Christian Johann Carl Theodore Voss
Christian Johann Carl Theodore Voss was born November 18, 1837 in Schwasdorf, Germany, and died 1922 in Lockport, NY. He married the first time to Sophie Henrike Friederick Marie Giermann on November 28, 1859 in Schloen, Germany, daughter of Joachim Christopher Gierman. She was born February 03, 1838 in Kargow, Germany, and died in Germany. He married for the second time to Caroline Nieman sometime after 1870. She was born in 1840 in Mechlenburg, Schwiern, Germany, and died in 1902 in Lockport, NY.
Christian also known as "Christopher Vohs" Immigrated on the ship, "Moravia", of the Hamburg-Amarica Line, along with his wife, Caroline; daughter, Auguste; and son, Carl. The ship departed from Hamburg, Germany and arrived in Ellis Island on December 29, 1892. It is believed that he came from Drakow, Mechlenburg, Germany. In 1910 and 1920 he lived with his daughter and son-in-law, Louise and Carl Buhr. He died in 1922 and was buried in Trinity Lutheran Cold Springs Cemetery, Lockport, NY. Caroline was also buried there. The family and many descendent members were members of the Trinity Lutheran Church congregation in Lockport.
Christian was a farmer, with a very hard work ethic. He had sons and daughters by both wives. His first wife, Sophie, did not come to America. However, some of his first family came.
Marie Voss, his first child, came with her husband, Henry Kaston, and ended up buying a farm in East Wilson after a brief stay in the town of Lockport. Marie died of tuberculosis in 1907, leaving Henry and the children without a mother. Henry then married Anna Heubner and had a son and a daughter by her.
Christian's first son, Henry, also born in Schwasdorf, Germany, like his older sister, Marie, came to America and married a German girl by the name of Caroline Wolter. They married and settled in LaPorte, Indiana. This was the location of Christian's brother, Louis Voss, who also was a farmer. Finding that farming like his uncle was not what he wanted, he went to work for the local waterworks department. He had four boys and four girls, all raised in Indiana and eventually had families of their own. Many descendants came from this family. Henry and his wife would often visit his siblings in Niagara County, New York, the town of Lockport, Newfane, and Wilson.
Louise Voss, Christian's third child, immigrated in December of 1890 with her husband, John Koehn. They brought their daughter and my grandmother, Augusta, age 6 months, with them. They preceded Christian, settled in Lockport and provided a place for Christian and his new wife when they were to arrive in 1892.
Fred Voss and Rika Voss were a son and a daughter who chose to remain in Germany. Nothing else is known of Fred except that he did not get married and that he passed away while in his home country. Rika, whose formal name was Friederike Helene Caroline Johanna Voss, remained in Germany and was married to a Karl Johann Christoph Martin Luth, and had a family with many children. Little is known about those children at this writing.
Charles Voss, son of the second wife of Christian, came with his parents to this country and married Emma Krueger. They lived in Niagara Falls and had two sons and three daughters. What little I know about his family is contained in my outline on the web site.
Augusta Voss, also known as "Gustie" married your Carl Buhr. She was the other child of Christian and Caroline Nieman.
Christian got gangrene in his foot and had to have his leg amputated at the knee. This was apparently the winter of 1811-1812. In records from the Karsten family, it is said that Christian continued to farm from the wheelchair and was seen chopping wood while seated. He is in the wheelchair in the only known photo of him.
He was well off, financially, because he sometimes gave or loaned money to family members. Christian remained in the Newfane-Wilson-Lockport area the remainder of his life.