The Children of the Immigrants - First, Mary

The birth and baptismal record of Fred Elling's oldest sister is posted above. Roughly translated, it reads:

Title (top left) - Name and Place - Elling, Tietlingen

Title (center) - Born 1843 - #7 Marie Dorothee Engel Elling, born 23 February in the morning,

baptized 6 March. Father: the landlord, Johann Friedrich Elling Mother: Anne Marie Fuhrhop

Godparents: Anna Dorothee Fuhrhop, Catherine Marie --? , and Engel --?

Of course, we've already heard the story of the child of Johann Friedrich and Anne Marie Engel Elling who was my gg grandfather and our direct ancestor, Fritz (Fred) Elling. But what of his brothers and sisters? Fritz had the farm, but what happened to his sisters?

The immigration records stated that she was 14 years old when the family immigrated in 1859. That record did not match her birth record which would make her 16 at the time. In the 1860 census, she was listed as 18 years old, living at home and working as a domestic.

Mary met and married Henry Pringnitz, the son of Elizabeth Pringnitz, a widow with seven children who also came to America in 1859. Both families were members of the New Hanover Church in Henry County in the early years. In 1860, Henry went to Kelley's Island to ply his trade as a blacksmith with a fellow smith, Mr. Becker. Four years later, Henry purchased 13 acres of land adjacent to Mr. Becker for $3000.

I haven't yet found the marriage records, but a history stated the couple married in 1865 and in 1866 built their home. That home is currently on the Ohio Historic Inventory and is still occupied. Kelley's island lore says that the house is haunted and that good things will happen to those who see that ghost. Apparently, the ghost only appears in the front bedroom and is none other than a child of Henry and Mary..."Herbie" Pringnitz.

By the 1870 census for Kelley's Island, Erie County, Ohio, the Pringnitz family was listed with Henry, aged 32, engaged in farming with real estate valued at $5000 and personal property at $300. His wife M.E. was 27 and keeping house with children, Emma, aged 4, and Elizabeth, aged 1. Henry's mother, Elizabeth, lived with them, too, at age 70.

In the 1880 Kelley's Island census, Henry, aged 43, and D. Mary, aged 37, have five children: N. Emma, 13; Elizabeth, 10; Sarah, 6; Albert, 3; and Harry 5/12. Three children attended school and Henry was still farming.

Now we have to skip ahead 20 years to the 1900 census - a census with much more information. Still on Kelley's Island, Henry was  listed as 63, with a birthdate of Jan. 1837, and Mary D. as 57, with a birthdate of Feb. 1843. That matched her German birth record! They have been married for 34 years and strangely, it stated that she had five children with four living. I have a photo with her six children in it as adults (see above), so I'm not sure about that statistic. Living with the couple in 1900 were their three sons - Albert H., born July 1876, aged 23; Harry F., born Dec. 1879, aged 20; and Herbert H., born Sept. 1883, aged 16. Henry was still farming with the two older sons helping him, while the youngest was at school. The document stated that Marycould not read or write, but could speak English. They owned their farm, which was mortgaged.

By 1910, father Henry had died and Albert was listed as the Head of the Household at age 33. He and his youngest brother Herbert, at age 26, were single and living with their mother Mary who was now widowed at age 67. Albert was a locomotive engineer for the quarry on Kelley's Island and brother Herbie was farming. It stated that Mary was living on her own income. On this census, it noted that Mary COULD read and write. The farm was owned free and clear!

Mary Elling Pringnitz died on 15 Feb 1916. By the 1920 census, Albert at age 43 was married to wife Mary, 46 and living in Portland Twp, Erie County (near Sandusky). He was a machinist for a tractor works.

From the Sandusky Star Journal, February 16, 1916:

"MRS. PRINGNITZ DEAD AT KELLEY'S ISLAND

Special to the Star-Journal,

KELLEY'S ISLAND, O., Feb. 16 - 

Mrs. Mary Pringnitz, aged and well known island resident and widow of the late Henry Pringnitz, died at her home at 5:30 Tuesday evening.  She had been ill for more than a month.  Funeral arrangments have not yet been completed.

Mrs. Pringnitz was aged 73 years and is survived by three sons, Albert of Sandusky, Harry of Toledo, and Herbert who lives here; three daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Ohlemacher of Sandusky, Mrs Sarah Trieschmann and Mrs Emma Titus, living here; seven grandchildren, two sisters, Mrs. Dorothy Miller of Napoleon and Mrs. Anna Hafette of Michigan, and one brother, Fred Allen* of Napoleon, O."

*(It should read Fred Elling, not Allen.  In one census, Elling was written as Alling, so it must be how it was pronounced by some.  Also, Anna's last name was Hastedt, not Hafette.)

 

As for the other children...Emma Naomi married William Titus, grandson of an early quarry owner, who worked as a lime kiln operator for the North Quarry and later as a teamster for the Dock company. They eventually lived in the Pringnitz homestead with the youngest brother, Herbie.

Elizabeth Dorothy died in 1964 in Mansfield, Richland County, OH.

A son, John, was born 21 Jan 1871 and died the same day.

Sarah Matilda was married to Henry Trieschman Jr. and lived her whole life on Kelley's Island. Her husband ran a meat market on the island.

Harry Fred lived in Toledo and worked for the Toledo Scale Company.

And the youngest, Herbert Huldrich, "Herbie", Pringnitz...well, he deserves his own page!

They were buried in the cemetery on Kelley's Island. 

More on Our Immigrant Ancestor ...

 

Poor Johann Friedrich Elling really didn't get to enjoy the joys of America too long. I mentioned earlier that he was in the 1860 census and at that time he was a day laborer, owned no real estate and had personal goods worth $100.

By the 1870 census, several of the daughters had left the home to marry or work as domestics, leaving just our ancestor - son Fritz, aged 17 - and his little sister, Annie, aged 10, at home with their father, now aged 55, and mother, aged 57. Now Johann Friedrich had real estate valued at $3000 and the worth of his personal goods had climbed to $400. (This census was very difficult to find as the census taker wrote the last name as "Alling.")

Unfortunately, J. Friedrich would only live approximately one more year. I could find no will and I have not yet searched land records to determine ownership and land location. I need to find if the same farm of the 1870 census was passed down to son Fritz...the one we saw in the plat map in an earlier post. My guess is that it is the same. Fritz would have been only 18 or so when he had to take over the farming and serve as head of the household.

Johann Friedrich Elling died on July 17, 1871, of consumption (tuberculosis.) The probate death records list his death in 1871; however a close look at the tombstone shows 1870. In this case, a probate records trumps the tombstone inscription. His tombstone still stands in the cemetery at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Napoleon Township at the corner of Roads 17 and Q1. It is located in Lot D2, the sixth row back from Road 17 and near the creek. It is very difficult to read, but the name is fairly clear, along with the age at death. The verse at the bottom of the stone, which is probably a Bible verse, was impossible for me to decipher.

Wife Mary is buried in the 1st row, but there is no marker for her...maybe that is something the family can correct sometime. It appears that in the early days, folks were buried in the order in which they died so that family groups are not together. Fortunately, the church has kept good cemetery plot records.

I hope you all can take a few moments sometime to visit this grave site to think about the trials of our ancestor and the risks he took in bringing his family to America.

Mary Rohrs Elling

Mary Rohrs Elling and her immigration record

My great-grandmother, Mary (Marie, Maria) Rohrs Elling, the daughter of Wilhelm Rohrs and Catherine Kirchoff, was born on December 9, 1862, in Germany. I do not know the village of her birth at this point. According to her daughter, Minnie, her mother talked about life in Germany and her departure from Bremen to America alone when she was thirteen. Mary spoke of dancing on the boat as the steamer crossed the ocean. Mary was an only child, according to Minnie, and her first job in America was as a housekeeper for the Demaline family.

Finding Mary's immigration record was complicated by the fact that Mary, or whoever talked to the census enumerator, reported several different dates on the census records. In the 1900 census, Mary's immigration date was given as 1868 which didn't fit Minnie's story of her mother coming to America at age 13. In 1868, Mary would have been 6 years old. In 1920, the immigration question was asked again and Mary or someone in the family reported 1875 as the immigration date. That seemed much more likely!

I found the only immigration record for a Mary Rohrs that fits all the criteria and that was in September of 1876. She was 13 (her birthday was in Dec.) and she departed from the port of Bremen, Germany, on the ship, the Rhein, arriving in New York City on September 23, 1876, having traveled in steerage to the U.S. Steerage was the cheapest passenger accommodations, usually at the bottom of the ship and near the rudder. She probably traveled with someone or a family, but it is really not possible to tell who from the ship's list. Her name on the ship's list above is #4, indicated by the arrow.

I could find no Demaline family in Henry County by the 1880 census, but I did find a seventeen year old Mary Rohrs working as a servant for the Charles and Mary Cochran family who lived on Superior Street in Toledo. Dr. Cochran was a retired physician. It is likely that she worked as a domestic until her marriage.

Mary was 21 years old when she married the 31 year old Fritz Elling. They lived many years in Freedom Township, Henry County, and were members of the St. Paul Lutheran Church, Napoleon Township, during this time. Later they moved to a farm near Deshler and Westhope and finally to a farm about four miles north of Liberty Center and then east for a short distance into Fulton County. After Fritz's death, Mary sold the farm and lived around with her children.

Mary Rohrs Elling died on March 8, 1947, the immediate cause of death being pulmonary edema due to mitral stenosis. She was apparently living at the home of Henry Elling at the time of her death as that is the place of death and he reported for the death certificate.

Her obituary appeared in a March 1947 edition of the Northwest Signal:

" MRS. MARY ELLING DIES

Mrs. Mary Elling, age 84, passed away at Holgate at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 8th, following a heart ailment. Her body was removed to the A. F. Wesche and Son Funeral Home.

She leaves five sons, four daughters, 50 grandchildren and 47 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services, conducted by Rev. John Melchert, were held on Tuesday, March 11th, 1:30 p.m., at the Henry Elling residence in Holgate and 2:00 p.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Holgate. Interment was made in St. Luke's cemetery in Clinton township."

This post originally appeared on a previous blog, Elling Family News, on March 8, 2009.