John and Rose Schwanz Kloepfer
Contribution from Lisa Schreiner
From The Hamburg Sun and Erie County Independent
(Hamburg, Erie County, New
York)
Hamburg Centennial
June 19, 1974
Owned Early Hotelry
The John Kloepfers, Native Bavarians, Became Prominent Here
Rose and John Kloepfer came to White's Corners from Bavaria. They were members of a large group of refugees from the Prussian militaristic state who wanted peace and a new life in the United States.
When they arrived in the area, Rose soon became known for her delicious German cooking; delicate noodles, crisp potato chips, fragrant spicy strudels, hearty stews with dumplings and pastries that tasted as if they had been made in heaven. The Kloepfers had an idea that the New World might benefit by a bit of Old World hospitality and decided to go into the hotel business.
In 1871 they opened Kloepfer Hotel on property at about 30 Main Street, near Becker's Restaurant today. The hospitable inn became very popular with travelers and with the German Americans of the farming community.
The Kloepfers ere members of the Roman Catholic congregation that later became St. Peter and Paul, and the children attended parochial school there. There were eight young Kloepfers, all of whom grew up to be a credit to their parents and to the community, in the good old German tradition.
William became a priest, teaching at St. Jerome's College. Mary became a Franciscan nun. Anna married Marcus Schwert of Hamburg. Carrie married Edward S. Stuart, grandson of Samuel M. Stuart who was president of the village for 12 years. Emma married William Haberer who later became head of the Dodge Agency here. John and George both became bankers and Celia, who was very handsome and a belle in the community, never married.
John became an organizer and later director of the Bank of Hamburgh in 1893. He took a leading role in the organization of the Liberty Bank of Buffalo from the Old German American and Union Stockyard Banks in Buffalo. He became President of the Liberty Bank and his brother, George, became Vice President.
John A. Kloepfer was a wealthy and prominent man but he still belonged very much to Hamburg, as did all the family. In his will he left funds to the Hamburg Public Library for a young people's reading room. After his death, the room wad dedicated by his brother, George. At a quiet ceremony on Sept. 15, 1954, Miss Florence Eckhardt, superintendent of the Hamburgh Elementary Schools at that time, said of him, "As a young boy he lived in our village and went to our schools. And when he grew up to become a rich and successful man, he never forgot the village. He planned for it and worked for it. He typified the old American Dream." Rose and John Kloepfer would have liked to hear that remark.
The Kloepfer family later gave up the hotel and make their home at 103 Buffalo Street. The house has since been remodeled.
The Stuart family have continued to be concerned with village life. Samuel W. Stuart, son of the original Stuart, also lived in Hamburg and had two sons, Edward and Jim. The family headquarters was still the old home at 207 Main Street. Mrs. Raymond Royce of Oakridge Drive, Edward's daughter, recalls many good times at her Stuart Grandparents' house.
Edward married Carrie Kloepfer, one of the Kloepfer family who ran the hotel on Main Street in the seventies and eighties, and the couple lived on Lake Street next door to the Colvin home at 45 South Lake Street. There were three daughters in the family: Evelyn now deceased, who married Charles Wiest and lived in Hamburg; Edwina, Mrs. Raymond Royce, and Eileen who is Mrs. Edward Clark of Springville.
Descendants of John Kloepfer
1 John Kloepfer Born: December 27, 1833 in Moos/Buhl, Germany Died: October 11, 1908 in Hamburg, Erie County, New York
+Hedwiga Schwanz Born: 1833 Married: Abt. 1860 Died: October 13, 1868 in Hamburg, Erie County, New York
2 Mary Christina Kloepfer Born: December 29, 1862 Died: 1933
2 Anna Kloepfer Born: April 18, 1864 Died: February 17, 1938
+Marcus Schwert Born: WFT Est. 1839-1868 Married: October 06, 1886 in Hamburg, Erie County, New York Died: WFT Est. 1895-1953
2 Rosa Amalia Kloepfer Born: February 07, 1866 Died: November 1884
2 Caroline D. Kloepfer Born: July 07, 1867 in Hamburg, Erie County, New York Died: January 11, 1926 in Hamburg, Erie County, New York
+Edward Sanford Stuart Born: August 08, 1870 Married: June 10, 1897 in Hamburg, Erie County, New York Died: April 13, 1941
2 Hattie Kloepfer Born: September 27, 1868 Died: September 15, 1869
*2nd Wife of John Kloepfer:
+Rose Schwanz Born: 1846 Married: January 25, 1870 in Hmaburg, Erie County, New York Died: 1927 in Erie County, New York
2 William Vincent Kloepfer Born: January 20, 1871 in Hamburg, Erie County, New York Died: January 24, 1925 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
2 John Anthony Kloepfer Born: January 15, 1873 in Hamburg,Erie County, New York Died: June 18, 1927 in Buffalo, Erie County, New York
+Jennie Alida Clough Born: WFT Est. 1869-1888 Married: 1897 in Erie County, New York Died: March 1947 in Erie County, New York
2 Hedwiga Clara Kloepfer Born: April 16, 1875 Died: May 1885
2 Emma R. Kloepfer Born: May 08, 1877 in Hamburg, Erie County, New York Died: September 22, 1932 in Hamburg, Erie County, New York
+William G. Haberer Born: WFT Est. 1859-1879 Married: June 30, 1903 in Hamburg, Erie County, New York Died: WFT Est. 1904-1965
2 Joseph Nicholas Kloepfer Born: March 13, 1880 Died: June 09, 1884
2 Cecelia Frances Kloepfer Born: November 02, 1883 in Hamburg, Erie County, New York Died: April 13, 1951
2 George Joseph Kloepfer Born: March 30, 1885 in Erie County, New York Died: October 16, 1952 in Erie County, New York
+Leila Janet Koerner Born: December 24, 1897 in Erie County, New York Married: October 14, 1920 Died: December 24, 1963 in Erie County, New York
2 Francis G. Kloepfer Born: June 1887 Died: April 1889
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