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My Great Grandfather Joseph Opferkuch was born March 25 1830 in Wasseralfingen Wuerttemberg Germany. His mother (Maria) Crescentia Gunther and his father Josef were both Catholics.
His parents moved to Seitsberg where his father worked as a farm laborer. A son Johannes was born Nov. 1833.
His father Josef died in October 1834 leaving Crescentia a widow with two small boys. My Great Grandfather was about 41/2 and his brother, Johannes was a baby of about 1 year. This must have been a very difficult time for her. Crescentia returned to Wasseralfingen to live with her family. Joahannes died in Wasseralfingen 1856 at the age of 22 from pneumonia. Crescentia died May 1856. As Joseph was in Toronto, Canada in 1856, he may not have know of the death of his brother and mother.
Joseph's birth record is the only one I have of him in Germany. Next record is in Toronto Dec. 1856, and he is married to Eva Rosina Koehler and working as an iron moulder.
Eva Rosina Koehler came from a well-to-do family. Overcoming great odds they married--he a poor Catholic boy and she from a rich Lutheran family.
After a few years in Toront they bought a large brick building on King St. East in Toronto Ontario Living quarters were on the two top floors and the bottom floor was a grocery store which Eva ran. A very modern lady for her time, Eva was well educated, keeping the accounts, able to speak German English and Yiddish. This added to the sucess of the store as there were Jewish neighbours. In 1906 at the age of 76 she was still operating the store.
They raised 4 girls and a boy there. The oldest child Mary Opferkuch born April 27 1857 was one of the first to be baptized in the Evangelical Lutheran Church (German) on Bond St. which opened for service in August 1857. Although Joseph was Catholic he liked to attend this church as the sermon was in German and he could converse with friends in German there. Eva Rosina was Lutheran but did not attend very regularly, possibly because of household duties and care of the store.
Joseph developed a smelting process that saved the St. Lawrence Foundry a good deal of money. He was paid a large sum of money for this enabling him to buy property at 65 and 67 Princess St. and build two houses. His son William, and family lived in one and his daughter Rosina Warlow, and family lived in the other.
Joseph died Jan. 13 1903 at age 73. Eva Rosina von Koehler Opferkuch died Nov 28 1911 at age 81. She converted to Catholicism shortly after Joseph died so she could be buried with him at Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery Toronto Ont. Canada
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