Dora (Jansen) Gehr (1857 - 1929)

Wife of Friederich Gehr — married 20 Oct 1878 in Brown, Wisconsin, United States

Descendants

Died 27 Apr 1929 at about age 72 in Green Bay, Brown, Wisconsin, United States

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Biography

Dora Jansen Gehr

Dora was the eldest of thirteen children. Her father, Charles Jansen, died shortly after the youngest was born. Naturally, Grandma Jansen had a hard time with her large family. Grandma Gehr, Dora's daughter, was always ready to help. She and Grandpa Gehr got her a cow. They helped take care of the little ones. When they got married and had children, she was always there to take care of the living and when needed, to bury those who did not survive.

She was an outstanding gardener. She could make anything grow. Her back yard on Jefferson Street was next to Meier and Isbraeders Florists. She could even take their discarded flowers and make them root.

She built a house on Webster Avenue, but moved her old house on Jefferson Street to part of the property facing Eliza Street. Not satisfied with moving the house, she also insisted on moving all the topsoil from the downtown property. Soil from the lower part of town not far from the river was rich in nutrients. The native soil on the hill where she built the new house is all clay. Even today that is the only lot on the hill with nice black soil.

Up on the hill Grandma Gehr continued her work with flowers. She planted and planted and continued to spread out. Not only was she a good gardener, she was a good manager as well as a doer. Her brother Gus used to help in the garden. Rachel, one of her twin sisters (Molly, the other died of typhoid before she was 20) helped with the cooking and Annie with the sewing. Oh yes, she could sew anything, even furs. Grandma prepared big roasts and turkey, etc. for Grandpa's saloon on Main Street.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ From family notes

• "Wisconsin, County Marriages, 1836-1911," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRVQ-VL3 : 17 March 2018), Friedrich Gehr and Dora Jansen, 20 Oct 1878; citing , Brown, Wisconsin, United States, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison; FHL microfilm 1,275,774.