This is a very special photo I share with you today – I can identify those in the photo – and they are related to Ritchey! Rosa Leuenberger, Ritchey’s great-grandmother, is the bridesmaid in this photo. She’s very beautiful, isn’t she, very fine features. Her brother, John, is the groom. The bride is Eva Michael, and her brother, Charles is the best man.
Rosa and John Leuenberger are children of Jacob Leuenberger and Margarite Streich. Jacob was born in Durrenroth, Bern, Switzerland; Margarite was also born in Switzerland. The couple married May 27, 1869, in Johnson County, Iowa. The family lived in Solon, Iowa, just about five miles north of Iowa City.
We visited Solon about ten years ago, visited Oakland Cemetery, and the graves of the Leuenberger family, as well as Ritchey’s Hertz family. It is a beautiful area. Later this year we hope to return, anxious to take more photos, with a digital camera this time.
Rosa Leuenberger married George Edwin Hertz on September 28, 1898. Together they had two beautiful children, Harold and Esther. Within nine years Rosa died of tuberculosis.
Categories: Old Photos












