Epilogue I
John (Johann Wolfgang) Odoerfer and Elizabeth(Ellie) Rowe were married in the St. John’s Lutheran and Reformed Church in Clear Spring Maryland on January 30, 1788.
It was a simple wedding, and they were blessed to have Ida and Jarvis and James and Rebecca stand up with them. Mr. Barnes, who had grown quite fond of John, assisted the minister in the wedding, and gave the newlyweds a very nice gift.
John and Ellie loved each other dearly throughout their marriage. They had 8 children, Henry(1789), Barbara(1792), Catherine(1796), John B. (1797), Anna Marie(Mary) (1799), Esther(1800), Sarah(1802), and Margaret (1808)- all baptized in the St. John’s Church. Margaret was born when John was 61 years old, and John’s friend James jokingly told John, in reference to the baby, “you should call it ‘Quits’”
John worked on the Barnes Farms and supervised the Milling and Weaving operation until his death in 1816. In 1791, the State of Maryland granted a patent to Richard Barnes allowing him to call his estate “Montpelier.” The Montpelier Estate was willed to John Mason in 1804, including the stipulation by Richard Barnes that the 80 slaves be given their freedom and employed as tenants on the farm. Several of these tenants worked for John at the mill, and it was said that he was so easy to work for that they all revered him.
John and Ellie loved their church, and John for a period of time was employed as the song leader there.
In 1800, John’s son with Maria, Georg, came to the United States with his uncle’s family, and settled in the Clear Spring-Conocheaque area. The families got together often, and John renewed his relationship with son Georg, who worked with him at the mill. Even though they had not spent a lot of time together earlier, John and Georg were very close, and helped each other on many occasions.
When John died, at the age of 71, he was buried in a small cemetery in back of the main house on the John Mason Farms- alongside many of the servants and ex-slaves he had lived and worked with. John’s life was rich, but not rich in things. His estate of $387.91, after expenses, was distributed among his wife and children.
The land in Ohio that John was entitled to for his service in the Continental Army of Virginia, was finally given to him. After John’s death, his oldest son, Henry, moved to Ohio, and farmed the 100 acres the government had given John for his service.
After John’s death, Ellie continued to serve in the church she was devoted to, and attended regularly with her son John B. and his wife Mary. Ellie died peacefully in her sleep on John’s birthday, June, 21, 1826, at the age of 67. Her devoted love for John had never waned.