| Ernest Lehman worked as a dresser at the TKWM in the early 1890s along with brother August. Wife Amelia also worked briefly for the mill during the same time period.
Ernest was born Sep 1857 in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1880. He came to Salem, OR for work at the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill as a dresser. Brother August worked as a weaver at the same mill.
He married Amelia Fisher 21 Jun 1893 in Salem, OR. It was the second marriage for Amelia. The couple was married by Rev. J. Muelhaupt in the German Reformed Church by Rev. J. Muelhaupt. Seven children would be born to this union: Margaret, Henry, Lena, Loetta and Lowella [twins], Theodore and Henrietta.
In 1895 according to the Marion County census Ernest worked as a laborer and Amelia kept house. Additional details captured by the same record are that Ernest was 5 ft 2 in tall and weighed 137 pounds. In contrast to his wife Amelia who was 5 ft 5 in tall and weighed 125 pounds. Ernest was 37 years old and Amelia 20.
The family moved to California by 1900. Part of the reason may have been a default on property they owned in Salem, to which they owed $700 to the Savings and Loan. Another reason may have been a work opportunity for Ernest at the Napa Woolen Mill. They had four children age 8 and under by that time.
The couple divorced in 1907, and Ernest was sent to prison for the bodily harm inflicted repeatedly on his wife Amelia. A newspaper account recorded the following:
Mrs. Lehman testified that when the couple lived at 1428 East Tenth St. In East Oakland her spouse slapped her face, calling her vile names and threatened to throw her out of the house. According to the wife’s story. Lehman threw a chair at her and told her he would beat her brains out. For the past two years Mrs. Lehman says her husband’s conduct toward her has been unbearable. He is said to have never given her a kind word and nagged at her so frequently that her health was impaired. When suffering from illness, the woman declares her husband inflicted grievous bodily injury and caused her mental sufferings.
Mrs. Lehman was given the custody of her daughter Margaret, 13 years old, Henry, aged 11, Lena, aged 9, Loetta and Lowella, twins, aged 6, and Theodore, aged 3. for the support of the children, Lehman must pay his wife $7.50 a week. Mrs. Lehman was also awarded $50 attorney’s fees and $22.50 costs. The couple were married June 21, 1893 at Salem, OR.
After serving his prison sentence, Ernest moved to San Francisco and took work in a book bindery. Then by 1920 returned to his woolen mill work and moved to Eugene, OR. Ernest died 5 Dec 1929 in Oakland, California. He was cremated and ashes interred at Chapel of the Chimes Columbarium and Mausoleum in Oakland, CA. |
