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- This account begins with the arrival of John Eugene Leitensdorfer in the United States (for information prior to that time see "The Remarkable Life and Adventure of John Eugene Leitensdorfer" by John Francis McDermott)
He arrived in Salem, Massachusetts in December, 1809. After visiting General Eaton, under whom he served during the War of Tripoli, he went to Washington where he served as a draftsman and surveyor under Henry Latrobe, architect of the Capitol. In 1811 he was awarded a Congressional grant of 320 acres of land west of St. Louis. A cursory search in the Recorder of Deeds office at St. Charles, Missouri, made in July 1983 revealed no record of this grant nor its disposition. (employees there stated that is not unusual for them to have no record of old land grants). A search of records at the St. Charles Historical Society did produce a record of his marriage to Euphrosine Gamache at St. Ferdinand de Florissant Church on August 17, 1812. Euphorsine was born January 22, 1794, to Jean Baptiste and Catherine Constant Gamache who migrated to St. Charles from Quebec, Canada. The Gamaches were a prominent family in St. Charles and a Dr. Gamache still lives there according to a Historical Societye employee.
When Euphrosine became afraid of the Indians they moved to Carondelet in South St. Louis, where some of her family lived. This move apparently took place in 1813 or 1814. John Eugene and Euphrosine had at least four children: Eugene born September 10, 1813; Thomas (my great grandfather) born in 1820; Josephine born in 1826; and Emilie (birthdate unknown). There is a record of her marriage to Samuel B. Fithian in 1849, and we know that Josephine married Norris Colburn. They had at least one child. (editor note - this is where things vary from what I (Susan Welch Brewer) have learned so far I show Eugene marrying Soledad Abreu. I will continue to research this) This son, Norris Eugene, married Soledad Abreu daughter of one of the governors of New Mexico (before it was a state). There is no record of any children. At some point he returned to St. Louis where he m arried Margaret Michau in 1850. They had two children, Edwin and Andrew. He later married Philomena Choquette. This union produced Antoine, Philomena and Eugene, whose descendants are still living in South St. Louis. They are Julia Leitensdorfer Burleson and her daughter, Jill, who have provided much of the above information. Thomas Leitensdorfer married Eliza Michau on May 14, 1845. She was born in de Garde, France on November 14, 1811 according to her tombstone or May 14, 1823 according to the 1850 census. She died on 1904 and is buried in Mt. Hope cemetery in St. Louis. They had one son, Joseph, (my grandfather) born January 31, 1847 according to his tombstone or January 20, 1851 as given in a Civil Service application found among his papers.
According to the Congressional Record, a Special Act of Congress awarded Colonel John Eugene Leitensdorfer another 320 acres of lan on February 6, 1835, for his services as a Colonel of the United States in Egypt and on the coast of Africa 1804-1805. The act states that the land warrant could be located with any register of land offices in the State of Missouri. I assume that he chose land in Carondelet since he built a home there in 1840. This two story brick building, located at 5602 Michigan Avenue, was demolished in 1961 to make way for the Ozark Expressway. Colonel Leitensdorfer died five years later on March 11, 1845. The bishop forbade his internment in a Catholic cemetery, so he was buried in teh Presbyterian cemetery on Franklin Avenue, St. Louis in a lot belonging to his son-in-law, Norris Colburn. A daughter by his first wife, Zigha Marzari, was then living in Trento, Italy.
Eugene and Thomas Leitensdorfer were traders in Colorado and New Mexico, bringing goods from St. Louis which they traded to the Indians for beaver skins and buffalo robes. They then sold these commodities for a good profit on their return trip. We don't know exactly when they went to the Southwest, but it appears that they may have been there as early as 1840. At some point the brothers owned a store in Santa Fe. They were often at Bent's Fort in Colorado where they were close associates of the Bents, also St. Louisians engaged in trade with the Indians. The Leitensdorfer brothers are mentioned several times in David Lavender's book "Bents Fort". Susan Magoffin, author of "Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico", tells of seeing the Mexican wives of Eugene Leitensdorfer and George Bent (if indeed they were wives) in the big apartment at Bent's Fort. She also mentions their trading partner, Norris Colburn, husband of their sister Josephine. Both Thomas and Eugene were in the Mexican War serving as volunteers under Lt. de Courcey. At the close of the war on September 22, 1846, General Kearney appointed Charles Bent as governor of the conquered territory and Eugene Leitensdorfer as Territorial Auditro.
Thomas eventually married Eliza Michau on one of his return trips to St. Louis from the Southwest. We don't know when he finally left Eliza and their son and took up residence in Colorado or when Joseph joined him there. He apparently married again and had children according to letters and papers found among Joseph Leitensdorfer's papers. One letter from Attorney E. Palmer, St. Louis, dated 1892, states that Joseph is the only legitimate child of his father, which indicates that there were other children. A clipping from the St. Louis Globe Democrat dated April 7, 1904, includes a photo of Mrs. J. H. Perry of Pacific, MO. The caption states that she is the daughter of the late Colonel Thomas Leitensdorfer, a native St. Louisian who spent the greater part of his life in Santa Fe and portions of Colorado accompanied by General Kearney on his march to Chihuahua, Mexico in 1847. A letter dated February 8, 1918, postmarked Billings, Montana, addressed to Aunt Celestine Leitensdorfer and signed by an Emily Leitensdorfer, said that she had a brother, Joseph, living in Missouri. She enclosed a letter of Aunt Celestine's that had been missent to Billings, Montana. That was a real coincidence. Aunt Celestine was very curious about this woman identity and her relationship to Grandfather Leitensdorfer.
Thomas Leitensdorfer died March, 24, 1886 in Las Animas County, Colorado, eight miles north of Trinidad where he owned land. Proof of death and Letter of Administration of his Estate were dated October 6, andforwarded tohis son, Joseph.
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