Melcher Pottery

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Permalink Reply by Denise Melcher Goodale on February 8, 2012 at 10:09am

Ok, it is good that Rebecca found me and called me back!  I had forgetten this request for a comment.

 

In 1839 cousins Dennis and Anton Melcher boarded the brigg Julia and arrived in New Orleans.  I am left to imagine that they boarded a Steamboat and headed up the Mississippi River.  Dennis married Mary Ann Faust in 1842 and moved to Iowa in 1843.  Anton married Catharine Dannenhold in 1844 and settled in Louisville, KY.  The cousins learned the Pottery trade from their fathers and Grandfather in Germany.  There was revolution in the Black Forrest and all of the military age boys came to America.  German records list the boys births, but not their deaths and that is how we begin our research.

 

Dennis' family came to Iowa and worked at the Family trade.  Anton's brothers, John, Valentine and Henry came to America and worked in the Lousiville area.  All of the brothers and Cousins married and had families.  Several of the next generation were also potters who were trained by their Fathers and Uncles.  When the pottery industry began to change and slow generation 1 & 2 began to move to potteries throughout the US.  Henry to Illinois and Indiana.  John & Valentine to Indiana and Joseph to Texas. 

 

When Anton passed in 1854, his wife Catharine continued the family business until the Civil War.  Henry stayed home and ran the Pottery business.  John and Valentine served in the War.

 

I have some information that suggests that the Melcher Boys served in the Mexican Skirmish.  Does anyone have any confirming information or comments?

 

I wonder, why would the cousins leave their Country to avoid a war and join a war for a new Country of which they were not even citizens.  I believe this :"cause" would have had significant impact on the Iowa Melchers.

 

Let me know what you think.  Denise

Permalink Reply by Beth Partridge on March 30, 2013 at 6:13pm

I am also a descendent of Melchers from Baden. Mine were from Au Am Rhein, Baden which is not far from Oberweier. My Joseph Melcher came to Burlington, Iowa in the 1850's with his wife Mary and their sons Joseph and Herman. A daughter, Emma was born in Burlington. They were not in the pottery business. I have read about the Melcher's who were potters but my mother said we weren't related to them. I am finding that hard to believe because of how close the home towns were in Germany. Do you know if these two families are connected?

Permalink Reply by Denise Melcher Goodale on April 8, 2014 at 11:21am

The German Melcher family is quite large with many siblings and cousins not listed here. Joseph is also a common family name.  Brothers, Dennis and Edward brought the craft to Des Moines/Burlington Iowa areas. They sponsored family transitions to this new country. If you want to find your connection, I would start with the Iowa patriarchs, Dennis and Edward Melcher. All Melchers were not potters. Some were stone carvers, farmers, grocers, bartenders to name a few. Happy hunting!

Permalink Reply by Linda Melcher Woodbury on August 25, 2015 at 5:17pm

Hi Beth,

I spent quite a chunk of time looking into the "Joseph" connection, because I also felt there must be a connection. Definite patterns were established by the immigrating Melchers. The Germany brothers (important: all with the same mother) sent their sons and daughters to America maintaining some directive of settlement areas. The earliest Melcher visitor was one of the Germany brothers and possibly the Patriarch himself. While the "Germany-based brothers" didn't settle in America (disclaimer: one Iowa brother settled, but went back to Germany in his late years based on family lore), they certainly traveled to Kentucky to check it out in the earliest American Immigration era. There is a book of record showing this at the Filson Club (Louisville, KY).

Now, back to your earliest Joseph and his connection to this family plan. The Germany "Father/Patriarch" married several times and lived quite a long life. His next to final wife is your matriarch. The child born to the couple is your oldest Joseph. Since her death date is within days of Joseph's birth date, I have deducted that she must have died in child birth, and thus, no additional records of their small family. But remember, the father of Joseph is the same father as the "Germany Brothers"; making Joseph the half-brother and much, much younger. The "Germany Brothers" were adults with young adult children when your Joseph was born. On an interesting note, the Patriarch's last wife is the sister of your matriarch.

Therefore, I can understand why Joseph immigrated much later than the "traveling cousins". It also makes sense why Joseph moved into the KY and IA Melcher vicinities, but never fully functioned within the broader immigrating family. We see this occurring in both the Portland/Louisville, KY area, as well as, the Iowa area. Iowa and Louisville, KY Melchers are cousins and in your line, half-cousins. Your Joseph line showed up in KY for a time and then moved on to settle in Iowa with the Melchers there. If you review a map of the early to mid-1800's you can see that the established largest areas where they settled (KY and IA) were only a few waterway stops from each other.

I can gather the exact names if desired. The story line is quite interesting in, and of itself though. The best way to see and retrieve the family history data is to look for the LLWOODBURY family file for MELCHER/NICHOLSON on ancestry.com. The software allows you to import the data to your family file. Denise and I strictly gather our records from source documents and not from other family files that may be incorrect. The major source of our earliest years has a wonderful story:-). A priest of the area actually compiled the Melcher family pedigree by hand in the back pages of his Parish Record Book! It seems that their were several families from his parish that he did that extra record keeping for. When the record was translated from German to English,  this wonderful blessing became apparent.

Happy Hunting:-),

Linda