08 | Meet Wolfgang’s Grandfather and Father

As Hanns Odorfer (1669), Stephan’s son and Wolfgang’s grandfather, grew up in Grub, he became a farmer and a village cattle herder. Since it was the tradition for the oldest son to live on the fathers farm, Hanns lived in a house/farm nearby the home place. Hanns married Anna Wild, and had eight children, listed below:

  • Daughter (7/7/1690)
  • Barbara(9/27/1693)
  • Johannes(8/15/94)
  • Conrad(10/14/95)
  • Georg(12/26/1698)
  • Anna(10/2/1701)
  • Barbara(7/22/1703)
  • Johannes(3/23/1704)

Hanns’ wife Anna died soon after Johannes was born, and Hanns married Marie, and had the following children:

  • Georg(3/18/1705)
  • Barbara (5/7/1708)
  • Johannes(9/21/1710)
  • Marx(3/3/1713)
  • Marcus*(9/26/1714)

At that time it was customary to name children after their Godfather or Godmother, so it was common to have more than one child in a family with the same name.

Marcus Odorfer (1714), , the last of Hanns thirteen children and Wolfgang’s father, was born in Grubb,and was apparently comfortable living there. However, jobs were few, and so Marcus applied for a job as carriage driver for the Crown Prince of the region. It must have been quite a surprise when he heard that he had been selected for the job and asked to to come to Ansbach to drive the prince’s carriage!

St.JohannesIn Ansbach he married Anna Walpurg on 7/27/1745 and had the following children:

  • Johann Wolfgang* (6/21/1747)
  • Maria Margaretha (6/27/48)

Anna Walpurg died on (9/12/1764), at age 40.

Johann Wolfgang Odorfer (1747), the only son of Marcus, lived most of his early life in Ansbach, Germany. He married Maria Margareta Hassold on March 19, 1765, and their children, listed as follows, were born in Ansbach in the parish of St. Johannes: Georg (1/9/1768), and Maria Magdalena (6/17/1766).

We visited the parish of St. Johannis in Ansbach in 1990, and I could imagine Johann attending this church and struggling to support his wife and young children.

 

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