Lewis Frederick Röhr (English spelling- Roehr) was born in Germany on January 19, 1830. Caroline Amelia Pohinoe was born at Calbitz Germany on June 3, 1831.
Lewis and Caroline married in July of 1853. They were the parents of six children; Amelia Alvine, born October 28, 1855; Minnie Leventa, born March 26, 1857; Alvin Gustave Lewis, born August 12, 1867; Pauline, Oscar, and Julius.
The latter three listed died in Germany before the family immigrated.
In July of 1870 the Lewis Roehr family emigrated from Rotenberg, province of Niedersachsen, to Baraboo, Sauk County Wisconsin. Caroline was pregnant with her seventh child, Edmund Frederick, when she came to America. Edmund was born in Baraboo on August 12, 1870.
Four years earlier, in 1866, the William Roehr family had come to America. They settled in Mitchell County Iowa near Osage.
William was a brother to Lewis Roehr and while in Wisconsin Lewis had word from him to "come to Iowa where we are, the soil is so rich." In the fall of 1872 Lewis Roehr arrived in Mitchell County. On March 6, 1873 he bought a 160 acre farm in West Cedar Township from Frederick Gratias. The price was $ 1600.00, 10 percent per annual interest, to be paid on or before May 1, 1882.
On February 13, 1874 Bertha Caroline was born, the eighth child of Lewis and Caroline Roehr.
In Germany Lewis had been attacked by a wild boar and was left with a stiff right leg the rest of his life. A hired man was needed and the boys, Alvin and Edmund, were a big help in their growing up years.
The old house was in bad shape so a new one was built. All the materials needed came from Osage by horse drawn wagons. Before the new house was completed the mother of the family died. Caroline Pohinoe Roehr entered her rest on October 29, 1899 at the age of 68.
She is buried in the old cemetery two miles south of Meroa.
Son Alvin G. was on the farm helping his father and on March 19, 1909 Lewis F. Roehr passed away at the age of 79. He is buried next to his wife.
Alvin G. inherited the farm and he farmed it with success, raised prime cattle and had some of the areas best riding horses. The farm became known as the Evergreen Stock Farm.
In 1886 France gave our country a gift. She is a lady who stands on Ellis Island in the harbor of New York City. High in her hand she holds the Torch of Liberty. She has greeted millions of immigrants since then. One can only wonder and speculate how it was or might have been 16 years earlier in 1870, a family named Roehr left the fatherland, relatives, friends, and three of their children buried in German soil.
They came with their three surviving children to a strange land with hope of a new life. They raised their children, and with determination and hard work, they were blessed with a good life. Their children carried on with determination also. They knew, and we know, that life is not without its times of heartaches and its times of joy, its times of success and its time of failure. The Roehr’s have seen and gone through all these life experiences. They are a proud family and yet stand humble before our God.
To the descendents of all the early pioneers of Mitchell County, who are remembered in this book; honor, friendships, and family are important, humor is a saving grace, work well done is its own reward, the accumulated wisdom of a long life should be shared, and the only memorable gift, is the gift of yourself.
These are some of the values of all brave pioneers. For their "caring" and "daring" they gave us a heritage we can all be proud of.
Written by Alvin (Dale) Roehr
Submitted to IaGenWeb by Kathy Pike (April 2005)