WILLOW GROVE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate Broker, CRS
- Lot Sales
The author of this narrative, Laurie Kleinpeter Laville, would like to thank those fellow family members and genealogists that have contributed information of our ancestors to tell their story. Most especially, Mrs. Lynette LeBlanc Kleinpeter author of The Kleinpeter Legacy. Her book is available at the library or may be purchased through her. Various publications about the Kleinpeter Family may be of interest to the reader. The South Baton Rouge Journal published articles in July 1998 and February 2001 that give more details into the history of this pioneering family.
Mary Ann Brown Kleinpeter had 12 children, although two died very young. He and Mary Ann lived in the family home and had 6 living children at the start of the Civil War. The Confederate troops came to the farm on July 4, 1862 and "seized for the use of the Confederate States of America 29 bales of cotton." Imagine George's reaction when this same cotton that he had worked and harvested was then "burned to prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy" right in front of him. Perhaps he was told that he would be reimbursed for this sacrifice, that could have easily amounted to a year's income. Nevertheless, he saved the receipt given to him by Captain Krump of Company E Louisiana Rangers and the family still has it to this day.
Five months later some Union soldiers came to the farm on Christmas night and stole two saddles. Mary Ann, who was then 5 months pregnant with her 9th child, made her way to the Provost Marshall to file a complaint. He wrote a note for her to take to Col. Paine, a Union officer, seeking his assistance. (The city of Baton Rouge was under Union occupation at the time.) We still have that note and wonder if Mary Ann and George ever got those saddles back. The Federal Government sent a post card to George in 1878 stating there was an extension of the time allowed for claimants seeking reimbursement of property taken for "actual use of the Federal army". It was also noted that those Claimants who were "loyal to the United States from the beginning to the end of the late war" should "give the matter immediate attention." We're not sure of what type of attention George and Mary Ann gave the matter, but we do know that they kept that post card, and we still have it today. We may have missed the deadline of March 10, 1879, but we are hanging onto these "just in case."
George and Mary Ann went on to have 4 more children.
The youngest of which was Robert Lee Kleinpeter born December 16, 1872. Rob never left the farm. Mary Ann was 81 years old when she died in 1908. When George was too old to work in the field, Rob and Mr. Louis Johnson, a much loved hired hand, carried on without him. Stories are told of how George would ring the dinner bell to call Rob in to eat lunch when he was working in the fields . Sometimes that dinner bell would ring well before noon. Mr. Johnson told us that Rob would say, "Come on, the old man must be getting lonely." and off they would go for a mid-morning lunch and a visit with George. On October 8, 1911 George died at age 91 and was buried in the family cemetery next to Mary Ann.
Everyone must have been surprised when Rob, a bachelor at the age of 49, fell in love with the friendly and out-going New Orleans "city girl" that had come to visit his cousin on the farm next door. Caroline Nowell had befriended Gertrude Kleinpeter and took her up on the offer to come visit in the country. Carrie met Rob and had her picture taken milking a cow. Upon a dare from Gertrude, Carrie mailed that picture to him and wrote on the back, "How's that for an amateur?" Correspondence started. The two were married April 26, 1922.
Rob and Carrie Kleinpeter were the next generation to farm the land and live in the house. Rob was 49 and Carrie was 32 when they married. Carrie set about learning the farm life with great gusto. A family story tells of how the newlywed tried to help her husband by doing one of his chores while he was away. Rob had the task of watering the many heads of cattle by drawing buckets of water from the well. Carried decided to open the "big yard gate" to let the cattle into the area by the well so that she could draw up the buckets and water them herself. The cattle then caused quite a commotion and two bulls began fighting. Undaunted, the city girl shooed them with her broom and stopped the fight. Rob was not very happy with that tale. We think that he was, however, proud of her determination and pluck. We sure are!
Having married late in life, the couple desperately wanted children. They were thrilled when their daughter, Mary Elizabeth was born three years later on February 19, 1925. Not long after a son, Robert Lee Kleinpeter, Jr., was born December 9, 1926. They raised these two through the difficult times of the Depression. This generation had still more challenges to face. Rob died at the age of 68. It was up to Carrie and the children (ages 15 and 13) to run the farm on their own.
As in the previous generation, a war affected the Kleinpeter family. Robert joined the Navy at the age of 17 and served his country in the Pacific. Although separated by war, they persevered and were soon together again. Carrie began work at LSU and was able to see both of her children through college. After approximately 130 years of gas and candlelight the house was wired for electricity after Robert returned from the Service. A new era had begun.
Dr. Mary Elizabeth Kleinpeter graduated from LSU medical school in 1951. She practiced medicine in Mississippi for a number of years. She returned to the family home on weekends and vacations. In the late 1950s Mary Elizabeth moved back to Louisiana and established a family practice in Port Allen. She has an adopted daughter, Sara Anne Caruso. They both love the farm and its history.
Robert Lee Kleinpeter graduated from LSU in 1950. He married Faye Hamilton in 1952. They lived in the family home with their seven children, Rob, Greg, David, Carl, Brian, Amy and Laurie. They built a more modern home on the place in 1966.
Robert always loved the work of the farm and took pride in this tradition. The children loved the freedom of growing up on the farm. There are many a fond memory and funny tale to be told by those five boys and two girls about their years growing up working and playing on the farm.
Robert and Faye's son, Greg, was the first of their children to marry. He and his wife, Donna, moved into the family home in 1978. They have three children. Their children are the sixth generation to live in the house. The family started a tradition of sharing the history and heritage of Willow Grove with the community in the 1980s when they opened the farm for field trips and birthday parties. Many people from Baton Rouge have enjoyed the peaceful country atmosphere and the fun times that country life offers at the farm. The hay rides through the pastures, feeding cattle and a ride past the lovely centuries-old Oak trees surrounding the family cemetery have brought many in our community to love Willow Grove as we do.
Robert Kleinpeter, and his second wife, Brenda Kliesch Kleinpeter, took great pleasure in hosting many of these events up until the time of his death on March 11, 2002. Robert rests in the family cemetery alongside his ancestors who shared in his love for their land.