Caroline Laurent Müller, Charleston, South Carolina, around 1900
Philippina Carolina Laurent (known as Caroline) was born on September 15, 1822 in Zweibrücken (also known as Deux-Ponts), Pfalz, Germany, a locale with a mixed French and German heritage. Records for the region were written both in German and French at various times.
Caroline's mother was Margaretha Philippina Jungblut, called Philippina, an unmarried laundress in Zweibrücken. Her father was Philipp Heinrich Laurent, a book printer and local businessman, son of Emmanuel Friedrich Lorenz Laurent and Catharina Louisa Schmidt. Philipp married Philippina in 1825, thus legitimizing Carolina and her subsequent siblings.
Caroline was confirmed in Zweibrücken and married seminary student Ludwig (Louis) Müller in 1842. The couple emigrated to the USA that same year, settling first in Brooklyn and later in Charleston and Walhalla, South Carolina. They had eleven children.
After Ludwig's death in 1898 Carolina lived with her eldest daughter, Helena Melchers, in Charleston and died in 1910 of natural causes. She was buried at Bethany Cemetery in Charleston next to her husband.
Carolina had a younger sister, Louisa, born in February 1827. Louisa emigrated to the USA and arrived in New York in 1847. In 1853 Louisa married Julius Edward Stohlmann (usually known as J. Edward Stohlmann), a purveyor of German religious books in Brooklyn. Louisa and her husband had nine children and she kept in touch with her sister's family in Charleston. Julius died in 1910, Louisa shortly thereafter.
Another Laurent, Caroline's aunt Franziska Christina, married Georg Eifler, son of Johann Peter Eifler and Catharina Schweyher, in Landstuhl. Their son Albert, born in 1846, came to New York about 1867 and married Margarethe Heymann in New York City. Thus another Laurent connection was established in Manhattan. The Eiflers settled in New York and New Jersey and may not realize their Laurent connection...yet!