4 Inez Leona Lautzenheiser
Here is a copy of Inez's obituary.
This is a picture of Inez. I think she looks a lot like my mother, Teresa, her grandaughter.
posted by RandyFife at 6:51 PM
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Sunday, April 09, 2006
This is a picture of Inez. I think she looks a lot like my mother, Teresa, her grandaughter.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
5 Peter Van Buren Lautzenheiser
I found this history on a webpage that is no longer in existence. I have included the link below, however, I will try to find the another link on a later date.
www.mailbag.com/users/dmystify/Lotsonahighsir.html
HISTORY
OF THE
LOUTZENHEISER
FAMILY
BY
P. V. LOUTZENHISER
CANTON : OHIO
AS READ AT THE ANNUAL REUNION
AUGUST 17 : 1893
MCGREGOR & BOLTON : PRINTERS : AUGUST 1894
PREFACE
"THE HISTORY OF THE LOUTZENHEISER FAMILY" has been a subject in which the author of the following pages has been greatly interested for some years, but never gave definite shape to his thoughts upon the subject, until, by unanimous vote of those present at an informal meeting held at his residence on Saturday, October 1, 1892, it was agreed that the next, or first, regular reunion should be held at the home of John Loutzenhiser, North Cleveland Avenue (Plain Township), on the third Thursday of August, 1893.
For that occasion, Henry Loutzenhiser of Minerva was chosen president, and Peter S. Loutzenhiser of Canton secretary. Also the following appointments were made: Oren H. Loutzenhiser, Mrs. Emma Shanafelt and P. S. Loutzenhiser, committee on music, and P. V. Loutzenhiser, historian.
This action, therefore, is given as sufficient reason for the historical or biographical sketch given in the following pages. And the author presents his thoughts without especial apology for their imperfections.
With great respect to the memory and in remembrance of our ancestors, the following work is:
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATEDTO THELOUTZENHEISERS OF THE PRESENT,
The word history means a narrative of past events, and an historian is a writer of facts and events. The position of historian in this instance is therefore not only a responsible one, but full of difficulties on account of the scarcity of record, as you will all readily see at the outset.
But as this production will of necessity deal more directly with a certain family, or its individual members, and so far as possible with the circumstances connected with their lives, it will make this account about the Loutzenhisers more like biography--or rather, a number of biographical sketches, to be collected and connected, so far as possible, in an interesting and readable form in one single narrative.
This is the difficult duty that you have imposed upon your historian on this 17th day of August, 1893--the first annual reunion of the Loutzenhisers. And while I do not plead guilty to a degree of self-conceit that would allow me to believe for one moment that I was chosen historian because I alone, of all this intelligent family, was properly fitted to accomplish the responsible duty assigned me, yet I have felt grateful that so much confidence was placed in me that I was unanimously selected to prepare this historical sketch. And I take pleasure this day in presenting to you what I have been able to gather, of fact or fancy, aware that it will pass down to future generations as the foundation of all history of our family, for there is no precedent to our knowledge.
We must here express thanks to all who have so kindly supplied thoughts or incidents that we have been able to use in laying this foundation. In addition to the building material so received, we shall take the liberty of drawing on several sources, as follows: Family records, tradition, personal knowledge or observation, and imagination. Having thus fairly introduced ourselves and our subject, we proceed to claim, first:
Our family is of very ancient origin: in fact, we claim to be direct descendants of Adam and Eve. Of course, this may seem a little extravagant as there are quite a number of "missing links" in the record between Adam and the present generation, but there are persons--some of whom have great reputations in science and literature--who go still farther back, and claim parentage in the baboon family. We do not envy them and will not attempt to emulate them. We could not if we would, and the fact is, we would not if we could. First, because there would be still more "missing links," and second, because the Loutzenhisers are "not built that way." We therefore modestly but firmly stick to our first claim of parentage, and do so without fear of successful contradiction. While we think there can be no dispute about our parentage, yet there is a long blank, probably over three thousand years from the time of Adam, that we do not find a single reference to our family, even in the Bible. We think it is fair to presume that this apparent oversight on the part of the inspired writers is simply due to the fact that the name "Loutzenhiser" had not yet been originated.
This important event, the origin of the name, occurred some time after David became king of Israel, and came about by the marriage of a Moabite named Jacob, one of the sons or descendants of Lot, to the daughter of a man named High-Sir, which was probably more of a title than a name. It appears that this Jacob--we do not know how many degrees he may have been removed yet being a descendant of Lot--was called Lot's Son. He was no doubt quite a noted character; at least, if the account be true, he was a great traveler. He fell in love, as all sensible men do sooner or later, and, very fortunately for us, with a most charming young lady, the only child of a great chief or governor, who agreed to the marriage, provided his name should be given to any grandchildren that might result from the marriage. And so it was agreed to blend the names, and call them Lot's-Son-High-Sir, and this double name has no doubt in course of time been changed and blended into our commonplace and well known Loutzenhiser.
This theory of the origin of our name will appear quite reasonable if we read the following extracts.
This we read in the 1st Book of Chronicles, 18th chapter, 1st and 2nd verses: "Now after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines. And he smote Moab; and the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts."
And then in connection with this account, we have only to accept as correct the following extract, taken from the latest discovered manuscript: "Now it came to pass, when the Moabites became the servants of David, as it is written in the Book of Chronicles, behold Jacob, a son of Lot, who was himself a great man, being much displeased, determined within himself not to be thus in bondage. He therefore took his flight and journeyed northward to a far distant country, and there abode with the ruler of the people, a very good and hospitable man, who had an only child, a daughter, of beautiful form and fair to look upon. And it came to pass that Jacob (Lot's son) did greatly love the fair damsel and desired her for his wife. Therefore he straightaway sought the damsel's father and said unto him, High Sir, thou hast granted thy servant many privileges and great pleasures in this, thy country; now if thy servant hath found favor in thy sight, be pleased to hear my prayer and grant me this one request; give me thy daughter to be my wife, and I promise to be thy servant so long as it may please thee. Then answered the governor and said unto Jacob, Thou art Lot's son and I know thou art a good man; thou hast called me High Sir; thou hast said well; but thou knowest also that I have no son to bear this name after me; now hear my answer and the condition; thou shalt not be my servant, but henceforth thou shalt be my son; take my child to be thy wife, dwell in the land wheresoever it may please thee; only remember this, when children are born to thee thou shalt call them by my name as well as thine. And Jacob and the damsel were married, and the Lord prospered them greatly, and many sons and daughters were born unto them, who were named Lot's-Son-High-Sir. And Jacob and his descendants to the third generation, having increased to three thousand, four hundred, two score and fifteen souls, finding that there was no longer room for them to dwell in that land, therefore it came to pass that they journeyed still farther northward, and finding, a country with a cold climate, but fair and fertile, they took possession and dwell there unto this day."
Here this account comes to a close, and we have nothing positive until about three thousand more years have passed away. Then (A. D. 1764) we find our more direct ancestors settled in America. The record left does not even show what country they came from, but being written in the German language goes to show that they had been educated in a German country, and all tradition agrees that they came from the German Rheinish country. It has however been more definitely learned that Zweibrucken, a town in the kingdom of Bavaria, was the original home of the Loutzenhisers who first came and settled in America. But the reader of this history will be interested to know how we shall claim the family we find in 1764, to be descendants of the people we left so many hundreds of years ago, somewhere in northwestern Asia, and how the difference in the spelling of the name can be explained. Well, if we are at all interested, we have only to accept the foregoing account as correct and all other difficulties will soon be gotten rid of.
You who have read ancient history know that it is said that the Alans, Huns, Ostro-Goths and Visi-Goths, and perhaps other tribes, who are called "barbarians from the northwest of Asia," during the dark ages poured down over Europe, sometimes in separate tribes and sometimes in one united and overflowing tide. They devastated Europe and overthrew its ancient governments. Now while is hard for the Loutzenhisers of the present enlightened age to imagine that their ancestors were barbarians, yet it is certain that they did pass through some such condition at some time during the ages of the past. So it becomes easy for us to believe that the Lot's-Son-High-Sirs that we read about a while ago, or their descendants, constituted one of those tribes. Some of them remain in Europe, possibly for many generations, in the extreme north, perhaps first in the Scandinavian country. Finally one drifted south, and perhaps they were only in the Rheinish country a couple of generations, long enough to become thoroughly germanized in language.
Look at the average Loutzenhiser of the present time, fair complexion, blue eyes, flaxen or sandy hair. These blondes never originated in a southern country, and add to the blond the somewhat prominent cheek bone, large broad forehead, and generally deep set eyes, then you have not only a fair average picture of a handsome Loutzenhiser, but a fair picture of an average Swede or Norwegian. Then with regard to the spelling of the name, there is really very little difference, just the same number of letters as most of you use today, after passing through so many ages, languages or dialects. Even you who attend the first re-union, and acknowledge yourselves to be cousins and second cousins have three or four different ways of spelling the name, and we might easily spell it a dozen different ways without doing violence to the pronunciation. So doubt on that ground would go for nothing. We will, therefore, "stick to our text" and claim that we have, with a greater or less degree Of certainly, the right theory of our ancestry and descent, and origin of our name.
The only known authentic record of the arrival of our ancestors in this country was written by Peter Loutzenhiser (great-grand-father of your historian), and, for convenience, we will hereafter call him the Elder Peter, because he is the first of the name we have an account of (but by no means the last). Let us note here that all traditional accounts agree that there were three brothers named Loutzenhiser came to this country together, but this is probably not strictly true, as we shall learn further along, in this book. No account tells anything as to age, or whether married or single and these traditional accounts do not state whether the parents of these three men also came to this country or not, but all accounts do agree that all persons of the name of Loutzenhiser, in this country sprang from two of the brothers. Some accounts say that one of the brothers had only daughters in his family and others have it that one was killed by the Indians, and therefore did not assist in handing down the name we will undertake to suggest, that it is quite probable that both these accounts of the one brother may be true; that is, he may have been married, had a family of daughters and been killed by the Indians afterwards.
The record of our elder Peter incidentally shows us that his parents were also in this country and that his father's name was Henry. Now the question might arise in the minds of some, "was it not this old Henry, our great-great-grandfather, and two of his brothers who originally came across the ocean?" It would add one more generation and thereby help account for the great number of Loutzenhisers to be found in this country. But we think the numbers will be easily accounted for if you take only the elder Peter and one brother to start with, when you consider how prolific some of the Loutzenhisers used to be, and some are yet. The elder Peter had five sons, his brother probably had as many more. Now, that would be ten of that generation, no later than 1790. Multiply by any reasonable number every thirty years, say five times ten equals fifty, as the number in 1820. Two hundred and fifty in 1850, and then if we only estimate four sons to each of these, for the next generation we have an even thousand more about the year 1880, and at that time likely a good part of the former generation still alive. Another thousand may have been born during the past thirteen years, which takes in 1893. Figuring on this plan gives us 2314 as the number of male members of the Loutzenhiser family in this country up to this time, and we think it would be perfectly fair to estimate five hundred to six hundred different families, or heads of families, of the name, at present scattered throughout the United States, after making due allowance for all who have died, and the children of the present generation. It would be difficult to imagine the extent or numbers of the relationship now existing, if we were to figure from the females in each generation and their offspring, both sons and daughters. But we will, for the sake of brevity, allude to these as side branches.
Now let us go back to 1764, which at the time the elder Peter says he arrived in this country. As before mentioned, he does not say that his father was in this country, but, incidentally, we learn that he was, and just the same way he speaks of one Jacob Loutenhiser, whom we think it reasonable to believe, was an older brother, for the reason that he also mentions one "Peter Loutzenhiser, son of Jacob Loutzenhiser," but we will speak about this matter further on. Now we believe that it was this Jacob, and the elder Peter who were the progenitors of all the Loutzenhisers in this country. What the christian name was of the unfortunate brother who had only daughters, and was killed by the Indians, if this be true, we are unable to say. We have already learned that the father of these men was also in this country, therefor we have found the one man who was the father of all the Loutzenhisers in America. His name was Henry, or Heinrich, and he was the great-grandfather to Henry, the chairman of our reunion. Just when and where he was born, or when he died, we are not informed. It is quite probable, however, that he came to America when the elder Peter did, and that he died somewhere in the state of Pennsylvania. Our knowledge of his son Jacob, is also very limited; we believe he was the eldest son. Of the time of his birth and death, we are equally ignorant. It is safe to believe that he was born in the same country as his brother, the elder Peter; that he came to America at the same time, or soon after, as we now think, and as we shall hereafter remark. But being the elder brother, his descendants have reached at least one or two more degrees, or generations, than the elder Peter's branch. We believe that Jacob died in Pennslyvania and from information given our historian, by our old grand-uncle, the late Conrad Loutzenhiser, we now that the sons of this Jacob moved from Westmoreland county to Mercer county, Pennsylvania, at a very early day, before the present century began. By later information, received through the kindness of H. A. Loutzenhiser, Esq., of Greenville, Pa. We have learned that the men who first moved to Mercer county, were three brothers named, John, Jacob and Peter. He says that John and Jacob married and raised large families and that Peter never was married. We have not the least doubt but this is the Peter, "son of Jacob" already mentioned, and who was sponsor (God-father) to one of the sons of the elder Peter, as we shall see hereafter.
The Loutzenhisers are very numerous in Mercer county, PA., and there are many very wealthy and influential people among them. At quite an early date, in the present century, one David Loutzenhiser moved from Mercer county, Pa., to Medina county, Ohio, where an aged daughter, a Mrs. Weary, and the many other descendants still reside, and others have gone to live in different parts of the country. We knew of these Medina county cousins many years ago but had no personal acquaintance with any of them until October, 1890. Your historian had the pleasure of meeting two brothers, Jonas and Charles Loutzenhiser, at their home near Ada, Hardin county, Ohio, where they have lived a number of years. Jonas is a pioneer in that county and was married there and has children and grand-children. Charles, the younger, was married in Wayne county; his family is mostly grown up. These men are grand-sons of David, above mentioned, who settled in Medina county. They informed us that one of their uncles had moved somewhere in the western part of Illinois many years ago, with a large family, and one had settled in northwestern Michigan before the war, where he and one of his sons went into the Army. These cousins are of the Medina county, or Mercer county, Pa. stock, and are as true Loutzenhisers in their principal characteristics, as though they were first cousins to some of us. Their father, grand-father and great-grand-father, it is said, were all named David, and we fully believe if we could go back one, or possibly two generations further, we would reach Jacob, the son of Henry, or Heinrich and brother of the elder Peter; but as it is, we are not able to discover the exact connecting link between the Medina county relatives of the Stark county Loutzenhisers. Quite a difference in the number of generations descending from the two brothers may occur in one hundred years, by one being married early in life and the other late in life, and repeated in the same way, perhaps, in the same line, might easily have caused a difference of a couple of generations in the two branches of Loutzenhisers, so that even among persons of similar age in the different branches, there may be a difference of one or two degrees or generations in their descent from the same original stock.
Now, as the Stark county Loutzenhisers, as well as many others, are direct descendants of the elder Peter, we will now proceed to read a copy of a record he left, originally written in the Germany language, in his Bible, afterward owned by his youngest son--our late grand-uncle, Conrad Loutzenhiser. The book, after his death, having fallen into the hands of our late second cousin, Henry Barnes, had the record translated, and furnished a copy to your historian's father, some years ago. We have frequently studied it, and have guarded it with jealous care ever since. We will now quote from the record of the elder Peter, and intersperse such comments as may seem to be appropriate and interesting, from our point of view.
His record starts out by saying: "I arrived in this country December 2nd, 1764." When and where was he born? He does not tell us; yet these are important items that should appear in any well kept record. With a few more strokes of his pen he might have enlightened us on these and many other interesting points, for we are credibly informed that he was a well educated man, a teacher, and a fine penman. Think of this and take warning, you who read this history, and live in this enlightened age, lest after a short time your descendants may be longing to know something about you, and will not be able to learn it. People are usually far too negligent in this respect. They know all about themselves and perhaps imagine every other person does and are therefore careless. Think of the example we have before us. This man was probably born a little less than one hundred and fifty years ago; he is gone, his numerous family of children are all gone; his grand-children have nearly all been taken away and gone to their reward, and in the cemetaries of this, his chosen country, there may be seen shafts and pillars of marble which mark the last resting places of very many of his great-grand-children, who, at mature years were "gathered to their fathers," and the rest of us are in full bloom. Other generations are crowding us, and very soon "the place that now knows us will know us no more." While here, let us live in such a way that coming generations may not lack in knowledge concerning us, and may feel it an honor to bear our names. If it were not for the record under consideration, even the name of the elder Peter might be forgotten.
Referring to the record--the next we find, he tells us: "1770, May 6th, made my engagement to marry Anna Barbara Schneider" and then he adds, "1770, May 14th, we were married. My wife was born February 26th, 1749." We have been told that this old great-grand-mother was closely related to a governor of Pennsylvania, of the same name. We have also been told that the elder Peter came to America at about 16 years of age, and from the above item of information we can pretty safely argue that to be correct. Supposing him to have been about a year older than his wife, he would have been born in the year 1748 and been about 16 when he came to America and 22 when he was married. Next he says, "1771, November 1st, a son was born and was baptized Nov. 10th, by the name of John Jacob; his sponsers were Jacob Loutzenhiser and his wife." This Jacob, who was sponsor, is the man whom we have heretofore spoken of as brother to our elder Peter, and the direct ancestor of the Mercer county, Pa. stock, and the Medina county, Ohio cousins, and the cousins in Hardin county, Ohio, with whom we are already acquainted, as well as very many others that we do not know.
John Jacob, the child baptized, grew up to manhood, married Elizabeth Weber, daughter of a German Reformed minister, in Westmoreland county, Pa. John Jacob moved his family from Westmoreland county, Pa. to Stark county, Ohio, in the spring of 1806, settled on the land he had chosen the previous year, which is about one-half mile north of the present fair grounds. Here he built his cabin and lived among the native "red men," always on friendly terms with them. He was one of the first Justices of the Peace commissioned for Stark county, his jurisdiction extending all over the northeastern portion. He died in 1810 at the age of about 37 years, and his widow died in 1843. Their children were John, Barbara, Peter, William, Polly, Sarah and Jacob. Of this family we will give a short sketch as follows:
John, who married Elizabeth Shollenberger, died many years ago and his family, consisting of his widow and sons, John, William, Henry and Peter, and two daughters, (all past middle life now, if yet alive) moved to northeastern Indiana.
Barbara was married to Jonathan Pontius, and therefore became mother to our cousins by that name, together with their descendants.
Peter was born April 13th, 1800; came to Stark county with his parents in the spring of 1806; grew up with the country," a genuine pioneer of Stark county and a backwoodsman, yet a man of more than ordinary attainments for the opportunities afforded him. He kept himself well posted on the general topics of his day, especially in political affairs and the laws of Ohio. He was a lifelong Democrat but never allowed political prejudice to interfere with his better judgment. He faithfully served in many places of trust, to which he was chosen by the people of Plain township, Stark county, Ohio, having served nearly twenty years as Justice of the Peace, was twice elected Associate Judge for Stark county, by the legislature of Ohio, and was President of the Pioneer Association at the time of his death which occurred June 8th, 1882. This Pioneer Peter had six sons; William, of Grass Valley, California, who has two sons and two daughters; Jacob D., of New Philadelphia, Ohio, has one daughter; Joseph, who died the 8th of August, 1893, left four sons and one daughter and a number of grand-children; George, of Williams county, Ohio, has three daughters and a number of grandchildren; John, of Plain township and who is our host this day, has one daughter, now Mrs. Harry Seaton of Canton, Ohio, and Peter V. of Canton, Ohio, who has three sons and three daughters. Of the three daughters of the Pioneer Peter--Hannah, Amanda and Rebecca--there has sprung the Mountains, the Pontiuses, the Stettlers, Beards and Gotkriechts, and other younger side branches are being cultivated.
The second daughter of John Jacob, Polly, was married to George Fogle, and was mother to our relatives of that name, together with the Slaybaughs, the Wolfs, the Schroyers and the Motters, and their numerous descendants.
William, who married Elizabeth Young, our well-known “Aunt Betsy,” who now resides at the corner of High and South streets, Canton, Ohio. Their son, William G., of East Second street, Canton, Ohio, has several sons and daughters. John resides in Canton, and is unmarried. William's daughters are two in number, Mary and Emma, who are respectively cultivating the side branches named Seager and Shanafelt.
Sarah, the youngest daughter of John Jacob, was married to John Weaver and left one daughter, Margaret, who is now the mother of the Eves, of Williams county, Ohio. Sarah Weaver was the first female born in Stark county.
Jacob, afterward known among us as “Big Jake," was born a short distance north of the present site of the City of Canton, sometime after the death of his father, John Jacob. He married Eliza Reed, they raised a large family and died in Iowa, where he had moved in 1860. Their sons are Thomas B., of North Walnut street, Canton, and William, Ruben and George of Iowa. The side branches are the Littles, the Gottholds, Forsythes, Roberts, Harpers and the Mercers and their descendants.
Now we go back to the elder Peter's record and read. “1773, June 5th, we arrived, by Braddock's road, on our place. 1773, September 8th, a daughter was born, and was baptized on October 3rd, by the name of Anna Maria. Her sponsors were her grand-parents Henry Loutzenhiser and Maria Catharine. So here we have the clue that shows us that while the elder Peter had come from the old country, father had also come, as tradition speaks of three brothers who had come from the old country, we think that it is safe to believe that Henry Loutzenhiser came from the old country, and his family, consisting of at least three sons also came, and that these are the three brothers spoken of, and that the Loutzenhisers all sprung from two of these brothers as before mentioned. Again we read, "1775, August 18, a daughter was born and baptized October lst, by the name of Anna Barbara, her sponsors were Christopher Waldhauer and his wife, Anna Barbara. 1777, February 5th, a son was born and was baptized by the name of John Peter. His sponsor was Peter Loutzenheiser, son of Jacob Loutzenhiser. This Peter, son of Jacob, must have been our elder Peter’s nephew, and probably, (judging from late information) he was one of three brothers who first settled in Mercer county, Pennsylvania.
John Peter grew to manhood, was married, and at an early day came to Ohio. He settled in Nimishillen, township, Stark county, Ohio, where he died many years ago. We are not informed as to the number of his family, but know that his son Jacob (generally known among us as “Blacksmith Jake") moved with his family to Indiana many years ago, where he died. His sons Joseph, Eli, Dennis and Darius, (all past middle life) and their descendants reside. Then there was John Peter's son David who died six or eight years ago, in Nimishillen township. His family still resides there. We believe there were other sons, but are not well informed on that point. The number and names of the daughters we do not know positively, but from one of these descend the Holbens, the Hexamers, the Trempers and others.
Now, returning to the record, we read: "1779, April 18th, a son was born, and was baptized October 7th, by the name of Henry. His sponsors were Michael Deer and his wife Catharine. Henry grew up with the usual Loutzenhiser characteristic of push, and love of pioneer life. In 1807 at the age of about 28, he came from Pennsylvania and settled in Nimishillen township. The present site of the thriving town of Louisville was for many years his home, where he was somewhat of a noted character, being closely connected with and interested in all the early movements for the good of the community in which he lived, and was very highly respected by all who knew him. He died well nigh fifty years ago. He was married three times and was the father of fourteen sons and eleven daughters, most of whom survived to years of maturity. Henry's sons, John and Daniel, were married, and many years ago moved to western Ohio with their families. Some of the descendants are known still to reside there, the old soldier and railroader, John L., of Wooster, being some of them, whilst others have died, and some have moved to other parts. His son Adam was born a pioneer having first seen the light, where Louisville now stands, in 1808. It is believed he was the first white male child born in Nimishillen township, where he lived all his life and died about two years ago at more than four score. His only child, a daughter, followed soon after. Jacob, who was, years ago, generally known as "Brickmaker Jake," moved to Indiana a number of years ago, with his wife and three sons and one daughter, where he still lives at the advanced age of over four score years. Samuel and Benjamin were twins and were in the war with Mexico. Samuel was killed in the city of Mexico. Benjamin returned safely and afterward went south and was never heard from afterwards. Then here is the honored President of our re-union this year, Henry, the namesake of his father, whose residence is Minerva, Stark county, Ohio; highly respected by all who know him and father of six sons and one daughter, and is aged nearly 72 years. Louis, who resides east of Louisville, (his birthplace which was also named after him). He is the father of Albert, Peter, Uriah, Louis, Levi, George and Sherman. Nearly all are married and have families and are as fine a sample of young men as could be picked out of a thousand. All of them are faithfully and industriously engaged in the honorable calling of tilling the soil. We believe it is true that the majority of the Loutzenhisers have proven their good sense and good taste by generally following some branch of agriculture, and by steering clear of cities. It is to be hoped they will continue to do so, as health and happiness greatly depends upon such a course in life. Then there were Simon, Reuben, Conrad, Silas and Alfred, and, last, but by no means the least, of Henry's sons, is Titus. The writer has had very little acquaintance with any of these, but those of them who are known are well able to speak for themselves, and sustain their family reputation well. Their sisters were Mary, Lydia, Margaret, Ann Eliza, Delilah, Esther, Catharine, Caroline, Matilda, Sabilla and Elizabeth. Very many side branches have been the result from both males and females of Henry's offspring.
Next the record says: "1781, March 9th, a daughter was born named Magdalena. Her sponsors were her parents. 1783, February 21st, a son was born and was baptized June 8th, by the name of Anthony. His sponsors were his grandparents, Anthony and Anna Maria Schneider." Anthony followed the example of his older brothers, came to Ohio and settled in Nimishillen township, sometime in the early years of the present century. His wife's name was Bucher. They had two sons, Solomon and Hiram--both have died well up in years. Hiram died some years ago in the west and left several children. Solomon died a few years ago on the old homestead, about a mile west of Louisville, near the P. Ft. W. & C. Ry., and left but one child, a son, John, who continues to reside, with his family, at the old home. While the direct branch of Anthony has narrowed down to his cousin John, who has one young son, yet there are a great, and at present, unknown, number of side branches sprung from a large family of daughters: viz the Leshes, Longeckers, Shannons, O'Boilses, the Kliperts and others, with their descendants. After Anthony's birth and baptism the record says: "1785, April 1st, a daughter was born named Elizabeth, her sponsors were Lewis Frobst and wife Elizabeth." The writer had many a chat about the olden times with this last named daughter, of whom we used to speak as "old Aunt Lizzie." She lived with her brother Anthony, and later with Solomon. She was never married, and a jollier old maid was never known, full of jokes, well informed and a good talker. She died a number of years ago. "1787 July 27, a daughter was born named Maria Catharine. Her sponsors were her grand parents Henry Loutzenhiser and Maria Catharine." So we find that about 106 years ago our grandfather's grandparents were still both alive, but as this is the last time we find them mentioned we do not know how much longer they may have lived. Then the record continues: "1787, October 9th, our daughter Catharine died." "1791, March 3rd, a son was born and was baptized April 17th, by the name of Conrad; his sponsors werre Conrad Buechle and his wife Margaretha." This Conrad was married but never had any offspring; lived west of Louisville many years a near neighbor to his brother Anthony, but outlived him many years, and died in Louisville a number of years ago. Your historian has often heard stories of "old times" experience from "Old Uncle Conrad," as well as "Aunt Lizzie." He was also well informed and of sound mind and memory, to a good old age, and we might have had much valuable information from him, if we had only been more interested and less thoughtless in those days.
Next our translator has made the record say: "1792, April 17th, we arrived at our place at the Iack," pronounced yach, in the German language, and was probably the popular short name for the Youghiogeny river, in Penna., near which they lived for some years. The record finishes up as follows: "1708, April 1st, we arrived on our place at Beaver, Pa.1805, March 5th, Peter Loutzenhiser died and was buried, the father of ten children."
So ends the record of our elder Peter. Our comments may have been tedious, but we hope they may have been at the same time at least instructive to some. We should mention further, that from our elder Peter's daughters born 112, 118 and 120 years ago respectively, have sprung the Douthets, the Harnets, the Baruses, the Andrews, McMinns, VeAuns, Gilkys, Boyds, Noels, Burgers, Ebys and many others, together with multitudes of their descendants, many of whom, perhaps, have never heard or thought that they had an ancestor named Loutzenhiser. Having been appointed to this work, our object in this sketch has been more especially to deal with the male portion of the family, as they have handed down the name in the past and will of necessity continue to do so in the future--females and their descendants have been spoken of as side-branches. Taken all together, this "family tree" is one of the grandest in existence. You frequently find persons of the same name who do not claim or know of any relationship existing between them, but the Loutzenhisers are all related, somewhat distant, perhaps, but we are all sprung from one source. Just how great the root may have been, we cannot tell, but Dec. 2nd, 1764, the Loutzenhisers, in America, were the mustard seed we read about in Matt, 13-32: "Which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs and becometh a tree." Our "family tree" has outgrown all ordinary trees, and as it has taken root in many states of this nation, it reminds us more of the wonderful Banyan tree that is native of India, which grows up a great trunk and sends out its branches far away from the original trunk; then they reach down to mother earth, take root, gain more strength and themselves develop into strong trunks and again its branches reach out and find lodgment in the soil, and so on, again and again. A better representation of our family cannot be found. So I think the Banyan tree, with the name Loutzenhiser underlying the main trunk, should be adopted as our family emblem.
Through the courtesy of our President, we are permitted to copy from a letter to him by Rev. G. Z. Cochel, of Smithville, Ohio. It may throw a little additional light on the matter we have in hand. We give it in his own language, as follows:
SMITHVILLE, OHIO, NOV. 23rd, 1892.
HENRY LOUTZENHISER,
Dear Sir--I read your note when I arrived home and took the trouble to look carefully through my list of names, and find that two persons of your family name arrived Dec. 4th 1764, on ship "Snow-try-all," John Clapp, Master, from Roterdam-- last from Plymouth, with 48 passengers. The names are written together, the first was written by a clerk, the last by himself. The spelling is not exactly alike, the last name is probably the original spelling.
HEINRICH LAUTZENHEISSER.
PETER LAUTZENHAUSSER.
They were most likely brothers, or they may have been father and son, or at most they might have been cousins. I found no others of that name, so that they are, no doubt, your ancestors,
Yours truly,
G. Z. COCHEL.
It appears that Mr. Cochel has records of persons who arrived in this country before the Revolutionary war--among these he found the names about mentioned. These were, without doubt, our elder Peter and his father, Henry. The time of arrival is given as Dec. 4th, with is two days later than the elder Peter's record puts it, but Mr. Cochel's record is likely correct, if no mistakes were made in copying, as Peter was then only about 16 years old and he may not have made a note of it until he had forgotten the exact day--it seems strange, at first thought, that Mr. Cochel did not find others of the same name, where he speaks of the baptism of his children, and refers to their sponsors. As we have argued heretofore, we believe there is no reason to doubt that Henry and Maria Catharine were the elder Peter's parents, and the Jacob he mentions was his brother, and Peter, the son of Jacob was his nephew. Where Jacob was married and brought his son Peter across the water as a child may be true, but it would be useless to argue as we have already supposed that Jacob was the older brother, and to shorten a long argument, we will simply suggest that Heinrich and his younger son--our elder Peter--came to this country to find a home, just as we have already learned, December 4th, 1764. The elder son, Jacob, remained in the old country and some time later came across, following his father and brother to the new country, and brought his mother and such other members of his father's family as there may have been, and his own, if he was married. While this, or some similar manner of dividing up families, is customary, even in those days, there may have been some underlying cause for our old forefathers hasty departure from the fatherland, and it has been confidently asserted that there was such a cause, and that he did very hastily leave his native land. Of course there may have been a large connection of rich uncles and cousins among the Lautzenhaussers of Bavaria, we don't know anything about them, but our ancestor was evidently a poor man who had to work for his living, and if he did have rich or influential relatives, they were of no earthly use to him when he got into trouble. Once upon a time, as the story goes, our aged ancestor was at work in the field, he was binding barley, and just as he had passed the band around, and was about to draw it together to fasten, suddenly a poor frightened rabbit came bounding along. Instinct taught the poor creature to anvil itself of the first opportunity to hide away from its pursuers, so into the gathered sheaf of grain the rabbit leaped. It took the old man by surprise, to say the least, and excited to nervousness, he drew up the band--the Loutzenhisers have been subject to nervous troubles ever since. It was an unfortunate retreat for the poor rabbit, the strong arm, doubly strengthened by sudden excitement, drew up the band so tight that it killed the rabbit. The lordly hunter who was following, had a right to tramp over and ride down the poor man's grain, but the poor man had no right to the game that might chance to be on his land, much less to kill it. So here was a dilemma sure enough for the aged Loutzenhiser, for as he was just bending over the dead rabbit, its aristocratic pursuer, and perhaps the game keeper, were right at hand. Then there was a storm; there was poor Heinrich, we think it was he, almost the same as a self-confessed and convicted criminal. All the circumstances were against him; he may, for awhile, wished himself in the rabbit's place. What the penalty was for such an offense, we have not the means of knowing or whether he even waited for punishment, or to apologize for what he had done, we cannot say. This one thing seems evident, that he took the earliest possible opportunity to depart for America, where rabbits were plenty and where even poor men might in those days occasionally enjoy a rabbit stew, if they were able to catch one.
I assure you that there could be very many interesting experiences related about rabbit hunting, by the descendants of Heinerich Loutzenhiser, and there are many interesting lessons to be drawn from his adventure with the rabbits, and what all resulted from it. How well it goes to prove, that "man's extremity is God's opportunity." There was the poor but honest laborer, God was going to lead him out into a broader place and thereby bless his posterity, but naturally if he remained there, his offspring could not well rise higher than to be ordinary drudges and peasants. "A stream does not rise above its fountain head," you know--so there was the man's extremity--doomed to a life of toil and the one little circumstance, trifling as it might appear in itself, was God's opportunity to change the whole course of our existence. So, today out of the vast multitude of Heinrich Loutzenhiser's descendants, a great majority "sit under their own vine and fig tree." So Heinrich's lost was our gain, and on the other hand, what was lost to the kingdom of Bavaria was great gain to America, (now to the U.S.) Just think of it, if it had not been for the killing of that one little rabbit we might still be over there drudging around in the barley field, or a large number of us might fill up the ranks of Keiser Wilhelm's army, if existing at all, instead of enjoying life and liberty in this beautiful and highly favored country. But we should always remember that God deals with families and with individuals as he does with nations. They have their "rise and fall." Let us who have been so greatly prospered and blessed as we have already seen, always endeavor faithfully to serve and thankfully remember the author of our existence who has so mercifully dealt with us in the past, that he do not withhold his tender and watchful care in the future. A while ago we suggested that the Banyan tree should be adopted as our family emblem, but now we think that our "seal" would be incomplete with the tree alone. There should be a representation of two countries, divided by a body of water--on the one side should be a man about to bind a sheaf of barley, and a rabbit approaching, and on the other side of the water might be the Banyan tree, as before spoken of.
Speaking of the Loutzenhisers in general, we may say they have always been noted and well known as peaceable and law-abiding citizens, but while they are peaceable, they have also always been ready to respond to their country's call in time of war. Of our chairman's full brothers, two served in the Mexican war, as already stated, and we think to younger brothers served in the war of '62 and '65, and at least one of the lost his life as a consequence. "Blacksmith" Jacob's youngest son also went the same way. Cousin John, (son of "Big Jacob") also died in the army, and many others of the name, heard of but not known to the writer, were in the army. Besides all these, it may be recorded that your humble servant, the historian, served in Company C, Forty-third Regiment, O.V.I., wore Uncle Sam's leather collar and blue clothes and helped to eat his "pork and beans" and "hard tack," and otherwise assisted in putting down the rebellion. Then the side branches furnished many brave soldiers to fight the battles of freedom on the Union side. Notable among these were the Fogles, who furnished a whole family of soldiers. Politically, the Loutzenhisers are divided up among all existing parties. Firm in their own views, yet always conservative, and willing to listen to the opinions of others. They seldom aspire to official honors. Where they have done so, they have been cases where the office has sought the man, and their duties, whatever they may have been, were always faithfully performed without fear or favor.
Religiously, it may be said the Loutzenhisers were always very liberal. Some might be called "free thinkers" in their views, while others are divided among Catholic and Protestant churches of various names. They are always moderate, large-hearted and charitable toward those who differ with them, while few of them attempt to be leaders in thought--yet they are usually able to give a reason for the faith that is in them. Conscientious to a nicety, any matter of honor entrusted to them may be confidently relied upon; in other words, "their word is as good as a note." In bringing this account of the Loutzenhisers to a close, it will be in order further to remark that in the past and present they have been, as a rule, quiet, industrious and thrifty, not much inclined to "shine in public", but fair conversationalists, blessed with an abundance of ready wit, and are content with quiet home life. Very few, so far as known, have been "college bred", but all are known to have a good stock of information, together with good common sense and good judgment. In short, it may be said that they are "peculiar" people. But while peculiar characteristics have existed in the family (and do still exist.) the Loutzenhisers have always been most honored and respected by persons who have known them most intimately and understood their motives best. May it ever be so.
The Tale is told--it did unfold An interesting story; What profit we, if it shall be But temporary glory. We've honored dead, the men who fled When tyrants would oppress them, The brave and true who "wore the blue", And marched where duty called them. Thus ends this song, the name is long, But worthy all the praise That we can give, while we shall live, Through singing all our days. Fair maidens sing again, And unborn youths maintain To honor and to fame The Loutzenheiser name.
www.mailbag.com/users/dmystify/Lotsonahighsir.html
HISTORY
OF THE
LOUTZENHEISER
FAMILY
BY
P. V. LOUTZENHISER
CANTON : OHIO
AS READ AT THE ANNUAL REUNION
AUGUST 17 : 1893
MCGREGOR & BOLTON : PRINTERS : AUGUST 1894
PREFACE
"THE HISTORY OF THE LOUTZENHEISER FAMILY" has been a subject in which the author of the following pages has been greatly interested for some years, but never gave definite shape to his thoughts upon the subject, until, by unanimous vote of those present at an informal meeting held at his residence on Saturday, October 1, 1892, it was agreed that the next, or first, regular reunion should be held at the home of John Loutzenhiser, North Cleveland Avenue (Plain Township), on the third Thursday of August, 1893.
For that occasion, Henry Loutzenhiser of Minerva was chosen president, and Peter S. Loutzenhiser of Canton secretary. Also the following appointments were made: Oren H. Loutzenhiser, Mrs. Emma Shanafelt and P. S. Loutzenhiser, committee on music, and P. V. Loutzenhiser, historian.
This action, therefore, is given as sufficient reason for the historical or biographical sketch given in the following pages. And the author presents his thoughts without especial apology for their imperfections.
With great respect to the memory and in remembrance of our ancestors, the following work is:
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATEDTO THELOUTZENHEISERS OF THE PRESENT,
The word history means a narrative of past events, and an historian is a writer of facts and events. The position of historian in this instance is therefore not only a responsible one, but full of difficulties on account of the scarcity of record, as you will all readily see at the outset.
But as this production will of necessity deal more directly with a certain family, or its individual members, and so far as possible with the circumstances connected with their lives, it will make this account about the Loutzenhisers more like biography--or rather, a number of biographical sketches, to be collected and connected, so far as possible, in an interesting and readable form in one single narrative.
This is the difficult duty that you have imposed upon your historian on this 17th day of August, 1893--the first annual reunion of the Loutzenhisers. And while I do not plead guilty to a degree of self-conceit that would allow me to believe for one moment that I was chosen historian because I alone, of all this intelligent family, was properly fitted to accomplish the responsible duty assigned me, yet I have felt grateful that so much confidence was placed in me that I was unanimously selected to prepare this historical sketch. And I take pleasure this day in presenting to you what I have been able to gather, of fact or fancy, aware that it will pass down to future generations as the foundation of all history of our family, for there is no precedent to our knowledge.
We must here express thanks to all who have so kindly supplied thoughts or incidents that we have been able to use in laying this foundation. In addition to the building material so received, we shall take the liberty of drawing on several sources, as follows: Family records, tradition, personal knowledge or observation, and imagination. Having thus fairly introduced ourselves and our subject, we proceed to claim, first:
Our family is of very ancient origin: in fact, we claim to be direct descendants of Adam and Eve. Of course, this may seem a little extravagant as there are quite a number of "missing links" in the record between Adam and the present generation, but there are persons--some of whom have great reputations in science and literature--who go still farther back, and claim parentage in the baboon family. We do not envy them and will not attempt to emulate them. We could not if we would, and the fact is, we would not if we could. First, because there would be still more "missing links," and second, because the Loutzenhisers are "not built that way." We therefore modestly but firmly stick to our first claim of parentage, and do so without fear of successful contradiction. While we think there can be no dispute about our parentage, yet there is a long blank, probably over three thousand years from the time of Adam, that we do not find a single reference to our family, even in the Bible. We think it is fair to presume that this apparent oversight on the part of the inspired writers is simply due to the fact that the name "Loutzenhiser" had not yet been originated.
This important event, the origin of the name, occurred some time after David became king of Israel, and came about by the marriage of a Moabite named Jacob, one of the sons or descendants of Lot, to the daughter of a man named High-Sir, which was probably more of a title than a name. It appears that this Jacob--we do not know how many degrees he may have been removed yet being a descendant of Lot--was called Lot's Son. He was no doubt quite a noted character; at least, if the account be true, he was a great traveler. He fell in love, as all sensible men do sooner or later, and, very fortunately for us, with a most charming young lady, the only child of a great chief or governor, who agreed to the marriage, provided his name should be given to any grandchildren that might result from the marriage. And so it was agreed to blend the names, and call them Lot's-Son-High-Sir, and this double name has no doubt in course of time been changed and blended into our commonplace and well known Loutzenhiser.
This theory of the origin of our name will appear quite reasonable if we read the following extracts.
This we read in the 1st Book of Chronicles, 18th chapter, 1st and 2nd verses: "Now after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines. And he smote Moab; and the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts."
And then in connection with this account, we have only to accept as correct the following extract, taken from the latest discovered manuscript: "Now it came to pass, when the Moabites became the servants of David, as it is written in the Book of Chronicles, behold Jacob, a son of Lot, who was himself a great man, being much displeased, determined within himself not to be thus in bondage. He therefore took his flight and journeyed northward to a far distant country, and there abode with the ruler of the people, a very good and hospitable man, who had an only child, a daughter, of beautiful form and fair to look upon. And it came to pass that Jacob (Lot's son) did greatly love the fair damsel and desired her for his wife. Therefore he straightaway sought the damsel's father and said unto him, High Sir, thou hast granted thy servant many privileges and great pleasures in this, thy country; now if thy servant hath found favor in thy sight, be pleased to hear my prayer and grant me this one request; give me thy daughter to be my wife, and I promise to be thy servant so long as it may please thee. Then answered the governor and said unto Jacob, Thou art Lot's son and I know thou art a good man; thou hast called me High Sir; thou hast said well; but thou knowest also that I have no son to bear this name after me; now hear my answer and the condition; thou shalt not be my servant, but henceforth thou shalt be my son; take my child to be thy wife, dwell in the land wheresoever it may please thee; only remember this, when children are born to thee thou shalt call them by my name as well as thine. And Jacob and the damsel were married, and the Lord prospered them greatly, and many sons and daughters were born unto them, who were named Lot's-Son-High-Sir. And Jacob and his descendants to the third generation, having increased to three thousand, four hundred, two score and fifteen souls, finding that there was no longer room for them to dwell in that land, therefore it came to pass that they journeyed still farther northward, and finding, a country with a cold climate, but fair and fertile, they took possession and dwell there unto this day."
Here this account comes to a close, and we have nothing positive until about three thousand more years have passed away. Then (A. D. 1764) we find our more direct ancestors settled in America. The record left does not even show what country they came from, but being written in the German language goes to show that they had been educated in a German country, and all tradition agrees that they came from the German Rheinish country. It has however been more definitely learned that Zweibrucken, a town in the kingdom of Bavaria, was the original home of the Loutzenhisers who first came and settled in America. But the reader of this history will be interested to know how we shall claim the family we find in 1764, to be descendants of the people we left so many hundreds of years ago, somewhere in northwestern Asia, and how the difference in the spelling of the name can be explained. Well, if we are at all interested, we have only to accept the foregoing account as correct and all other difficulties will soon be gotten rid of.
You who have read ancient history know that it is said that the Alans, Huns, Ostro-Goths and Visi-Goths, and perhaps other tribes, who are called "barbarians from the northwest of Asia," during the dark ages poured down over Europe, sometimes in separate tribes and sometimes in one united and overflowing tide. They devastated Europe and overthrew its ancient governments. Now while is hard for the Loutzenhisers of the present enlightened age to imagine that their ancestors were barbarians, yet it is certain that they did pass through some such condition at some time during the ages of the past. So it becomes easy for us to believe that the Lot's-Son-High-Sirs that we read about a while ago, or their descendants, constituted one of those tribes. Some of them remain in Europe, possibly for many generations, in the extreme north, perhaps first in the Scandinavian country. Finally one drifted south, and perhaps they were only in the Rheinish country a couple of generations, long enough to become thoroughly germanized in language.
Look at the average Loutzenhiser of the present time, fair complexion, blue eyes, flaxen or sandy hair. These blondes never originated in a southern country, and add to the blond the somewhat prominent cheek bone, large broad forehead, and generally deep set eyes, then you have not only a fair average picture of a handsome Loutzenhiser, but a fair picture of an average Swede or Norwegian. Then with regard to the spelling of the name, there is really very little difference, just the same number of letters as most of you use today, after passing through so many ages, languages or dialects. Even you who attend the first re-union, and acknowledge yourselves to be cousins and second cousins have three or four different ways of spelling the name, and we might easily spell it a dozen different ways without doing violence to the pronunciation. So doubt on that ground would go for nothing. We will, therefore, "stick to our text" and claim that we have, with a greater or less degree Of certainly, the right theory of our ancestry and descent, and origin of our name.
The only known authentic record of the arrival of our ancestors in this country was written by Peter Loutzenhiser (great-grand-father of your historian), and, for convenience, we will hereafter call him the Elder Peter, because he is the first of the name we have an account of (but by no means the last). Let us note here that all traditional accounts agree that there were three brothers named Loutzenhiser came to this country together, but this is probably not strictly true, as we shall learn further along, in this book. No account tells anything as to age, or whether married or single and these traditional accounts do not state whether the parents of these three men also came to this country or not, but all accounts do agree that all persons of the name of Loutzenhiser, in this country sprang from two of the brothers. Some accounts say that one of the brothers had only daughters in his family and others have it that one was killed by the Indians, and therefore did not assist in handing down the name we will undertake to suggest, that it is quite probable that both these accounts of the one brother may be true; that is, he may have been married, had a family of daughters and been killed by the Indians afterwards.
The record of our elder Peter incidentally shows us that his parents were also in this country and that his father's name was Henry. Now the question might arise in the minds of some, "was it not this old Henry, our great-great-grandfather, and two of his brothers who originally came across the ocean?" It would add one more generation and thereby help account for the great number of Loutzenhisers to be found in this country. But we think the numbers will be easily accounted for if you take only the elder Peter and one brother to start with, when you consider how prolific some of the Loutzenhisers used to be, and some are yet. The elder Peter had five sons, his brother probably had as many more. Now, that would be ten of that generation, no later than 1790. Multiply by any reasonable number every thirty years, say five times ten equals fifty, as the number in 1820. Two hundred and fifty in 1850, and then if we only estimate four sons to each of these, for the next generation we have an even thousand more about the year 1880, and at that time likely a good part of the former generation still alive. Another thousand may have been born during the past thirteen years, which takes in 1893. Figuring on this plan gives us 2314 as the number of male members of the Loutzenhiser family in this country up to this time, and we think it would be perfectly fair to estimate five hundred to six hundred different families, or heads of families, of the name, at present scattered throughout the United States, after making due allowance for all who have died, and the children of the present generation. It would be difficult to imagine the extent or numbers of the relationship now existing, if we were to figure from the females in each generation and their offspring, both sons and daughters. But we will, for the sake of brevity, allude to these as side branches.
Now let us go back to 1764, which at the time the elder Peter says he arrived in this country. As before mentioned, he does not say that his father was in this country, but, incidentally, we learn that he was, and just the same way he speaks of one Jacob Loutenhiser, whom we think it reasonable to believe, was an older brother, for the reason that he also mentions one "Peter Loutzenhiser, son of Jacob Loutzenhiser," but we will speak about this matter further on. Now we believe that it was this Jacob, and the elder Peter who were the progenitors of all the Loutzenhisers in this country. What the christian name was of the unfortunate brother who had only daughters, and was killed by the Indians, if this be true, we are unable to say. We have already learned that the father of these men was also in this country, therefor we have found the one man who was the father of all the Loutzenhisers in America. His name was Henry, or Heinrich, and he was the great-grandfather to Henry, the chairman of our reunion. Just when and where he was born, or when he died, we are not informed. It is quite probable, however, that he came to America when the elder Peter did, and that he died somewhere in the state of Pennsylvania. Our knowledge of his son Jacob, is also very limited; we believe he was the eldest son. Of the time of his birth and death, we are equally ignorant. It is safe to believe that he was born in the same country as his brother, the elder Peter; that he came to America at the same time, or soon after, as we now think, and as we shall hereafter remark. But being the elder brother, his descendants have reached at least one or two more degrees, or generations, than the elder Peter's branch. We believe that Jacob died in Pennslyvania and from information given our historian, by our old grand-uncle, the late Conrad Loutzenhiser, we now that the sons of this Jacob moved from Westmoreland county to Mercer county, Pennsylvania, at a very early day, before the present century began. By later information, received through the kindness of H. A. Loutzenhiser, Esq., of Greenville, Pa. We have learned that the men who first moved to Mercer county, were three brothers named, John, Jacob and Peter. He says that John and Jacob married and raised large families and that Peter never was married. We have not the least doubt but this is the Peter, "son of Jacob" already mentioned, and who was sponsor (God-father) to one of the sons of the elder Peter, as we shall see hereafter.
The Loutzenhisers are very numerous in Mercer county, PA., and there are many very wealthy and influential people among them. At quite an early date, in the present century, one David Loutzenhiser moved from Mercer county, Pa., to Medina county, Ohio, where an aged daughter, a Mrs. Weary, and the many other descendants still reside, and others have gone to live in different parts of the country. We knew of these Medina county cousins many years ago but had no personal acquaintance with any of them until October, 1890. Your historian had the pleasure of meeting two brothers, Jonas and Charles Loutzenhiser, at their home near Ada, Hardin county, Ohio, where they have lived a number of years. Jonas is a pioneer in that county and was married there and has children and grand-children. Charles, the younger, was married in Wayne county; his family is mostly grown up. These men are grand-sons of David, above mentioned, who settled in Medina county. They informed us that one of their uncles had moved somewhere in the western part of Illinois many years ago, with a large family, and one had settled in northwestern Michigan before the war, where he and one of his sons went into the Army. These cousins are of the Medina county, or Mercer county, Pa. stock, and are as true Loutzenhisers in their principal characteristics, as though they were first cousins to some of us. Their father, grand-father and great-grand-father, it is said, were all named David, and we fully believe if we could go back one, or possibly two generations further, we would reach Jacob, the son of Henry, or Heinrich and brother of the elder Peter; but as it is, we are not able to discover the exact connecting link between the Medina county relatives of the Stark county Loutzenhisers. Quite a difference in the number of generations descending from the two brothers may occur in one hundred years, by one being married early in life and the other late in life, and repeated in the same way, perhaps, in the same line, might easily have caused a difference of a couple of generations in the two branches of Loutzenhisers, so that even among persons of similar age in the different branches, there may be a difference of one or two degrees or generations in their descent from the same original stock.
Now, as the Stark county Loutzenhisers, as well as many others, are direct descendants of the elder Peter, we will now proceed to read a copy of a record he left, originally written in the Germany language, in his Bible, afterward owned by his youngest son--our late grand-uncle, Conrad Loutzenhiser. The book, after his death, having fallen into the hands of our late second cousin, Henry Barnes, had the record translated, and furnished a copy to your historian's father, some years ago. We have frequently studied it, and have guarded it with jealous care ever since. We will now quote from the record of the elder Peter, and intersperse such comments as may seem to be appropriate and interesting, from our point of view.
His record starts out by saying: "I arrived in this country December 2nd, 1764." When and where was he born? He does not tell us; yet these are important items that should appear in any well kept record. With a few more strokes of his pen he might have enlightened us on these and many other interesting points, for we are credibly informed that he was a well educated man, a teacher, and a fine penman. Think of this and take warning, you who read this history, and live in this enlightened age, lest after a short time your descendants may be longing to know something about you, and will not be able to learn it. People are usually far too negligent in this respect. They know all about themselves and perhaps imagine every other person does and are therefore careless. Think of the example we have before us. This man was probably born a little less than one hundred and fifty years ago; he is gone, his numerous family of children are all gone; his grand-children have nearly all been taken away and gone to their reward, and in the cemetaries of this, his chosen country, there may be seen shafts and pillars of marble which mark the last resting places of very many of his great-grand-children, who, at mature years were "gathered to their fathers," and the rest of us are in full bloom. Other generations are crowding us, and very soon "the place that now knows us will know us no more." While here, let us live in such a way that coming generations may not lack in knowledge concerning us, and may feel it an honor to bear our names. If it were not for the record under consideration, even the name of the elder Peter might be forgotten.
Referring to the record--the next we find, he tells us: "1770, May 6th, made my engagement to marry Anna Barbara Schneider" and then he adds, "1770, May 14th, we were married. My wife was born February 26th, 1749." We have been told that this old great-grand-mother was closely related to a governor of Pennsylvania, of the same name. We have also been told that the elder Peter came to America at about 16 years of age, and from the above item of information we can pretty safely argue that to be correct. Supposing him to have been about a year older than his wife, he would have been born in the year 1748 and been about 16 when he came to America and 22 when he was married. Next he says, "1771, November 1st, a son was born and was baptized Nov. 10th, by the name of John Jacob; his sponsers were Jacob Loutzenhiser and his wife." This Jacob, who was sponsor, is the man whom we have heretofore spoken of as brother to our elder Peter, and the direct ancestor of the Mercer county, Pa. stock, and the Medina county, Ohio cousins, and the cousins in Hardin county, Ohio, with whom we are already acquainted, as well as very many others that we do not know.
John Jacob, the child baptized, grew up to manhood, married Elizabeth Weber, daughter of a German Reformed minister, in Westmoreland county, Pa. John Jacob moved his family from Westmoreland county, Pa. to Stark county, Ohio, in the spring of 1806, settled on the land he had chosen the previous year, which is about one-half mile north of the present fair grounds. Here he built his cabin and lived among the native "red men," always on friendly terms with them. He was one of the first Justices of the Peace commissioned for Stark county, his jurisdiction extending all over the northeastern portion. He died in 1810 at the age of about 37 years, and his widow died in 1843. Their children were John, Barbara, Peter, William, Polly, Sarah and Jacob. Of this family we will give a short sketch as follows:
John, who married Elizabeth Shollenberger, died many years ago and his family, consisting of his widow and sons, John, William, Henry and Peter, and two daughters, (all past middle life now, if yet alive) moved to northeastern Indiana.
Barbara was married to Jonathan Pontius, and therefore became mother to our cousins by that name, together with their descendants.
Peter was born April 13th, 1800; came to Stark county with his parents in the spring of 1806; grew up with the country," a genuine pioneer of Stark county and a backwoodsman, yet a man of more than ordinary attainments for the opportunities afforded him. He kept himself well posted on the general topics of his day, especially in political affairs and the laws of Ohio. He was a lifelong Democrat but never allowed political prejudice to interfere with his better judgment. He faithfully served in many places of trust, to which he was chosen by the people of Plain township, Stark county, Ohio, having served nearly twenty years as Justice of the Peace, was twice elected Associate Judge for Stark county, by the legislature of Ohio, and was President of the Pioneer Association at the time of his death which occurred June 8th, 1882. This Pioneer Peter had six sons; William, of Grass Valley, California, who has two sons and two daughters; Jacob D., of New Philadelphia, Ohio, has one daughter; Joseph, who died the 8th of August, 1893, left four sons and one daughter and a number of grand-children; George, of Williams county, Ohio, has three daughters and a number of grandchildren; John, of Plain township and who is our host this day, has one daughter, now Mrs. Harry Seaton of Canton, Ohio, and Peter V. of Canton, Ohio, who has three sons and three daughters. Of the three daughters of the Pioneer Peter--Hannah, Amanda and Rebecca--there has sprung the Mountains, the Pontiuses, the Stettlers, Beards and Gotkriechts, and other younger side branches are being cultivated.
The second daughter of John Jacob, Polly, was married to George Fogle, and was mother to our relatives of that name, together with the Slaybaughs, the Wolfs, the Schroyers and the Motters, and their numerous descendants.
William, who married Elizabeth Young, our well-known “Aunt Betsy,” who now resides at the corner of High and South streets, Canton, Ohio. Their son, William G., of East Second street, Canton, Ohio, has several sons and daughters. John resides in Canton, and is unmarried. William's daughters are two in number, Mary and Emma, who are respectively cultivating the side branches named Seager and Shanafelt.
Sarah, the youngest daughter of John Jacob, was married to John Weaver and left one daughter, Margaret, who is now the mother of the Eves, of Williams county, Ohio. Sarah Weaver was the first female born in Stark county.
Jacob, afterward known among us as “Big Jake," was born a short distance north of the present site of the City of Canton, sometime after the death of his father, John Jacob. He married Eliza Reed, they raised a large family and died in Iowa, where he had moved in 1860. Their sons are Thomas B., of North Walnut street, Canton, and William, Ruben and George of Iowa. The side branches are the Littles, the Gottholds, Forsythes, Roberts, Harpers and the Mercers and their descendants.
Now we go back to the elder Peter's record and read. “1773, June 5th, we arrived, by Braddock's road, on our place. 1773, September 8th, a daughter was born, and was baptized on October 3rd, by the name of Anna Maria. Her sponsors were her grand-parents Henry Loutzenhiser and Maria Catharine. So here we have the clue that shows us that while the elder Peter had come from the old country, father had also come, as tradition speaks of three brothers who had come from the old country, we think that it is safe to believe that Henry Loutzenhiser came from the old country, and his family, consisting of at least three sons also came, and that these are the three brothers spoken of, and that the Loutzenhisers all sprung from two of these brothers as before mentioned. Again we read, "1775, August 18, a daughter was born and baptized October lst, by the name of Anna Barbara, her sponsors were Christopher Waldhauer and his wife, Anna Barbara. 1777, February 5th, a son was born and was baptized by the name of John Peter. His sponsor was Peter Loutzenheiser, son of Jacob Loutzenhiser. This Peter, son of Jacob, must have been our elder Peter’s nephew, and probably, (judging from late information) he was one of three brothers who first settled in Mercer county, Pennsylvania.
John Peter grew to manhood, was married, and at an early day came to Ohio. He settled in Nimishillen, township, Stark county, Ohio, where he died many years ago. We are not informed as to the number of his family, but know that his son Jacob (generally known among us as “Blacksmith Jake") moved with his family to Indiana many years ago, where he died. His sons Joseph, Eli, Dennis and Darius, (all past middle life) and their descendants reside. Then there was John Peter's son David who died six or eight years ago, in Nimishillen township. His family still resides there. We believe there were other sons, but are not well informed on that point. The number and names of the daughters we do not know positively, but from one of these descend the Holbens, the Hexamers, the Trempers and others.
Now, returning to the record, we read: "1779, April 18th, a son was born, and was baptized October 7th, by the name of Henry. His sponsors were Michael Deer and his wife Catharine. Henry grew up with the usual Loutzenhiser characteristic of push, and love of pioneer life. In 1807 at the age of about 28, he came from Pennsylvania and settled in Nimishillen township. The present site of the thriving town of Louisville was for many years his home, where he was somewhat of a noted character, being closely connected with and interested in all the early movements for the good of the community in which he lived, and was very highly respected by all who knew him. He died well nigh fifty years ago. He was married three times and was the father of fourteen sons and eleven daughters, most of whom survived to years of maturity. Henry's sons, John and Daniel, were married, and many years ago moved to western Ohio with their families. Some of the descendants are known still to reside there, the old soldier and railroader, John L., of Wooster, being some of them, whilst others have died, and some have moved to other parts. His son Adam was born a pioneer having first seen the light, where Louisville now stands, in 1808. It is believed he was the first white male child born in Nimishillen township, where he lived all his life and died about two years ago at more than four score. His only child, a daughter, followed soon after. Jacob, who was, years ago, generally known as "Brickmaker Jake," moved to Indiana a number of years ago, with his wife and three sons and one daughter, where he still lives at the advanced age of over four score years. Samuel and Benjamin were twins and were in the war with Mexico. Samuel was killed in the city of Mexico. Benjamin returned safely and afterward went south and was never heard from afterwards. Then here is the honored President of our re-union this year, Henry, the namesake of his father, whose residence is Minerva, Stark county, Ohio; highly respected by all who know him and father of six sons and one daughter, and is aged nearly 72 years. Louis, who resides east of Louisville, (his birthplace which was also named after him). He is the father of Albert, Peter, Uriah, Louis, Levi, George and Sherman. Nearly all are married and have families and are as fine a sample of young men as could be picked out of a thousand. All of them are faithfully and industriously engaged in the honorable calling of tilling the soil. We believe it is true that the majority of the Loutzenhisers have proven their good sense and good taste by generally following some branch of agriculture, and by steering clear of cities. It is to be hoped they will continue to do so, as health and happiness greatly depends upon such a course in life. Then there were Simon, Reuben, Conrad, Silas and Alfred, and, last, but by no means the least, of Henry's sons, is Titus. The writer has had very little acquaintance with any of these, but those of them who are known are well able to speak for themselves, and sustain their family reputation well. Their sisters were Mary, Lydia, Margaret, Ann Eliza, Delilah, Esther, Catharine, Caroline, Matilda, Sabilla and Elizabeth. Very many side branches have been the result from both males and females of Henry's offspring.
Next the record says: "1781, March 9th, a daughter was born named Magdalena. Her sponsors were her parents. 1783, February 21st, a son was born and was baptized June 8th, by the name of Anthony. His sponsors were his grandparents, Anthony and Anna Maria Schneider." Anthony followed the example of his older brothers, came to Ohio and settled in Nimishillen township, sometime in the early years of the present century. His wife's name was Bucher. They had two sons, Solomon and Hiram--both have died well up in years. Hiram died some years ago in the west and left several children. Solomon died a few years ago on the old homestead, about a mile west of Louisville, near the P. Ft. W. & C. Ry., and left but one child, a son, John, who continues to reside, with his family, at the old home. While the direct branch of Anthony has narrowed down to his cousin John, who has one young son, yet there are a great, and at present, unknown, number of side branches sprung from a large family of daughters: viz the Leshes, Longeckers, Shannons, O'Boilses, the Kliperts and others, with their descendants. After Anthony's birth and baptism the record says: "1785, April 1st, a daughter was born named Elizabeth, her sponsors were Lewis Frobst and wife Elizabeth." The writer had many a chat about the olden times with this last named daughter, of whom we used to speak as "old Aunt Lizzie." She lived with her brother Anthony, and later with Solomon. She was never married, and a jollier old maid was never known, full of jokes, well informed and a good talker. She died a number of years ago. "1787 July 27, a daughter was born named Maria Catharine. Her sponsors were her grand parents Henry Loutzenhiser and Maria Catharine." So we find that about 106 years ago our grandfather's grandparents were still both alive, but as this is the last time we find them mentioned we do not know how much longer they may have lived. Then the record continues: "1787, October 9th, our daughter Catharine died." "1791, March 3rd, a son was born and was baptized April 17th, by the name of Conrad; his sponsors werre Conrad Buechle and his wife Margaretha." This Conrad was married but never had any offspring; lived west of Louisville many years a near neighbor to his brother Anthony, but outlived him many years, and died in Louisville a number of years ago. Your historian has often heard stories of "old times" experience from "Old Uncle Conrad," as well as "Aunt Lizzie." He was also well informed and of sound mind and memory, to a good old age, and we might have had much valuable information from him, if we had only been more interested and less thoughtless in those days.
Next our translator has made the record say: "1792, April 17th, we arrived at our place at the Iack," pronounced yach, in the German language, and was probably the popular short name for the Youghiogeny river, in Penna., near which they lived for some years. The record finishes up as follows: "1708, April 1st, we arrived on our place at Beaver, Pa.1805, March 5th, Peter Loutzenhiser died and was buried, the father of ten children."
So ends the record of our elder Peter. Our comments may have been tedious, but we hope they may have been at the same time at least instructive to some. We should mention further, that from our elder Peter's daughters born 112, 118 and 120 years ago respectively, have sprung the Douthets, the Harnets, the Baruses, the Andrews, McMinns, VeAuns, Gilkys, Boyds, Noels, Burgers, Ebys and many others, together with multitudes of their descendants, many of whom, perhaps, have never heard or thought that they had an ancestor named Loutzenhiser. Having been appointed to this work, our object in this sketch has been more especially to deal with the male portion of the family, as they have handed down the name in the past and will of necessity continue to do so in the future--females and their descendants have been spoken of as side-branches. Taken all together, this "family tree" is one of the grandest in existence. You frequently find persons of the same name who do not claim or know of any relationship existing between them, but the Loutzenhisers are all related, somewhat distant, perhaps, but we are all sprung from one source. Just how great the root may have been, we cannot tell, but Dec. 2nd, 1764, the Loutzenhisers, in America, were the mustard seed we read about in Matt, 13-32: "Which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs and becometh a tree." Our "family tree" has outgrown all ordinary trees, and as it has taken root in many states of this nation, it reminds us more of the wonderful Banyan tree that is native of India, which grows up a great trunk and sends out its branches far away from the original trunk; then they reach down to mother earth, take root, gain more strength and themselves develop into strong trunks and again its branches reach out and find lodgment in the soil, and so on, again and again. A better representation of our family cannot be found. So I think the Banyan tree, with the name Loutzenhiser underlying the main trunk, should be adopted as our family emblem.
Through the courtesy of our President, we are permitted to copy from a letter to him by Rev. G. Z. Cochel, of Smithville, Ohio. It may throw a little additional light on the matter we have in hand. We give it in his own language, as follows:
SMITHVILLE, OHIO, NOV. 23rd, 1892.
HENRY LOUTZENHISER,
Dear Sir--I read your note when I arrived home and took the trouble to look carefully through my list of names, and find that two persons of your family name arrived Dec. 4th 1764, on ship "Snow-try-all," John Clapp, Master, from Roterdam-- last from Plymouth, with 48 passengers. The names are written together, the first was written by a clerk, the last by himself. The spelling is not exactly alike, the last name is probably the original spelling.
HEINRICH LAUTZENHEISSER.
PETER LAUTZENHAUSSER.
They were most likely brothers, or they may have been father and son, or at most they might have been cousins. I found no others of that name, so that they are, no doubt, your ancestors,
Yours truly,
G. Z. COCHEL.
It appears that Mr. Cochel has records of persons who arrived in this country before the Revolutionary war--among these he found the names about mentioned. These were, without doubt, our elder Peter and his father, Henry. The time of arrival is given as Dec. 4th, with is two days later than the elder Peter's record puts it, but Mr. Cochel's record is likely correct, if no mistakes were made in copying, as Peter was then only about 16 years old and he may not have made a note of it until he had forgotten the exact day--it seems strange, at first thought, that Mr. Cochel did not find others of the same name, where he speaks of the baptism of his children, and refers to their sponsors. As we have argued heretofore, we believe there is no reason to doubt that Henry and Maria Catharine were the elder Peter's parents, and the Jacob he mentions was his brother, and Peter, the son of Jacob was his nephew. Where Jacob was married and brought his son Peter across the water as a child may be true, but it would be useless to argue as we have already supposed that Jacob was the older brother, and to shorten a long argument, we will simply suggest that Heinrich and his younger son--our elder Peter--came to this country to find a home, just as we have already learned, December 4th, 1764. The elder son, Jacob, remained in the old country and some time later came across, following his father and brother to the new country, and brought his mother and such other members of his father's family as there may have been, and his own, if he was married. While this, or some similar manner of dividing up families, is customary, even in those days, there may have been some underlying cause for our old forefathers hasty departure from the fatherland, and it has been confidently asserted that there was such a cause, and that he did very hastily leave his native land. Of course there may have been a large connection of rich uncles and cousins among the Lautzenhaussers of Bavaria, we don't know anything about them, but our ancestor was evidently a poor man who had to work for his living, and if he did have rich or influential relatives, they were of no earthly use to him when he got into trouble. Once upon a time, as the story goes, our aged ancestor was at work in the field, he was binding barley, and just as he had passed the band around, and was about to draw it together to fasten, suddenly a poor frightened rabbit came bounding along. Instinct taught the poor creature to anvil itself of the first opportunity to hide away from its pursuers, so into the gathered sheaf of grain the rabbit leaped. It took the old man by surprise, to say the least, and excited to nervousness, he drew up the band--the Loutzenhisers have been subject to nervous troubles ever since. It was an unfortunate retreat for the poor rabbit, the strong arm, doubly strengthened by sudden excitement, drew up the band so tight that it killed the rabbit. The lordly hunter who was following, had a right to tramp over and ride down the poor man's grain, but the poor man had no right to the game that might chance to be on his land, much less to kill it. So here was a dilemma sure enough for the aged Loutzenhiser, for as he was just bending over the dead rabbit, its aristocratic pursuer, and perhaps the game keeper, were right at hand. Then there was a storm; there was poor Heinrich, we think it was he, almost the same as a self-confessed and convicted criminal. All the circumstances were against him; he may, for awhile, wished himself in the rabbit's place. What the penalty was for such an offense, we have not the means of knowing or whether he even waited for punishment, or to apologize for what he had done, we cannot say. This one thing seems evident, that he took the earliest possible opportunity to depart for America, where rabbits were plenty and where even poor men might in those days occasionally enjoy a rabbit stew, if they were able to catch one.
I assure you that there could be very many interesting experiences related about rabbit hunting, by the descendants of Heinerich Loutzenhiser, and there are many interesting lessons to be drawn from his adventure with the rabbits, and what all resulted from it. How well it goes to prove, that "man's extremity is God's opportunity." There was the poor but honest laborer, God was going to lead him out into a broader place and thereby bless his posterity, but naturally if he remained there, his offspring could not well rise higher than to be ordinary drudges and peasants. "A stream does not rise above its fountain head," you know--so there was the man's extremity--doomed to a life of toil and the one little circumstance, trifling as it might appear in itself, was God's opportunity to change the whole course of our existence. So, today out of the vast multitude of Heinrich Loutzenhiser's descendants, a great majority "sit under their own vine and fig tree." So Heinrich's lost was our gain, and on the other hand, what was lost to the kingdom of Bavaria was great gain to America, (now to the U.S.) Just think of it, if it had not been for the killing of that one little rabbit we might still be over there drudging around in the barley field, or a large number of us might fill up the ranks of Keiser Wilhelm's army, if existing at all, instead of enjoying life and liberty in this beautiful and highly favored country. But we should always remember that God deals with families and with individuals as he does with nations. They have their "rise and fall." Let us who have been so greatly prospered and blessed as we have already seen, always endeavor faithfully to serve and thankfully remember the author of our existence who has so mercifully dealt with us in the past, that he do not withhold his tender and watchful care in the future. A while ago we suggested that the Banyan tree should be adopted as our family emblem, but now we think that our "seal" would be incomplete with the tree alone. There should be a representation of two countries, divided by a body of water--on the one side should be a man about to bind a sheaf of barley, and a rabbit approaching, and on the other side of the water might be the Banyan tree, as before spoken of.
Speaking of the Loutzenhisers in general, we may say they have always been noted and well known as peaceable and law-abiding citizens, but while they are peaceable, they have also always been ready to respond to their country's call in time of war. Of our chairman's full brothers, two served in the Mexican war, as already stated, and we think to younger brothers served in the war of '62 and '65, and at least one of the lost his life as a consequence. "Blacksmith" Jacob's youngest son also went the same way. Cousin John, (son of "Big Jacob") also died in the army, and many others of the name, heard of but not known to the writer, were in the army. Besides all these, it may be recorded that your humble servant, the historian, served in Company C, Forty-third Regiment, O.V.I., wore Uncle Sam's leather collar and blue clothes and helped to eat his "pork and beans" and "hard tack," and otherwise assisted in putting down the rebellion. Then the side branches furnished many brave soldiers to fight the battles of freedom on the Union side. Notable among these were the Fogles, who furnished a whole family of soldiers. Politically, the Loutzenhisers are divided up among all existing parties. Firm in their own views, yet always conservative, and willing to listen to the opinions of others. They seldom aspire to official honors. Where they have done so, they have been cases where the office has sought the man, and their duties, whatever they may have been, were always faithfully performed without fear or favor.
Religiously, it may be said the Loutzenhisers were always very liberal. Some might be called "free thinkers" in their views, while others are divided among Catholic and Protestant churches of various names. They are always moderate, large-hearted and charitable toward those who differ with them, while few of them attempt to be leaders in thought--yet they are usually able to give a reason for the faith that is in them. Conscientious to a nicety, any matter of honor entrusted to them may be confidently relied upon; in other words, "their word is as good as a note." In bringing this account of the Loutzenhisers to a close, it will be in order further to remark that in the past and present they have been, as a rule, quiet, industrious and thrifty, not much inclined to "shine in public", but fair conversationalists, blessed with an abundance of ready wit, and are content with quiet home life. Very few, so far as known, have been "college bred", but all are known to have a good stock of information, together with good common sense and good judgment. In short, it may be said that they are "peculiar" people. But while peculiar characteristics have existed in the family (and do still exist.) the Loutzenhisers have always been most honored and respected by persons who have known them most intimately and understood their motives best. May it ever be so.
The Tale is told--it did unfold An interesting story; What profit we, if it shall be But temporary glory. We've honored dead, the men who fled When tyrants would oppress them, The brave and true who "wore the blue", And marched where duty called them. Thus ends this song, the name is long, But worthy all the praise That we can give, while we shall live, Through singing all our days. Fair maidens sing again, And unborn youths maintain To honor and to fame The Loutzenheiser name.
posted by RandyFife at 7:09 PM
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Saturday, January 28, 2006
4 Traverse Gardner Connor
This is a picture of Traverse Gardner Connor. He is Byron Connor's father and my great grandfather. He was born November 26, 1844 in Rome, Indiana. As an adult, he made his home in Canton, Ohio. On the 1920 US Census for Canton, Ohio, his occupation listed was "dog catcher". In his wife's obituary, his occupation was listed as "letter carrier" and his address in Canton was 1206 5th St. NE. He and his wife had 10 children, 8 boys and 2 girls. I don't have any additional details on his life at this time.
posted by RandyFife at 9:18 PM
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About Me
- Name: RandyFife
- Location: Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Interesting Guy, father of four, brother of three, son of two and husband of one.
