Ursula Meiring Born: 24 June 1840 Alsace Died: 16 August 1913 Washington Township, Lucas County, Ohio

Ursula was the youngest of two surviving children of Martin Shears and Margrate Neck.

There is some uncertainty about the spelling of both her first and maiden names. Her death certificate lists "Ursla," and her tombstone shows "Ursala." Her last name appears in a bewildering number of forms, including "Sherer," "Shearer," "Scheares," "Shehr," "Scherr," and "Schaer." Although she was born in Alsace, the census states that she was born in France, and her death certificate lists Germany.

Ursula was six years old when she emigrated with her parents and two siblings in 1846. Her brother died during the voyage.

Her father purchased forty acres of land at the southwest corner of Hill Avenue and what is now Elmdale on 28 October 1852. Both Ursula and her sister worked as hired girls in the homes in town to help the family. One of the girls would bring an apple to an invalid woman every afternoon. The woman would peel the apple, and this thick peel would be brought home to make jelly to augment the family's food supply.

Ursula married Herman Joseph (Joe) Meiring on 28 June 1859 at St. Mary's in Toledo.

In the early years of their marriage, they may have lived on Fitchland Avenue. They may also have lived for a time in a small house on the Tyrell farm on Secor Road, near the present-day Valleston Boulevard.

Between 1860 and 1882, Joe and Ursula had eleven children:

1. John (24 Aug 1860 - 7 Sep 1862)
   He died at the age of two.
2. Joseph Martin (Joe) (19 Feb 1862 - 18 Aug 1936)
   He married Philomena Louisa Schmerge (1862-1900)
   He remarried to Mary Keeler* (1869-1954)
   Joe worked as a truck gardener. He died in a car accident.
3. Mary Magdalena (Lena) (20 Jan 1864 - 20 Jan 1937)
   She married August (Gus) Schetter (1861-1930)
4. George (15 Jan 1866 - 21 Dec 1933)
   He married Dorathea (Dorothy, Dora) Wissing (1863-1934)
5. Anna Marguerite (Mag) (7 May 1867 - 22 Feb 1906)
   She married Francis Anthony (Frank) Hipp (1868-1948)
6. John C. (7 Dec 1868 - 5 Oct 1942)
   He married Rose Schlagheck (d. 1930)
   John worked as a truck driver.
7. Frank (24 Jan 1871 - 24 Oct 1947)
   He married Mary Anna Keeler* (1878-1917)
8. Mary Anna (Little Mary) (8 May 1874 - 6 Feb 1944)
   She was mentally and physically handicapped, and never married.
9. Henrietta (Et) (7 Jan 1877 - 12 Apr 1941)
   She married Charles Kronsperger (1868-1947)
10. Henry Martin (Martin) (30 Dec 1880 - 10 Jul 1953)
    He married Anna Mary Krieger (1886-1937)
11. Frances Elizabeth (30 Nov 1882 - 19 Oct 1965)
    She married Jacob Keeler* (1876-1952)
    Their son, Andrew Keeler (8 Nov 1916 - 12 Jan 1945), was killed in action in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge.

    [*Mary Keeler was a first cousin of Mary Anna and Jacob, who were siblings.]

Ursula and her family lived on a forty acre farm on the south side of Central Avenue at Secor Road. When her parents died in 1880, she inherited the eastern 20 acres of her father's land.

According to a family story, Ursula dreaded childbirth, and after her eleventh child, Frances, was born, she prayed that she would have no more children. Within a year, her husband died, leaving her a widow at 43. She believed that she had been punished by God for asking to have no more children.

After Martin's death, Ursula lived with her son Martin on West Central Avenue. Over time, more land was purchased, and the size of the farm increased to 100 acres. On 31 March 1905, this land was divided up between seven of her children. Today, this land is largely covered by the western half of Westgate Shopping Center and the houses along Manchester Avenue.

In 1908, Ursula and "Little Mary" went to live with Ursula's youngest daughter, Frances Meiring Keeler, on Secor Road.

Ursula died at age 73 from gastric and intestinal indigestion at her daughter's home on Secor, and was buried on 19 August 1913 in St. Peter's cemetery in Toledo. On 18 December 1913 her remains were moved to Calvary Cemetery.