I’m taking liberties with pronunciation today. The name Doering is pronounced “daring” around here, but I know that this surname is often pronounced as “door-ing”. As a beginning teacher, my first principal, Orlyn Schlie, had a wife named Dorothy. Those two were affectionately called “Or and Dor”. As I started looking at today’s marriage between a Lorenz and a Doering, I realized it could be related to yesterday’s Doerr story. The Doerr-Brown House mentioned in that post is now the location of the lawyer’s office where my wife and I conducted some estate-planning business recently. That lawyer’s name is Lorenz. So, there is another Lor and Doerr connection. Now, on to today’s Lor and Dor tale.
Alfred Christian Traugott Lorenz was born on September 6, 1888. He was the son of John and Caroline (Mueller) Lorenz. On a personal side note, Caroline Mueller was the sister of my great grandfather, Johann Ferdinand Mueller. Alfred was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Below is his baptism record.
Alfred is found in his first census in 1900 when he was 12 years old.
Alfred was no longer living with his parents in the 1910 census. He was a farm laborer in the Joseph Schmidt household.
Now, we will take a look at the early life of Alfred’s future wife, Ella Doering. Ella was born on January 19, 1890, the daughter of Adolph and Anna (Richter) Doering. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Here is an image of her baptism record.
We find Ella in the 1900 census at the age of 10. Ella was the oldest child in her family.
It must have been around this time that a group photo was taken of the Doering family. Ella is standing in the back on the right.
The next census in which we find Ella was the one taken in 1910. You can see that there were several children in this Doering family with names beginning with “E”.
On November 1, 1914, Alfred Lorenz married Ella Doering at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wittenberg. Below is the church record for that wedding.
We can also view the marriage license for this couple.
We have this photograph of the wedding party of Alfred and Ella.
Alfred had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917.
Alfred and Ella would have two children, both boys. We see this family in the 1920 census. Alfred was a farmer.
Next, we find the Lorenz family in the 1930 census.
We see Alfred in a photograph showing the officers of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wittenberg that was taken in 1939.
The 1940 census is the last one we can view for this family.
In 1942, Alfred had his World War II draft card completed. It says he was employed by Reinhold Lorenz, who I believe was his nephew.
Alfred Lorenz died in 1949 at the age of 61. His death certificate says he died at the Frisco Hospital in St. Louis. It also says he was a section foreman for the Frisco Railroad, which was the railway that ran through Wittenberg.
The Frisco Hospital was an institution which had the purpose of caring for employees of the Frisco Railroad. Below is a photo of that hospital.
Ella Lorenz died in 1953 at the age of 63. Her death certificate says she also died in St. Louis. She died at the Stone Nursing Home.
Alfred and Ella Lorenz are each buried in the St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery in Wittenberg.
Alfred and Ella each had their beginnings at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but later, after St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wittenberg was established in 1903, we find this couple and their family as members of that congregation. That was the church where my father was a member as he grew up. My father was born in 1913, so he would certainly have known the two Lorenz boys, Norman and Hilmer. Those two would have been just a few years younger than my dad. I can just imagine my father and a few Lorenz boys wandering the streets of Wittenberg back in its heyday. Maybe even getting into a bit of mischief.