About Jean Klein and Anne-Marie Dannenhoffer

Jean KLEIN was born on Feb. 13, 1821 in Schmittviller, Moselle, Alsace-Lorraine, France, near the German border, to Jean KLEIN and Marguerite WÜRTZ.

Jean was conscripted into the French Army on July 24, 1842 and served with the 4th Squadron of Artillery Supply Depot.  He was discharged on Sept. 4, 1844 for an issue with his leg that made him unsuitable for duty.

Jean was trained to be a shoemaker & bootmaker, like his father.  On April 18, 1846, he married Anne-Marie DANNENHOFFER in Rahling, Moselle, France, and the young couple immigrated to the United States, settling in Buffalo, NY in 1847.  He brought his trade with him and set up a shoemaker shop on Elm Street and Batavia Road (Broadway) in Buffalo.

A cholera epidemic in the city of Buffalo forced he and his family to relocate to nearby Williamsville, NY in 1849.  It was in a Williamsville that John was the proprietor of a prosperous boot and shoe store on Main Street.  He ended up purchasing much of the land in both the village and rural area.  Klein Road is named after him because of the property he owned in that area.

He lived to be 88 years old and died on January 23, 1910 in Williamsville.

Anne-Marie DANNENHOFFER was born on Aug. 18, 1819 in Kalhausen, Moselle, Alsace-Lorraine, France, to Pierre DANNENHOFFER and Anne FREISS.

She had two sisters, Marie-Anne and Jeanne, but both died young. She also had two half-siblings, same father but a different mother, Anne and Pierre.  Both of these siblings stayed in France.

Her father Pierre was a tailor, day laborer and farmer.  He was a native of Rahling, while her mother was a native of Kalhausen, where Anne-Marie was born.

On April 18, 1846, she married Jean KLEIN in Rahling, Moselle, France, and the young couple imimgrated to Buffalo, NY in 1847.  They had 12 children in total, with 10 living to adulthood - 5 sons and 7 daughters.

Their children:

1. Nicolas Klein (1844-1915), married Josephine Schulenberg
2. Anne Klein (1846-1911), married Jacob Fromwiller
3. Maria Klein (1848-1909), married Henry Herberger, Jacques Guenther
4. John Klein (1850-1925), married Maria Meyer, Sophia Meyer
5. Margaret Cecelia Klein (1852-1935), married Charles Snyder
6. Jacob Klein (born 1854), married Catharina Muller
7. George E. Klein (1856-1959), married Elizabeth Lang, Pauline Daniel 
8. Phillip Klein (1859-1859)
9. Catharina Klein (1860-1941), married Balthasar Rubeck
10. Baby Klein (1862-1862)
11. Magdalena Klein (1864-1948), married Andrew Beaser
12. Amelia Klein (1865-1932), married Thomas Stevens