Henry ZumFelde photograph collection

Collection

Identifier: MS-1051

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

The Henry ZumFelde photograph collection consists of copy photographic prints documenting activities of the ZumFelde, Oberhaus, and related families of Fulton and Henry Counties, Ohio, from the 1880s to the 1970s.

Dates

Creation: circa 1880s-1970s, undated

Extent

0.37 Cubic Feet (1 letter size archive box)

Creator

Zum Felde, Henry F. (Person)

Scope and Contents

The Henry ZumFelde photograph collection contains copy prints documenting activities of the ZumFelde, Oberhaus, and related families of Fulton and Henry Counties, Ohio, from the 1880s to the 1970s. The contents possess a large assortment of personal photographs from the ZumFelde, Oberhaus, Beck and Veigel families from the early to mid twentieth century.

Other interesting photographs from the collection includes a picture of sawing ice blocks out of the Maumee River, the 1913 flood in Napoleon, damage done by a tornado in 1920, early twentieth century threshing and harvesting on the Oberhaus farm, a barn raising and re-shingling, cutting large native timber, a series of photographs displaying early twentieth century vehicles owned by the Oberhaus family, a collection of Guernsey cattle pictures and an assortment of ZumFelde photographs taken while visiting relatives in Germany around 1905. Researchers related to the ZumFelde, Oberhaus, Beck and Veigel families will find this collection useful for their research along with anyone interested in Henry County history, as the historically oriented photographs in the collection mainly focus on Henry County.

Biographical / Historical

Henry F. ZumFelde, the son of Frederick and Mary H. Oberhaus ZumFelde, was born on July 6, 1918, in York Township, Fulton County, Ohio. The ZumFelde family originated from the village of Ottingen, near Visselhövede, in Hanover, Germany. Henry's father, Frederick, born January 29, 1874, came to Henry County, Ohio, in October 1889 at the age of fifteen. Fred worked as a carpenter until he married Mary H. Oberhaus, born May 6, 1875, daughter of John Frederick and Marie Sophia Biederstedt Oberhaus, on December 24, 1904, in Henry County.

The Oberhaus family had come to Henry County from Wood County in 1848 and settled in an area west of Napoleon, known as the Hanover Settlement (the area received its name from the large amount of German settlers from the Hanover region in Germany). John Frederick Oberhaus, son of Capser Oberhaus (1813-1898) and Mary Elizabeth Gröner, who died in 1845, was born July 18, 1842, in Germany. His father first settled in Perrysburg Township, Wood County, Ohio, in 1844 from Germany, but then moved to Lucas County and from there finally settled in Henry County in 1848. Frederick first worked as carpenter and built homes and barns in the area. He along with his father and uncle Frederick Oberhaus in 1867 were among fifteen others that chartered St. Paul Lutheran Church in Napoleon Township, Henry County. Frederick working as carpenter at the time and was awarded the contract to construct the new church. Frederick married Marie Sophia Biederstedt, born December 12, 1851, in Mecklenburg, Germany, on April 19, 1872. Shortly thereafter, Frederick moved to a new farm in Napoleon Township that became the Oberhaus homestead found in the photograph collection. Frederick died on January 20, 1928, and Marie died eleven years later on March 19, 1939. Frederick and Marie raised a family of ten children: Anna (1873-1942), who married William Badenhop; Mary (1875-1963), who married Frederick ZumFelde; Frederick (1877-1935), who married Sarah Oberhaus; Ida (1880-1969), who married Frederick Springhorn; George (1882-1954), who married Elizabeth Buchenberg; Karl (1884-1960), who married Ida Buchenberg; Ferdinand (1887-1975), who married Kathryn Scheele and later married Elvera Delventhal; Wilhelmina (Minnie) (1890-1966), who never married; William (1890-1966), who married Augusta Lukozus and Albert (1893-1950), who married Margarethe Plum.

In March 1905, shortly after their marriage, Frederick and Mary ZumFelde moved to a farm in York Township, Fulton County, Ohio. Frederick helped organize and was a charter member of St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Fulton County. In 1911, Fred built a large home still owned and operated by the ZumFelde family. Frederick died on November 12, 1939, and Mary died on October 30, 1963. Fred and Mary had seven children: Carl, born in 1905; Frank, born in 1907; Martha, born in 1909; Paul, born in 1910; Laura, born in 1912; Frederick, born in 1915, who married Barbara Kirchner and Henry F., born in 1918.

Henry F. ZumFelde married Loretta I. Beck on October 26, 1941, in Napoleon, Ohio. Loretta, born October 28, 1922, in Henry County, was the daughter of Frederick G. and Grace Veigel Beck. Grace Veigel (1892-1981) was the daughter of Jacob Frederick Veigel (1867-1946) and Ida Schumacher (1869-1959). Frederick G. Beck (1889-1950) was the son of George Andrew Beck (1861-1934) and Louise Oberhaus (1865-1942). They had a family of four children: Ida, Frederick, Harold and Vernice. Louise Oberhaus was the daughter of John Frederick Oberhaus (1834-1883) and Catherine Welling (1836-1910). John Frederick Oberhaus was a brother to Casper Oberhaus whom Henry ZumFelde is a descendant.

Henry ZumFelde took over the family farm in 1938 and the same year started a herd of registered Guernsey Dairy Cattle under the name of Yorklynn Guernsey Farm. The cattle won Henry state, national and international awards over the years, before the herd was dispersed in 1970. He was also an active member of the community serving as a member on the board of education, charter member and president of the Wauseon Rotary Club, member of the German Lutheran Heritage Society, deputy auditor of Fulton County and district supervisor on the Ohio Turnpike. Henry and Loretta (Becky) are the parents of four children: Lawrence N., Paul Robert, Dale R. and Roger A. ZumFelde. Henry died on November 10, 2009 at his home.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.