The Fred Orthwein Family

Fred Orthwein Sr. was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, in 1829. His parents were farmers and were Lutheran people. Fred and his step brother Jerry made the trip to America in the early ‘50s. The voyage was made aboard a sailing vessel from Hamburg to Baltimore, Maryland.

They left Baltimore and came westward to Crawford County, Ohio. In Bucyrus, Jerry followed the carpenter trade and Fred became a well digger.

While living in that locality, Fred met and eventually married Miss Anna B. Bahler.

Mrs. Fred Orthwein

Miss Bahler was born in Wurtemberg, of Lutheran parents in 1834. Her parents spent all of their lives on a Wurtemberg farm. Anna and her brother George along with 3 sisters came to America on a sailing vessel and also landed in Baltimore then made their way west to Bucyrus.

The West was being settled at this time and opportunity for buying cheap new land seemed very good; so Fred and Anna with their 4 small children, came to Henry County with a horse drawn wagon to find a new home.

Their first home was a log house in what is now Section 16 of Monroe Township. There was much work to be done. The land had to be cleared and drained and fences were built from split rails. Mr. Orthwein also continued dig wells for other settlers in the area.

The first year in the new home was a time of terrible hardship and the family was to exist mostly on corn meal and the milk from one cow. The situation improved and the family grew and prospered. There were born to the family 11 children, one girl (Sabina) died in infancy.

A brief history of the other children is as follows: Fred Jr. married Mary Germann, to them were born 3 sons and 2 daughters; Jerry married Nora Pitman, to them were born I son and 3 daughters; Frank married Mary Fritz, to them were born 3 sons and 2 daughters; Sarah married William Harms, to them were born 4 sons; Elizabeth married Frank Foster, to them were born 3 sons; Mary married Milton Fox, to them were born 2 sons and 2 daughters; Amanda married Albert Knipp, to them were born 1 son and 1 daughter; William married Ella Wistinghausen, to them were born 2 sons and 4 daughters; Jacob married Anna Rohrs, to them were born 2 sons and 1 daughter; Emma married Charles Yackee, to them were born 5 sons and 2 daughters.

The boys of the family along with their farming, also became carpenters and built many houses and other buildings in this area. They often worked as far from home as North Baltimore. Among the existing buildings stands Emmanuel Lutheran Church, located north of Hamler on State Route 109.

Frank Orthwein, Mrs. Fred Orthwein Sr., Paul Orthwein, Mary (Fritz) Orthwein; front: Edwin Orthwein.

When the time finally came that the Orthweins could have their own new house, tragedy struck the family. The father became ill with typhoid fever and died on July 7,1886. This left Mrs. Orthwein with a large family of younger children yet to care for and the new house to be finished. This she did with the true spirit of a frontier wife.

The railroads were being built in the area and there were many men who needed room and board. Mrs. Orthwein cooked meals and arranged for many of the men to sleep in her barn.

The Orthwein girls became domestics as soon as they were able. As the children grew up, they married and moved farther from home and it became hard to visit with one another. To solve this problem they established what must have been the first family reunion in the county.

The reunion is still being held as always on the second Sunday in June. It began in 1905. June 8, 1975, will mark the 70th gathering.

Mrs. Orthwein died in Nov., 1917, at the age of 84 years. Both she and her husband are buried in St. Pauls Lutheran Cemetery in Flatrock Twp. near the church which they helped to establish.

All the children are now deceased. Nearly all of them attained a very good age, the oldest being Sarah Harms who lived less than one mile from the old homestead and died in 1955 at the age of 94 years.

Many descendants are still living near the original farm. The home place is now the property of Mrs. Edwin Orthwein, daughter-in-law of Frank and Mary (Fritz) Orthwein. All are proud of their heritage; they are grateful to Fred Sr. and Anna for choosing Henry County for their home.

Submitted by Lorena Orthwein Badenhop