Grey Franklin Lenzner

Notes:

His registration card for the First World War listed him as age 19, and a student. His nearest relative was shown as Franklin Lenzner of Cass City. Grey was listed as Tall, with a slender build, black hair and gray eyes. Roll 1682901.

Cass City Chronicle
Vol. 23, No. 46.
Friday, June 8, 1928
Page 1

Dr. Grey F. Lenzner (pictured), graduate of the Kirksville College Osteopathy and Surgery, is expected to arrive in Cass City tomorrow to visit at the home of his father, Frank Lenzner, before locating permanently. During his stay in Cass City, Dr. Lenzner will give Osteopathic treatments at his home, one block south of the Chronicle office .-Adv.

Cass City Chronicle
Thursday, November 9, 1961
Page Six
Former Resident Stricken Thursday
Final rites were held Monday, November 6, for Dr. Grey F. Lenzner, 62, Bad Axe ospeopathic physician, at MacApline Funeral Home, Bad Axe. Dr. Lenzner died of a heart attack Thursday night, Nov. 2, at a cottage near Caseville where he was vacationing. A graduate of Cass City High School, he set up practice in Bad Axe in 1928 after graduating from Kirksville College of Osteopathy. He was born May 10, 1899, in Cass City. He married Miss Laura Jaus on October 25, 1940 at Geneva, Ohio. Surviving are his widow and a sister, Miss Gladys Lenzner, Cass City. Officiating during the service were Rev. John Safran, Detroit, and Rev. Joseph D. Ryan, pastor of the Bad Axe First Presbyterian Church. Burial was at Colfax Cemetery.

(Transcribed by Melinda McLemore Strong, Summer 2007)

Grey married Laura May Jaus on 25 Oct 1940 in Ohio. Laura (daughter of Frederick W. Jaus and Mary Schwegler) was born on 16 May 1907 in Elkland Township, Tuscola County, Michigan; died on 7 Apr 1987 in Sandusky, Sanilac County, Michigan; was buried in Colfax Cemetery, Bad Axe, Huron County, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Cass City Chronicle
November 1, 1940

Miss Laura Jaus and Dr. G.F. Lenzner married

Dr. G. F. Lenzner of Bad Axe, son of Franklin Lenzner, of Cass City, and Miss Laura Jaus, daughter of Fred Jaus, also of Cass City, were quietly married Friday, October 25, at Geneva, Ohio by Rev. Roy J. Striffler.

(Transcribed by Melinda McLemore Strong, Summer 2007)

Notes:

Cass City Chronicle
Vol. 35, Number 33
Cass City, Mich., Friday, November 8, 1940
Page One
Franklin Lenzner, Widely Known Musician, Dies
For Many Years an Instructor of Piano, Band, String Instruments Here

Following an illness of six years, Frankline Lenzner, 81, passed away about 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 5, in his home, corner of Oak and Pine Streets.

Funeral services will be held this afternoon (Friday) in the Angus McPHAIL residence, Rev. Paul J. Allured of Kinde, a former pastor of the Cass City Presbyterian Church, officiating. Interment will be in Elkland Cemetery.

Franklin Lenzner was born in Lancaster, New York, May 30, 1859, and came to Cass City with his parents when a small boy. He attended the School of Music at Friendship, New York, and for seven years was a member of Gorton's Gold Band, in which he played the bass tuba, and was billed on posters in all the principal cities as a bass tuba soloist, and received much praise newspaper write-ups. While with the band, he often composed his own music, and especially enjoyed playing the "Blue Bells of Scotland" with variations. With this band he travelled through 42 states and territories, Mexico and many of the principal cities of Canada. For a number of years Mr. Lenzner was instructor of the Cass City Band and for many years, or as long as his health permitted, he gave lessons on piano, band and string instruments. He was united in marriage with Miss Anne Belle HAMILL of Geneseo, New York, on December 31, 1891 at St. Thomas, Ontario. She died January 23, 1902.

He is survived by a son, Dr. Grey F. LENZNER, of Bad Axe; a daughter, Miss Gladys, at home; and a sister, Miss Emma LENZNER. Three brothers, Oscar, John and Samuel, preceded him in death.

Mr. Lenzner gained much ov his education by reading and observation. He was deeply interested in all music and found much pleasure and satisfaction in encouraging others to fight for knowledge along that line.

He was also a carpenter and helped build many homes in his home town.

Guitar and guitarinas made by his father, C.O. Lenzner, Sr., were finished by Frank Lenzner with fine inlaid work and some instruments contained 3,200 or more pieces. He also made a table containing a fancy section of 17 colored strips of inlaying with a space of less than 3/8 inch.

Although he had been ill for six years and sometimes almost at death's door, he has been very patient, never admitting his great pain to others. Throughout his sickness, he was exceedingly kind and considerate to those who cared for him.

Pallbearers will be W.H. SIMMONS of Gagetown, Eber KREGER of Deford, James HUSTON of Sover, Rollo DARBEE of Caro, E.G. BRAUN of Detroit, and Clare STAFFORD of Cass City.

(Research):Census Information

1900 Census
Michigan, Tuscola County, Cass City Village
Enumerated 6 June 1900 A.D. Gillis
SD 8 ED 111 Page B3
64-64
Lenzer, Franklin H Hd W M May 1859 41 M1 9 Ny Germany Germany
Lenzer, Anna D Wf W F Oct 1865 34 M1 9 2/2 NY NY NY
Lenzer, Gladys H Dtr W F Nov 1892 7 S Mich NY NY
Lenzer, Gray F Son W M May 1899 1 S Mich NY NY

1910 Census
Michigan, Tuscola, Elkland Twp
Enumerated 21 April 1910
SD 8 ED 113 Sheet 6A Stamped 137
151-151
Lenzner, Franklin Hd M W 60 Wd 5 2/2 NY Germany Germany English Teacher Music
Lenzner, Emma Sister F W 40 Wd 5 2/2 NY Germany Germany
Lenzner, Gladys Dtr F W 18 S Mich NY NY
Lenzner, Gray Son M W 10 S Mich NY NY

Franklin married Anna Bell Hamill on 31 Dec 1891 in Ontario, Canada. Anna was born about 1865 in Gennesee County, New York; died on 23 Jan 1902; was buried in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Cass City Chronicle
November 1, 1895
"Caught on the Fly"

Mrs. F. Lenzer returned home last Friday evening from her visit to Gennesee Co., N.Y.

Tri-County Chronicle
Cass City, Mich., Friday, January 24, 1902
Vol. 3 No. 36

Mrs. Frank Lenzner
Passed Away Suddently Early Thursday Morning

Like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky came the report early yesterday mornign of the sudden demise of Mrs. Frank Lenzner. One week ago last Tuesday Mrs. Lenzner was taken sick with the grippe but gradually became better until Monday when a complication of nervous disorders set in and she gradually grew worse until finally death broke the brittle thread of life, and the spirit took its flight to the abode where all suffering is at an end.

In Genessee, N.Y., where the deceased was born and reared, she was know as Anna Bell Hamill. Her widowed mother still resides at this place. From childhood up to the time of her death she was always of a quiet and refined disposition and greatly respected by all who knew her. On Dec. 31, 1891, she was united in holy wedlock with Mr. Lenzner, who now mourns the sudden departure of his companion, the mother of his two orphaned children. Besides a mourning husband, a daughter, Gladys, nine years old, a little son, Gray, nearly three years old, the deceased is survived by her mother, three brothers and one sister.

The time for the funeral is not fully settled as we go to press, but it is stated that it will be either Saturday or Sunday.

(Transcribed by Melinda McLemore Strong, January 2008)

Notes:

Letter from Walter Gramble (1938), reprinted in The Way It Was, publication of The Cass City Historical Society:

"Then came Oscar Lenzner and his furniture store and factory, his wonderful family of boys, his ingenuity and his music, his glowing tales of far away Austria and its glittering capital Vienna, which he very properly insisted was 'Wa-en-a'. he made furniture, he made musical instruments and could play them. His banjo-guitararina, invented, made and played by himself was worth a chapter in the history of Cass City."

Cass City Enterprises
Vol. XVI. No. 17
April 1, 1897.
Page One

Just before noon to-day, Franklin Lenzner went into his father's shop at his residence on Oak Street and was startled to find the old gentleman fallen upon his face. He was at once cared for and medical aid summoned but all efforts failed to resuscitate him. Oscar Lenzner, Sen., was a native of Germany, but has resided here for many years and has a wide circle of friends, his reputation as a manufacturer of stringed musical instruments being widespread. He was about seventy-three years of age and has been quite active up to the time of his death, being still able to make the very finest inlaid work. Further particulars will be given next week. The cause of his death was paralysis.

Cass City Enterprises
Vol. XVI. No. 18
April 8, 1897.
Page Eight

A Sudden Call

As stated in our last issue, Oscar Lenzner, Sr., suddenly expired on Thursday, the 1?sup?st?/sup? inst., from a stroke of paralysis. Between the hours of ten and eleven that morning, his son, Franklin, was at work at the turning lathe at their workshop on Main Street, and had nearly completed the job he was at when he felt a sudden impulse to go to his father's. Making an excuse to his brother, he went to the house and meeting his mother at the kitchen door, asked if his father was in the shop. His mother replied that he was and they went towards the door which stood open and before entering they saw him lying face downward on the floor. It seems that Mrs. Lenzner had stepped outside a few moments previously for a pail of water and it is thought he must have fallen while she was out. His forehead struck against some coarse chips which cut quite an ugly gash. The doctor was at once summoned but life was extinct. He had three strokes of paralysis previous to this time and it was feared he would go in this manner.

Deceased was born Feb. 14?sup?th?/sup?, 1825, in Leubetha, Saxony, Germany. There he learned the art of making violins and he had ever since taken a special pride in the manufacture of stringed instruments. In the year 1849 he came to America, taking up his residence at Lancaster, N.Y. On June 20, 1853, he was married to Susanna Striffler and came to Cass City in June, 1873. He conducted the furniture store on Main Street, until in more recent years his sons have managed it. Samuel and John are now in Detroit, while Oscar and Franklin are still in the business started by their father. Some years ago deceased secured a patent on a musical instrument called the banjo-guitarina and has since paid especial attention to its manufacture. He also invented what is known as "Kings David's harp" and made guitars, banjos, dulcimers, autoharps, etc. His mechanical ability was of a high order, his ideal of work being that of the true artist:--"Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well." Into every bit of work he did he put his heart. He has spent twenty-five years in this community and we will not again see his equal. Besides the four sons, already mentioned, a widow and daughter survive.

The funeral services were held at the house Sunday morning and were conducted by Rev. B. J. Baxter, of the Presbyterian Church assisted by Rev. B. F. Wade, late of the Evangelical Church, Elkton. The services were attended by a large company of relatives and friends many of whom also followed the remains to the Elkland cemetery. He will be missed, not only by our citizens, but by many others, especially amongst the commercial travelers, who were in the habit of visiting his home when in town. He is gone, but the sweet strains of music he has produced still ring in the souls of hundreds.

(Transcribed by Melinda McLemore Strong, January 2008)

Christian married Susanna Catharina Striffler on 20 Jun 1853 in Erie County, New York. Susanna (daughter of Jacob Anton Striffler and Ottila "Odila" "Otil" Zimmerman) was born on 6 Aug 1823 in Kirberg, Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine, Imperial Territory Of Alsace-Lorraine, Elsa?-Lothringen, Germany; died on 28 Apr 1905 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Cass City Chronicle
Friday, October 29, 1915
Colwood

Mr. and Mrs. H.F. Lenzner and little daughter, Mrs. C.O. Lenzner, Miss Emma Lenzner of Cass City and Mrs. Samuel Lenzner of Detroit were Colwood visitors Friday night.

Cass City Chronicle
May 5, 1905, page 1

Pioneer Passed Away

Another pioneer has passed away in the person of Mrs. Susan Lenzer, who died at her home at the corner of Oak and Pine streets, last Friday evening, April 28.

Mrs. Lenzer, nee Striffler, was born Aug. 6, 1823, in the province of Lorraine, then a part of France but now a part of Germany. When she was six years of age her parents sailed for America ans settled near Lancaster, New York. In 1853 she was married to C.O. Lenzer, Sr. To this union five children were born, all of whom survive. In 1873 the family moved to Cass City, where Mr. Lenzer entered into the furniture business and continued the same for many years. He died in 1897.

At an early age Mrs. Lenzer joined the Reformed church and has lived a consistent Christian life and followed the teaching of the Golden Rule. For some years she has been in feeble health and was very ill the two weeks preceding her death. Her departure is mourned by a host of relatives and friends in whose estimation she was held in high esteem. Five children--Miss Emma, C.O. and Franklin of this place, John of Gagetown and Samuel of Detroit, and two brothers, John and Christian Striffler of Cass City, survive.

The funeral services were held at the residence Sunday Afternoon, Rev. Berge officiating, and the remains interred in the Elkland cemetery. The out of town relatives present were Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Lenzer of Detroit, John Lenzer of Gagetown, Mr. and Mrs. S.W. Striffler and W. D. Striffler of Argyle.

(Transcribed by Melinda McLemore Strong)

(Research):
Census Information:

1880 Census
Oscar Sr. LENSPAER Self M Male W 54 SAXONY Cabinet Maker SAXONY SAXONY
Susanna LENSPAER Wife M Female W 56 FRANCE Keeping House FRA. FRA.
John LENSPAER Son S Male W 23 NY Cabinet Maker SAXONY FRA.
Franklin LENSPAER Son S Male W 21 NY Carpenter SAXONY FRA.
Samuel LENSPAER Son S Male W 19 NY Carpenter SAXONY FRA.
Emma LENSPAER Dau S Female W 16 NY At School SAXONY FRA.
Source Information:
Census Place Cass City, Tuscola, Michigan
Family History Library Film 1254607
NA Film Number T9-0607
Page Number 100D

1900 Census
Michigan, Tuscola County, Cass City Village
Enumerated 8 June 1900 by A.D. Gallis
SD 8 ED 11 Sheet 5A Stamped 119
Pine Street
96-99
Lenzner, Susan Hd W F Jan 183 (sic) ?? W 47 5/5 Germany Germany Germany 1830 70
Lenzner, Emma Dtr W F Jun 1863 36 S NY Germany Germany Dress Maker
Linzner, John Border W M Oct 1847 52 S Ny Germany Germany Day Laborer

Notes:

According to the Rev. Roy J. Striffler, the Striffler's emigrated from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France to New York State in 1830. They were part of the German-speaking population of Alsace. Some of the older Striffler family members recalled a family joke---there were 11 boys in the family, and all of them had a sister Susanna. She married Christian Oscar Lenzner. Family genealogists have only been able to account for eight of the 12 children however. Two of the boys married Benkelman sisters. One son married Mary Rommel, and as there were several Benkelman/Rommel marriages as well, the two families became further intertwined.

Although the family originally settled in New York only Jacob's son David remained in New York. Peter pushed further west, to Kansas. Around 1880, most of the others settled in Cass City, Michigan, where they lived until their deaths. They cut off the stumps remaining on the land they built and turned the wilderness into fruitful farm land.

(Excerpted from Art Peck's THE TEN BENKELMANS WHO EMIGRATED TO AMERICA. He in turn references a September 4, 1950 article from the "Striffler-Benkelman Broadcast", Volume 13, Cass City, Michigan)

Both the flyleaf of the Striffler family Bible, and the tombstone of Jacob Striffler in Lancaster, showed him to be be born in Kirrberg, "departmente de Rhein." (Jacobs, p. 164). In the chapter on the Striffler family in her unpublished 1981 manuscript, BonnieMargaret Jacobs noted that widely spread family stories stated that the Striffler family originated in Switzerland (p. 164). It would appear these were either errorneous, or that the family moved from Switzerland to Alsace.


BonnieMargaret Benkelman Jacobs, in an undated family report she prepared for some of the descendants of the Striffler brothers who married Benkelmann sisters, wrote that birth records had been of the children born to Jacob and Otillia "Have been extracted from the French civil records and translated, and show 8 children born in France, two of whom died while still just children (one was only 15 months old, the other just a few months past their sixth birthday). She stated that "these official civil records support the oft repeated family joke, "There are seven brothers and each one has a sister." On page 165 of her unpublished 1981 manuscript documenting the Benkelman family, she repeated this saying, adding however that "one Striffler heard the riddle with 11 brothers and it should be noted that there is still much to be learned about this family."

With the records in France showing 8 children were born there, and census records show two known children born in the United States, it appears we can account for 10 of the 11. It is possible that records may be uncovered one day to find the final child, or that this final son may have been stillborn or died at a young age, and his memory passed down only through the family joke or riddle.

Jacob married Ottila "Odila" "Otil" Zimmerman on 4 Nov 1809 in Kirberg, Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine, Imperial Territory Of Alsace-Lorraine, Elsa?-Lothringen, Germany. Ottila was born on 10 Nov 1790 in Kirberg, Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine, Imperial Territory Of Alsace-Lorraine, Elsa?-Lothringen, Germany; died on 17 Sep 1863 in Lancaster, Erie County, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Her father was a school master.

(Research):

Census Listings;

1850 Census
New York, Erie County, Lancaster
Enumerated 23 Aug 1850
Page 200
1048-1082
Otil Strifler 59 F $2550 Germany
Jacob Strifler 30 M Farmer
Susanna Strifler 27 F
Joseph Stifler 24 M Farmer
Christian Strifler 22 m Farmer
John Strifler 17 Farmer New York (sic)
David Strifler 14

1860 Census
Not located