Person:Morris Kraus (1)

Morris' full name was Christian Moritz Krauss according to church records from Germany. Morris left Germany in 1881 at the age of 16 because Kaiser Wilhelm was drafting all able young men into his army, and Morris had the opportunity to leave for the United States rather than stay and fight in the war. When Morris immigrated to Ohio, he went to live with his uncle, John Pentzel (Pencil) near Springfield, Clark Co., Ohio. While there, he worked in a bakery in Springfield. His parents and siblings soon joined him in Ohio, in August 1883, and eventually they moved to Miami County.

By the time he married, he owned a bakery in Bradford, Ohio. Around 1898 they moved to St. Paris, Ohio because their house in Bradford was right next to the railroad and Mary was afraid the children would get hurt. About 1900, Morris bought a farm in Newton Twp., Miami County just south of Circle Hill, next to his parents' farm. He began farming there, but soon after they moved there, he had a serious accident. He fell off a ladder while picking cherries, and shattered a vertebrae against a rock. He spent about a year in bed, unable to work. But he was able to walk again and continued to farm until 1925 when his son Francis took over. In the 1910 census his place of business was listed as Tobacco Farm.

In 1925, Morris, Mary and Selma moved to Covington, Ohio. Then in 1928, they moved into a house in West Milton, Ohio that was owned by Morris' nephew, Bob Kraus. They lived there until Morris' death in 1952.