[1] Lehlbach was born in Heiligkreuzsteinach in the Grand Duchy of Baden, which later became part of the German Empire.

[2] He immigrated to the United States in 1851 with his parents, who settled in Newark, New Jersey.

[2] Lehlbach became a civil engineer,[2] and was a sheriff of Essex County, New Jersey, for three years.

[2] In 1891, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Newark, New Jersey, against Joseph Haynes.

[2] After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of his profession as a civil engineer in Newark, and was Sheriff of Essex County, New Jersey, from 1893 to 1896.