The JERGENS Family of Dayton, Ohio

The Jergens Family of Dayton, Ohio

Jergens photo

ABOVE: This photo was taken prior to July 6, 1899, the date on which Maria (Steffen) Jergens
(front row, second from left) died. Maria’s bearded husband, Phillip, Sr., sits beside her.
The others are their seven surviving children.

Back row, left to right: Elizabeth (Jergens) Logel; Peter Jergens, Sr.; Phillip Jergens, Jr.; and Joseph Jergens.
By process of elimination, we identify the woman on the far right of the back row as Maggie (Margaret Jergens)
Kleinfelder. In the front row, seated on the far left, is Helena (Jergens) Zink, married to Jacob Zink. Seated on
the far right is Mary (Jergens) Zink, who married Joseph Zink.

 

Jergens photo Jergens photo

ABOVE LEFT: Phillip Jergens, Sr. and his wife Maria (Steffen) Jergens, both Roman Catholics, are shown holding prayer books and a rosary. This formal portrait was most likely made in honor of Phillip and Maria’s 50th wedding anniversary on January 21, 1895. We realized that our copy had been reversed in the reprinting process (compare with the photo above, right).
ABOVE RIGHT: This copy of the same picture, shown preserved with its original embossed cardboard mount, came to us via Steffen descendant Donald A. Baumann of Kentucky, who obtained it from a Baumann cousin also with ties to the Steffen family. It had been misidentified as the anniversary photo of Elizabeth (Steffen) Barbian, Maria (Steffen) Jergens' youngest sister.

 

Jergens family photo

ABOVE: This photo of the extended Jergens family was taken circa 1896.

Back row, left to right: Mary (Abele) Jergens and her husband, Phillip Jergens, Jr.; Maggie (Margaret Jergens) Kleinfelder, standing next to a man who probably is her husband John Kleinfelder; Elizabeth (Jergens) Logel; Joseph Jergens and his wife Lucy (Dessecker) Jergens.

Middle row, left to right: Jacob and Helena (Jergens) Zink; Maria (Steffen) Jergens and Phillip Jergens, Sr.; Mary (Jergens) Zink; and Peter Jergens, Sr.

Front row, children: Seated third from left is Ida Jergens, the daughter of Mary (Abele) and Phillip Jergens, Jr. The two little boys sitting immediately in front of Phillip Jergens, Sr., are Harry Jergens and Peter Jergens, Jr., the sons of Peter Jergens, Sr., and his late wife Magdalena (Abele) Jergens. (We would love to name the rest of these kids, if anyone can help us to identify them.)

 

Jergens heirloom item

ABOVE: This little glass mug, which is not much bigger than a votive candle holder (two-and-seven-eighths inches tall, two-and-a-half inches in diameter), is inscribed with the name “Phillip Sr.” and probably was given as a gift to Phillip Jergens, Sr. (1823-1907). It is made of clear glass with what appears to be an overlay of a ruby red stain. On one side Phillip’s name is etched through the red overlay, with the words “Cedar Point” etched on the other. Cedar Point, on Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio, is an amusement park/beachfront resort which opened in 1870.

 

Phillip Jergens, Jr. and his wife Mary Abele

ABOVE: Undated portrait photos of Phillip Jergens, Jr. (1855-1937) and his wife Mary (Abele) Jergens (1860-1944)

 

probably siblings Ida and Phillip P. Jergens Phillip P. Jergens item in the Dayton Herald, 23 September 1925

ABOVE LEFT: The children in this portrait photo likely are Ida and Phillip, the children of Mary (Abele) and Phillip Jergens, Jr.

ABOVE RIGHT: This photo of Phillip P. Jergens, published in the Dayton Herald on Sept. 23, 1925, appears to be the mature version of the boy in the photo to the left. The eyes, especially, are a match.

 

Frank Meyers, Ida Jergens, and two other people

ABOVE: This group portrait probably is the wedding photo of Frank K. Meyers (seated) and Ida M. Jergens (right), May 1915.
The two people in the back very likely were Ida’s maid of honor, Helen A. Leonard, and and Frank’s best man, Lawrence J. Abele.

The Dayton Daily News published an item about the Jergens‐Meyers wedding, which took place at Our Lady of the Rosary church (called Holy Rosary, below) in Dayton on Wed., May 12, 1915:

A very pretty wedding was solemnized at Holy Rosary Church, when Miss Ida Mary Jergens, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Jergens, jr., of Troy pike, became the bride of Frank K. Meyers of Cincinnati. The church was beautifully decorated with many lighted candles, palms and cut flowers. Rev. Father Frohmiller was the officiating minister, the double ring service being used. The bride was very sweet and girlish in her dainty wedding gown of white crepe de chine, with a beautiful white hat to match. She carried a white prayer book, with a single rose. The bridesmaid, Miss Helen Leonard, was very charming in yellow crepe de chine with hat to match, and she carried an armful of beautiful ward roses, tied with a bow of tulle. Lawrence J. Abele attended the groom, and Philip Gilbert Abele and Gerald Joseph Small were the ushers. After the ceremony a wedding breakfast was served to the near relatives, all the appointments being prettily carried out in white and yellow. The table was centered with a handsome basket of white sweet peas and daisies, tied with fluffy bows of tulle. After June 1 Mr. and Mrs. Meyers will be home to their many friends at 1920 Crane avenue, Evanston, Cincinnati.

Lawrence Joseph Abele was Ida’s first cousin, the son of her maternal uncle Joseph Abele. Helen Agnes Leonard went on to marry Lawrence J. Abele in St. Mary’s church in Dayton on June 13, 1917.

 

Franklyn J. Meyers (1916‐1931) Charlotte Louise Meyers

ABOVE LEFT: Franklyn J. Meyers, son of Frank K. and Ida (Jergens) Meyers. He died of pneumonia a couple of months shy of his fifteenth birthday.

ABOVE RIGHT: Charlotte Louise Meyers, daughter of Frank K. and Ida (Jergens) Meyers.

 

Jergens family photo Magdalena Jergens' rocking chair

ABOVE LEFT: Magdalena Abele and Peter Jergens, Sr., in what is likely their wedding photo.
ABOVE RIGHT: This rocking chair once belonged to Magdalena (Abele) Jergens [1871-1895].

 

Jergens family photo Jergens family photo

ABOVE: The absence of Maria (Steffen) Jergens and the age of the boys lead us to speculate that these
photos were taken around 1900. In the photo on the left are pictured (left to right) Peter Jergens, Jr.,
grandfather Phillip Jergens, Sr., and Harry Jergens. The photo on the right shows the boys, Harry and
Peter, Jr., with their father, Peter Jergens, Sr.

 

 

Jergens photo

ABOVE: Wedding photo for Peter Jergens, Jr., and Cecilia M. Leyes, May 10, 1917.
In the back row are Jim Leidig (Cecilia's sister Dorothy’s husband)
and Cecilia's sister Louise “Lula” Leyes.

 

Jergens photo

ABOVE: Circa 1930, five Jergens siblings at home at 1933 Old Troy Pike, Dayton, Ohio. In the background can be seen part of the long barn.

Charles & Elizabeth (Jergens) (Logel) Heckler; John & Elizabeth (Edemann) Logel; Harry & Bertha (Rediess) Jergens; and Peter & Cecilia (Leyes) Jergens all made their homes on that parcel of land on the Old Troy Pike acquired by Phillip Jergens, Sr., circa 1854. The houses and buildings eventually were torn down but nearby Jergens Road honors the family name.

 

Photo, circa 1940, of three Jergens sisters in front of the old brick house that stood on Phillip Jergens, Sr.'s land.

ABOVE: This photo, taken circa 1940, shows three Jergens sisters
(left to right: Rita; Madonna; and Margaret) in front of the small brick
house
that stood on Phillip Jergens, Sr.’s land. This is the same house
where Maria (Steffen) Jergens gave birth to sons Phillip, Jr., Peter,
William, and Joseph. The brick house is gone now.

 

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