George Dunzer Family

George Dunzer was born January 14, 1845, in Frieburg, Germany. His older brother, John who had immigrated earlier to the United States, persuaded George and his wife, Mary (Brittig) whom he had married in 1868, to come to the United States also. Work was available and there was opportunity to escape the rigid government control and poverty in the "old country."

George, Mary, and two children, Mary 5, a daughter by a former marriage, and John 2, sailed from Bremerhaven, Germany, in May, 1871. Having to furnish their own bedding on board ship, this, with a few personal belongings were all they brought along. The crossing was very rough and as storms forced them back, the ship made little progress each day. Finally, it landed in New York on August 15, 1871, after having been given up for lost. George was penniless, having spent his last penny for a loaf of bread on the ship. Besides being penniless, he could speak no English and leaving his wife and children in the station, he went in search of his brother. John had been in contact with the station, looking for the boat his brother and family were coming on, and the brothers' ways crossed as each tried to contact the other. Arriving at the station, the brother stayed with Mary and the children and George finally came back to be reunited with his family and John, whom he hadn't seen for two years.

John took the family to his rooming house and was successful in finding his brother a job in a factory in Hoboken, New Jersey. A daughter, Katherine, was born here in February, 1872, and she later married John Zimmerman of Defiance County.

Later that year, the men learned of work in northwestern Ohio. They could cut ties for the railroad. So in 1873, the five came to Okolona in Henry County. It was here that Mrs. Dunzer had to take the lamp to the store to let the storekeeper know that she wanted kerosene as she didn't know the word she needed. George and his family lived in one room of a granary after having shoveled the wheat into another room. George then became an employee of the railroad itself, and when the other workers weren't fast enough, he would pick up the tie and put it in place by himself. We can imagine many of the workers soon learned to shirk when they saw what he could do.

[Photo, p. 176] George Dunzer Homestead

After working like this for a year, he found an opportunity to rent the Perry farm, on the bluff, near Okolona. It was on this farm that seven more children were born. Anna, in 1874, married Anothy Kern. Rose, born 1877, married Albert Snyder. Anthony, born in 1880 married Amelia Breece. (His brother John had already married her sister Amanda). Twin girls arrived in 1884 — Emmaline, who married Henry Breece, a brother of Anthony's and John's wives, and Wilhelmina who married Herman Lulfs. Clara, born 1887 married Albert Glore, and Elizabeth born 1892 married George Glanz. All of the children were farmers or married farmers.

[Photo, p. 177] George Dunzer

The children attended the Frease School which was near a second rented farm near Okolona. The youngest, Elizabeth, later went to Ursuline Academy in Toledo, majoring in music which she taught for many years.

The family were members of St. Augustine's Catholic Church in Napoleon, and the men became affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Knights of Ohio Lodges.

Five years after their arrival, Mary became homesick for her parents, so George and his brother, John, sent money so they could come also. Her parents and two daughters came, one of whom, Annie, married George's brother, John. They had a son, George, who married Matilda Zenz, a daughter, Mary, who married Otto Gebhart, and Margaret, who married William Zenz. Annie's sister, Margaret, married Frank Wirth. All lived in the Napoleon and Holgate areas.

In 1890, George purchased 80 acres in the Black Swamp area 31/2 miles west of Deshler. Leaving Rose 17, Anthony 14, and the twins 10, to manage things where they lived, George and the rest of the family went to the Bartlow Township farm to clear the woods andbuild the house out of the choicest lumber that he cut. This house was finished in the summer of 1894, bringing all of the family together once more.

George's son, John, had played in the Okolona Band for several years. After moving to Bartlow Township, he and his brother, Anthony, a brother-in-law, Herman Lulfs, and a friend, Herman Schroeder, organized an orchestra and furnished the music for many barn dances, weddings, and Schutzenfests.

George's wife died April 26, 1913. George lived until August 7, 1926, when he died at the age of 81 in the house he and the family had erected. Of his 31 grandchildren, only 6 live in Henry County — Margaret Gilgenbaugh, Henrietta Schwab, and Ralph Breece, children of Emmaline; Kathryn Diem, daughter of Wilhelmina; Anna Cavanaugh, daughter of Katherine; and Emma Schortgen, daughter of Anthony.

George was a woodsman of rugged stature, large framed, stout, but not obese. He couldn't read and could hardly write his name, but he was a very honest, a truthful and trustworthy man. These characteristics he passed on to the many descendants who followed him.

Submitted by John Hayes