Andrew Frysinger Family

Andrew Frysinger started farming in Ohio more than one hundred fifty years ago. The Frysinger farm, well known as THE OLD HOMESTEAD, which is located in Henry County, Liberty Township, in Sections 19 and 30 was first sold by the government in 1852 for less than a dollar per acre and purchased by Andrew Frysinger in 1867. This land has been owned and farmed by the Frysinger families, continuously, for more than a century. Andrew Frysinger was the grandfather of the late William H. Frysinger.

Levi Frysinger, a Civil War veteran, purchased a tract of land in Section 19, in 1874. This land is located across the road from the above farm. Because of the arthritic condition of Andrew Jackson Frysinger, who was completely incapacitated, his son, the late William H. Frysinger, nephew of Levi Frysinger took over the farming operation.

The early Frysingers came to Ohio and settled in Marion County. The older members related incidents of early travel by boat and covered wagon. They were engaged in clearing the land, logging, farming, and building cabins. They were descendants of the Pennsylvania Dutch who were originally from Germany.

The first Frysinger family in the Ohio area that we have researched was Andrew Frysinger and Magdelena Hoffman who were married November 21, 1830. To this union were born: Matilda, Susanna, Levi, Lavina, Mary Anna, Lewis, Andrew Jackson, John M., Magdalena, and Henry.

The six generations of Frysingers who have farmed and are farming this area are the late Andrew Frysinger, Andrew Jackson Frysinger, William Henry Frysinger, Glenn Harrison Frysinger and is presently farmed by Glenn's son, Delmar, and his son, John.

We have been a family of varied occupations and interests including farmers, implement service and sales, educators, secretaries, merchants, and many other occupations. Also, members of the family have been active in good government and community improvements by serving as school board members, trustees, war bond drives, promotion of telephones, and rural electrification. They have served and still are serving in many capacities in all phases of church work and civic organizations

[Photo A, p. 196] Log cabin on the old homestead.

[Photo B, p. 196] The original frame home

[Photo C, p. 196] Remodeled Frysinger Home in 1914 (burned in 1943)

[Photo B, p. 197] Brick home built in 1950

Our patriotism has spanned a great number of years. Levi Frysinger was a Civil War veteran and his brother, Lewis Frysinger, gave his life during the Civil War. He died in a dungeon on April 19, 1863. World War II took one of our younger generation, when Sgt. Doyle W. Frysinger gave his life while serving his country in Germany, March 24, 1945. His brother Weldon K. Frysinger served in England, and Weldon's son, Kenneth, served in Vietnam in 1969.

Looking back to some important days in our early lives were threshing, making cider and applebutter, attending the county fair, quilting, and butchering. Many of these events were made possible by neighborhood get-togethers. One remembers how she covered her ears to keep from hearing the shot of the gun to kill the hogs. Another remembers the aroma of the meat boiling which was to be made into head cheese. Then, too, one had to be quite grown-up to be able to manipulate the sausage stuffer. Rendering lard wasn't so much fun, but waiting in line to be given some of those crispy cracklings — a real treat.

When the butchering was completed, the girls, with a suitcase of meat, boarded a D.T. & I. train in Gerald, Ohio, and took fresh meat to their Great Uncle Levi Frysinger who lived in Wauseon, Ohio. It was a sad event when the suitcase handle broke before the girls arrived at Uncle Levi's house.

Each season seemed to have many activities which now remind us of the past.

House cleaning was a time of a great upheaval. Rag carpets were taken up tack by tack, thoroughly washed, then with the help of an extra person and a carpet stretcher was relaid tack by tack. The rugs were removed from the house to a clean grassy spot or hung over a clothesline and given a thorough beating with a carpet beater. Lace curtains were washed, starched and stretched to shape on those never to be forgotten prickly curtain stretchers. Yes, house cleaning was quite an ordeal with a good stiff broom and a Bissell carpet sweeper. There was no rural electrification.

Then gardening, everybody planted, everybody hoed, and everybody pulled weeds. Everybody picked beans, dug the early potatoes and husked the deliciously fresh sweet corn. Those were good kinds of work to keep the young set busy. The entire family was so busy they hardly had time to ride in a new Maxwell car, their first car. That first license number was Ohio 107054.

Spring, with all its glory, slowly matured into late summer and harvest time. What could be more exciting than threshing day? When the steam engine and the water wagon pulled into the yard, we knew the great day had arrived. Older boys worked with the men bringing in load after load of bundles of wheat or oats from the shocks in the field. The girls' duties changed as they grew older. They advanced from just playing and caringfor a baby sister, to picking up apples and gathering the garden produce. Older girls were privileged to cook and bake, prepare the table and be real grownup ladies who could now work with their mothers preparing food for the hungry threshers. Under the mulberry tree, big tubs of water from the well and plenty of soap and clean towels were available to make the men presentable to come to the huge table which was laden with delicious food.

When the corn was husked from the shock, the cabbage, potatoes, and apples were buried securely from frost beneath straw and soil; butchering accomplished and hams slowly curing in the smoke house; applebutter made rows and rows of jars of all sorts of goodies on the shelves; 'twas time to set up the hard coal burner, clean the isinglass (mica), polish the nickel plated trim on the stove and enjoy the great events of winter.

The families attended one-room school programs, box socials, spelling bees, and church programs where, at least at one time, Liberty Chapel Church had a freshly cut evergreen Christmas tree which was lighted with real flaming wax candles. They also went to revival meetings, quilting bees, and square dances. During the winter months the men were busy sawing logs and cutting firewood. They waited for an abundance of snow and hauled the wood to the woodpile on a horse drawn babsled or a mud boat. Cutting ice from the Maumee River, hauling it by the same method to the icehouse and packing it in plenty of sawdust was a necessity. Quite a different way of refrigeration from today.

[Photo B, p. 197] Mr. and Mrs. William H. Frysinger, 1934

These activities are very dear and clear to the members of the family of the late William H. Frysinger who first established the name of "THE OLD HOMESTEAD."

The late W. H. Frysinger and his bride, the late Charlotte Sworden were married, October 18, 1894, in Liberty Township and established a home in Section 30. They raised a family of four children who grew to maturity in this part of Henry County, Liberty Township. This family consists of the late Glen H. Frysinger, Ethel Frysinger Dunbar, Hazel Frysinger Rogge, and Garnette Frysinger Saul.

This farm in Section 30 has had four houses. First, the log cabin which was razed about fifty years ago; then, the house which was located there when the W. H. Frysinger family moved to the location in 1907. That house was remodeled in 1914 and destroyed by fire March 4, 1943. Quoting, in part, from the Northwest News, "It burst into flames about 8:00 a.m. Neighbors and firemen carried out downstairs furniture, but all clothing and furnishings upstairs were destroyed."

The brick house which now stands in that location is the present home of Vera Kitter Frysinger, the widow of the late Glenn H. Frysinger.
Submitted by the immediate family of the late William H. and Charlotte Frysinger