Georg F & Eva Barbara Hoehamer, Mount Hope Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana. (2013 photo by Karen)
This is the tombstone of Georg F. and Eva Barbara Hoehamer, located in Mount Hope Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana. The marker is inscribed HOEHAMER on the front. The south side is inscribed:
Hier Ruhet
Georg F.
Hohamer
Geb 4 April
1814
Gest 20 Feb 1886
Alter 71 Y, 10 M
16 T
The north side of the marker is inscribed with the information of his wife:
Hier Ruhet
Eva Barbara
Ehefrau von
G.F. Hohamer
Geb 16 Mai
1810
Gest 9 Jul 1885
Alter
75 Y, 1 M, 23 T
The translations: Here lies Georg F. Hohamer, born 4 April 1814, died 20 February 1886, aged 71 years, 10 months, and 16 days. Here lies Eva Barbara, wife of G.F. Hohamer, born 16 May 1810, died 9 July 1885, aged 75 years, 1 month, and 23 days. [Note that Hohamer/Hoehamer was spelled both ways on the tombstone.]
I was pleasantly surprised and excited to find this marker in Mount Hope Cemetery. Before our visit to this cemetery I noticed the death and burial records of an older Hoehamer couple in Zion Chatt’s records. I wondered if they were Nicholas Hoehamer’s parents:
Georg Friedrich Hoehamer, born 4 April 1814 in Langenfeld, County Court Markt Bibart [?], District Mittelfranken, Kingdom of Bavaria, died 20 February 1866 in Adams County, Indiana. He was aged 71 years, 10 months and 16 days. He was buried on the 22nd.
Eva Barbara Hoehamer, born Strauss, born 16 May 1810 in Baudenbach, Bavaria, died 9 July 1885 in Jefferson Township, Adams County, Indiana. She was buried on the 11th.
I soon discovered that the older Hoehamers were indeed the parents of Nicholas (1845-1914). The marriage record of Nicholas Hoehamer to Delia Warner, his third marriage, named his parents as George F. Hoehamer and Barbara Straus. [1] Georg F. and Eva Barbara probably had other children, but I cannot be sure without doing quite a bit of additional research.
The tombstone of Georg F. and Eva Barbara Hoehamer is located one row west of their son Nicholas’ marker. In fact, you can see Nicholas’ tombstone in the photo above. It has the yucca plants growing around it.
Georg F. “Hohamer,” 1814-1886. (2013 photo by Karen)
The inscriptions on the sides of Georg and Eva’s tombstone were unreadable without a little tombstone cleaning. Fortunately I had my cemetery bag that contains my tombstone tools in the car. The south face of the stone was covered with a lot of green moss-type growth. I sprayed it down with my water bottle and rubbed the moss off with a soft nylon brush. I rubbed most of the moss off but left some moss behind in the chiseled areas. That made the letters and numbers readable.
I reflected a mirror on the north side of the stone and that was enough to make that inscription readable.
Eva Barbara “Hohamer,” 1810-1885. (2013 photo by Karen)
Georg and Eva Barbara were living in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio, in 1850. Their family in 1850: G.F., 43, laborer, born in Germany; Barbara, 40, Germany; Fred, 5, Ohio; Cath, 3, Ohio; Christina, 1, Ohio. These were probably their children, but you cannot be sure since relationships were not given in that enumeration. [2]
The Hoehamers had moved to Auglaize County by 1870. Their family in the 1870 census: Geo F., 56, farmer, born in Bayern; Eve Barbara, 60, Bayern; Margaret, 19, Ohio; George, 18, Ohio. [3] Living next door was their son Nicholas, 25, and his wife Anna (Manzelman), 18. Nicholas and Anna had married a few months before.
[1] “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal;.MM9.1.1/SC2T-P19 : accessed 23 June 2013), Nicholas Hoehamer and Delia Wells Warner, 1899, citing Vol. 8, p. 87, Auglaize County, Ohio.
[2] 1950 U.S. Census, Springfield, Clark, Ohio, p. 175A, line 35, dwelling 226, family 234, G.F. Hohamer; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 August 2013); from National Archives microfilm M432, roll 666.
[3] 1870 U.S. Census, Moulton Township, Auglaize County, Ohio, p. 8, line 22, dwelling 60, family 60, George Hoechamer; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 June 2013); from FHL film 552671, from National Archives microfilm M593, roll 1172.
1 comment
Three wives! Perhaps it is difficult for us to see just how difficult childbearing (without the benefit of birthcontrol) was for our ancestors. While the analogy is less that flattering, we can easily see the effects in livestock. Females that are bred relentlessly and constantly have short lives, small body mass and weakened functional physiological systems. We recognize that even over breed pets has detrimental effects on thier well being and longevity. Perhaps the most striking example that I have seen are small birds known as button quail. While the female quail starts laying eggs very young and produces large numbers of eggs that are huge compared to her body mass (small to most of us), the male only calls, fights and leads a rather long easy life. The females often live only a year or so, while males can go on for several years, fully able to breed, and otherwise function. Of course there are issues of care, nutrition, environmental stresses, etc., but the fact remains that the insane reproductive force simply uses up the females life energy, and leads to a very short lifetime. Is it any wonder that the mother of 10 to 18 children grows weary, that is if one of those births does not become complicated and deadly in and of itself.