN (30 Nov 1918 - 14 Jan 1995) & Carolyn Josephine WAMSER (10 Oct 1918 - )