The French Connection

I am currently in the process of incorporating the research on the French side of the family tree that was done by William E. Loll, my 3rd cousin 2x removed, who wrote 4 volumes of Family History on the Loll Family and traveled to France to do research.

The French Connection begins with Theresa Loll, my 3rd great grandmother. Theresa was born May 12, 1835 in Marcholsheim, Alsace, France. Theresa was born during the last monarchy in France, Louis Philippe I was King of France.

Theresa was the fourth of eight known children born to Antoine Loll and Mary Ann Jehl. During Theresa's childhood there was protest and revolt around France. Strikes and worker demonstrations were becoming more common among the laboring classes. February 24, 1848 brought the end of the monarchy in France when Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was elected President of France by popular vote.  

When Theresa was 17, she moved with her family from Marcholsheim, Alsace, France to the United States. The family ranging from her mother to her four year old sister departed from the Port of Le Harve, France on the "Brig Olivia" or "Bark Olivia". Specific details on the vessel are unknown. From other recorded manifests, the ship was able to provide passage for approximately 159 passengers.  

 The family arrived at the Port of New York October 7,1852. Interestingly enough, the ship's manifest only includes nine Loll family members, listed as French farmers. Theresa's Father, Antoine Loll is not listed. It is plausible that he traveled to the United States ahead of his family and re-connected with them in the United States. It is unknown if the family moved to the United States to avoid the civil unrest in France or if they interested in the propects of a new life.  

The family then traveled from New York and settled in Knox Township, Clarion County, Pennsylvania.

Theresa was married within a year of arriving to the United States. On January 20, 1853, at age 18, she married Leopold Guth, 23, at the Immaculate Conception Church in Clarion, Clarion County, Pennsylvania. Leopold Guth, born November 14, 1830 in Untersimmonswald, Province of Baden, Germany the son of Anton Guth and Theresia Rösch . Leopold's estimated arrival was in 1850.  Leopold Guth was a jeweler and watchmaker, a skill he leaned from his father.

Nine years after Theresa arrived to the United States, she and her family would live through the Civil War. Her brother John Loll would serve in the Union Army at age 18. In Feburary of 1862 he would be wounded in battle and would die as a casualty of war on June 10, 1862 in a hospital in Washington, D.C.

Leopold and Theresa are documented as living in the Clarion Borough, Clarion County, Pennsylvania on June 1, 1880 according to the 1880 United States Federal Census. On June 7, 1900 Leopold and Theresa are documented as living on Main Street, Clarion, Clarion County, Pennsylvania according to the 1900 United States Federal Census.

Leopold and Theresa had 12 children, 11 of which the names are know. I am a descendant of their daughter, Frances Philomena Guth, my 2nd great-grandmother.

Notable historical events in Theresa's life included the assassination of two Unites States Presidents, President Lincoln on April 14, 1865 and President McKinley on September 6, 1901, the US Purchase of Alaska on March 30, 1867 and the Great Chicago Fire on October 8, 1871.

Theresa lived to be 69 and died on September 12, 1904. She is buried at the Immaculate Conception Church Cemetery in Clarion, Clarion County, Pennsylvania.

References:

1. 1880 U. S. census, 1880 United States Federal Census schedule, Clarion, Pennsylvania, Family of Leopold Guth. Supervisor's District10, Enumeration District 66, Enumeration Date June 1, 1880, Lines 35-42.; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com).
2. 1900 U. S. census, 1900 United States Federal Census schedule, Clarion , Pennsylvania, Family of Leopold Guth. Supervisor's District 14, Enumeration District 6, Enumeration Date June 7, 1900, Lines 19-21.; digital image, (www.ancestry.com).
3. Find A Grave Memorial# 84821479. www.findagrave.com
4. Find A Grave Memorial# 84821414. www.findagrave.com