The Möehlmann Family

The Möehlmann Family of Conover, ca. 1915
(back row L-R): Walter Albert, Gustav "Gush," Gertrude and  Clara Johanna. (middle row): Gerhardt Carl "Jim," Henrietta "Etta," Margaret and Ernst Otto, (front row): Ruth Augusta, Wilhelmine (Kaufmann) "Minnie" and Frederick W. "Beck.
Missing from the picture is Gustov Edward who took the picture

Möehlmanns Make A Home In Conover

There were probably many reasons why the Möehlmann family chose to move to North Carolina from Sheboygan, Wisconsin in December 1905. The winters there were quite harsh and Gustov and Minnie Möehlmann both had health problems that a warmer climate would probably remedy.

As devout Lutherans with a large family, they valued a sound Christian education for their children and sought to procure it for them by choosing the North Carolina town of Conover. Concordia College and parochial school had been established as well as Concordia Lutheran Church.

Gustav Edward (born March 28, 1865) was a Lutheran parochial school teacher, organist and choir director at St. Johns Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Wisconsin resigning there because of poor health. After moving to Conover he became an amateur photographer. Many of his pictures are still used today in showing the history of Conover and the surrounding area. The cameras he used for his hobby are on display at the Catawba County Museum given by the family.

Wilhelmine "Minnie" nee Kaufmann (born Nov. 24, 1867) was also a school teacher, but her special interests centered in her family of 10 children and in her church. Near to her heart was supporting the work of struggling young mission churches in the Southeastern District and throughout the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Minnie showed a special concern for the black race and was instrumental in establishing a black mission church in Conover.

The children of G.E. and Minnie are as follows:

Clara Johanna (born Feb. 16, 1890) married Rev. W.O. Bischoff. They had seven children and lived in Ohio. Pastor Bischoff served as minister to Concordia in Conover from 1913 to 1915. Clara died Jan. 22,1989.

Gertrude (born May 25, 1893) married Wilbur Coyner. They managed a large farm in Waynesboro, Virginia and reared five children. She died April 15, 1982.

Walter Albert (born Nov. 6, 1895) never married. He served with the K Company Casualty Detachment 160 Depot Brigade during World War I. He was also an accomplished musician, teaching and playing violin. He was Conover's town clerk for 28 years. He died July 8, 1977.

Gustav "Gush" (born Jan. 24, 1898) married Sarah Ellen Smith (daughter of the Rev. CO. Smith of this area). Gush was a barber and his wife a beautician. They were the parents of three children. They moved to Glendale, California in the 1940s. He died Dec. 31, 1984.

Ernst Otto (born Aug. 22, 1900) was married to Helen Deitz. He was educated at Concordia College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he studied medicine. He served the town of Richland, Pennsylvania as their only doctor for many years. He and Helen had four children. He died in April 1981.

Margaret (born Nov. 24, 1902) married Addison Houston. She attended Concordia College and went to nurses training in Asheville. They had no children. At age 90, she still resides in Richmond, Virginia, her home for many years.

Gerhardt Carl "Jim" (born July 11, 1904) married Dorthea Unger of Schenectady, New York. They had no children. Jim studied at Concordia College and also at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, getting a degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, he went to work for General Electric in New York. Years later, they moved to Michigan and resided there until his retirement from Consumers Power Company. They moved back to North Carolina and are residing now at Abernethy Center in Newton.

Henrietta "Etta" was born July 10, 1907 in Conover. She was educated at Concordia College and went to nurses training in Cleveland, Ohio. She married Clarence Kurth who was a parochial school teacher at Concordia. They lived for some time in Chicago, Illinois. They had two sons and a daughter, Lorna, who married James Bradshaw and still lives in Hickory where she served as the cafeteria manager at the school from 1946 to 1973. She died Jan. 19, 1989. Her husband, Clarence Kurth, resides at Camelot Nursing Center in Granite Falls. in Hickory. Etta and her husband were active in St. Stephens Lutheran Church in Hickory where she served as the cafeteria manager at the school from 1946 to 1973. She died Jan. 19, 1989. Her husband, Clarence Kurth, resides at Camelot Nursing Center in Granite Falls.

Frederick W. "Beck" was born Dec.7, 1908 in Conover. He was educated at Concordia Parochial School, Bronxville Preparatory School in New York, Lenoir-Rhyne College, and also had training in printing at Nashville, Tennessee. In the late 1940s and 1950s, he was a professional horse trainer. For 45 years, ''Beck" was the organist at Concordia Lutheran Church. Because of his love of music, he became a sales, service and installer of Wicks Pipe Organs in the Southeastern United States. In 1930, he married Laura Pauline Cline from Hickory. (She was the granddaughter of Dallas Yount, a well-known Catawba County pioneer.) Beck and Polly had a daughter, Shirley, who married Newton dentist C.W. Canrobert and they reside in Conover. A son, John F. Möehlmann, a professor at High Point College in High Point. Beck died Aug. 15, 1990.

Ruth Augusta (born Jan. 8, 1911; attended Concordia College and Woman's College in Greensboro, receiving a degree in home economics. She was married to the Rev. Richard F. Lineberger in1935. Pastor Lineberger served as minister at Concordia from 1944 to 1961.Ruth's interests centered in her church and various other civic affairs. They had a son and twin daughters. Ruth died Dec.31,1992.

Gustav and Minnie Möehlmann are pictured above on their wedding day. The couple moved to Conover in 1905 from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. They had health problems, prompting them to move to a warmer climate. They settled in Conover becoming active members of the community and raising their 10 children. [Observer News Enterprise,Scrapbook Edition, Wednesday, April 28,1993, pg. 10]
 

FREDERICK W. MÖEHLMANN

Conover native and noted organist Frederick William "Beck" Möehlmann, 81, died August 15th following a period of declining health. He died at the residence of his daughter, Shirley (Mrs. Clarence) Canrobert, in Conover.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Drum Funeral Home of Conover. The funeral will be conducted later this week at Concordia Church and interment will be in the Conover City Cemetery.

The life-long resident of Conover was widely known for his musical career, having served as organist for Concordia Lutheran Church in Conover for half a century. He was also a builder and salesman for pipe organs and was a nationally-respected specialist in that field.
Mr. Möehlmann, who had been a teacher and a master builder of pipe organs, had also represented an organ sales company. His interest outside music included show horses, and he had a wide circle of friends on the horse show circuit.

A member of a pioneer Conover family whose roots go back to Germany, Mr. Möehlmann played the major role in designing the pipe organ in the sanctuary of the present Concordia Church building when it was constructed in the 1950s on the site of the former Concordia Lutheran college.

He was married to the former Pauline Cline, who died in 1988, and is survived by Mrs. Canrobert, wife of a Conover dentist, and a son, Dr. John Möehlmann, a member of the faculty of Highpoint College. Also surviving are two sisters, Mrs. R.F. (Ruth) Lineberger of Conover, whose late husband was a long-time pastor at Concordia Church, and Mrs. Margaret Houston of Richmond; a brother, Mr. Gerhardt "Jim" Möehlmann of Newton; seven grandchildren; and two great grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to Hospice of Catawba Valley in Hickory. [The Hickory (N.C.) News, Thursday, August 16,1990, pg 10A]

[This information was submitted for this special edition by Shirley Canrobert, daughter of Frederick Möehlmann]
 

Photo courtesy of Don Barker

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