Johann Wolfgang Odaffer IS a Patriot

After outlining my own interest in family history and in becoming eligible to join the Daughters of the American Revolution,  I will now relate the often frustrating process of getting Johann Wolfgang Odaffer declared a Patriot.

My Initial Difficulties

In assembling my initial DAR application, I only had partial information and the application was returned with many questions.

The DAR National Society Genealogist concluded:  “It remains to be proven whether John Odoffer of Maryland is the man who performed service in Virginia.  A conclusion cannot be reached based upon the evidence provided.”

Our problem was complicated by the fact that the American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI) references a John Odoffer born in 1740 in Virginia.  The citation for this information is the book Virginians in the Revolution by John Hastings Gwathmey.

However, the Gwathmey book does not in fact contain a birth date or place of birth for John Odoffer.  I have learned it is common practice to assume soldiers were natives of the state in whose army they fought.

The application also was rejected because I had not noted the information Phares O’Daffer had developed concerning Johann Wolfgang’s marriage in Germany and the two children from that marriage.  That should have been included to support his service as a Hessian.

There were numerous other discrepancies cited, generally having to do with the typical inaccuracies which occur when census forms were completed in the earliest days of our country.

One of the most notable difficulties came from the fact that John Odaffer had been given a land grant by the Virginia House of Burgesses, but we had no information about what happened with that grant.  Omitting any mention of a search for land records was not helpful to my cause.

The Impossible Takes a Little Time

At any rate, the first rejection made me more determined than ever.

Phares was most helpful with the additional documentation he had, copies of documents and church records were received from the Clear Spring, Maryland area, and a trip to the Newberry Library in Chicago was most helpful.

I was able to get actual copies of all of the books I needed in which John Odaffer was mentioned and photocopy relevant pages.

I reassembled my material, wrote a rebuttal and sent the package back to Washington, all to no avail.  The genealogist there was still stuck on the fact that my ancestor seemed to be from Virginia, lived in Maryland, and married a woman in Pennsylvania.

What a muddle!  I learned subsequently that differences such as this automatically throw up a red flag when the national genealogists begin to check applications, presumably because people were not as mobile then as now.  They can be explained, but cannot simply be left without further notation.

Nothing Helps Like Good Help

A good friend who was Regent of the Sgt. Caleb Hopkins Chapter, DAR, put me in touch with the Illinois State Membership Chair, who had a great deal of experience resolving “sticky” issues such as mine had become.

She took on the task of filling in the missing information by contacting “volunteer genealogists” which nearly every DAR chapter has.  These kind ladies in Ohio and Maryland searched local land records and concluded the grant must have been sold since there was never property registered in the name of Odaffer.

Having made the search was enough for the national genealogist.  Also, the volunteers pieced together the history of the family’s migration from Maryland to Ohio and made logical conclusions that led to a favorable result.

It Took a Lot of Documentation

Documents used were the Estate Distribution dated March 1816 from Washington County, Maryland, naming the heirs of John (presumably his children).

Also used were the 1810 Census showing John and wife, aged over 45, with eight children, the 1850 Census showing Henry and Elizabeth (ages transposed) with their children in Clear Creek, Fairfield County, Ohio, and the 1860 Census when Henry was living as a member of son David’s household in Pickaway, Pickaway County, Ohio.

All of this is tied back with the 1910 Census in Jacksonville, Morgan County, Illinois, where David lists the birthplace of his parents.

Also used was an excerpt from the “German-American Genealogical Research Monographs #2,” by Smith, published in 1974, p. 43, where Johann Wolfgang is reported as a deserter in Ansbach, Germany who had been conscripted to serve as a mercenary. Also, his family history was verified using a German Parish Register in Ansbach.

Success!

When the application was submitted with all of this information and supporting documentation, Johann Wolfgang Odaffer was declared to be Patriot #206566 in recognition of his support of the War for American Independence.

And I was accepted as a Daughter of the American Revolution! It was all worth it.