Andrew and Lena Yeager

Andrew Yeager and Helena "Lena" Piehl Yeager are pictured to the left in the early 1950's. Andrew Yeager was born in Germany on November 12, 1876 to Lawrence Yeager (Lorenz Jaeger in his native language) and Maria Schweighardt. In 1881, the Yeager family came to United States. Andrew’s younger brother Frank was born after the family settled in Ohio.

Volume 38 of GERMANS TO AMERICA lists the following family members on the voyage aboard the ship “Pereire,” which traveled from Havre to New York:

Jager, Laurent age 34
Marie age 32
Andre age 6
Emma age 4
Louise infant

On September 30, 1903, Andrew Yeager married Helena “Lena” Piehl, daughter of Ferdinand Gotthold Piehl and his wife Augusta Jaensch Piehl, who were immigrants from Posen, Germany. Andrew, known as Andy, worked as a tenant farmer. He raised sunflowers at his home in Huron, Ohio. Lena was a wonderful cook and baker. Sugar cookies were one of her special treats. Lena was quiet and gentle natured. Her height was less than five feet.

Andrew Yeager died in April of 1958, while Lena Yeager lived to be 97, passing away on October 15, 1978. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Yeager are buried in the Union Corners Cemetery, just off Route 250, between Sandusky and Milan. The cemetery is associated with St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church.













Pictured below is the Piehl family about 1906. Lena Piehl Yeager is the first person on the left, in the back row. Click on the image for a larger view.

Rev. J. A. Griffith

According to the BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF PASTORS OF THE AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH (c1962), John Adam Griffith was born on February 22, 1885 in Ashville, Ohio to Mr. and Mrs. G. D. Griffith. Rev. Griffith married Golda Wheeler in 1910, the same year that he graduated from Seminary at Capital University.

Rev. J. A. Griffith served as the pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sandusky from 1919 until 1957. Prior to coming to Sandusky, he had also been a minister in Lancaster and Youngstown, Ohio. He was a past president of the Erie County Ministerial Association. In 1952, Rev. Griffith authored a book of inspirational poems, entitled GARLANDS GATHERED FROM GOD'S GARDEN. This book is housed in the Local Authors Collection of books at the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library, as well as at the library of the R. B. Hayes Presidential Center.

In the 1960's a local area business owner, speaking to a group of high school students, credited Rev. J. A. Griffith with successfully helping him to turn away from alcoholism. Rev. Griffith officiated at several weddings, funerals, baptisms, and confirmations for members of my extended family. Though I was very young when I met him, I thought the pastor looked like an angel, with his white hair and gentle spirit. Rev. Griffith is pictured below at a baptism in March, 1952.



Rev. J. A. Griffith passed away on January 13, 1963. He was survived by his wife, two brothers, two sisters, and several nieces and nephews. He was buried at Oakland Cemetery. Mrs. Griffith died in 1974.The symbol of the Luther Rose appears on the tombstone for Rev. and Mrs. Griffith. Though Rev. J. A. Griffith did not have any biological children, he was mentor to many young people who attended St. Paul Lutheran Church. During the years of Rev. Griffith's service in Sandusky, St. Paul Lutheran Church was located at the southeast corner of Central Avenue and Tyler Street.

Below is a photograph of Rev. J. A. Griffith with a Confirmation Class, about 1923.