| It is believed that all OHMERs are descendants of Peter Aumer who was born in Steinweiller about 1630. The first five generations have been reconstructed by Gerard Ohmer which include about 37 OHMERs born through the period of about 1785. OHMERs have been found in France, Germany, Holland, with descendants of various lineage’s in the United States including Louisiana; Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; Cincinnati, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Alaska.
The German OHMERs are known to come from two areas in Europe. One is in and around Herxheim, Germany which is in the Palatine, close to the Alsace-Baden border. The other area is about 60 miles to the southwest in Lorraine, France, a few miles west of Sarrebourg (Saerburg). It is thought that the Lorraine OHMERs immigrated to that area from Herxheim.
EARLIEST OHMER RECORDS
In Germany:
• In 1684 – the birth of Mathias OHMER in Herxheim, Pfalz recorded in the records in Speyer. He was the eldest son of Hans Jakob OHMER (Aumer); Hans Jakob is the only recorded child of Peter Aumer.
• In 1691 – the marriage contract between Hans Jakob and his second wife, Anna Rohrbachers, recorded in the archives in Lauterbourg, France.
In France:
• In 1706 – the marriage of Anthonius (Antoine) OHMER recorded in the Gosselming, France Parish records. He was probably the son of Andoni OMER one of the witnesses.
• In 1738 – the death of Jean-Georges in Langatte. He was born about 1689, a brother of Antoine.
PROGENITORS
In France —
The first migrant relocation from Herxheim occurred when Johann Michael (Jean-Michel) married in Epinal, France in 1790. Many OHMERs now live in the Moselle area of France, but other than the line to Lechrist, they have not responded to queries and are not represented in this story. There are other OHMERs in France, but they are not now connected with Peter Aumer.
There is another branch of the french OHMERs centered in Dayton, Ohio. These OHMERs are believed to be the descendants of Jean Nicolas OHMER, husband of Maria Ann Thuillier.
Other French Progenitors:
- Antoine OHMER – born abt. 1686
- Peter OHMER – 29 August, 1849
- Jean Nicolas OHMER – born abt. 1759
The civil records for Gosselming include the marriage of Antoine OHMER and Anna Maria Scheidbach and the birth of their first two children, Pierre born 20 March 1843 who died at birth and Madeleine born 9 March 1844. Their marriage is recorded as number 3 of rec. 12 April 1842. The record shows Antoine as a 28-year-old weaver born in Langatte. He was the son of Jean-Nicolas OHMER also a weaver in Langatte where he died, and of Catharine HENRY, then 56 and living in Langatte.
Anna Maria Scheidbach is recorded as the widow of Nicolas Schaeffer, age 39, born 14 Pluviose in year 11. She was the daughter of the deceased Nicolas Scheidbach and Catharine Hollerich, who was then 78 and living in Gossetming. Madam P.r.s’ report begins with the birth of the second Pierre in 1845. This birth is confirmed in advice by Gilles Pfruner. Other information shows Antoine arrived in New Orleans with his wife and two children. He moved up the Mississippi and settled in Illinois.
In Germany —
- Karl OHMER of Freiburg, Germany is a descendant of Johannes in the 5th generation. Johannes is also the ancestor of most of the Cincinnati OHMERs.
In Holland —
No direct contacts are yet available to the Holland string of OHMERs.
UNITED STATES—
In Louisiana —
All the OHMERs in this area trace their lineage back to a single immigrant:
- Tobias Ambre OHMER – born 18 March 1832, Neupotz, Pfalz, Germany – migrated to New Orleans 15 Apr 1851
Tobias is the 4th great-grandson of Peter Aumer. Tobias was born in Neupotz, Pfalz, Germany, on 18 March, 1832. He migrated to the United States by way of La Harve, France on the Ship Carack and arrived in New Orleans on June 16, 1851. The ship’s passenger list states he was 19 and a farmer, was travelling with only a single trunk. He made his way to Assumption Parish, and settled in an area called Four Mile Bayou. There he met and married Jeanette Suzanne Acosta around 1852. He filed for naturalization in 1892, and became an American citizen. Descendants are now in Napoleonville, New Orleans, Thibodaux, Denham Springs, Westwego, Amelia, Morgan City, and Dulac.
In Michigan —
There are three groups:
- Carl OHMER – 14 June, 1839 – first located in Girard, PA
- Clara (Berger) OHMER, widow of Wilhelm – 1 January, 1807
- Wilhelm OHMER, possibly from Baden.
Clara arrived in NY with 4 to 6 children. (One of which is believed lost at the port of entry). She is believed to have migrated from the Duchy of Baden. Clara is said to have been born on 1 Jan 1807 probably in Baden. She was the widow of Wilhem Ohmer at the time she arrived in the United States. She migrated in 1852 and settled in Michigan. It has been impossible to make a proper linkage to established Ohmer lineages. Wilhelm’s descendents have not been linked to any other OHMER family groups.
In Missouri —
Three known immigrants:
- Karl OHMER – 16 May, 1869 – migrated 1885
- Gustav OHMER – 29 November, 1885 – migrated 1885
- Jacob Eduard OHMER – 19 July, 1873 – migrated 1889
These are three brothers. Gustav was the second of three brothers, the only one where knowledge of descent exists. Their father, Franz Carl OHMER, a forest warden, married at age 40 to a bride 22-years old. There were two older sisters who died at birth. All three boys were sent to school in St. Louis, apparently under the guardianship of an Uncle, who has not been identified, and who was possibly their mother’s brother. The reason for their move may have been the mandatory conscription into the newly militaristic Germany after the Franco-Prussian war. Karl and Gustav arrived in the United States in 1885 at about age 15. Jacob born in 1873 and arrived a few years later. The three brothers were third cousins, once removed, of both Theodor and Appolonia (see Pennsylvania below). One record shows their mother, Anna Maria Knoll Ohmer, living in St. Louis. She probably joined one of her sons after the death of her husband.
In Ohio—
There are OHMERs in Cincinnati who are descendants of the Peter Aumer lineage.
- Michael OHMER – 4 June, 1839 in Herxheim, Pfalz, Germany
- François OHMER – 6 Jun, 1796, migrated in 1832 w/ wife and 5 children
Michael was a brewmaster, and he’s named in a record in 1862 in Cincinnati. His descendants are centered in Cincinnati and across the river in Kenton and Campbell Counties near Covington, Kentucky. He is a one-half fourth cousin of both Theodor and Appolonia (see Pennsylvania below). His great-great grandfather, Johann Jacob was a half brother of Johann Adam by Hans Jacob’s second wife.
François arrived in New York with his wife and five children. They continued on by the Erie Canal to Lake Erie, by boat to Ohio and then to Hamilton in Butler County where he continued his trade as a tailor. He moved to Dayton in 1837 after learning of the French community and the possibilities of starting a business as a confectioner. His second son Michael (Michel), exerted major influence in the development of Dayton. He became the historian for the French community. His records of the family became the basis of the Dayton OHMER genealogy. François’ son Nicholas was one of the founders of the Catholic cemetery, Calvary and started a very successful furniture manufacturing business. His farm property became the section of Dayton now know as Ohmer Park. This was updated and published by his daughter, Rose, in 1951.
In Pennsylvania —
Four OHMERs are known to have migrated from Herxheim to this area:
- Carl OHMER – 14 June 1839 – migrated 1858
- Theodor OHMER – 22 June 1843 – migrated 1863
- Apollonia OHMER – 27 January 1843 – migrated 1863
- Jacob OHMER – 1869 – migrated 1884
Carl may have been the earliest OHMER migrant from Herxheim to the United States and a true pioneer. He migrated in 1858 at age 19 to Girard, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Erie. His wife is said to be from Stuttgart, Germany, but the date and place of the marriage and his various movements are obscure. They had eleven children whose days of birth occurred between 14 February 1865 and 11 January 1888. The locations of the births are known for only four. Carl died in Mayville, Tuscola County, Michigan. This was also the place of birth of his second and eleventh children. He may have been attracted by the beginnings of the petroleum boom and his third child was born in Oil City, Venango County, Pennsylvania. He is in the 1870 United States census for Girard, Pennsylvania. It might be fair to say that this branch never established a hometown. A dispersion through southeastern Michigan occurred with his children’s deaths occurring in five Michigan Counties between Detroit and Saginaw Bay. Appolonia was his second cousin.
Carl and Theodor were 1st cousins, their fathers having been born in 1798 and 1796 respectively. Theodor and Appolonia migrated together and married in Erie. They had a son born in Herxheim in March 1863 that died at birth. They were second cousins both born when their mothers were forty-six. They had nine children following their marriage. Jacob was the son of Theodor’s oldest brother, Franz, who was born 1827. When Franz died about 1884 Theodor brought Jacob to the United States and he was raised as a tenth child. The other children even forgot he was not a sibling. Theodor was entrepreneurial and started a number enterprises including a cooperage and a hardware store in Erie.
In Alaska —
This string of OHMERs are descendants of the French OHMERs, particularly :
- Earl Nicholas OHMER – born in Dayton, Ohio 17 Nov 1882
Earl migrated from Dayton after spending the first years of his life on his parents’ wheat farm, and is a descendant of the Dayton (French) OHMERs. He arrived in Alaska in 1915. He was an operator of a shellfish cannery and was Mayor of Petersburg 1920, 1930 and 1931. For 20 years he was president of the Chamber of Commerce, and was Chariman of the Alaska Fish and Game Commission for 23 years. Thus, I’ve understood that as being the reason several Parks and Lakes in Alaska bear the OHMER name.
Earl’s Grandson Dave now manages a shrimp cannery that he founded in Petersburg, Alaska in 1916. Earl is son of Charles Thomas OHMER, and is of the yet unconnected french line of Andoni OHMER.
Earl had four children:
- Robert Charles “Bob” OHMER
- David Paul OHMER
- James Lewis “Jim” OHMER
- Patricia Henrietta “Patti” OHMER
A contact had been made with a direct descendant of this line, but further information from her never came. This new info is courtesy of Dave OHMER, Katelyn OHMER Markley and Roberta OHMER. THANKS for the info, guys!
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