These pictures were shared with me by my distant cousin Fred Mehling of Toronto, Ohio. We are both descended from the man in the first picture, Nicholas (or Nicklaus) Fischer (or Fisher), of Bregenz, Austria. His son, Gephart Fischer, was a brother to my Great-great grandmother, Barbara Fischer Borer (1850-1899). The Fischers emigrated from Bregenz to Fremont, Ohio. They lived on a farm on Sandusky River, where Nicholas and Gephart farmed and did landscaping. They helped do the landscaping for Spiegel Grove, the home of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Here is what an unidentified grandchild wrote, in part, about the Fishers:
"Father said the raised mostly potatoes. In fact so many were raised that later he could hardly eat them, because his work as a child was with potatoes, and little else to eat besides them.
In 1853 Nicholas and the family (11 children) came to this country. Because of poor winds, the family was on the way over to the United States for one month.
They settled on the Wilson farm, which was in the locality of Wilson Avenue (West).... Nicholas and Father graded the hill leading to the New cemetery along St. Ann's road, taking three weeks to complete it...
Mary Geiger Fisher [Niklaus's wife] died with a heart ailment in 1868 at the age of 54. Nicholas fell in a well and hurt his back and broke his hip and died in 1897, at the home of his daughter Mrs. John Ochs. He lived with his son, Gephart for several years preceding the accident."
For the record, I will also add some comments from Sister Mary Alphonsus Fisher, SND, another descendant:
"Nicholas Fisher....and his family suffered much. His wife, the pious Marie Geiger, entered eternal life at the age of fifty-four. The children were forced by poverty to work for farmers....A Mr. Hass felt sorry for the family. He brought them ham, bread and other edibles for their sustenance...When Nicholas was 70 years old, he insisted on helping dig a well. He slipped and fell into the pit. The hose fell upon him. The injuries proved fatal. His grave is next to his little wife's in St. Joseph's cemetery, just north of the crucifixion group...."
Yet another reminiscence stated:
..."The father, Nicholas, [and sons] Gephart and George became road and street contractors. They cut down trees, blew up stumps, leveled the ground for the two cemeteries....Gephart continued planting trees in President Hayes' [sic] extensive yard...."
Gephart Fisher, the son of Niklaus
This information may be of no interest to anyone but Niklaus Fisher's descendants, but they must be numerous.
Gephart's farm
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