St. Rose, Ohio

Bernadine Pohlmann and the Kleinhenz family of St. Rose

A daughter of John Henry Pohlmann connects two Mercer County families and leads to the historian who saved their stories.

Bernadine Pohlmann, born in Maria Stein in 1846, was the daughter of John Henry Pohlmann and his third wife, Catherine Hagman. She married Arnold Kleinhenz at St. Rose on 2 June 1868.

Their seven children were Mary, John W., Anna, Regina, Catherine, Anthony and Minnie. Regina and Catherine were twins; Catherine died in infancy. This collateral branch shares John Henry Pohlmann with Herman's descendants.

John W. Kleinhenz was the father of Alfrida Willke, author of This Is Our Life. Her book preserves memories, record references and family photographs. The St. Rose farm appears on page 55 and a labelled 1927 John W. Kleinhenz family group appears on page 57. Both original photographs are reproduced below with permission. The source links preserve their context in the book.

Both Arnold and Bernadine died in 1893. Some precise date, holiday and age statements in the book conflict, so Bernadine's card uses the death year without asserting the disputed details.

Sources and further reading

• Family connection and farm photograph — This Is Our Life, p. 55
• Labelled 1927 Kleinhenz family photograph, p. 57