Edmund Henry Linsenbard

Edmund Henry was the younger brother of J. Andrew Carl Linsenbardt.  He was born in 1835 so he was only a 12 when the family came to the United States in 1847.  The 1880 census lists his birthplace as Weimar.

The 1850 census shows Edmund living with his uncle Charles Lohman.  It appears from the sequence of the listing that they lived in Jefferson City.

Of the family members that came to the United States, Edmund Henry was the businessman.  He owned and operated a store and post office in Stringtown near the intersection of Highways C and D.  He also is believed to have owned businesses in Russellville.

Edmund lost two wives and numerous children to disease while he lived in the Stringtown area. His first wife, Elizabeth Plochberger, and a number of children are buried in the cemetary of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church at Lohman, Mo.  His second wife Catherine Pittrich, married June 21, 1863, is buried in the Catholic cemetery located along Highway C near Stringtown.

There is some question as to the name of Edmund’s third wife, St. Paul’s Church records show her as a Steffans but the Cole County marriage records show her as Mrs. Johanna Riebe.  They were married November 16, 1869.

In 1874 Edmund Henry sold his store in Stringtown to his nephew Charles W. Lohman but he continued to live in Stringtown.  According to a witeup about Stringtown in the Russellville Sesquicentenial book, Edmund sold his land in Stringtown to John Hittenmeyer and Martin Jungmeyer in 1888.  Frank Huettenmeyer, son of John, later built a house and the Stringtown Service Station on part of this land.

Herman Linsenbardt said that according to his father Julius, the pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Lohman, Rev. Nolte, was teaching Edmund Henry to communicate with the dead.  This instruction almost made Edmund Henry insane.

At the time of the 1880 census, the Edmund Linsenbard family consisted of:

E. H.                     45

Johanna                 40?

Louisa                   16

Bertha                    14

Henrietta               11

Otto                       8

Victor                    5

Charles                  3

After this census was taken, Edmund had two other sons, Walter and William.

Sometime after the 1880 census was taken, Edmund Henry  moved to the state of California with his third wife and all of his children except his daughter Emma Henrietta.  Emma Henrietta was his daughter by his first wife.  She was in her twenties at this time and may have already been married.  According to Herman Linsenbardt, he left following Rev. Nolte to California.  Rev. Nolte served at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church from 1872-1874.

At the time Edmund left for California the family had been spelling their last name Linsenbard.  (All Linsenbardts shown on the 1880 Cole County census showed the name spelled Linsenbard.)  Sometime after Edmund left Missouri the family members remaining in Missouri changed the spelling to Linsenbardt.  Edmund Henry and his descendents never did change the spelling of their name and it remains Linsenbard

After arriving in Califoria, Edmund settled in Los Angeles where he bought land between 16th Street and Washington Blvd. near downtown Los Angeles.  On this land he ran a store.  In later years he gradually sold off this land, undoubtedly making considerable money.

His house was also located on this land situated along 16th Street.  According to Mrs. Gertrude Thompson, one of his descendents, this  house had a heart shaped yard in which Edmund would sit and watch traffic on 16th Street.  The yard also contained a magnolia tree in which Edmund said the the Spirit of his first wife, Elizabeth Plochberger Linsenbard, lived.

According to Gus Linsenbardt, Edmund Henry visited Cole County several times after he moved to California.  On one of these trips he came back to visit the World’s Fair in St. Louis. I believe he also visited Lohman to see the new church organ.  When in the Stringtown/Lohman area he usually stayed at the Adam Pistel residence.

According to Mr. Fred Atkinson, of Joplin, who is a descendent of Emma Henrietta, was married a fourth time.  The son of his last wife, this may have been his step son, was prosecuting attorney of Orange County, Ca.

Also according to Fred, prior to World War I, Edmund wanted to retire in Germany.  He went to Germany but returned the the USA and California after finding out about the Kaiser.  On the way, either to or from Germany, he passed through Missouri and visited Emma Henrietta.

According to Hans Linsenbardt, of Germany, Edmund Henry did visit the Thuringen area of Germany.  Hans says that his father told him that before World War I, an uncle came from America.  He believes that the uncle was Edmund Henry.  The uncle was planning to say in Germany and had a bag of gold coins.  Just before the war the uncle received a telegram from America and because of the telegram, he returned to America.  For some reason the gold was left in Germany with Hans’ grandfather.  When the war broke out the uncle was unable to return.  During the war, Hans’ grandfather invested the money in German war bonds and since Germany lost the war, the money was lost.  According to Hans, his grandfather had invested in war bonds during the Franco Prussian war and since Prusssia won that war the investment paid off.  Because of this prior experience Hans’ grandfather was quick to invest during World War I.

Edmund Henry died in 1917 and is buried in Rosedale Cemetery on Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles along with his third wife Johanne, one son William H., Gustav Steffens noted as “Beloved Cousin”, and four members of the Merten’s family.

Of Edmund’s offspring:

  • Emma Henrietta is believed to have stayed in Missouri married John Franklin Aktinson and has several descendents.
  • Otto went to Alaska during the gold rush that occurred around 1900 and after sending back one or two cards was never heard from again.
  • Gustave Victor studied music in Germany lived in Santa Anna and Newport Beach and had five children Yvette, Gertrude, Julia, Ed, and Jean.
  • Charles married and lived in Long Beach, California, but had no children.
  • Walter married Anna Denkhaus but had no children.
  • William never married.

It is not known what happened to his daughters Louisa, Bertha, and Henrietta.

January 1, 1988

Revised December 27, 1995

Revised January 26, 1996

4 Replies to “Edmund Henry Linsenbard”

  1. Thanks for sharing!

    Gertrude D. Linsenbard (Cox) (Thompson) was my paternal grandmother.

    Her father, Victor Gustav, was my great grandfather and
    Edmund H Linsenbard was my great-great grandfather

    Grandma Gerty (Maw Gerty) told us some family history and stories which are reflected in the summary on Edmund. It is good to know more details to add to our family tree!

    1. Glad it helped! I need to get the rest of the information on our section of the tree. My Uncle Tom Linsenbardt (son of Rupert and Corine Linsenbardt) did all of it awhile back and I think he’s where I got this information from. It’s very interesting, for sure!

      Happy to hear from you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *