Sep 18

Who Was Henry Trisel’s Adopted Son?

A few years ago I wrote a Tombstone Tuesday blog post about John F, the adopted son of Henry Trisel. [1]  The young boy’s grave marker is located in the center section of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Ohio, in the children’s section of the cemetery.

John F, adopted son of Henry Trisel, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

Although the stone is broken off at its base and lying flat on the ground, it is still very legible and is inscribed:

John F., Adopted Son of Henry Trisel
Died Sept. 9, 1876
Aged 11 ys.  4 ms.

I wondered who the boy John really was. I had a theory about his identity when I wrote that first blog post but I had not done enough research to prove it. I finally did learn young John’s real story after ordering some documents from the National Archives. 

Zion Chatt’s death/burial records and the Mercer County Probate Death records indicate the boy’s real name was John Frederick Bahn. [2] [3]  As calculated from his tombstone, John Bahn’s date of birth was 9 May 1865. His [adoptive?] parents Henry and Elizabeth (Feldman) Trisel attended Zion Chatt and lived about a mile north of Chatt when John died.

Who was John F, the adopted son of Henry Trisel?

And now, the rest of the story.

The story begins with Henry Trisel’s wife, Elizabeth Feldman. Elizabeth was a German immigrant, born in Gernsheim, Hesse-Darmstadt, on 22 May 1840. [4]

Elizabeth Feldman married German immigrant Johann Bahn in Greenup County, Kentucky, on 24 July 1864. Groom Johann Bahn was 29 years old and was born in Bavaria. Bride Elizabeth Feldman was 23 years of age and was born in Hesse. [5]

A son, John Friedrich Bahn, was born to the couple about nine months later, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 31 March 1865. John was baptized at St. Paul’s Protestant Church in Cincinnati on 23 May 1865. His parents were named as John Bahn and Elizabeth Bahn, nee Feldman. Frederich Scholl and his wife Margaretha served as John’s baptismal sponsors. [6]

In 1865 the Civil War was raging. Just two months after his marriage to Elizabeth Feldman, Johann Bahn enlisted in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry [O.V.I.], where he served as a Private in Company H of the 183rd Regiment. He enlisted in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 26 September 1864 and was mustered into service on 29 September 1864, for a period of one year. He was 29 years of age, born in Bavaria, was 6’ 1” tall, with dark hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion. He was a musician. [7]

Private Johann Bahn was present during roll call at Camp Dennison, Ohio, on 1 November 1864. Less than a month later, on 30 November 1864, he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. He was listed as captured by the enemy and missing in action. He was absent from muster in December 1864. [8]

After his capture, Johann Bahn was taken to the Confederate prison camp at Cahaba, Alabama. [9] Johann survived the terrible conditions at the Confederate prison camp and was released the end of April 1865, to be sent home. [10]

Johann Bahn was among the 2137 passengers onboard the steamboat Sultana. The boat was designed to carry 376 passengers and was sailing on the Mississippi River above Memphis, Tennessee. Bahn, with over 1200 other men, perished on 27 April 1865, when three of four boilers exploded near Memphis. It is the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history. [11]

The Sultana, the day before the explosion.

Johann Bahn was a casualty of the Civil War who left behind a widow and his 4-week old son, John Friedrich Bahn. Young John would never see or know his father.

On 14 July 1865, less than 3 months after her husband’s death, Elizabeth Bahn submitted a Widow’s Claim for Pension, which gives a lot of information. In her claim she declared that she was 25 years old, residing at No. 35 Dunlap Street, Cincinnati, Ohio; that she was the widow of John Bahn, a private in Co. C of the 183rd O.V.I., who died on the Steamer Sultana on 27 April 1865; that her maiden name was Feldman; that she married John Bahn at Greensboro, Kentucky, on 4 August 1864, married by A. Pawl, J.P.; and that she had remained a widow since her husband’s death. As proof of her marriage she provided a certified copy of the baptismal record of their son John Friedrich, which stated that she and John Bahn were married. Elizabeth declared that John Friedrich Bahn was the only child born to them; that he was born 31 March 1865 and still lived in Cincinnati. [12] [13]

Henry Trisel married the widow Elizabeth (Feldman) Bahn on 23 September 1865 at St. Paul’s Evangelical Protestant Church in Cincinnati, [14] the same church in which Elizabeth’s son John Friedrich Bahn was baptized four months earlier.

Henry Trisel was also a German immigrant and a Civil War veteran. Henry served as a private in Battery 4, Ohio Light Artillery, from 2 August 1861 to 27 August 1864. [15]

On 22 October 1866 Henry Trisel was nominated and appointed guardian to [John] Friedrich Bahn and his estate, the 2-year old child of John Bahn, deceased, appointed by the State of Ohio, Hamilton County. [16]

The minor child John Friedrich Bahn was eligible for a pension, in accordance with an Act of Congress, approved 14 July 1862, which granted a pension to minor children under sixteen years of age, who are children of deceased Union officers and soldiers. On 24 December 1866, Henry Trisel, 33, attested that he was the guardian of the minor child of John Bahn, deceased, named J. Friedrich Bahn, born 30 March 1865, whose father was a private in Co. C, 183rd O.V.I., and who died on 27 April 1865; that the child’s mother, Elizabeth Bahn, married Henry Trisel on 23 September 1865; that the minor’s parents were married at Green County, Kentucky, on 4 August 1864 by M. Powl, J.P. [17]

On 22 May 1869 a Claim for Minor’s Pension was filed for John F., minor child of John Bahn, Private, 183rd O.V.I., residing at No. 62 Mohawk St., Cincinnati, Ohio. Young John would get a pension of $8/month, beginning 27 April 1865 and ending 30 March 1881, when he turned 16, payable to Henry Trisel, guardian. [18]  Young John received a pension increase of $2 per month in 1874. [19] 

On 11 November 1868 Henry Trisel, of Hamilton County, Ohio, purchased 40 acres of land in Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, from Peter Stroebel. Henry paid $1200 for the land which was located just south of Chatt, on Tama Road, almost across the road from Zion Chatt’s cemetery. [20] 

By 1870 the Henry Trisel family left Cincinnati and moved north to his farm in Liberty Township. [21] Three of their Mercer County neighbors, Jasper Byer, John Leistner, and Caroline Baker, attested that, among other things, Henry and Elizabeth Trisel moved to Mercer County in 1870. [22] Young John Bahn’s pension increase, approved 11 March 1874, shows the Trisel address as Skeel’s Crossroad, Mercer County, Ohio. [23]

Henry and his family were enumerated in the 1870 census on 21 August 1870, living in Liberty Township, Mercer County. The Henry Trisel household in 1870: Henry (age 35), Elizabeth (30), Fredrick (5), and Margaret (1). Henry and Elizabeth were born in Prussia and the two children were born in Ohio. Henry was a brewer. [24]  The young boy Fredrick was John Fredrick Bahn, Elizabeth’s son.

On 19 May 1872 Henry Trisel transferred his church membership from the Catholic Church to Zion Lutheran in Chattanooga, Ohio, and took communion with his wife on that same day. [25]

Henry Trisel purchased an additional 15 acres adjacent to his Liberty Township property in 1874 [26] but in August 1876 he sold his 55 acres in Liberty Township [27] and purchased 80 acres in Section 29 of Blackcreek Township, Mercer County. [28] [29] The family’s new home was a about a mile north of Chatt, on route 707, ½ mile east of route 49.

It was there, at their home in Blackcreek Township, that John Friedrich Bahn, son of John Bahn and Elizabeth (Feldman) Bahn Trisel, and ward of Henry Trisel, died of typhoid fever on 9 September 1876. He was only 11 years of age. [30]

Young John was buried in Zion’s Cemetery, with a small marble tombstone marking at his gravesite, but his true surname was not inscribed on his tombstone. The marker broke off at the base at some point. 

Henry and Elizabeth Trisel resided in Blackcreek Township the rest of their lives. They had six children of their own, Jacob, August Jacob, Barbara, Margaret, Otto, and Mary. The names of their children were written on the Trisel Bible pages that were included as additional evidence for Elizabeth’s 1896 widow’s pension application. Elizabeth attested that the Bible records were written 19 years ago [1877] by traveling man who was a good scribe and who wrote the letters in German. [31]

Henry Trisel died 16 February 1896 and was dropped from the pension rolls. [32]  His widow Elizabeth applied for a Widow’s Pension on 27 February 1896. [33]

Elizabeth (Feldman) Bahn Trisel died 2 May 1917 and was dropped from pension rolls on 21 June 1917. [34]

John F. Bahn is the only member of the Henry Trisel family buried in Zion’s Cemetery. Henry and Elizabeth are buried a couple miles north of Zion, in East Bethel Cemetery, Blackcreek Township, where three of their children, Jacob August, Otto F., and Barbara Elizabeth, are also buried. [35] East Bethel Cemetery is located very near the land Henry Trisel once owned and where the Trisel family resided. Near the farm where young John F. Bahn passed away in 1876.

The Trisels are not mentioned in Zion Chatt’s records after Elizabeth’s death in 1917.

Unfortunately, this branch of the Bahn family ended when young John F. died.

But this research gives John F. a real surname.

 

Endnotes:

[1] Tombstone Tuesday-John F. (Bahn) Trisel, Karen’s Chatt, 29 March 2016.

[2] Zion Ev. Luth. Church (Chattanooga), Register, 1854-1892, p.312, no. 6, Johann Friedrich Bahm, died 9 Sep 1876, age 11 years, 5 months, 9 days. 

[3] “Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001,” FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F665-FMN , viewed 11 Jul 2018), Blackcreek Twp., Mercer Co. Deaths, John F. Bahn, 9 Sep 1876.

[4] “Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953,” FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8J7-VMG : viewed 9 Jul 2018), Mercer Co., Oh., Elizabeth Trisel, 2 May 1917.

[5] “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2QD-7NDW : viewed 17 Aug 2018), Greenup Co., Ky., John Bahn & Eliza Feldman, 24 Jul 1864.

[6] Transcript of Baptism, 15 Jul 1865, for John Frederich Bahn, John F. Bahn’s minor’s pension application no. 130,690, service of John Bahn, Civil War, RG 15, NA-Washington.

[7] Compiled Military Service Record, Union, Civil War, for John Bahn, Company H, 183rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Record Group 94, National Archives, Washington, D.C.  

[8] Ibid.

[9] CivilWarPrisoners.com, search for John Bahn, 183rd,

(http://www.civilwarprisoners.com/search.php?database=cahaba : viewed 11 Jul 2018). 

[10] Adjutant General’s Office, 13 Aug 1868, 14 Sep 1868, and 18 Sep 1868, John F. Bahn’s minor’s pension application no. 130,690; service of John Bahn (Pvt., Co. H, 183rd O.V.I., Civil War); Case Files of Approved Pension Applications…, 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group [RG] 15, NA-Washington. Also, Alphabetical List of Federal Prisoners on the Sultana, Including Those Who Survived or Perished, John Bahn, Fold3.com (https://www.fold3.com/image/293415954?terms=john%20bahn : viewed 11 Jul 2018).

[11] U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1555&h=4020980&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=cLk535&_phstart=successSource: viewed 11 Jul 2016), John Bahn, 183rd O.V.I.

[12] Elizabeth Bahn’s widow’s pension application no. 103,231, 14 July 1865, service of John Bahn, Civil War, RG 15, NA-Washington.

[13] Note by kmb: There are discrepancies in some of the dates. Elizabeth and Henry occasionally gave wrong dates and information in their testimonies.

[14] Certification of marriage, Henry Tresel [Trisel] & Elizabeth Bahn, 23 Sep 1865, Elizabeth Trisel’s widow’s pension no. 629,450, certificate no. 448,354, service of Henry Trisel (Pvt., 4th Independent Battery, Ohio Light Artillery, Civil War), RG 15, NA-Washington.

[15] 1890 U.S. Veterans Schedule, Blackcreek, Mercer, Ohio, ED 178, p.1, house 40, fam. 42, line 6, Henry Tricel

[Trisel], Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8667 : viewed 11 Jul 2018).

[16] Guardianship paper, John F. Bahn’s minor’s pension application no. 129,737, 22 October 1866, service of John Bahn, RG 15, NA-Washington.

[17]  Henry Trisel affidavit, 24 Dec 1866, John Frederich Bahn’s minor’s pension, no 130,690, service of John Bahn, Civil War, RG 15, NA-Washington. Henry Trisel attested that John F. Bahn was born 30 March 1865, which disagrees with John F.’s baptismal record, which indicates John F. was born 31 March 1865.

[18] John Friedrich Bahn’s minors’ pension no. 129,737, 22 & 28 May 1869, service of John Bahn, Civil War, RG 15, NA-Washington.

[19] John F. Bahn’s minor’s pension increase no. 129,737, 11 Mar 1874, Henry Trisel guardian, service of John Bahn, Civil War, RG 15, NA-Washington. (Doc. 40) Also, ibid., 16 Apr 1874.

[20] Mercer Co., Oh., Deeds, 15:184-5, Stroebel to Trisel, 11 Nov 1868. Also, Mercer County Chapter OGS, compiler, Mercer County, Ohio, Combined 1888, 1900 Atlases and 1876 Map of Mercer County, Ohio (Mt. Vernon, Indiana: Windmill Publications, Inc., 1999), p.11, 1876, Liberty Twp.

[21] 1870 U.S. Census, Liberty, Mercer, Oh., pop. sch., p.150A (stamped), dwell. 127, fam. 114, Henry Daisll.

[22] Jasper Byer’s affidavit, Elizabeth Trisel’s widow’s pension application no. 629,450, 27 Mar 1896, service of Henry Trisel, Civil War, RG 15, NA-Washington. Also, ibid., John Leistner’s affidavit. Also, ibid., Caroline Baker’s affidavit.

[23] John Friedrich Bahn’s minor’s pension increase, no. 129,737, approved 11 Mar 1874, service of John Bahn, Civil War, RG 15, NA-Washington.

[24] 1870 U.S. Census, Liberty, Mercer, Ohio, pop. sch., p.150A (stamped), p.17 (penned), dwell. 127, fam. 114, Henry Daisll household; Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?htx=List&dbid=7163&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0 : viewed 11 Jul 2018). (Doc. 12) Trisel is indexed as Daisll on Ancestry.com.

[25] Zion Ev. Luth. Church, Register 1854-1892, p.171, Heinrich Tresser, 1872.

[26] Mercer Co., Oh., Deeds, 22:250, Heffner to Treisel, 26 Mar 1874.

[27] Ibid., for 30:29, Treisel to Baker, 26 Aug 1876.

[28] Mercer Co., Oh., Deeds, 24:366, Merkle to Trisal, 21 Aug 1876.

[29] Mercer Co., Oh., Deeds, 30:29, Trisel to Baker, 26 Aug 1876. Also, Mercer Co., Oh., Deeds, 24:366  Merkle to Trisel, 21 Aug 1876.

[30] “Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001,” FamilySearch.org, John F. Bahn, 09 Sep 1876. [John’s Mercer County Probate Death Record: John F. Bahn, single, white male, died from typhoid fever on 9 September 1876, age 11 years, 6 months; born in Ohio, lived in Blackcreek Twp, where he died; parents’ names not given.]

[31] Elizabeth Trisel Bible pages, c1877, Elizabeth Trisel affidavit, additional evidence for widow’s pension application, no. 629, 450, cert. no. 448,354, 27 Mar 1896, service of Henry Trisel, Civil War, RG 15, NA-Washington.

[32] U.S. Pension Agency, Columbus, Oh., 7 May 1896, cert. no. 762,426, service of Henry Trisel, Civil War, RG 15, NA-Washington. Henry Trisel is dropped from the pension rolls due to death.

[33] Elizabeth Trisel’s widow’s pension application no. 629, 450, cert. no. 448,354, service of Henry Trisel, Civil War, RG 15, NA-Washington.

[34] Elizabeth Trisel dropped from pension rolls, 21 Jun 1917, cert. no 448,354, service of Henry Trisel, Civil War, RG 15, NA-Washington.

[35] Find A Grave, memorial 27965346, August Trisel gravestone; and memorial 27960746, Otto F. Trisel gravestone; and memorial 27964771, Barbara Elizabeth (Trisel) Springer, all digital images, 1 Jul 2008, by Cousin Becky.

Sep 15

Tombstone Tuesday-Ernst C. Roehm

Ernst C Roehm, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio. (2012 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Ernst C. Roehm, located in row 10 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Ernst C.
Sohn von
F. u. H. Roehm
18 Apr. 1913
22 Jan. 1918
Text: Matth 18:14

Ernst Christian Roehm was born near Schumm on 18 April 1913, the sixth child of Frederick G. and Henrietta (Schumm) Roehm. He was baptized at home by Rev. George Meyer on 4 May 1913, with Amos Schumm and Heinrich Dietrich serving as his sponsors.

Ernst Roehm died at home from broncho-pneumonia on 22 January 1918. He was 4 years, 9 months, and 4 days old and had been sick for about 4 days. Ernst was buried on the 24th. [1]  

His father Frederick Roehm, a cashier at the Willshire Bank, died in 1926 [2] and his mother Henrietta (Schumm) Roehm died in 1947. [3] Their tombstone is next to Ernst’s tombstone.

Ernst Roehm had the following siblings:
Paul Andreas, (1903-1989), married Elsie Scaer
Emanuel “George” (1905-1938), married Esther Ohnesorge
Anna Marie (1907-1990), married Kenneth Bergman
“Frederick” John (1908-1954), married Nora Louise Berning
George Walter (1911-1982), married Edith Lucille Gribler
Louise Rosina (1915-1976), married Rev. Frederick Voigtmann
Alma Margaret (1919-2001), married Harold Ervin Thieme
Albert Henry (1919-1991), married Ruth Elizabeth Meyer

[1] “Ohio Deaths, 1918-1953,” Willshire Twp, Van Wert Co, Ernst Rhoem, 22 Jan 1918; database with images, FamilySerch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GPJ1-S4QX?i=944&cc=1307272&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AX8V4-NRC : viewed 13 Sep 2020).

[2] “Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001, ”Willshire Township, Van Wert, Frederick G Roehm, 22 Dec 1926; database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9ZY-TV17?i=417&cc=2128172&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AF6CF-PQM : viewed 7 Sep 2020).

[3] Indiana, Death Certificate, 1899-2011, 1947, roll 6, Henretta Roehm; digital image, Ancestry.com.

Sep 11

We Will Never Forget

We Will Never Forget

September 11th, 2001.

Nearly every one of us remembers where we were and what we were doing 19 years ago, when we heard the news that planes had hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and that a fourth had crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

New York City, before 2001

At 8:46 a.m. Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower.

At 9:02 a.m. Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower.

At 9:59 a.m. the South Tower collapsed.

At 10:48 a.m. the North Tower collapsed.

At 9:37 a.m. Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.

At 10:03 a.m. Flight 93 crashed in Somerset County, southeast of Pittsburgh.  

Today, we remember the nearly 3000 people who died that day, as a direct result of the attacks, and we remember and honor the police, firemen, and others who sacrificed their lives to help others that day.  

We will never forget.

We must never forget.

 

Sep 08

Tombstone Tuesday-Frederick G. & Henrietta A. (Schumm) Roehm

Frederick G & Henrietta A (Schumm) Roehm, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio. (2012 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Frederick G. and Henrietta A. (Schumm) Roehm, located in row 10 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Frederick G.
1872-1926
Henrietta A.
1879-1947
ROEHM

Andreas “Frederick” Gustav Roehm was born in Van Wert County, Ohio, on 26 July 1872, the second of eight children born to John and Rosina (Schumm) Roehm. He was baptized 4 August 1872, with Andreas Roehm and Frederick Bienz serving as his sponsors.

The John Roehm family in 1880, with Frederick enumerated as Andrew: John, 37; Rosina, 34; Minnie, 8; Andrew, 6; Julia, 5; Pauline, 4; and Mary H, 2. [1] 

The John Roehm family in 1900: John 57; Rosina, 55; Fred, 27; Louis J, 18; Albert C, 16; and Alma, 16. [2]

Frederick Roehm married Henrietta Schumm at Zion Lutheran Church, Schumm, on 18 May 1902.

“Henrietta” Amalia Schumm was born in Ohio, likely in Mercer County, on 12 August 1879. She was the sixth of nine children born to Friedrich Schumm Jr and his first wife Margaret Ehrenmann. Henrietta was baptized at home on 24 August 1879, with Mrs. Rosina Schinnerer and Maria Buchner serving as her sponsors.

Henrietta Schumm, enumerated with her family in 1880, residing on the family farm in Black Creek Township, Mercer County: Frederick Schumm, 35; Margaret, 33; Catharine, 6; Hugo, 4; Leona, 2; and Henrietta, 10 months. [3]

Henrietta’s mother Margaret (Ehrenmann) died 27 June 1885 and in 1888 her father married Maria/Mary Catharine Buchner.

The Frederick Schumm Jr family in 1900: Frederick, 56; Mary, 39; Hugo A, 24; Leona B, 22; Henrietta A, 20; Lawrence W, 15; Amos C, 8; Erna F, 5; and Naomi M, 3. Henrietta had 5 full siblings and 3 step-siblings living at this time. [4]

The Frederick and Henrietta (Schumm) Roehm family in 1910, eight years after their marriage: Frederick, 37; Henrietta, 30; Paul A, 6; Emanuel, 4; Anna, 3; and Frederick, 1. Frederick worked as a cashier at a bank. This enumeration indicates the couple has been married 8 years and that Henrietta had given birth to 4 children, all of whom were living. [5]

The Frederick Roehm family in 1920: Fred G, 47; Henrietta, 40; Paul A, 16; Emanuel G, 14; Anna, 12; Frederick, 10; George, 8; Louise M, 4; Alma, 2; and Albert 2. Frederick continued to work as a cashier in a bank. [6]

Frederick Roehm died of bladder cancer in Willshire Township on 22 December 1926, at the age of 54 years, 4 months, and 26 days. He was buried on the 26th. He was a cashier at the F & M State Bank of Willshire. [7]

Widow Henrietta (Schumm) Roehm, with some of her children, in 1930: Henrietta, 50; Anna, 23; Frederick, 21; George, 18; Louise, 14; Albert, 10; and Alma, 10. [8]

In 1940, widow Henrietta lived with two of her unmarried children east of Willshire: Henrietta, 60; George, 28; and Albert, 21. Her son George was a farmer and they lived very close to where my mother grew up. [9]

Henrietta (Schumm) Roehm died at Lutheran Hospital, Fort Wayne, on 31 May 1947, at the age of 67 years, 9 months, and 19 days. Her usual residence was recorded as Willshire. She was buried on 3 June, with Rev. A.P. Schlegel in charge of the service. [10]

Friedrich and Henrietta (Schumm) Roehm had the following children:
Paul Andreas, (1903-1989), married Elsie Scaer
Emanuel “George” (1905-1938), married Esther Ohnesorge
Anna Marie (1907-1990), married Kenneth Bergman
“Frederick” John (1908-1954), married Nora Louise Berning
George Walter (1911-1982), married Edith Lucille Gribler
Ernst Christian (1913-1918)
Louise Rosina (1915-1976), married Rev. Frederick Voigtmann
Alma Margaret (1919-2001), married Harold Ervin Thieme
Albert Henry (1919-1991), married Ruth Elizabeth Meyer

[1] 1880 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 154, p.449B, family 123, John Roehm; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742/ : viewed 23 Aug 2020).

[2] 1900 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 97, p.8, dwelling 165, family 178, John Roehn; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/ : viewed 23 Aug 2020). 

[3] 1880 U.S. Census, Black Creek, Mercer, Ohio, ED 179, p.333B, line 31, Fredone Schuman; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742/ : viewed 15 Jun 2020).

[4] 1900 U.S. Census, Black Creek, Mercer, Ohio, ED 74, p.2, dwelling & family 29, Frederick Schumm; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/ : viewed 17 May 2020).

[5] 1910 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 114, p.2B, dwelling & family 47, Fredenol Rochen; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/ : viewed 7 Sep 2020).

[6] 1920 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 146, p.4A, dwelling 76, family 77, Fred G Roehm; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/ : viewed 7 Sep 2020).

[7] “Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001,” Willshire Township, Van Wert, Frederick G Roehm, 22 Dec 1926; database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9ZY-TV17?i=417&cc=2128172&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AF6CF-PQM : viewed 7 Sep 2020).

[8] 1930 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 24, p.3B, dwelling 68, family 70, Henryetta Roehm; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/ : viewed 7 Sep 2020).

[9] 1940 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 81-28, p.8A, visited no.163, Henretta Rochen; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/ : viewed 7 Sep 2020).

[10] Indiana, Death Certificate, 1899-2011, 1947, roll 6, Henretta Roehm; digital image, Ancestry.com.

Sep 04

Our Monarch Butterflies

Spoiler alert. This blog post has nothing to do with genealogy. Instead, it is about one of my other interests, a new project we tried out this year.

Raising monarch butterflies.

Joe and I both enjoy the birds and other wildlife we see in our woods, but Joe is the real gardener around here. He loves working in the yard–landscaping, growing flowers, and nurturing a pollinator garden. He does the majority of the outdoor work around here and I help out to a lesser degree. Dead-heading spent flowers is my specialty and I’m not too bad at raking.

Our pollinator garden sign.

One of Joe’s projects the past couple years has been to start and maintain a pollinator garden, something to help the butterflies and bees. He planted several varieties of milkweed for the monarchs as well as other blooming plants for the bees and for other types of butterflies.

Butterfly Weed, a type of milkweed.

Yellow Milkweed

Last year we attended a monarch butterfly workshop in Celina and learned that some local people were helping the monarch population by putting monarch eggs and caterpillars in a specially-styled box, providing them with food and a place to attach their chrysalis, and releasing the butterfly that eventually emerges.

We decided we wanted to try this, hoping to improve the butterfly’s chances. Joe made a wood-framed, screened-in box last winter for this project.

Monarch caterpillar box Joe built.

The female monarch butterfly lays tiny white eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves. A little caterpillar hatches from the egg in about 5 days and eats the milkweed leaves. The caterpillar grows quickly. They are little eating (and pooping) machines. After about 14 days, when the caterpillar is about 2 inches long, it will attach itself to the underside of a leaf or twig and turn into a chrysalis, like a cocoon, which is the pupal stage. Eventually a butterfly will emerge from the chrysalis in about 10-14 days.

In the wild, monarch eggs have less than a 10% chance of making it to a butterfly.

Monarch caterpillar in the garden, eating common milkweed.

Monarch chrysalis in the wild. The butterfly emerged later that day.

We learned that you can improve the odds of this whole process and help the monarchs by putting the eggs or the caterpillars into a special box and making sure they have plenty of milkweed leaves to eat. This will sustain them through the chrysalis stage, until they become a monarch butterfly, which can then be released.

Four monarch caterpillars in our box, eating milkweed.

On 6 August we found a monarch caterpillar and put it on a milkweed stem and placed it into the box. Joe put the milkweed stem in a little tube of water. That first caterpillar was fairly good sized and two days later, on 8 August, it climbed to the top of the cage and attached itself to the screen in an up-side-down position. By the next day it was a chrysalis. Eleven days later, on 19 August, a beautiful female butterfly emerged. It took a couple hours for her to dry out, spread her wings, and leave the cage, but she eventually flew away and landed on a tree, in the sun.

Our first monarch butterfly, a female. You can see two other chrysalises hanging from the top.

Our first monarch, ready to fly away.

This was fun, so in the meantime we added more caterpillars to the box. On 8 August we added 4 more good-sized caterpillars and 2 more on the 10th. Of course, we had to add more milkweed stems. They really do eat a lot!

Eventually they all climbed to the top of the box and transformed into chrysalises. At one point we had 7 chrysalises hanging from the top of the box. 

Five chrysalises hanging on this side of the cage.

Two other chrysalises on the other side of the cage, seven total.

Over the next week 5 more beautiful butterflies emerged.

Monarch #2, just after emerging from her chrysalis. Note the other two chrysalises.

Monarchs #3 & 4, just after emerging from their chrysalises.

One chrysalis did not survive and we are not sure what happened to it. Five of the monarchs were females and one was a male. Males have a black spot on each of their lower wings. We wonder if there are naturally more females to help perpetuate the species.

The lone male monarch. Note the spots on each of his lower wings.

The male monarch.

Monarchs #5 & 6, shortly after emerging from their chrysalises.

Monarchs #5 & 6, shortly after emerging from their chrysalises.

We thought we were finished for this year, after raising and releasing 6 butterflies. After all, the weather will be getting cooler and the last generation of monarchs will be heading down to Mexico before long, where they will spend the winter.

But on 19 August I found a teeny tiny caterpillar on the underside of a milkweed leaf and we put him in the cage. He grew quickly he turned into a chrysalis on the 29th.

Then Joe found 2 mid-sized caterpillars and put them in the box on 31 August. As of today, these last two are still munching away on the leaves and are about large enough to turn into chrysalises.

When these emerge, we will have raised and released a total of 9 monarch butterflies. What fun and what a good way to help the monarch population. We will definitely do this again next year.

We did learn that we will probably need more milkweed plants. These caterpillars really do eat a lot! One of our larger milkweed plants has a pod on it and we will harvest it for the seeds when it matures.

Common milkweed seed pod.

We took a ride around the woods a couple days ago and saw 2 monarch butterflies flying around. They are so beautiful when they fly.  We wondered if they were ones that we had released.

Hopefully the monarchs we nurtured will make it all the way to Mexico.

Safe travel, little ones.