Wessel Family

by Doris Warden Redding

First Generation – Johann Heinrich Wessel

Johann Heinrich Wessel was probably born between 1790 and 1810. He married a Maria Elizabeth ____? from Hanover, Germany. Her birth date is listed as 1810 on her tombstone.  

Johann and Elizabeth entered America through New York City. In the 1870 Census for Lawrence County, Ohio, their eldest son lists his birthplace as New York. His death certificate gives his birthday as 29 December 1832.  

By the early 1830s, the eastern city newspapers of New York, Philadelphia, etc., were raving that every man’s dream of an enterprising nature was to go to the Golden West – Cincinnati. This was also the dream of Johann, who Americanized his name to John Henry.           

The Minard family may have been a possible companion of the Wessels on their journey west. George Minard is listed as being born in 1812 in New York. George’s daughter Laura Minard married John Wessel, Jr. When the travelers reached the Ohio River. They would embark on a boat trip down the river to Cincinnati, using the Ohio and Erie canal routes to reach the Over the Rhine District, a German settlement of Cincinnati (Cincinnati Historical Society).  

The trip to Cincinnati was made in 1833 or early 1834, as we find in the 1850 Hamilton County, Ohio Census, tenth Ward of Cincinnati.   Journal
No. 7 Lawrence County Common Please Court, pg. 260 June 4, 1850. A Declaration of Intent to be Naturalized John Henry Wisser*, a citizen and subject of the Kingdom of Prussia, makes this declaration that it is bonafide, his intention to become a citizen of the United States of America and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, State of Sovereignty whatsoever and particularly to Fredrick William of who the said John Henry Wisser is now subject.

His name appeared correctly when he took the oath while being naturalized on October 3, 1853 (Lawrence County Journal, pg. 221). I could not find his occupation at the furnaces (he worked at the Etna Furnace and, before that, the Hecla Furnace – in the iron furnace in Lawrence County, Ohio), but on May 11, 1860, his widow gave five bonds of $200 each as guardian of his minor heirs. The fact that she was able to give bonds totaling $1,000
seems to indicate that he was a man of substance. He is buried in the Etna Cemetery, officiated by Rev. FA Graetz, who organized the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Elizabeth Township in 1854, but no tombstone was found for him.  

Maria Elizabeth, John Henry’s widow, was appointed guardian of the five minor children. According to Ohio law, the natural mother could have posted a bond. Section VII provided that a guardian would give a bond for double the probable expenses of maintaining and educating a minor for one year. Section X states, “when the same person shall be appointed guardian of several such persons shall execute a separate bond as guardian for each minor.”   

The five minor children were:

The family remained in the Etna Furnace area, Elizabeth Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, until about 1875, when married daughters moved elsewhere. Catherine Louise married Henry Eilert, son of Conrad Eilert, who witnessed the posting of a bond for the five children. Catherine and Henry moved to Stendal, Indiana. Catherine Elizabeth moved to Wellston, Ohio, with her husband, James Minard.  

The mother followed to Stendal, Indiana, when Catherine Louise died young (Catherine Elizabeth also died young) to raise her grandchildren. Stendal, located in Pike County, southwestern Indiana, was a completely isolated German farming community. Many former German families from Lawrence County, Ohio, had already made a mass exodus to Stendal. They built St. Peter’s Lutheran Day School. Attending this school was a rare privilege because the teachers were pastors with much more educational training than the public school teachers. They built St. Peter’s Lutheran Church to go along with the school.  Maria Elizabeth Wessel died on Dec. 13, 1894. She and the Eilerts are buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Stendal, Indiana.  

The Second Generation — Fredric Henry Wessel

Fredric Henry Wessel was a man of two different names and birthdates. He gave his name as Fred Henry Wessel, born 3 Nov 1857, but on his guardianship papers, his mother gave his name as John Frederick Wessel, born 3 Nov 1854 – regardless, he is the same man.  

He was born in the Etna Furnace region and spent his early years there with his mother. On April 10, 1876, he married Caroline Rightmire, born April 25, 1854. She was the daughter of William and Catherine Rightmire.  

Fredric and Caroline had three children, two of which died in infancy. Murta, a daughter, died Aug. 18, 1877. Elmer, a son, died on Dec. 18, 1885.  Norman Lester Wessel, born June 9, 1881, survived to the age of 77. After being married only ten years, Caroline died, too. She died on March 1, 1886. All were buried in the South Webster Cemetery.  

Fredric remarried on Aug. 11, 1887, to Loouisa A. Siech, daughter of Fred Siech of Rubyville, Ohio. By the time of the 1900 census, they lived on E. Eighth Street in Portsmouth, Ohio, with three of their four daughters in the household.  

Fredrica Wessel, born in 1891, Mayme, born in 1892, Lenora, born in 1895. Their oldest daughter, Grace, born in 1888, and her stepbrother, Norman, is listed as spending the summers in Rubyville at the home of Louisa’s parents.  

By trade, Fred was a carpenter and built two adjacent homes on E. Eighth Street in Portsmouth, Ohio. He rented one out. The one he built for himself had a high foundation to avoid the Ohio River floods. He didn’t escape the flood of 1913, though. They had to move upstairs and sit it out. He also helped build the roller coaster for Millbrook Park in New Boston.  

Fred seemed to be a caring man and concerned for the welfare of others. He and his wife adopted Carl Vincent Holt, a neighbor’s baby, when the mother died of burns. Louisa believed the mother was trying to tell her to care for her baby.  

The streetcar trolley ran in front of their house, and Fred always had a big crock of water, cool for drinking, for the motormen. He also let people wait in front of his house for the trolley instead of having to walk down to the corner.  

By 1902, Fred was a member of the Portsmouth Police Department until he retired as a sergeant in 1920. A few years later, the entire block that the Wessel family lived on, along with the East End viaduct, was sold to the Norfolk and Western Railway. Nothing remains to show that it was once a residential area.  

Fred and Louisa spent their last years in Daytona Beach, Florida, seeking relief for Louisa’s asthma. This was already the home of a daughter, Fredora, and her family. When dying, Louisa was brought back to Portsmouth. Her legs had become gangrenous, but she refused to have them amputated. She died on July 26, 1927. Fred died on March 6, 1931. Both are buried in the Long Run U.B. Cemetery.  

Third Generation – Norman Lester Wessel

Norman Lester Wessel was born to Fred and Caroline Wessel on 9 June 1881 in Sciotoville, Ohio. Norman and Amanda Willis, daughter of Hugh Willis and Harriet Stratton, were married on 3 March 1909 in their new home at 1526 Grandview Avenue in Portsmouth. Norman worked as a fireman for a few years when they still used horses to cart around the water. For most of his life, he worked in a brickyard.  

He and his family later lived in Sciotoville, Ohio, on Blue Run Road. Their eleven children remained in Scioto County, Ohio, except for Ivan, who lived in Idaho Falls, IDAHO.  

* Misspelled by the court clerk.