Alright, Lew Hirt family, here’s a start to Clara’s page. Feel free to add to it!

–Ben 🙂

Clara’s father arrived in Fremont the same year as Frank Hirt’s inlaws’ families: 1853. It was a big year for settlement in the Congress Lands of Northwest Ohio!

According to Basil Meek’s Twentieth Century History of Sandusky County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens published in 1908, we learn the following:

Ludwig (Lewis) Werth, Clara’s father, “was born in Mecklenberg, Germany” on January 26, 1841. “In 1853, he crossed to the United States, making the voyage in a sailing vessel, which consumed eleven weeks and three days before the family landed in New York City. From there they made their way to Buffalo and thence, by lake, to Sandusky, Ohio. They settled in the vicinity of Venice Ohio, where they lived for some years and then moved to Sandusky Township, Sandusky County. In 1875, Mr. Werth and his family moved to Riley Township, where he has since lived. He is a Democrat in his political views but has never sought to hold office. He married Minnie Wott, who is some years younger than himself, and they have four living children: John F., Charles A., Clara M., wife of L. S. Hirt, and Anna, wife of William Martin, all being residents of Riley Township.” (p. 529)

Clara’s mother Wilhelmina “Minnie” (Wott) Werth was born in Germany (Prussia) on May 6, 1843 and was the daughter of Carl and Charlotte Wott. In 1858, “she accompanied her parents to America, living for a short time in Erie County, Ohio, and afterward in Green Creek Township, Sandusky County, where both parents died.” (p. 517)