John Richter, brother of Maria Magdalena Richter (Mrs. Joseph M. Jahn)

Only one sibling of Lena Richter’s has been identified so far. John Richter (b. 18 Nov 1873 in Forchheim), arrived in New York from Germany on or about August 20, 1896, which was 8 days after Lena’s marriage to Joseph Jahn. Perhaps Joseph sponsored John Richter’s immigration as a wedding present to his wife? John was 25 when he came to New York.

John Richter did not stay in New York, as Lena might have hoped. It’s not clear when he left, but John moved out West. In 1917-1918 he was living in North Plains, Washington Co., Oregon, which is part of the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan area. John never married. On his WWI Draft Registration in 1918 John listed Lena Jahn of 5721 5^th Ave., Brooklyn, NY as his next of kin. He may not have been aware that Lena had died in 1917 or maybe didn’t remember Joseph’s name so he just used Lena’s.

In January 1920 John was living in the City of Portland, Multnoma, Oregon. He was a lodger at 145 N 13^th St. and working as a cook in a logging camp. 

In 1937 John Richter was issued social security number 544-03-4703. SS numbers beginning with 544 were issued in Oregon. His SS record provides his parents names, Gabriel Richter and Anna Erlwein. It also provides his birth date, Nov. 18, 1873, and place of birth, Forcheim, Bavaria, Germany.

John Richter was found on a road unconscious. The autopsy showed one of the contributing factors was starvation. John died in a hospital in Vancouver, Washington (this is 8 miles from Portland, Oregon) at the age of 64 on October 18, 1938.  His burial location has not yet been found in the online records.