Chapter 8: The Wirth‑Goettl Families

No other family has been so deeply intertwined with the Harry Family as were the Wirth’s from Nelson.[1] Two Wirth sisters married two of John and Annie Harry’s sons. A third Wirth sister married a son of Fred and Carrie Harry.

The Wirth-Goettl Families came from Siefersheim and St. Johanne in the Rheinhessen area of Germany. The Wirths migrated to Williamsport, PA and the Goettls migrated to Bloomer, Wisconsin. Jacob Wirth came west and settled in Arkansas in the area now containing the town of Wirth.

Edward B. Wirth

Edward B. Wirth was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He married Dorothy Brown on September 5, 1865 at Williamsport, PA., in a ceremony performed by a Justice of the Peace. Dorothy, who would be known as Dora in the family, was born on November 22, 1844. When the family lived in Williamsport in Lycoming County, they lived on Tucker Street.

Their marriage would produce eight children according to Civil War Army pension records, although only seven names are now known. Henry Joseph was born on March 19, 1867 and he would have 6 children. John Jacob was born on April 15, 1869 and would also have 6 children. Mary Elizabeth (Lizzie Somers) would marry and have three daughters. Edward Albert would have five children while his brother George Philip would have one daughter. Theresa Dora, was born on June 12, 1870 and would have seven children in her marriage. Amelia Margaret would marry and have six children.[2]

At the age of 26, Ed interrupted his work as a laborer to fight in the Civil War. He enter the 143rd PA Inf. Div. Company C, I 143) at Williamsport, PA. on September 21, 1863 for a three year stint. He was listed as standing 5’7″, was light complected, had blue eyes and dark hair.

Ed was captured on May 5, 1864 in Wilderness, VA, the same day and battle in which Hermann Heri, who emigrated from Switzerland to New York, was killed. Edward was held, according to family tradition,[3] at the infamous Andersonville Prison Camp for 18 months, while the Company Muster Roll indicated he was “absent, sick in U.S. Gen. Hosp” and other Army records indicated he was paroled at Charleston, S.C. on December 6, 1864. He reported at Camp Parole, Maryland on December 15, 1864.[4]

Andersonville will forever be known as the most notorious prison camp of the Civil War.[5] The only water supply was also the only means of sewage disposal. Stockade Creek flowed through the prison yard. The creek was too small to serve both purposes for so many people, and it soon became one of the primary causes of illness and death for prisoners. In August 1865 a heavy thunderstorm washed the pen clean of human waste. According to legend, lightning struck the ground and a spring burst forth. The prisoners named it “Providence Spring,” thinking it was the answer to their prayers.[6]

This is where Ed Wirth would spend part of his military service as a prisoner. Later in a petition to increase his disability pay, Edward would write “my first pension was for hemorrhoids and rheumatism contracted while I was a Prisioner (sic)… [the rest is either illegible or missing].”

Edward was mustered out at Annapolis, Maryland by reason of general order #77WDAE 1865 on June 3, 1865 with an honorable discharge. A telegram dated War Department May 30, 1865 allowed three months extra pay. He was due $2.77 for transportation. His records also list $45.63 for clothing in kind or money advanced.

Edward had studied medicine one year before joining the Union Army.

The “Declaration for Original Invalid Pension” indicated his height as 5’7″ and possessing a fair complexion. Most interesting is the declaration that Edward was “unable to furnish medical testimony showing his condition [illegible] the following reasons [illegible] the reason that both the physicians [illegible] treated me for piles are dead. The first was Dr. Lambs who treated me for piles in 1865 died.” His medical records are quite detailed![7]

Edward and Dora moved from Williamsport to Reading, PA, and then to Kansas in 1867. Twenty years and two children later, the family would move to Mammoth Spring in the County of Fulton, Arkansas. The Arkansas town was renamed to honor Edward B. Wirth.[8] Relatives were believed to be living in Wirth, Arkansas as late as 1978.

Although Edward apparently provided some form of medical assistance to the people of the area, later records show that he was “unable to perform a full days work of any kind.” Edward B. Wirth died on January 10, 1917.

When Dora applied for the pension, true to the family tradition, her name caused problems. She first had to swear that she was the one listed variously as Dorthy, Dorthey, Dorothea, and Dora and had to then attach her correct name to her statement. She did begin receiving a widow’s pension of $20 each month beginning on February 3, 1917, increased to $25 per month in October of that year. A government act on May 23, 1928 raised the monthly payment to $40 on June 4, 1928. Dora died in Williamsport, PA on December 14, 1937. On January 3, 1938, son George Wirth requested the Veteran’s Administration pay for her funeral expenses “as she did not leave any funds to bury her with.” The final item in Edward B. Wirth’s pension file at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. is a pension check envelope which was returned to the government with the notation “deceased” written across it.

Henry Wirth

Henry Wirth was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on May 22, 1846 and spent his early life there.

Trained as a blacksmith, Henry migrated to the Chippewa falls, Wisconsin area when he learned that the logging business was booming in the area of Wisconsin around the Mississippi River. While in the Chippewa Falls and Bloomer area, he met Bertha Goettl. They were married in the Catholic Church in Chippewa Falls. They took up residence in Drywood, WI.

Following the birth of three children, Henry and Bertha separated. After Bertha adjusted to living alone and was doing okay, Henry returned. According to Clara Susan Wirth Maassen, “Bertha was a nagger and Henry liked to nip a bit; so getting the two together was bound to cause some troubled times.”[9]

At some point, the Wirths moved to Nelson, WI. Henry worked as a blacksmith for the Mississippi River Logging Company (MRL), a Weyerhauser company. When the logging works moved from the Nelson-Alma area, he moved with the company. He bought the house from the logging company that is still standing on their farm on the main road between Nelson and Alma.

The logging company moved from the Nelson-Alma area to West Newton, and Henry was a blacksmith there. The family continued to live in the house in Nelson while Henry commuted back and forth. When Ann and Liz were older, they used to work as cooks at West Newton. Clara would sometimes go down there and stay with them. When she was there, she would spend a lot of time with her dad in his blacksmith shop. She would pump the bellows for the forge for him. West Newton is reconstructed at Carson Park in Eau Claire, WI. Artifacts from the West Newton blacksmith shop can also be seen on the Julius C. Wilkie, an old paddle wheel steamboat tied up at Winona, MN and at the Suliman’s Museum in Wabasha, MN. It is pretty safe that any of the artifacts come from Henry Wirth as he was the only blacksmith West Newton had.

While he was working for the Beef Slough Logging Company of the Weyerhauser Lumber Company, Henry Wirth was an excellent blacksmith and invented a series of chains to connect the logs. He received very little money for his invention.