Other researchers have disclaimed this 1729 Rohrer; some suggest instead that the
first of ‘our’ Rohrers in America was Hans Michael Rohrer of Alsace, France, while
others believe it to have been Friedrich Rohrer of Baden, Germany.
Elsewhere in Washington County Lorenzo apprenticed in butchering with his
brother-in-law, John Gaylor. Later, at nearby Benevola, Maryland he apprenticed in
flour milling and there met his future bride, Mary Catherine Webster. Eventually he went
into business in those professions in nearby Keedysville. In 1869, at the age of 22, he
established a flour and feed business in Cumberland and in the same year married Miss
Webster. Continuing to prosper, in 1881 he
saw the fulfilment of his profession in the
building of a stone-grinding flour mill on
Commerce (later George) Street in
Cumberland. The following year he converted
to the roller method of extracting flour from
wheat, an innovation that was sweeping the
country. According to a map of 1904, the
establishment was known in that year as
Anchor Roller Mills, L. D. Rohrer Company.
It is not clear how long the Rohrer
company prospered. Suffice it to say that,
like many if not most local millers (as
opposed to the large national brand-name
companies), the company apparently
gradually declined.3 Whether the reason was
big-time competition, the high cost of new
equipment or inadequate business
management, the fact is that in November
1920, L.D. Rohrer, Inc. went out of business,
selling its property to the Cumberland
Grocery Company for $75,000. "The sale marks the passing of one of the oldest
business establishments in the city, the L. D. Rohrer company having been started
about 50 years ago," reported the local newspaper.4
Grandpap had four children. The first, Walter, died at the age of about one.
Harry, who had worked as a clerk at the mill, died at 32 of pneumonia and
tuberculosis. Nell married Walter Neff and had a son John; she died in the influenza
epidemic of 1918. William Dow, the only child to survive him, was my grandfather.
8
4(1) Allegany County, Md., Land Records: deed between The L. D. Rohrer Company and the Bayer Grocery
Company, signed by William D. Rohrer, secretary, and Lorenzo D. Rohrer, president, Nov 13, 1920 (recorded
Dec 12, 1922); (2) Cumberland Evening Times, Nov 13, 1920, page 1.
3McGrain, John W., “'Good Bye Old Burr’: The Roller Mill Revolution in Maryland, 1882" Maryland Historical
Magazine, Vol 77, No. 2, June 1982.
Lorenzo Dow Rohrer, with great-grandsons CWR
and Pershing Rohrer, ca. 1926
