In 1855, Johann Albert Lotz and his wife, Margaretha, arrived in Franklin, Tennessee, from their former home in Saxony, once part of the Holy Roman Empire, but then a member of the German Confederation consisting of a few score independent states. No doubt, when the Lotzes left Hamburg for America, they were hoping for a life of peace and tranquility, considering the fact that Germany had witnessed nothing but internecine warfare for decades. As newcomers in Franklin, the family quickly became acquainted with Moscow Carter, who with his family, lived on Columbia Pike just south of town. Mr. Carter was happy to sell five acres of his property, located directly across the pike, to the Lotzes. But peace and tranquility were not to be, and just three years after Mr. Lotz completed his house in 1858, the Civil War broke out, disrupting the nation for four long years. When the Battle of Franklin was fought on November 30, 1864, the Carters kindly invited Mr. and Mrs. Lotz and their six-year-old daughter, Matilda, to their basement to take refuge from the horrific artillery and small-arms fire hovering over Franklin. After the war, Mr. Lotz, who was a highly trained carpenter, woodworker, and builder of pianos and other musical instruments, failed to recover from the economic hard times brought on by Reconstruction. In late 1869, the anguished Lotz family left Franklin, bound for San Jose, California, where they rendezvoused with a son, Paul, who was already working as an artist in the area.