Tombstone Tuesday-Otto & Norah (Stover) Linn

Otto & Norah (Stover) Linn, Riverside Cemetery, Rockford, Mercer County, Ohio. (2024 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Otto and Norah (Stover) Linn, located in Riverside Cemetery, Rockford, Mercer County, Ohio. Their marker is inscribed:

LINN
Norah
1895-1979
Otto
1893-1960

Otto Linn was born in Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, on 28 July 1893, the son of Jacob Linn Jr (1865-1927) Elizabeth (1872-1943) Garman. Otto’s parents were both born in Germany.

Otto Linn, age 6 years, was enumerated with his parents and 3 siblings in 1900, enumerated as Peter: Jacob Linn Jr, 34, head; Elizabeth, 28, wife; Peter [sic] [should be Otto], 6; Louise, 4; Caroline, 2; and Peter, 2 mo. This enumeration gives a lot of family information: both Otto’s parents were born in Germany, his father Jacob Jr. immigrated in 1872 and his mother in 1888, his parents had been married for 9 years, all their children were all born in Ohio, 4 of their 6 children were living, and that the father Jacob Jr was a farmer. [1]

By 1910 there were five children in the Jacob Linn Jr family: Otto, 16; Lucy, 14; Caroline, 12; Peter, 10; and Philip, 3 mo. [2]

The 1916 Mercer County Directory gives the following information: Jacob Linn Jr, wife Elizabeth, 5 children, farmer, owned 120 acres, had 8 horses and 18 cows, lived at Route 1 Celina, Liberty [Twp] 48, and had an Indiana telephone. [3]

Otto Linn married Norah Stover in Mercer County, Ohio, on 3 September 1916. [4]

Norah Gladys Stover was born in Black Creek Township, Mercer County, Ohio, on 8 January 1895, the daughter of Orciness O. (1856-1938) and Eva Ann (Garber) (1862-1919) Stover.

The Orciness Stover family in 1900: Orciness O, 44; Eva A, 37; Fanny [?] E, 12; Jettie M, 9; and Nora G, 4. All were born in Ohio. The parents had been married 18 years and had 3 children, all living. [5]

The Orciness Stover family in 1910: Orciness O, 54; Eva A, 46; Jetta M, 18; Norah G, 14. [6]

A year after their 1916 marriage, twin boys were born to Otto and Norah on 11 June 1917, but both boys died within days.

By 1920, Otto and Norah, married nearly 4 years, had one living child, Ethel, almost 2 years old, born in 1918. [7]

The Otto Linn family in 1930: Otto, 36; Norah, 35; Ethel, 12; Herman, 4; Gene, 2; Alice, 9 mo; Orciness Stover, 74, father-in-law; and Philip Linn, 20, brother. Otto was a farmer. [8]

The Otto Linn family in 1940: Otto, 46; Norah, 44; Ethel, 21; Herman, 15; Gene, 13; Alice, 11; Janet, 9; Paul, 6; Robert, 3; Philip 30 [brother]; and Elizabeth, 80, mother. [9]

The Otto Linn family in 1950: Otto Linn, 56, head, farmer; Norah Linn, 54, wife; Paul K Linn, 15, son; Robert G Linn, 12, son; Ethel Longsworth, 32, daughter, practical nurse at rest home; Geraldine K Longsworth, 5, granddaughter; Clifford G, Longsworth, 4, grandson; Philip Linn, 40, brother. [10]

Otto Linn died in Mercer County on 7 December 1960. His obituary:

OTTO LINN
Rockford-Otto Linn, 66, of Rt. 3, died at 3:50 a.m. today at his home after a three month illness.

Born Dec 23, 1893 in Liberty Township, Mercer County, he was a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Garman) Linn.

He was married Sept. 3, 1916 to Norah G. Stover who survives along with three daughters, Mrs. Ethel Longsworth of Van Wert, Mrs. Alice Bruns of Rockford, Mrs. Janet Heureux of Fairborn; four sons, Rev. Herman Linn of Lawrenceburg, Ind., Gene Linn of Portland, Ind., Paul of Ohio City, and Robert at home; 23 grandchildren, two brothers, Peter Linn of Muncie, Ind., Phillip of Celina; two sisters, Mrs. Louise Arndts of Piqua and Mrs. [sic] Caroline Linn of Dayton.

He was a member of the Rockford EUB Church where services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. with Rev. R.L. Clark officiating. Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery, Rockford. Friends may call at Ketcham’s Funeral Home, Rockford, after 11 a.m. Thursday. [11]

Otto’s widow Norah (Stover) Linn died 27 July 1979 in Van Wert. Her obituary:

NORAH G. LINN
Rockford-Norah G. Linn, 84, died at 2 a.m. today at Van Wert County Hospital where she had been a patient for two days.

Survivors include three daughters, Mrs. Eugene (Ethel) Longsworth of Middle Point, Mrs. Ralph (Alice) Bruns of Rockford, and Mrs. Charles (Janet) Heureux of Fairborn; four sons, Herman Linn of Grenfork [sic], Ind., Gene Linn of Fort Wayne, Paul Linn of Ohio City, and Robert Linn of Rockford; 33 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday in Ketcham-Ripley Funeral Home. Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery. [12]

Otto and Norah (Stover) Linn had the following children:
Dolan Otto Linn (1917-1917)
Donald Oral Linn (1917-1917)
Ethel Lois Linn (1918-2001), married Francis Eugene Longsworth
Herman Reed Linn (1925-2008), married Thelma Tucker
Alice Joan Linn (1929-2009), married Ralph L Bruns
Janet J. Linn (1931-2017), married Charles Anthony Heureux Sr.
Paul Kent Linn (1934-1999), married Joyce Marie Ayers
Eugene Garman Linn (1927-2012), married Dora Dean Shrider
Robert Gerald Linn (1937-), married Beatrice Eileen Baucher

Otto Linn’s paternal grandmother, Katharine Mueller was the sister of my great-grandfather Jacob Miller.

[1] 1900 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 85, p.8, dwelling 149, family 154, Jacob J Sinn [sic]; Ancestry.com.

[2] 1910 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, ED 119, p.16a, dwelling 349, family 310, Jacob Linn; Ancestry.com.

[3] The Farm Journal Illustrated Directory of Mercer County, 1916, Wilmer Atkinson Co, Philadelphia: 1915, p.108.

[4] Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Mercer, Otto Linn & Norah Stover, 3 Sep 1913; Ancestry.com.

[5] 1900 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Black Creek, ED 74, p.1, dwelling & family 1, Orciness O Stover; Ancestry.com.

[6] 1910 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Black Creek, ED 107, p.4B, dwelling & family 88; Osciners [sic] O Stover; Ancestry.com.

[7] 1920 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Black Creek, ED 124, p.6A, dwelling & family 118, Otto Linn; Ancestry.com.

[8] 1930 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Black Creek, ED 54-1, p.8B, dwelling & family 184, Otto Linn; Ancestry.com.

[9] 1940 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Black Creek, ED 54-1, p.7A, household 146, Otto Linn; Ancestry.com.

[10] 1950 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, ED 54-1, p.8, line 21, Otto Linn, Ancestry.com.  

[11] Otto Linn Obituary, The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, 7 Dec 1960; Newspapers.com. 

[12] Norah G Linn Obituary, The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, 27 Jul 1979; Newspapers.com.