Meet Grandma Layer
L to R: Dorothy Klingensmith, Carolyn Kibler Layer, Anna Klingensmith
Coming to America . . .
It was before the Civil War when Caroline Kibler stepped off the train in Leavittsburg, Ohio. She had traveled several days by train from New York City, and reaching Leavittsburg was a huge relief. The ship she took after leaving Germany was crowded, and the voyage took more weeks than she wanted to remember. Caroline was alone, and to make matters worse she knew only a few words of English.
It was wonderful to be out in the fresh air, and she was excited to see her brother and meet his family. He had paid for her passage so that she could help with his children. He sent instructions on how to walk from the train station to his home. The trees were beautiful, and she didn’t notice anyone at first. Then she realized that there was a man behind her. When she sped up, so did he. When she slowed down, he stayed back always at a distance behind her.
On her way she passed what looked like an abandoned house. It was very old and scary so she walked rapidly by it.
Caroline hurried on to her brother’s house and having arrived safely soon forgot about the man. On Sunday, they went to church and could hardly believe who was there . . . the man who followed her at a distance. It turned out that he was just making sure that she safely arrived. That man, who would eventually be her husband, was John Layer.
Caroline Kibler and John Layer were married on December 26th 1857 .
They moved into the house next to the old abandoned house she rushed by. That house many years later would be (after many repairs) the farm of Henry and Phoebe. The road they lived on would later be changed to Layer Road in her honor.
Caroline was lovingly known as Grandma Layer by Henry and Phoebe’s girls. (See them below .)
This picture was taken on the back porch of Caroline and John Layers’ home on the day that Henry and Phoebe’s daughter Edna received her Confirmation and their baby daughter Anna was baptized in 1910.