The De Orange, D'orange, Dorange Family

and

George August De Harras Lennep Family

The De Orange, D'Orange, Dorange name is of French background. This is the family that William and Mary, House of Orange, left France to become the King and Queen of England. There is not much information that can be found on the Dorange family that came to Cuero, Dewitt County, Texas, after 1850 and before 1860.

Louis, his wife Ann Eliz, his daughters Victoria and Maria, his mother, Gabriele A. Fairre arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana on the ship Robert C. Wenthrope, 27 January 1857. Louis Dorange is listed as a farmer. Gabriele A. Fairre was the wife of William Dorange. They married ca 1803 in Marsallies, France.

The following information was taken from the 1860 census of Clinton, Dewitt County, Texas
Louis Dorange, male, born ca 1815, France, age 44
Ann Eliz. Dorange, female, born ca 1819, France, age 41
Victorine Dorange, female, born ca 1841, France, age 19
Louise Dorange, female, born ca 1842, France, age 18
Gabriele A. Fairre Dorange, female, born, ca 1780, France, age 80
Alexia Cavalier, male, born 1810, France, age 52

The following information was taken from the 1870 census of Clinton, Dewitt County, Texas
G. A. Harras, male, born ca 1831, Prussia, age 42, Doctor of Medicine
Victorina Harras, female, born ca 1841, France, age 29
George Harras, male, born ca 1863, Texas, age 7
Louise Harras, female, born 1864, Texas, age 6
Harriet Harras, female, born 1865, Texas, age 5
Victor Harras, male, born 1867, Texas, age 3
Mary Harras, female, born 1869, Texas, age 1
Eliza Dorange, female, born 1819, France, age 51
Alexis Cavalier, male, born 1810, France, age 62**
This is the last census that a Dorange is listed in Dewitt County, Texas.

Victorine Dorange and George August Harras August Lennep were married the 11th day of March, 1862 in Clinton, Dewitt County, Texas.
Mrs. Victorine Dorange Lennep and John Bertram were married the 26th day of September 1876 in Dewitt County, Texas.
Victorine Dorange Lennep Bertram married the third time in 1896 to William Ikerd in Jackson County, Mississippi.

On 2-15-1861, George August Harras Lennep married Elizabeth Fritzer in Medina, Texas.

George August Harras Lennep is recorded in New Fountain, Medina County, Texas in 1860 as a twenty one year old medical doctor born in Hess Capel, Prussia. He was also listed as a land owner. Many of the settlers in this area were harassed by the Comanche Indians and relocated to other areas. This may account for George August Harras Lennep relocating to Dewitt County, Texas.

1880 census of Clinton, Dewitt County Texas provided the following information
John Bertram, male, born ca 1850, Prussia, age 30, Tailor
Victorine Bertram, female, born ca 1841, France, age 35
Lewis Bertram, male, born ca 1877, Texas, age 3
George Harris, male, born 1863, Texas, age 16
Victor Harris, male, born 1869, Texas, age 11
Mary Harris, female, born 1870, Texas, age 10
Bertha Harras, female, born 1874, Texas, age 6

At no time do the children of George August De Harras Lennep appear in the census under the name Lennep. On October 5, 1883, it was noted in the local paper of Jackson County that two well marked albinos were walking the streets of Moss Point with their Uncle Henry Schluter. The Lennep name was spelled Lenet. The article stated that they had recently came from Texas. The rest of the Lennep family history is adequately covered in Hazel Lennep's 1981 published history of the August Lennep Family except the following.

The census of Medina County, Texas for the year 1850 shows August Lennep a 28 year old physician born in Hepe Capel, Prussia, living there. The post office was located in New Fountain.

Marie (Mary) Louise Dorange, sister to Victorina D'Orange was born 1842 in France. She married first, Alphanse Koening, born November 21, 1864 in Germany. There were no children to this marriage. On the back of an old picture of Marie Louise Dorange was a statement that she was a sister to Victorine Dorange de Harras Lennep, wife of George August Lennep. The original picture is in the possession of a Mrs. Murray in Georgia.

Sometime prior to 1880, she married Henry A. Schluter, born June 1841 in Germany. Henry and Marie (Mary) Louise Dorange lived in Mobile, Alabama. She died August 1887. They did not have any children. Bertha Lennep, niece of Mrs. Schulter told me that her aunt was a very beautiful woman and that she was a singer and dancer, who performed in saloons in Texas and other locations.

Compiled by Harry H. McDonald, Box 487, Escatawpa, MS 39552, 20 July 2004.