Sketch XV
Two Maryland Dutchman
Five years after the capture of Quebec by General Wolfe, and one year after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which put an end to the French and Indian War, and established English supremacy on the American continent, a child was born in Washington County, in the province of Maryland, that was destined to become the pioneer head of a numerous family in the settlement of a region of country which at that time was unknown. The name of this child was Christian Rohrer and he was just one year old when the notorious “Stamp Act” was passed by the English parliament. His parents came from Germany, and although their son, Christian was born in America, they spared no pains in teaching him to speak and write the language of his forefathers. This was a wise thing to do, and should never be neglected by foreign-born patents (especially German) in the education of their American-born children. Its value in after life— especially in business pursuits—cannot be over-estimated.[1]
Christian Rohrer married Varonica Rehmein, who did not long survive her marriage. After her death he married Anna Baumwart for his second wife. Mrs. J. B. Davis, of Port Rowan, a descendant of Christian Rohrer, is in possession of two old records which certainly are deserving of a place in some museum of antiquities, these relics are more than a hundred years old; but it is the odd and wildly fantastic attempt at ornamentation that characterizes them rather than their age. It is a print, or stamp, in high colors; and at first sight, remind one of pieces of old, highly-colored wall paper, representing the birds and foliage of some unknown planet far removed from earth. The pages are about sixteen inches square, and contain a number of small blanks on which are German inscriptions. They are old family-record designs, but the blank spaces are filled with matter that furnishes no family historical information except the date and place of Mr. Rohrer’s birth, and the fact of his marriages.
As to the date of Christian Rohrer’s settlement in Walsingham, there is nothing definite. Simpson McCall, Esq., says that Rohrer and Dedrick were living there when his grandfather landed at the mouth of Big Creek in 1796, and that each had a piece of wheat which had been sown the previous fall.[2] If this be correct, the Rohrers were among the first—after Dr. Troyer—in effecting a settlement in the township of Walsingham. Mrs. Rohrer was a Baumwart (Bower), and her family came subsequently.
Christian Rohrer had twelve children. By his first wife he had two—Martin and Fanny; and by his second wife he had ten—Henry, Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth, Catherine, Daniel, John, Susan, David and Jacob.
Martin Rohrer never married, and Fanny married a man named Garrett, and settled in Bayham.[3]
Henry Rohrer, second son of Christian, married Eleanor McCleish, and settled in Walsingham. He had five sons—Daniel, John, Henry, Wallace and David; and five daughters—Susan, Ann, Frances, Jane and Amelia.[4]
Daniel Rohrer, third son of Christian, married Jane McCleish and settled in Walsingham. He had eight children—Martha, Orineus, Catherine, Phoebe, Mary, Susan, Amy and Stephen.[5]
John Rohrer, fourth son of Christian, married Mary Edwards, and settled in Nissouri. One son of this family, Jeremiah, settled in Norfolk.[6]
David Rohrer, fifth son of Christian, married Mary Ann Williams, and settled in Walsingham. They had one son, John and four daughters—Elizabeth, Eliza Jane, Almira and Melissa.[7]
Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth, Catherine and Susan, daughters of Christian Rohrer, married, respectively James Price, Philip Underhill, David Underhill, Luke Dedrick and Titus Williams. They all settled in Walsingham.[8]
In Philip Underhill’s family were three sons—John, William and Edward; and two daughters— Mary and Nancy.
The descendants of Christian Rohrer are very numerous in Walsingham. The females have largely outnumbered the males, and the name, therefore, as it appears on the voters’ lists of the township, is no indication of the numerical strength of the family. As voters they may be outnumbered by some of the other old families, but a roll-call of the wives and mothers of Walsingham’s voters, through whose veins course the Rohrer blood, would show not only the numerous strength of Christian Rohrer’s descendants, but it would also show their superior industrial and moral qualities. In 1891, the autographs of seventy-six Rohrers, all living in the township of Walsingham were obtained by a member of the Illinois branch of the family. Of course, the larger portion were girls attending the township schools, who will become wives and mothers in other families, thereby losing their own family name.
Henry Baumwart was a brother of Mrs. Christian Rohrer. Mr. Baumwart, no doubt, came from near the same place his brother-in-law came from,[9] although it is said he was a Pennsylvania Dutchman. He came after Mr. Rohrer, but just how long after there is no evidence to show. He settled on Lot 12, Concession A, Walsingham between Port Rowan and Port Royal, He had four sons—Frederick, Henry, Jacob and David; and four daughters—Mary, Catherine, Elizabeth and Susan.[10]
Frederick Baumwart, eldest son of Henry, married Fanny Becker, and settled in the family neighborhood. He had one son, John and four daughters—Margaret, Maria, Catherine and Susan.
Henry Baumwart, second son of Henry, was twice married. By his first wife, Nancy Foster, he had one son, Isaac, and four daughters—Mary Ann, Elizabeth, Anise and Laura. His second wife was Rachel Huff nee Smith, daughter of the old pioneer athlete, William Smith. By this union he had several children who, after his death, settled in Michigan with their mother. When war was declared in 1812, Henry Baumwart had no inclination to take up arms against the land of his birth, and he left Canada, remaining away for several years. He returned, however, and ever after was a firm believer in the superior advantages which his adopted country possessed over the land of his birth in the development of a moral, law-abiding and God-fearing citizenship.
Jacob Baumwart, third son of Henry, married Sarah Smith, and settled on the homestead. He had one son, Owen; and two daughters—Susan and Mary. Owen succeeded to the homestead. Mary married Lot Spencer.
David Baumwart, youngest son of the old pioneer, married Julia, daughter of Oliver Mabee, and settled in Charlotteville. By this marriage he had two sons—Henry and Gideon; and four daughters—Rebecca Ann, Mary Jane, Rachel and Julia. Subsequently, he married Mary Frances, by whom he had two sons—Gabriel and David; and one daughter, Eliza.[11]
Susan Baumwart, daughter of the old pioneer, married Eber Decew; and her sister, Catherine, married Isaac Decew. The names of their children are given in the Decew genealogy. Elizabeth Baumwart, the third daughter, married William Ferris, and settled near Port Colborne, where she raised a family of five sons—William, Owen, Isaac, Joshua and John; and five daughters— Susan, Hannah, Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah.
Mary Baumwart, the eldest daughter, married into the Rohrer family.[12]
The Dutch form of the family name has been discarded, and the Anglicized form—Bower— adopted in its stead.
The pioneer head of the family died at the beginning of the second quarter of the century, and his widow survived him several years.
[1] Christian Rohrer was noted to be born at Hagerstown, Maryland on August 12, 1764 in Montross: A Family History, p. 146, by John and Eva Taylor (Stanton, VA: 1958)
[2] It is unlikely that Christian Rohrer planted a field of wheat in Walsingham Township in the fall of 1795. The 1852 Censuses of Bayham and Walsingham Townships indicate that Christian’s children Frances (Fanny) and Martin were born in the United States in 1795 and 1797 respectively. More possibly, Christian came to Walsingham with his second wife’s parents soon after April 1801.
[3] Frances (Fanny) Rohrer married Benjamin Garrett and they were recorded in the 1852, 1861, and 1871 Censuses of Bayham Township, Elgin County. The couple was buried in Straffordville Cemetery, Bayham Township.
[4] There was a may Rohrer, born on 4 Jul 1832 recorded in the 1852 Census of Walsingham Twp. The name of her father has not been learned but Henry Rohrer was the only one married by 1832. Mary’s marriage to Joseph White on 22 Jul 1853 was recorded in the Talbot District Marriage Register. They farmed in Walsingham Township recorded in the 1861, 1871 and 1881 Censuses.
[5] In Montross: A Family History Jacob Lorenzo Rohrer, born on 12 Oct 1850, died on 19 Jul 1853 is included in this family.
[6] Before settling in Nissouri Twp., John Rohrer and his wife Mary Ann Edwards lived in Lobo Twp., Middlesex Co. where they were recorded in the 1852 Census. Their children named in the Census were Alex, J. (Jeremiah), Wm. W. and H. (Henrietta). Other children buried in First Lobo Baptist Church Cemetery: James (died 17 Feb 1843) and John Henry (26 Oct 1847 to 26 Jul 1849). Mary Ann (Edwards) died on 11 Jan 1853 and John Rohrer then married Sarah _______ and had George W., Mary Ann and Martha
[7] Owen has David Rohrer confused with Christian’s youngest son Jacob Rohrer whose name he omitted. David Rohrer’s marriage to Sophronia Troyer was recorded in the Talbot District Marriage Register. They lived in Houghton Twp. then moved to Illinois. They had a daughter Aboreta Rohrer Buffett who, as a widow, was living with her mother in the 1880 Census of Annawan, Henry Co., Illinois. According to Troyer family information there may have been two more daughters whose names have not been learned. Christian Rohrer’s youngest son Jacob Rohrer married Mary Ann Williams (Talbot District Marriage Register) and they lived out their lives in Walsingham Twp. Their children in the 1852 Census: John, Elizabeth and Eliza J. Additional children in the 1861 Census: Almira and Melissa. There was an older son John Rohrer before the one mentioned in the censuses who died young and was buried in Johnson Cemetery, St. Williams.
[8] The husband of Elizabeth Rohrer was Daniel Elnathan Underhill. They were recorded in the 1852 and 1861 Censuses of Walsingham Twp. then moved to Warwick Twp., Lambton Co. where they were recorded in the 1881 Census. The couple was buried in Beechwood Cemetery, Forest, Lambton Co.
[9] This was probably Washington County, Maryland on the Pennsylvania line, a jurisdiction disputed by both colonies for many years. The term “Pennsylvania Dutch” is recognized as being originally “Pennsylvania Deutch” for the Palatine German and the Germanic Swiss immigrants who populated the colony under the sponsorship of William Penn.
[10] Henry Baumwart and his family came to Norfolk after 11 Apr 1801 when his son David was born in Washington Co., Maryland and before 9 Mar 1803 when he served as a Traverse Juror on the London District Court. There were more children in Henry Baumwart’s family baptized in the German Reformed Church, Hagerstown (formerly Elizabethtown), Washington Co., Maryland and all of whom apparently died young: Elisabetha, on 25 Jan 1780, Henrich baptized there on 24 Feb 1782, Johannes baptized on 17 Apr 1786, another Henrich, baptized on 3 Aug 1789. Family records also mention a daughter Sarah, born c. 1795 and two sons Andrew and Michael, both born in 1796.
[11] In the 1852 Census of Charlotteville Twp. and additional daughter Lydia aged 18 was recorded in the family of David Baumwart. He marriage to Henry Winters White on 3 Nov 1852 was recorded in the Talbot District Marriage Register.
[12] Mary Baumwart married pioneer Christian Rohrer mentioned in the first part of this sketch.