Escaping Hardships

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Friederich "Fritz" Simon Kuhlenschmidt definitely lived an eventful life. Fritz was born April 29, 1820 in Langenholzhausen, Lippe, Germany (actually Prussia at the time). He was baptized May 7, 1820 at Evangelisch, Langenholzhausen, Lippe, Germany. His wife, Amalia Wilhelmina Bodemeier, was also born here on March 7, 1819. The couple married August 13, 1843. Their first two children, Friederich Charles and Friederich Ernst, were also born in Germany. Fritz trained as a brew master in Berlin, Germany. By 1848, the family decided to move to America. During this time period, more than a million German citizens came to America to escape economic hardships and political unrest, riots, rebellions, and a revolution that broke out in 1848.  This must have been a hard decision to move across the world to an unfamiliar land with two small children while Amalia was also pregnant. It must have been heartbreaking for the family to see the outbreak of the Civil War so close to their arrival in America. The family arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 17, 1848. Most of our family arrived long before the opening of Ellis Island in 1892.

After arriving in New Orleans, the family came up the Mississippi River, then east up the Ohio River. Fritz started a brewery in Mt. Vernon, Posey County, Indiana. This brewery is mentioned in a book called "Hoosier Beer", although no pictures are available. After some time, the family moved on to Evansville, Indiana. Fritz operated a restaurant, grocery, and rooming house. The address used to be 300 Fulton Street, where the Union Terminal was later built (where the railroad tracks are at the Fulton Avenue exit off the Lloyd Expressway). Eventually the family moved to German Township in the Kasson area where they operated a farm. I cannot find details of when the family lived in each area. Fritz became a US citizen on October 17, 1854 (see document below), the only citizenship record I have found in my research so far.

Fritz died October 18, 1872 in Evansville. Amalia died January 1, 1884 in Evansville. They are buried in Zoar U.C.C. Cemetery in the Kasson area of Evansville. The tombstones are some of the first in the cemetery, with Fritz' being in the first row and Amalia's in the second. During this time, the deceased were buried in order of death, instead of with family. The tombstones are written in German, which was common since the Kasson area was heavily German.

The couple had a total of nine children, at least two of which married a Hartig. The family has left behind a legacy as one of the early families of Evansville and still have many descendants here today. Fritz was the grandfather of Karl Ludwig Kuhlenschmidt, known to our family as "Grandpa K". Fritz and Amalia definitely did everything they could to provide for their family and make a better life. I can only imagine how scared they were, the uncertainties, the unknown, the times they thought they may fail, and then finally settling into their forever home surrounded by friends and family. I will try to find the exact location of where their land was, but for now, I will honor their memory by visiting their graves and telling their stories.


The Union Terminal, where Fritz' business once stood

Birth Record


Citizenship Record

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