Schwitzgebel Genealogy

Anthony Paulus

Thanks to Mr. Peter Bidinger, we now know that the parents of Frank Paulus were Anthony Paulus and Barbara Herdt; and, thanks to records that have been published online by the Departmental Archives of Bas-Rhin, we now have updated information for the family of Anthony Paulus:

Anthony Paulus was born 1 February 1795 in Griesheim, township of Brumatts, Bas-Rhin, France, to David Paulus and Marguérithe Meyer. He died in 1878 in Portage County, Ohio, USA.

On 2 August 1820, he was admitted to the 6th Regiment of Hussars, 909th Corps, as a replacement for Alexander Joseph Duburque. He took part in the campaign of 1823, in Spain, and was discharged on 31 December 1828.

He married Barbara Herdt (or Hoerdt) on 20 December 1828, in Grassendorf, Bas-Rhin, France. Barbara Herdt was born 3 August 1806, in Grassendorf, the location of her family's ancestral Hof (estate). Her parents were Jacques Hoerdt and Odile Lachler. Sources differ on the point of her birth date, ranging from as early as 1802 to as late as 2 Aug 1807; however, the civil birth record from the Bas-Rhin archives provides the 1806 date.

Anthony Paulus and Barbara Herdt had the following children:

  1. Joseph Paulus
    • Birth: 25 Mar 1830 in Grassendorf
    • Marriage: 16 Jan 1857
    • Death: 21 Jan 1908
    • Spouse: Eva Knapp
  2. Francis Anthony (Frank) Paulus
    • Birth: 10 Jan 1833 in Grassendorf
    • Marriage: 20 Nov 1855 in Randolph, Portage, Ohio, USA
    • Death: 6 Jan 1897
    • Spouse: Odelia Knapp
  3. Mary Madeleine "Lena" Paulus
    • Birth: 6 Aug 1836 in Grassendorf
    • Marriage: 3 Nov 1858
    • Death: 29 Dec 1918 in
    • Spouse: Andrew Arehart
  4. Odelia "Della" Paulus
    • Birth: 20 Mar 1841 in Grassendorf
    • Spouse: Frederick Wolf
  5. Agatha "Augusta" Paulus
    • Birth: 1 Feb 1845 in Grassendorf
    • Spouse: Wendell (Barney) Arehart
  6. Jean Paulus
    • Birth: 13 Jan 1846 in Grassendorf
    • Death: 1846, during the voyage to America. Was buried at sea.

    Prior to the discovery of the Bas-Rhin Archives records, the name of the child reported to have died at sea was unknown. The relatively short interval between Jean's and John's birth dates looks suspicious, being almost exactly 11 months apart; however, Jean's birth record is definitive, and John's birth and baptism dates (from St. Joseph's church, in Randolph, Ohio) seem to rule out their being the same person.

  7. John Paulus
    • Birth: 14 Dec 1847
    • Baptism: 17 Apr 1848 in Randolph, Portage, Ohio, USA
    • Death: bef 1850
  8. Ludovicus (Lewis) Paulus
    • Death: abt 1850
The Anthony and Barbara Paulus family lived in Grassendorf, Bas Rhin (Alsace), France, on the ancestral estate, a small farm which Barbara had inherited. In 1846, they sold their property and booked passage on a ship sailing from Havre, France. Anthony's passport was made in Strasbourg, for September 1846, which suggests that they traveled in the Autumn. During the six-week voyage, one of their children died and was buried at sea. When they arrived in New Orleans, the family transferred to a steamboat, their intention being to travel up the Mississippi river to settle in Illinois. However, when they arrived at the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, they found the Mississippi too low for the boat to continue along that route. Instead, they proceeded up the Ohio River, finally arriving at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From Pittsburgh, the family travelled by land to Portage Co., Ohio, where they settled.

Anthony filed a Declaration of Immigration with the Portage County, Ohio Court Clerk on 6 December 1847. The declaration read,

"I, Anthony Paulus an alien, and native of France, being duly sworn, depose and say, that I first arrived in the United States in the month of December A.D. 1847, and that it is bona fide my intention to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, state, and sovereignty whatsoever, and particularly all allegiance and fidelity to Louis Philip King of France whose subject I am."

According to Msgr. Pfeil, in his Historical Sketch and Reminiscences of St. Joseph's Church, Randolph, Ohio, "[Anthony's] children were Joseph, Francis Anthony, Helena, who married Andrew Arehart; Odelia, who married Fred Wolf, of Akron; and Agatha, who married Wendel Arehart (Barney)." There is some disagreement between Msgr. Pfeil and census records, on the matter of the three younger children. The 1850 Portage Co. census shows Joseph, [Francis] Anthony, and three other children living in Anthony's household; however, the younger three children are listed as Mary M., Matilda, and Augusta.

By 1870, Anthony and Barbara were living with son Francis Anthony's family, in Suffield Township, Portage County, Ohio.

If you have information about Anthony PAULUS or Barbara HERDT, please and tell me about it. For more PAULUSes, check out my online database.

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