Epilogue II
It was October 16, 1980, and a 46 year old Professor of Mathematics had completed a grueling meeting in Washington D.C., USA. It was now evening, and he told the taxi driver to take him to the Daughters of the American Revolution Genealogy library. He was interested in genealogy, and had been collecting data on the Odaffer family, in fits and starts, since 1956.
Too many professional meetings, too many students to teach, and too many mathematics books to write had kept the young mathematics education professor from delving as deeply as he would have liked into the Odaffer family history. He had quite a bit of information about the family in the U.S., but little knowledge of where they originally came from. All anyone could tell him was that they probably came from Germany.
He spent a couple of hours in the library, but didn’t find a thing he didn’t already know about the Odaffer family. Tired from his day’s work, and a bit frustrated about wasting his time, he decided to go back to his hotel, and get a good nights sleep.
As usual, he glanced at the books on the shelves as he was walking down several of the isles to leave the library. For some reason- either that family Guardian Angel, or just plain luck- he saw a book on the shelf entitled “Mercenaries From Ansbach and Bayrueth, Germany who Remained in America After the Revolution” by Clifford Neal Smith, and picked it up.
As he thumbed through the book, he was thrilled and excited to see the following, on p. 43.
“ODOERFER, Wolfgang, private A/5 Deserted 12 October 1782. According to Stadtarchiv Ansbach Am 1041 “ … he had spent all of his estate and, therefore, had to enter military service. He has a wife, a 15 year old son, and a 12 year old daughter who are in very straitened circumstances.”
He had found the missing link! How easy it would have been for him to not find and examine that book! Why did he notice it? Blind Chance, That Guardian Angel, or Divine Guidance-you choose.
That missing link took the professor on an exciting genealogical and life adventure- to places he never thought he would go, and to see people he never dreamed of seeing. It led him to find that his great-great-great-grandfather, Johann Wolfgang Odoefer, was a Hessian soldier in the Revolutionary War (his Blue and Scarlet Skeleton) as well as a soldier in the U.S. Continental Army.
But more than that, it taught him some important life lessons, and gave him a great deal of appreciation for those who came before him. His great-great-great-great grandfather, Marcus was the last of 13 children in his family. Almost miraculously, given those times, his mother Anna went through childbirth 12 times, and survived to beat all odds in giving birth to Marcus. If no Marcus, no Wolfgang, and ultimately, no Professor.
And how, in heavens name, did Wolfgang survive? The long sea voyage, where many Hessian soldiers died of disease. The bombardment of canon balls at Yorktown that took the lives of many of Wolfgang’s friends, but not him. Being left as one of the rear guard for General Cornwallis-thrown to the wolves of war- only to be miraculously spared. And, having the perseverance to wait for Ellie, against all odds. If no Wolfgang and Ellie, no professor.
And so the saga continues. The Professor thought about how we all strive mightily to preserve the tenuous thread that ties our ancestors and us to future generations.
The Professor thought of his Odoerfer(Odaffer) ancestors- Heinrich, Johannis, Stephan, Hans, Marcus, Wolfgang, Henry, Henry’s son David, David’s son Edmon, and Edmon’s son Ray- his father. He thought of all their wives, who gave so much to keep the thread intact.
And with great hope for the future, he thought of his wife, his children, their spouses, and his grandchildren- he loved them all dearly- and there was absolutely no doubt in his mind that the family was in good hands, and the tenuous thread connecting the present and future generations would remain beautifully intact.