Herman Rohde and family

The first Rohde ancestor in our family tree to emigrate from Germany was Herman Adolph Rohde, my great-great grandfather, born in 1834 in Wandsbeck, a district of Hamburg, a northern German seaport. He married Margaretha Eliza Frahm/Rathmann in 1858. She was born in 1836 in Holstein, a German state adjacent to Hamburg.. (Mom had “Rathmann” as her family name, but Ancestry hints all say it was “Frahm”.) They crossed the Atlantic on the ship “Suevia” (shown above) and arrived in NY in 1882, with their 2 younger children, according to the passenger list. Their 3 older sons had all arrived ahead of them in 1880. Herman’s death certificate listed his occupation as “book seller” and the family lived in Saginaw, Michigan. Margaretha died in 1892 and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Saginaw.

In 1893, Herman married Wilhemine Zweite Hitzel, who was born in Germany in 1848 and came to Saginaw in 1864 at the age of 16. Herman died in 1901 in Saginaw after surgery for cancer and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery with Margaretha. In his will, he left his property to Wilhemine, with the stipulation that it pass to his surviving sons after her death. He left $1 to his daughter Bertha. It’s hard to say whether this was because she was married, and had other means of support, or other reasons. Family lore has it that she had worked for her father for several years before her marriage and was owed $200 for back wages which she billed to the estate. Wilhemine, who died in 1910, is also buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Saginaw.

[The information below on Herman and Margaretha’s children comes from the summaries Mom typed up from her research.]

Herman and Margaretha’s oldest son Charles J. Rohde (1859-1916) was born in Germany and came to Michigan in 1880, probably with his 2 younger brothers. He married Elise Schnack in Saginaw in 1881. Family lore told of a “Carl Rohde” who “went west” and Herman’s obituary mentioned him as living in Los Angeles. Mom’s research discovered he had 4 chldren: Charles H., born in Michigan, Millie, William, and Ella, all born in California. He was listed as a teacher in 1900, and president of the “American Laundry Co.” in 1920. He and his wife are buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles.

Their next son, Gustav A. Rohde (1861-1920), was my great-grandfather. He was also born in Germany and came to Michigan with 2 of his brothers in 1880. He married Dorothea Wolf in 1881 and they had 5 children, including my grandfather. More about him and his family below. [Mom’s page on Gustav was missing.]

Their 3rd son, August J. Rohde (1863-1928), was also born in Germany and came to Michigan with his 2 older brothers. He married Anna Reer (Geer? Greer?), a recent arrival, in 1884. In 1900, he was listed as a boarder in Midland, Michigan, and his occupation was grocery salesman. In 1920, he was listed as a broker. He and his wife had 3 children: Katherine, Gretchen, and Senta. My aunt Betty remembered taking her grandmother out to Midland to visit. August died in 1928, and my dad remembered going to his funeral. August and his wife are both buried in Midland Cemetery.

The youngest son, Otto M. Rohde (1867-1935), was born in Germany and emigrated with his parents and his younger sister Bertha in 1882. He was married in 1888 to Josephine Schneider, who was born in New York to German parents. The 1900 census lists him living in Saginaw with his wife and 2 children: Arthur and Otto A. They also had a daughter Leona. At that time he was a grocery store proprietor, and later possibly a traveling salesman for automatic calculators. (This could have been his son Otto A. who worked for Burroughs Adding Machine Co. selling typewriters.) The older son Arthur ran a successful excavating business. More is known about this family, since they were closer to Gustav’s family than the others. Otto is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Saginaw. The younger daughter Leona never married and was a church organist and gave piano lessons in her home. She is also buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Saginaw.

They only daughter of Herman and Margaretha was Bertha Rohde (Kringle) (1868-1947), also born in Germany. She emigrated with her parents and brother Otto, in 1882. In 1887, she married Herman Kringle, a cabinet maker and later an undertaker. She worked for her father for a short time and also as a kindergarten teacher. They had 3 children: Margaretha, Clara, and Herman. She and her husband are both buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, along with their 2 daughters.

Gustav Rohde and family

My great-grandfather, Gustav Adolph Rohde (1861-1920) was born in Wanswbeck, Hamburg, Germany. He emigrated to America in 1880 with 2 of his brothers. In 1881, he married Dorothea Wolfe (1859-1940) in Saginaw, Michigan. She was from Wismar, Germany (another northern German seaport city), and had arrived in 1879. According to my grandmother, she worked for an Uncle Nicodemus when she arrived and he left her a lot of money. She and Gustav invested in a store and saloon but lost everything when it failed.

Dorothea’s parents were Johann Georg Friedrich Wulff (1826-1916) and Maria Caroline Dorothea Nevermann (1826-1900). They were both from Wismar, Germany, and never left. However, the 1910 census lists Charles Nevermann as a boarder at their home (age 85), having arrived in 1857. There is a monument for Carl Nevermann (1824-1914) in Forest Lawn Cemetery right in front of Gustav and Dorothea (Dad’s photos from 1994). So, it is likely that he may have been Dorothea’s uncle, a brother to her mother.

Gustav and Dorothea lived in Saginaw and had 6 children, including a daughter Frieda who died at the age of 5. My grandfather, Erwin F. Rohde was the youngest. According to the census, Gustav was a bookkeeper in 1900, a hardware clerk in 1910, and a grocery keeper in 1920 when he died of a heart attack at the age of 59. Dorothea lived until 1940 with her 2 unmarried daughters Bertha and Erna. Dorothea and Gustav are both buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Saginaw.

Bertha Emilie Rohde (1883-1947) was born in Frankenmuth, MI and died in Toledo, OH. She finished 8th grade in school and was listed in the 1920 census as a saleslady. She never married and in both 1930 and 1940, she was living with her sister Erna and her mother in Saginaw. She is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Saginaw, near her parents.

Erna B. Rohde (1886-1962) was born in Saginaw. She finished 4 years of high school and worked as a bank stenographer (1920 and 1930 census) and a secretary for an insurance company (1950). She never married and lived with her older sister Bertha and her mother Dorothea. She and her younger sister Hulda traveled to Germany in 1911, according to a passenger list for a German ship which arrived in NY. She died in 1962 and is buried in Rose Lawn Cemetery, Saginaw. I remember Aunt Erna from trips to Michigan when I was young. She was a very pleasant lady who took us to her Lutheran church Sunday school. I also recall that she sent us birthday cards. One thing I regret is that she once sent me a long letter with a lot of details about family history. It was difficult to read her handwriting and I wasn’t interested at the time so it stayed at the bottom of a box of papers I kept in my closet for many years. I almost recall the day I decided to throw it out and, of course, now wish I hadn’t !

Otto Carl Rohde (1887-1937) was the Uncle Otto my father knew growing up, the one who wrote to him on the occasions of his confirmation and his high school graduation, exhorting him to pay attention to spiritual matters as well as his education. Otto was born in Saginaw, attended the University of Michigan and became a mechanical engineer. He married Edith Helwig and they had a daughter, Doris Harriet (Haley) (1918-1981). In 1930 he was living in Toledo, Ohio, and working for the Champion Spark Plug Company. Tragically, he died in 1937 when he was struck by a racing car out of control at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during tryouts. He and his wife are buried in Toledo.

Hulda A. Rohde (Moore) (1889-1967) was the youngest daughter of Gustav and Dorothea. She was born in Saginaw, where she lived all of her life. In 1911 she went to Germany with her older sister Edna. She finished 2 years of college and in 1920 she was a public school teacher. In 1921, she married Horace Moore (1884-1980), a toolmaker. They had 1 daughter Elaine Anne (Pettis) (1922-2010). Hulda and Horace are both buried in Roselawn Cemetery in Saginaw.

The youngest of the 5 surviving children was my grandfather Erwin Fredrick Rohde (1893-1964). I have written about his life in the page on my grandparents.