Herman Frederick Ahrens

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-26668
• Residence: 1861, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1861, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

Herman married Isabella Penelope Laird 25 Dec 1860, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Isabella (daughter of Joseph Laird and Isabella Gatherer, daughter of Joseph Laird and Isabella) was born 21 May 1841, Grange, Banffshire, Scotland; was christened 30 May 1841, Grange, Banffshire, Scotland; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

1. Dr. Carl Heinrich "Charles" Ahrens was born 15 Feb 1862, Winfield, Peel Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario; was christened 25 May 1862, Church Of New Jerusalem, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 27 Feb 1936, Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada; was buried , Park Lawn Cemetery, Toronto, York Co., Ontario.

Other Events:

• Business: Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Doering & Ahrens
• Business: Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Huber and Ahrens
• Name: Carl Henry Ahrens
• Name: Charles Henry Ahrens
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-26666P
• Residence: 1841, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1842, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; carpenter
• Occupation: 1843, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; carpenter
• Residence: 1847, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Public Service: 1850, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Treasurer - Waterloo Township
• Occupation: 1851, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; general store owner
• Occupation: 1852, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; merchant

Notes:

King Street, Kitchener

Next easterly were the foundry buildings of Huber & Ahrens, operated from 1840 to 1853. There were four separate buildings, 30 or 40 feet back from the King Street line. In the moulding shop, Mr. Stroh remembers seeing the glittering metal run out from the cupola, at casting time, when he was a boy. The woodworking and power building was a two-storey brick structure with a smoke stack about 50 feet high. The second floor of the building was used for painting and finishing. On the Foundry Street side there was an outside stairway and incline to let down finished machinery. A third building was used for making agricultural machines, threshing cylinders and ploughs. Separators were not made at that time. Near Foundry Street there was a two-storey building with gable toward King Street, used also for woodworking and for the office. In this building three pianos, the first to be made in Berlin, were turned out in 1852. These were upright pianos, hand-made all except the keyboard. The artisan was J. Maas and he made the pianos, one for Charles Ahrens, one for Henry S. Huber and one for Charles Hendry of Conestoga. This latter building was later moved alongside of Winger's pump shop and used as a cigar factory for a time; eventually it was converted into a dwelling. The moulding shop of the foundry was later used as an ashery. After Mr. Ahrens died m 1853 the foundry buildings were sold by auction to Sheriff Davidson who owned them for a number of years.

REMINISCENCES OF BERLIN (NOW KITCHENER) By JACOB STROH Contributed by Joseph M. Snyder.

Part I. Settlement - Early Villagers and Buildings, Waterloo Historical Society Annual Volume 1930

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King Street , North Side

Queen St. North.

On the corner there was a frame building lengthwise with King Street, occupied by J. U. Tyson, dealer in groceries, wines, liquors and meats, erected about 1833. In 1841 Sheriff George Davidson bought this building and in it opened the first Post Office in 1842. His brother William was associated with him. Probably during 1845 Doering & Ahrens occupied the premises as a general store. A little later the firm was Huber & Ahrens. Mr. Huber acted as magistrate for a number of years, in which occupation he was popular and had much to do, people coming from small surrounding villages to Mr. Huber for fair trial. He was the second reeve in Berlin.

Next came a barber shop occupied by George A. Fischer who also served as dentist and as fruit dealer.

A house erected by C. A. Ahrens of Huber and Ahrens. Mr. Ahrens had a brick vault at the back of his kitchen, lined with an iron chest and considered fire proof. He was the first treasurer of Waterloo County and had this vault for safe keeping of his books and papers. The house was later occupied by Dr. Mylius.

Louis Breithaupt, who came from Buffalo in 1861 after having started his tanning business in Berlin in 1857, previously bought the corner of King and Queen Streets, and erected there the first section of the American Block in 1862.

Next to the Dr. Mylius house there was a two story brick building erected about 1855. It was occupied by Baedeker and Steubing who had a considerable business as book sellers and stationers, also as dealers in wallpaper, etc., besides doing some publishing. This business, moved later to the corner of King and Frederick Streets, continued until Mr. Steubing's death.

In his younger years Mr. Baedeker was a carpenter and had cut his knee with an adze, necessitating amputation and substitution of a cork leg.

On the site of the present Steel's store, George Davidson, later sheriff, erected a building in 1845 and moved the Post Office there when Doering and Ahrens occupied the corner store. Mr. Davidson also had a general store in this new building. About 1855 Kranz & Stroh occupied the building as a general store.

Next came a building occupied at first by George Klein and later the site of Henry Knell's jewelery shop.

John Winger's pump shop. Wooden pipe called pump logs were of about ten-inch timber, tamarack or pine logs with a bore of about 3". The pumps were mostly finished square and surmounted with turned tops.

A two story frame building painted white. John Winger's house. Eby's history mentions John Winger as having come from Pennsylvania in 1836.

A ten-foot lane leading back to the Public School grounds and into Winger's yard. The highest ground in this vicinity was in Winger's yard. Children were in the habit of sliding down the hill in winter to King Street. In 1840 Mr. Bentler erected a building and occupied the second floor as dwelling and shoe shop. Martin Messner had a music store on the ground floor which was a few steps above the street level. In 1855-6 Andrew Nicolaus took over the Winger house and changed it to a hotel. The first considerable street grading operation in Berlin was the lowering of the corner of King and Frederick and vicinity 8 to 10 feet. This put the St. Nicholas Hotel, as it was called, under the necessity of being extended downward one story and this lower part became the hotel office and bar room. At the westerly end of the hotel there was a shed and stable for horses. Over the shed, approached by a stairway, there was a hall known as St. Nicholas Hall used for concerts, balls and entertainments generally. At the rear of the adjoining St. Nicholas Hall there was a building on the high ground known as the Turner Hall and used as German Turnverein.

REMINISCENCES OF BERLIN (NOW KITCHENER) By JACOB STROH Contributed by Joseph M. Snyder.

Part I. Settlement - Early Villagers and Buildings, Waterloo Historical Society Annual Volume 1930

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In 1840, Karl went into a partnership with Henry (Heinrich) Huber and began operation of a foundry on Foundry (now Ontario) Street in Berlin,, Ontario. By 1851 it was steam powered and employed 11 people. There were four buildings 30 or 40 feet back from the King Street line.

Berlin's first fire pumps were made in the Huber and Ahrens Foundry.

Karl married Elisabeth Gaukel 14 Mar 1837, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Elisabeth (daughter of Friedrich "Frederick" Gaukel and Polly Kaufman) was born 17 Jan 1819, , Pennsylvania, USA; was christened 19 Mar 1836, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 24 Oct 1879, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Elisabeth Ahrens
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-44889
• Residence: 1841, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1861, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]
• Residence: 1871, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; [Member of New Jersulem Religion]

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32541876
• Interesting: business, hotel, story, pioneer
• Name: Frederick Gaukel
• Residence: Lutheran
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-34480
• Birth: CALC 7 Jun 1785
• Land: Bef 1831, Waterloo Township - German Company Tract Lot 005S, Waterloo County, Ontario
• Occupation: 1836, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; innkeeper
• Occupation: 1840, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1851, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; innkeeper
• Occupation: 1852, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; innkeeper
• Probate: 1853, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region: Bef 2012, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

GAUKEL, FRIEDRICH (Frederick), farmer and businessman; b. 7 June 1785 in Württemberg (Federal Republic of Germany); m. first c. 1813 Polly Kaufman (d. 1827), and they had four sons and three daughters; m. secondly Maria Roschang (d. 1834 of cholera); m. thirdly Dorothea Weikmillar; d. 8 Nov. 1853 in Berlin (Kitchener), Upper Canada.

Friedrich Gaukel's name appears among those of the German immigrants who arrived at Philadelphia from Holland aboard the Rebecca on 27 Aug. 1804. Along with other Württemberg natives, he may have been attracted to America by the publicity attending the exodus to Pennsylvania at this time of members of the charismatic sect led by the German lay preacher and weaver John George Rapp. According to a short biography published by Gaukel's grandson Jacob Stroh, he served for his passage money as a redemptioner on a farm near Philadelphia. He continued farming after his release from the indenture and by 1815 lived near Johnstown, Pa.

About 1820 Gaukel, a Lutheran, heard of the Mennonite migration from Pennsylvania to Upper Canada and decided to move there. After a trip of four weeks he arrived with his family in Waterloo Township, where he worked in a distillery until he bought a small farm near Bridgeport (Kitchener) and began operating a distillery of his own. After 1826 increasing numbers of Germans arrived in the region directly from Europe and settled largely in four townships: Wilmot, Waterloo, Woolwich, and Wellesley. Thus when the settlement of Ebytown began to expand, Germans, as well as Mennonites, were prominent in its development as a commercial centre. On 2 Nov. 1833 Gaukel purchased property there from Joseph Schneider* and from Benjamin Eby and moved into the settlement. The deeds for these transactions are the first on record referring to the community as Berlin.

Gaukel operated a tavern while awaiting the completion of a larger building which would meet the demands of the growing village. A public-spirited member of the community, he subscribed to the establishment of Heinrich Wilhelm Peterson's newspaper Canada Museum, und Allgemeine Zeitung in 1835, the year in which Gaukel's Inn (later known as the Commercial Hotel) opened to the public. For many years Gaukel and his third wife, also a native of Württemberg, hosted, in addition to the inn's daily commercial activities, various civic and political meetings, markets, and other public gatherings in this predominantly German-speaking community. The wide veranda of the inn was a favourite tribune for political candidates who addressed the citizenry assembled in the street.

In 1841 and 1846 Gaukel acquired additional property and as one of Berlin's leading landowners he took an active interest in its municipal development. He donated the land on which Waterloo Township Hall was built in 1848-49. Together with his friend Joseph Schneider and other early citizens, he had campaigned for the organization of Waterloo County, which took place in 1850, and he was much involved in promoting Berlin's selection as county seat in 1852. He provided land that year for the construction of a county court-house. In recognition of Gaukel's contributions, a grateful community named two of its early streets after him.

Klaus Wust

AO, RG 22, ser.214, Friedrich Gaukel. Kitchener Public Library (Kitchener, Ont.), "Gaukel family notes" (typescript). PAC, RG 31, A1, 1851, Waterloo Township, pt.4: 178. Waterloo North Land Registry Office (Kitchener), Abstract index to deeds, Berlin (mfm. at AO, GS 2958); Waterloo Township (mfm. at AO, GS 3023, GS 3027). Der Deutsche Canadier (Berlin [Kitchener]), 10 Nov. 1853. R. B. Strassburger, Pennsylvania German pioneers: a publication of the original lists of arrivals in the port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808, ed. W. J. Hinke (3v., Norristown, Pa., 1934), 3: 147. Gottlieb Leibbrandt, Little paradise: the saga of the German Canadians of Waterloo County, Ontario, 1800'96 1975 (Kitchener, 1980), 36, 38'96 51. Bill Moyer, Kitchener: yesterday revisited; an illustrated history (Burlington, Ont., 1979), 19'96 21, 27. W. V. Uttley, A history of Kitchener, Ontario (Kitchener, 1937; repr. [Waterloo, Ont., 1975]), 35, 37'96 38, 40'96 41, 71, 80, 83, 85, 88. Jacob Stroh, "Frederick Gaukel," Waterloo Hist. Soc., Annual report, 1928: 86'96 87; "Reminiscences of Berlin (now Kitchener)," Waterloo Hist. Soc., Annual report, 1930: 175'96 207; 1931: 274'96 84.


Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online 2000 University of Toronto/Université Laval

__________________

In 1800 Frederick Gaukel of Wurtemberg, Germany, arrived at Amsterdam too late to join a whaling expedition to the Arctic. Finding a sailing vessel going to Philadelphia, he allowed himself to be sold under the hammer to the highest bidder for a service period of three years, to pay for the voyage across the ocean. Eventually he was sold to a farmer.

Gaukel immigrated to Canada, arriving at Preston where he worked in a distillery. Later he moved to a small farm near Bridgeport and erected a log cabin and barn and a small distillery. In 1819 he moved to Berlin and in 1833 started Gaukel's Tavern, later the site of the Walper House.

Gaukel was a civic-minded citizen and donated the property bounded by Queen, Weber and Frederick Streets on which the 1852 County Building was erected. This building was demolished when the present County Building was erected in 1965. Two of Kitchener's streets, Frederick and Gaukel, bear his name.

Waterloo Region Hall of Fame

____________________

A-1-20 Frederick Gaukel: Last Will and Testament of Frederick Gaukel, of Berlin, Translated from the Original written in German.

…I, Frederick Gaukel, Tavern Keeper in Berlin, being, thanks be to God, in full possession of my powers of mind, do hereby appoint my last Will and Testament, in manner following. …My beloved wife Dorothee, a born Weismiller, shall of the loose goods and chattels left by me receive one cow according to her choice, two made up beds with bedsteads, one bureau, one house clock and necessary kitchen utensils. My Executors, shall directly after my demise, build for my beloved wife Dorothee, on the North side at the righthand of King Street, at Abraham Weber's Fence, a one story frame house with room, chamber, kitchen and cellar, twenty by twenty four feet wide, with a proper stable thereto, with one half an acre of land thereto, whereof she is to have quiet and peaceable possession as long as she lives. After her heath it shall be sold and the half part of the proceeds shall fall to the Relations and friends of my said widow, and the other half shall be divided amongst all my children in equal proportions. All my remaining momoveable and immovable, real and loose property, goods and chattels, shall by my hereinafter named Executors, after previous three times repeated public advertisement, be sold by Public Auction to the highest bidder…My son George shall receive two hundred dollars more, which are to be taken out of the portion of my daughter Elizabeth, a married Ahrens. For Executors of this my last Will and Testament I chose nominate and appoint hereby, my son Levi, butcher in Berlin, Waterloo Township, and my son-in-law Henry Stroh of Berlin, Waterloo Township, Shoemaker…

Witnesses George Seip and Paul Schmitt
Will date 10 January 1849
Proved and Insinuated 15 November 1853
No inventory amount
Died 8 November 1853
Translated by Christian. Enslin, N.P.

Wills of Waterloo County Register A 1853-1871, transcribed by Frances Hoffman

____________________________

Shortly after the arrival of Mr. Hailer, Frederick Gaukel bought the Varnum tavern site. He was native in Wuertemberg, and first had owned a distillery and farm at Bridgeport. On November 2, 1833, he bought lots that lay from near the Walper House corner up to Ontario Street from Joseph Schneider. Mr. Gaukel bought also a block of land on the north side of King Street, between Queen and Ontario Streets, from Bishop Eby, and a small triangle on the corner of King and. Ontario Streets, to complete the Block, from Joseph Schneider.

Bishop Eby, accompanied by Joseph Schneider, named the Dorf, Berlin. The date is uncertain, but Mr. Hailer's deed of May. 1833, describes Six acre as being in Waterloo Township; whilst Mr. Gaukel's deed of November 2, 1833, says his purchase lay in Berlin The assumption is that the place was named Berlin in the summer of 1833.

Mr. Gaukel built a large frame hotel near the Walser House corner in 1835. It had stables in the rear and a driving-shed on the Bank of Montreal corner. At Gaukel's, a meal was Sold far fifteen cents and a glass of beer for three cents. There the householders of Berlin and the Township paid their taxes, and there they nominated candidates for the Wellington District Council.
Afterward Mr. Gaukel bought additional lands in West King Street, up to Gaukel Street, which was named for him. He bought also a strip in Schneider's Road, bordering the Walper corner, from Joseph E. Schneider; and lands in East Weber Street, including the courthouse site.

A History of Kitchener, W. V. (Ben) Uttley, Kitchener, Ontario 1937, pg 35-6

____________________

King Street Kitchener

"Gaukel to Foundry Street (now Ontario Street).-After a vacant lot on the corner there was a one and one-half storey frame building with gable facing King Street, occupied by the late Frederick Gaukel in 1852 and 53, when he died there. The building was later moved to the corner and used by Mr. Woelfle as a plough shop. After Mr. Gaukel's death his executors built a one and one-half storey brick house for his widow next to the house just mentioned. This brick house was taken down by Messrs. Brown & Erb who built their glove factory on the site."

REMINISCENCES OF BERLIN (NOW KITCHENER) BY JACOB STROH Contributed by Joseph M. Snyder.

Part I. Settlement - Early Villagers and Buildings, Waterloo Historical Society Annual Volume 1930

_________________________

King Street, Kitchener

Next, well back and at the bottom of a slope from King Street, was the back of Gaukel's Hotel, extending back to Hall's Lane.

Gaukel's was the first considerable Hotel in Berlin. Frederick Gaukel, who had come from Pennsylvania in 1820, purchased a tract of lots in 1833 from Joseph Schneider on the westerly corner of Queen and King Streets, the site formerly occupied by Phineas Vemum's blacksmith shop, and thereon erected a two story frame building with a wide Colonial style veranda. Candidates at election spoke from this veranda to the crowd on the street, and it had other like uses. The little house standing in the rear, which Phineas Varnum had used for a tavern, was used as a kitchen. The hotel woodshed came next. It was a frame building.

When judges came to Berlin for County Court they stayed at this hotel and Henry Stroh would be asked to forage for speckled trout and partridge, Mr. Gaukel wishing to place something special before his distinguished guests. In 1851 Gaukel had a bear tied by a chain to a post in the barnyard on King Street. There was a cross board on top of the post to which the bear could climb and become a public exhibition. In the early years Indians, wrapped in their government blankets, were in the habit of calling at the house for something to eat. The woods along the Conestoga River abounded in butternuts and these, gathered in the fall, served to entertain the guests on Sunday afternoons. Henry Bachman was an early bartender at the hotel.

Frederick Gaukel died in 1853. His son George thereafter had the hotel for one year, paying $140.00 rent to the Estate. James Potter, who came from Bridgeport, then bought the place and changed its name to The Great Western Hotel. He took down the heavy colonial veranda and replaced it with a new one of iron posts and iron railings. The veranda continued to be a rostrum for political orators. Hon. Michael Hamilton Foley, Post Master General, and Mr. I. E. Bowman, for many years Member of Parliament for North Waterloo, spoke from it. Potter had a large swinging sign on a post at the corner facing King Street. On a windy day 'the squeak of the swinging sign could be heard throughout the village. On the sign were the proprietor's name, the name of the hotel and a picture of The Great Eastern Steamship, by far the largest ship of its time.

REMINISCENCES OF BERLIN (NOW KITCHENER) By JACOB STROH Contributed by Joseph M. Snyder.

Part I. Settlement - Early Villagers and Buildings, Waterloo Historical Society Annual Volume 1930

___________________

Queen Street North, West Side

Gaukel's well at the corner of the hotel shed, the corner being later built up as the Bowman Block, now the Bank of Montreal.

A brick warehouse belonging to the corner store of the Bowman Block. First occupants of this store were Bowman and Heins, later H. S, Huber and then by Huber and Roy.

Opposite the Breithaupt leather store stood a one-story brick building, Dr. Pipe's surgery and later Dr. Wright's.

A two-storey brick house lengthwise with Queen Street and with veranda on two sides, the veranda a few steps above the ground, occupied by Henry Schaefer. In 1871 Dr. Pipe lived in this house. Among other things Dr. Pipe kept bees, although he was quite afraid of them. Dr. Pipe and Henry Stroh succeeded in bringing the first Italian queen bee to this part of the country.

A lane.

A handsome brick house, gable roof, lengthwise with the street, the corners faced with limestone from Guelph, erected by Joseph Hobson, the surveyer, in 1860. Hobson eventually was Chief Engineer of the Great Western Railway and when that was merged with the Grand Trunk he became Chief Engineer of the latter Company and was among other things Chief Engineer of the Sarnia tunnel. Alexander MacPherson, editor and publisher of the Berlin Telegraph, later lived in the house. The site is now occupied by the head office of the Economical Fire Insurance Company.

A two-story red frame building well back from the street built probably before 1850 by Peter Eby, identified with the "Deutsche Canadier" and with the early days of the "Telegraph". Dr. Eggert, homeopath, lived in the house 1859-1860 and later John Klippert, high constable and county bailiff.

One and a half story brick building at the corner of Duke and Queen Streets occupied by a Mr. Von Ebenau and wife and later for a number of years by Michael Jaehle, a blacksmith. The site is now occupied by the Daily Record building.

Duke Street.

A large handsome building trimmed with cut stone built in 1860 by David S. Shoemaker of Bridgeport who was county registrar, The building was intended for a bank and agent's residence and so used first by the Commercial Bank which failed and later by the Merchants Bank of which R. N, Rogers was agent for a number of years. Some time later Dr. H. S. Lackner acquired the property and used it as residence and surgery. After Dr. Lackner's death the property was sold to the present occupants, the Langleys of Toronto.

building, colonial style, with large posts at the front carrying the projecting roof, erected in 1848-49, the Waterloo Township Hall, the land for which was donated by Frederick Gaukel. General public meetings were held in this hall, among others meetings purposing to have Berlin named as county town. After consummation of this a banquet was held in the hall, which was occasionally used for such purpose. The occasion of this particular banquet was the laying of the corner stone of the new county buildings in 1852. 100 guests were present and there were a number of patriotic toasts. Later the building was used as a printing office, the "Deutsche Canadier" and the "Telegraph" being printed there for a time. Eventually the building was remodelled and enlarged and became the Methodist Church. In 1904 the St. Matthews Lutheran congregation purchased the property and later the First English Lutheran Church, which still continues in the building.

Behind the present Kitchener Public Library, occupying the site of his ornamental garden, and still standing is Dr. Scott's residence, built in 1855. Henry Rothaermel was the contractor. Dr. Scott was the first warden of the county and first reeve of Berlin. After his death the house was occupied by M. C. Schofield who married Dr. Scott's widow. Later Israel Bowman, for many years county clerk and town clerk of Berlin, acquired the property and lived there.

Weber Street.

On the corner the Presbyterian Church first built 1860-61 at a size of 36 ft. by 50 ft., cost $4,500 and seating 175 persons. Rev. John McMeekin was an early minister.

A two-story red brick building lengthwise with Queen Street, built 1855-56, the house of H. S. Huber.

Simon Roy's house, also red brick, one and one-half story high, both of these houses were set back from the street. Mr. Roy was nurseryman and florist.

A one-story double house lengthwise with Queen Street.

Before Ahrens Street was continued westerly across Queen Street there was on the site a two-story unpainted weather-boarded building, the house of John Dopp.
frame building, similar to Dopp's, the house of Christina Bloch, a widow who lived there for many years.

A frame building, similar to Dopp's, but with gable facing Queen Street, the house of August Vetter, painter and paper-hanger.

A vacant lot later owned by Louis Breithaupt who built, on the corner of Margaret Avenue, a residence for Judge Lacourse.

Margaret Avenue.

On Margaret Avenue a short distance westerly from Queen Street was the Moxley farm with house and barn. The barn was later moved to Lexington by Henry Stroh who bought it to replace one that had been struck by lightning. On the corner of Ellen Street a brick house occupied in the early days by Rev. Mr. Savage, Methodist minister, and later by John Hoffman, Jr., a druggist.

Ellen Street.

REMINISCENCES OF BERLIN (NOW KITCHENER) By JACOB STROH Contributed by Joseph M. Snyder.

Part I. Settlement - Early Villagers and Buildings, Waterloo Historical Society Annual Volume 1930

_________________

Queen Street North, West Side

Gaukel's well at the corner of the hotel shed, the corner being later built up as the Bowman Block, now the Bank of Montreal.

A brick warehouse belonging to the corner store of the Bowman Block. First occupants of this store were Bowman and Heins, later H. S, Huber and then by Huber and Roy.

Opposite the Breithaupt leather store stood a one-story brick building, Dr. Pipe's surgery and later Dr. Wright's.

A two-storey brick house lengthwise with Queen Street and with veranda on two sides, the veranda a few steps above the ground, occupied by Henry Schaefer. In 1871 Dr. Pipe lived in this house. Among other things Dr. Pipe kept bees, although he was quite afraid of them. Dr. Pipe and Henry Stroh succeeded in bringing the first Italian queen bee to this part of the country.

A lane.

A handsome brick house, gable roof, lengthwise with the street, the corners faced with limestone from Guelph, erected by Joseph Hobson, the surveyer, in 1860. Hobson eventually was Chief Engineer of the Great Western Railway and when that was merged with the Grand Trunk he became Chief Engineer of the latter Company and was among other things Chief Engineer of the Sarnia tunnel. Alexander MacPherson, editor and publisher of the Berlin Telegraph, later lived in the house. The site is now occupied by the head office of the Economical Fire Insurance Company.

A two-story red frame building well back from the street built probably before 1850 by Peter Eby, identified with the "Deutsche Canadier" and with the early days of the "Telegraph". Dr. Eggert, homeopath, lived in the house 1859-1860 and later John Klippert, high constable and county bailiff.

One and a half story brick building at the corner of Duke and Queen Streets occupied by a Mr. Von Ebenau and wife and later for a number of years by Michael Jaehle, a blacksmith. The site is now occupied by the Daily Record building.

Duke Street.

A large handsome building trimmed with cut stone built in 1860 by David S. Shoemaker of Bridgeport who was county registrar, The building was intended for a bank and agent's residence and so used first by the Commercial Bank which failed and later by the Merchants Bank of which R. N, Rogers was agent for a number of years. Some time later Dr. H. S. Lackner acquired the property and used it as residence and surgery. After Dr. Lackner's death the property was sold to the present occupants, the Langleys of Toronto.

building, colonial style, with large posts at the front carrying the projecting roof, erected in 1848-49, the Waterloo Township Hall, the land for which was donated by Frederick Gaukel. General public meetings were held in this hall, among others meetings purposing to have Berlin named as county town. After consummation of this a banquet was held in the hall, which was occasionally used for such purpose. The occasion of this particular banquet was the laying of the corner stone of the new county buildings in 1852. 100 guests were present and there were a number of patriotic toasts. Later the building was used as a printing office, the "Deutsche Canadier" and the "Telegraph" being printed there for a time. Eventually the building was remodelled and enlarged and became the Methodist Church. In 1904 the St. Matthews Lutheran congregation purchased the property and later the First English Lutheran Church, which still continues in the building.

Behind the present Kitchener Public Library, occupying the site of his ornamental garden, and still standing is Dr. Scott's residence, built in 1855. Henry Rothaermel was the contractor. Dr. Scott was the first warden of the county and first reeve of Berlin. After his death the house was occupied by M. C. Schofield who married Dr. Scott's widow. Later Israel Bowman, for many years county clerk and town clerk of Berlin, acquired the property and lived there.

Weber Street.

On the corner the Presbyterian Church first built 1860-61 at a size of 36 ft. by 50 ft., cost $4,500 and seating 175 persons. Rev. John McMeekin was an early minister.

A two-story red brick building lengthwise with Queen Street, built 1855-56, the house of H. S. Huber.

Simon Roy's house, also red brick, one and one-half story high, both of these houses were set back from the street. Mr. Roy was nurseryman and florist.

A one-story double house lengthwise with Queen Street.

Before Ahrens Street was continued westerly across Queen Street there was on the site a two-story unpainted weather-boarded building, the house of John Dopp.
frame building, similar to Dopp's, the house of Christina Bloch, a widow who lived there for many years.

A frame building, similar to Dopp's, but with gable facing Queen Street, the house of August Vetter, painter and paper-hanger.

A vacant lot later owned by Louis Breithaupt who built, on the corner of Margaret Avenue, a residence for Judge Lacourse.

Margaret Avenue.

On Margaret Avenue a short distance westerly from Queen Street was the Moxley farm with house and barn. The barn was later moved to Lexington by Henry Stroh who bought it to replace one that had been struck by lightning. On the corner of Ellen Street a brick house occupied in the early days by Rev. Mr. Savage, Methodist minister, and later by John Hoffman, Jr., a druggist.

Ellen Street.

REMINISCENCES OF BERLIN (NOW KITCHENER) By JACOB STROH Contributed by Joseph M. Snyder.

Part I. Settlement - Early Villagers and Buildings, Waterloo Historical Society Annual Volume 1930

____________________________

Queen Street South, West Side.

A frame building used as a tavern by Phineas Varnum and later the kitchen of the Gaukel Hotel.

A frame building erected by Frederick Gaukel about 1833 as shelter for the considerable number of immigrants coming to Berlin at that time. In 1837 it was made into a dwelling for John Stroh, uncle of Jacob Stroh. Two children were born in this building, Katie, in 1838, (she married Jacob Oswald, still living, now 93 years of age), and Henry Stroh, born in 1840.

Hall's Lane.

A brick building erected about 1850. John Klein, father of John Klein of Buffalo, was the first occupant. Later the building was used as a printing office, first by the "Berlin Chronicle", William Jaffray editor and proprietor, and later by the "Berliner Journal", Rittinger & Motz. The site is now occupied by the Lockhart garage.

The Franklin Hotel, a handsome, good-sized frame building, erected by Philip Roth about 1856. Successive hotel-keepers were John Klein, Levi Gaukel, Frederick Riegelman, who later moved to Buffalo, and Jacob Weber. Weber was occupant in 1874 when the hotel was burned down. The fire started in the barn at the rear of the hotel. The hotel shed, next south, extended, at right angles, from Queen Street to the barn.

A garden.

A one and one-half story frame building lengthwise with the street occupied by Christopher K. Nahrgang whose parents came from Hessen, Germany, about 1835. He was married to a Miss Zinkann of New Hamburg.

A stone building used as a tailor shop by Mr. Nahrgang who was deaf and dumb. His wife helped him in the business. She lived to be 87. It was in this building that John Motz of the "Journal" and eventually County Sheriff, learned the tailoring trade.

A one and one-half story dwelling, erected about 1857, occupied by George Fischer, barber, who had his shop on King Street. A later occupant was George Lutz, a cabinet maker in Hoffman's factory and after him Henry Schaefer's mother.

A frame building lengthwise with the street, the church of the Evangelical denomination, erected in 1841. In 1866 it was replaced by the brick building still standing, now used as stores and upstairs dwellings.

A one and one-half story frame building with kitchen at the rear erected by William Becking, wagonmaker, about 1848. Becking was noted as a hunter. White hare and passenger pigeons, practically extinct long ago, were abundant at that time.

Becking's wagon-shop and lumber yard at the corner of John Street with the customary incline and stair to the second story of the shop. Up this incline the wagons were drawn to the paint shop. Valentine Gildner, at the corner of King and Benton Streets, did the blacksmith work for Becking's wagons.

John Street.

A one and one-half story house occupied by H. Baedecker in 1860 and later by Adam Doering.

Rev. F. W. Tuerk's residence erected about 1860 by Henry Rothaermel, a carpenter. The matching and planing was all done by hand, slow but thorough work. Window sashes, panel doors and all other requirements were made in the same manner. A skilled workman at that time was expected to he able to do painting as well as carpenter work. A single room in the shape of a square turret on the ridge of the building was Rev. Tuerk's study. The house was up-hill about twenty feet above the street level so that the study on top gave a good outlook. The site is now occupied by the York Apartments.

A frame building one and one-half story high.

Nothing but a building used as an ashery between that and Joseph E. Schneider's house and farm buildings.


REMINISCENCES OF BERLIN (NOW KITCHENER) By JACOB STROH Contributed by Joseph M. Snyder.

Part I. Settlement - Early Villagers and Buildings, Waterloo Historical Society Annual Volume 1930

Friedrich — Polly Kaufman. Polly was born Abt 1790, Of, Pennsylvania; died Abt 1827, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Maria Kaufman
• Name: Polly Gaukel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-44891