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Created page with "{{Infobox person |name= Elisa Heuser Leon, or the Countess Leon |birth_date=1799 |birth_place=Frankfurt, Germany |death_date=1881 (c. aged 82) |death_place=Hot Sprin..."
{{Infobox person
|name= Elisa Heuser Leon, or the Countess Leon
|birth_date=1799
|birth_place=[[Frankfurt]], [[Germany]]
|death_date=1881 (c. aged 82)
|death_place=[[Hot Springs, Arkansas]]
|residence=(1) Monaca, Beaver County, [[Pennsylvania]]<br>
(2) [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches Parish]], [[Louisiana]]<br>
(3) [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], Webster Parish, Louisiana
(4) Hot Springs, Arkansas
|spouse=Bernhard Müller, or Count Leon
|children=Johanna Schardt, Joseph Maximilian, and Anna Stahl
|religion=[[Christian]]
|occupation= Established Germantown Colony in Minden, Louisiana
}}
[[Image:300px|right|thumb|The Countess' house at the Germantown Colony north of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]]]]
'''Countess Leon''', or '''Elisa Heuser Leon''' (1799–1881), was a founder and leader of the communal Germantown Colony established in 1835 north of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]].<ref name=lahist>{{cite web|url=http://www.lahistory.org/site29.php|title=''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography''|publisher=lahistory.org|accessdate=February 12, 2011}}</ref>
==Background==
A native of [[Frankfurt]], [[Germany]], Countess Leon was the daughter of Johann and Anna Maria Heuser. She claimed to have married Bernhard Müller (1788-1834), a [[Christian]] mystic, also from Germany, who was known as Count Leon, or Count de Leon. The couple had three children, Johanna Schardt, Joseph Maximilian, and Anna Stahl.<ref name=lahist/><ref>''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'' does not clarify if the two daughters' last names are middle names or husbands' names, nor does it indicate if the son used the surname "Muller" or "Leon."</ref>
==Arrival in the United States]]
In 1831, the Countess and her husband came to the [[United States]] with a like-minded group of believers. The couple first joined a Rappite colony in Monaca in Beaver County, [[Pennsylvania]], but because of a schism they left that group and instead headed down the [[Ohio River]] southeast to Louisiana. They soon established their proclaimed "New Jerusalem" at Grand Ecore north of [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]]. When the Count and several other relatives died of [[cholera]], the Countess moved some eighty miles north from that location near the Red River to present-day Webster Parish.<ref name=lahist/>
For nearly four decades, the colony flourished under a communal arrangement until it began to decline after the [[American Civil War]]. It dispersed in 1871, when Webster Parish was created from [adjacent Claiborne Parish to the immediate east.<ref>"Respect for the Past, Confidence in the Future," Webster Parish Centennial, 1871-1971, pp. 13-14.</ref> The Countess then relocated north to [[Hot Springs, Arkansas|Hot Springs]], [[Arkansas]], where she died in 1881.<ref>David James, III, "Germantown: Once Thriving and Socialistic," ''Minden Press,'' July 7, 1958, pp. 1-2.</ref>
One of three [[Utopia]]n Society settlements in North Louisiana, the Germantown Colony, located off Louisiana Highway 531, was the most successful and lasted the longest, having peaked at fifty to sixty pioneers but usually with fewer than forty. The settlement had been planned by Bernhard Müller, but he died at Grand Ecore on August 29, 1834, of [[yellow fever]].<ref>Brochure, Germantown Colony & Museum, 120 Museum Road, Minden, Louisiana 71055</ref><ref>A ''Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'' attributes Berhnard Müller's death to [[cholera]].</ref>
The Countess is remembered for having maintained Old World grace and culture in rural Louisiana.<ref name=lahist/><ref>Though it is believed that Countess Leon died in Hot Springs in 1881, ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'', a publication of the [[Louisiana Historical Association]], maintains that the death year is unsubstantiated. The publication uses two principal sources for its sketch of Countess von Leon: Pauline Jennings, "Elisa Leon: First Lady of the Germantown Colony," ''[[North Louisiana History]],'' formerly known as the ''North Louisiana Historical Association Journal," VIII, No. 2 (Winter 1977), and Rita Moore Krouse (1921-1995) of Minden, ''Fragments of a Dream: The Story of Germantown'' (1962), VIII, No. 2 (Winter 1977).</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Countess}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Christians]]
|name= Elisa Heuser Leon, or the Countess Leon
|birth_date=1799
|birth_place=[[Frankfurt]], [[Germany]]
|death_date=1881 (c. aged 82)
|death_place=[[Hot Springs, Arkansas]]
|residence=(1) Monaca, Beaver County, [[Pennsylvania]]<br>
(2) [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches Parish]], [[Louisiana]]<br>
(3) [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], Webster Parish, Louisiana
(4) Hot Springs, Arkansas
|spouse=Bernhard Müller, or Count Leon
|children=Johanna Schardt, Joseph Maximilian, and Anna Stahl
|religion=[[Christian]]
|occupation= Established Germantown Colony in Minden, Louisiana
}}
[[Image:300px|right|thumb|The Countess' house at the Germantown Colony north of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]]]]
'''Countess Leon''', or '''Elisa Heuser Leon''' (1799–1881), was a founder and leader of the communal Germantown Colony established in 1835 north of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]].<ref name=lahist>{{cite web|url=http://www.lahistory.org/site29.php|title=''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography''|publisher=lahistory.org|accessdate=February 12, 2011}}</ref>
==Background==
A native of [[Frankfurt]], [[Germany]], Countess Leon was the daughter of Johann and Anna Maria Heuser. She claimed to have married Bernhard Müller (1788-1834), a [[Christian]] mystic, also from Germany, who was known as Count Leon, or Count de Leon. The couple had three children, Johanna Schardt, Joseph Maximilian, and Anna Stahl.<ref name=lahist/><ref>''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'' does not clarify if the two daughters' last names are middle names or husbands' names, nor does it indicate if the son used the surname "Muller" or "Leon."</ref>
==Arrival in the United States]]
In 1831, the Countess and her husband came to the [[United States]] with a like-minded group of believers. The couple first joined a Rappite colony in Monaca in Beaver County, [[Pennsylvania]], but because of a schism they left that group and instead headed down the [[Ohio River]] southeast to Louisiana. They soon established their proclaimed "New Jerusalem" at Grand Ecore north of [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]]. When the Count and several other relatives died of [[cholera]], the Countess moved some eighty miles north from that location near the Red River to present-day Webster Parish.<ref name=lahist/>
For nearly four decades, the colony flourished under a communal arrangement until it began to decline after the [[American Civil War]]. It dispersed in 1871, when Webster Parish was created from [adjacent Claiborne Parish to the immediate east.<ref>"Respect for the Past, Confidence in the Future," Webster Parish Centennial, 1871-1971, pp. 13-14.</ref> The Countess then relocated north to [[Hot Springs, Arkansas|Hot Springs]], [[Arkansas]], where she died in 1881.<ref>David James, III, "Germantown: Once Thriving and Socialistic," ''Minden Press,'' July 7, 1958, pp. 1-2.</ref>
One of three [[Utopia]]n Society settlements in North Louisiana, the Germantown Colony, located off Louisiana Highway 531, was the most successful and lasted the longest, having peaked at fifty to sixty pioneers but usually with fewer than forty. The settlement had been planned by Bernhard Müller, but he died at Grand Ecore on August 29, 1834, of [[yellow fever]].<ref>Brochure, Germantown Colony & Museum, 120 Museum Road, Minden, Louisiana 71055</ref><ref>A ''Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'' attributes Berhnard Müller's death to [[cholera]].</ref>
The Countess is remembered for having maintained Old World grace and culture in rural Louisiana.<ref name=lahist/><ref>Though it is believed that Countess Leon died in Hot Springs in 1881, ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'', a publication of the [[Louisiana Historical Association]], maintains that the death year is unsubstantiated. The publication uses two principal sources for its sketch of Countess von Leon: Pauline Jennings, "Elisa Leon: First Lady of the Germantown Colony," ''[[North Louisiana History]],'' formerly known as the ''North Louisiana Historical Association Journal," VIII, No. 2 (Winter 1977), and Rita Moore Krouse (1921-1995) of Minden, ''Fragments of a Dream: The Story of Germantown'' (1962), VIII, No. 2 (Winter 1977).</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Countess}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Christians]]