Lizzie married Abraham Stauffer while the Reicharts were in Wisconsin. They farmed. They lived on two different places, the last being at Minominee Falls. Things did not go well for them and they lost everything that they had.
Anton Sr. brought the Stauffers to Kansas with the other family members. They came in 1857. The two children were Christina born in 1856, Minominee Falls, Wisconsin and Elizabeth (also called Lizzie). Her family gave the date of her birth as being 1858 and Minominee as the place of birth. If she was born in 1858, then the place of birth would have to be Kansas.
Lizzie Reichart did come to Kansas but she is not listed on the 1860 census. Therefore she died in 1858 or 1859. She was buried in a field east of the Reichart Homestead. For many years two cedar trees marked her grave as well as the grave of her sister Catherine.
The Stauffers continued to live with the Reicharts for a time. Christina never married. She lived with Margaret and Frederick Reichart and then with Laura Reichart Hefty (Mrs. Ed) until she died. Lizzie lived with Margaret and Frederick also. When Anton Jr. and Anna Ott were first married she worked for them, helping with the children and house work. She worked for the Fisher family on Cedar Falls and at other places.
In 1883, she married George Frederick Leonhardt. They farmed in a neighborhood near Denison, Kansas. The land was not very productive so the family had to work hard to make a living.
Sometime in the early 1870’s, Abraham Stauffer remarried. He married a widow lady, Margaret Housh. She was born in Kentucky and moved to Kansas from Indiana.
| The Census of 1880: | ||
| Abe Stauffer | 47 years old | worked in stone quarry |
| Margaret Stauffer | 42 years old | wife |
| Alice Housh | 18 years old | her daughter |
| Charles Housh | 14 years old | her son |
| George W. Stauffer | 6 years old | |
| Wm. Frederick Stauffer | 5 years old | |
| Abraham Stauffer | 3 years old | |
| The Census of 1885: | ||
| Abe Stauffer | 53 years old | Farmer Address: Valley Falls |
| Margaretr | 42 years old | |
| George W. | 12 years old | |
| Wm. Frederick | 10 years old | |
| Abraham | 8 years old | |
Christina Stauffer made yeast for any of the relatives who were bread bakers. I suppose at first they all were.
She gathered wild hops from fence rows or the woods. The greenish, cone-shaped flowers were boiled in water. After the water cooled, it was strained and cornmeal was added to the hop water to make a very stiff batter. This was molded into little cakes about two inches in diameter and then set out to dry.
The dried cakes were stored in air tight containers ready for use at bread making time. When the jar was opened, the trapped molecules took flight making a delicious yeasty aroma. This made ones mouth water in anticipation of the good crusty baked bread.
Clara Reichart and Laura Hefty (perhaps others, too) continued to bake bread throughout the years using Christina’s yeast.
When Christina died, this terminated the little home industry. Those who continued bread baking bought the yeast from the store. Store yeast was a little more accurate in the measurement of the product. But by this time the majority of people were buying bread from bakeries.