Was ist in einem Namen?

 "What's in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell just as sweet.” 

Lorenz Wehner, founder of the Pilot Knob Wehners, arrived in the USA from Hesse in 1848, but the ship, exact date, and port of arrival are unknown. And so has been the family name of his wife, Flora, who likely accompanied Lorenz while yet-to-be married. But we may have solved the last mystery.

On 14 Sep 1848 at Old St. Vincent's Catholic Church, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Flora and Lorenz were wed. The original marriage record, written in Latin, shows Lorenz’s bride as “Flora Grisner,” daughter of “Joannis” (Latin form of German “Johannes”) Grisner and Marguerita (Latin form of German “Margarete”) Müller. Remember, however, that the Latin record was prepared from information provided by newly arrived Germans, who almost certainly had a strong German accent. And it is not at all unlikely that Flora and Lorenz spoke very limited English. In fact, in the U.S. Flora often signed documents with a mark and she was recorded as being illiterate in the 1870 census. Perhaps she was limited in both English and German.

Copy of original marriage record for Lorenz and Flora.

Other records give varying names for Lorenz’s bride. She is “Flora Glisner” in the baptismal record for her last-born child, Louisa; “Florence Clysner” in the marriage record for her daughter Amelia; “F. Glimmer” and “Flora Glisener” in the death certificates for two of her daughters, Anna (Wehner) Siebert (son Clarence Siebert, informant) and Amelia (Wehner) Becker (son Elmer B. Becker informant). Her name appears as “Flora Glistner” and “Flora Chrissener” in Lorenz Wehner’s consolidated Civil War pension file.

Flora’s most unusual appellation may appear in the Saint John Nepomuk Church (St. Louis, Missouri) record for the 1867 marriage of Clara Christina Wehner, Flora's daughter, to Robert Schilling. The German-language record states that Christine's mother was “Floritha geborne Steinhauser von Hesse” (Floritha nee Steinhauser of Hesse). The church, established in 1854 by Czech settlers, often used the German language, spoken by many Czech people, for records and sermons. This puzzling name may result from inaccuracy in the record, the interpretation, or the translation. A village named “Steinhaus” is located just eight miles northeast of Fulda and just three miles east of Dietershan, home of the Wehners. A person born in Steinhaus would be a “Steinhauser.” And, as we will see, persons with the German last name concluded for Flora, were living in Steinhaus in the late 1700s.

And to further confuse the issue, Flora is given the middle name “Laura” in many internet trees, probably because this is the name recorded for her in the 1850 census. Of course, at the time, the census enumerator was entering data for a person who had been in the U.S. just two years and was unlikely to be articulate.

Overall, it appears that Flora’s family name, at least in U.S. records, was meant to be “Glisner” or “Grisner,” though both are almost nonexistent names in Germany. Since most of the recorded variations in the U.S. have an “L” as the second letter and since the name “Glisner” is found in Hessian records (admittedly few), while “Grisner” is not, Lorenz's wife's name was probably “Flora Glisner,” at least in the U.S. In Germany, the name was likely “Gleisner” (pronounced “Glīsner,” long “I”) before being Anglicized in the U.S. “Gleisner,” though uncommon, is a known German name, found primarily in the states of Hesse and adjacent Nordrhein Westfalen. In fact records from Fulda churches (see below) are found for for three Johannes Gleisners, though there is no proof that any of these was related to Flora. The German name “Gleisner” is known to have been changed to “Glisner” in English-language records.

Distribution of the name “Gleisner” in Germany today. Each red dot show the location of 1 to 5 people with the name. Though rather rare, the name is most abundant in the states of Nordrhein Westfalen and Hesse. The names “Glisner” and “Grisner” are so rare they cannot be mapped. (Karte zum Namen,)

Record of the 22 Jul 1755 baptism at St. Margareta Catholic Church, Margretenhaun, District of Fulda, Hesse, of a Johannes Domas Gleisner, born in the town of Steinhaus, District of Fulda. This Latin record actually gives his father’s name as Johannes “Klisner.” Margretenhaun is located six miles southeast of Dietershan. (Source, Johannes Keusekotten).

Record in Latin for the 4 Sep 1787 baptism at St. Georg Catholic Church, Großenlüder, District of Fulda, Hesse, of Johannes Sebastian Gleisner, son of Johannes Domas Gleisner. (Source, Johannes Keusekotten).

Given all the evidence shown here, we can conclude that Flora’s name in Germany was almost certainly “Flora Gleisner,” which became “Flora Glisner” in the U.S. And it is not unlikely that Flora was born, or lived in Steinhaus, Hesse.