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Sophia and Edwin Detwiler

Sophia Henrietta Wesemann was probably born on 12 September 1871. Her death certificate gives that day; the year rests on the 1900 census, on her age of nine in 1880, and on the spacing of the children, since a birth in September 1872 would put her only seven months before her sister Mathilda.

On 22 November 1904 Sophia married Edwin Harrold Detwiler at Philadelphia. Edwin was born on 28 October 1879 at East Fairfield, Columbiana County, Ohio, the son of Jacob Nold Detwiler and Susan Harrold. The minister, whose signature reads J. Wesley Ankins or Aukins, was probably the Rev. J. Wesley Harkins, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal churches of Erie Avenue and then Wissinoming in north Philadelphia in those years. He also married Sophia’s brother George to Mary Knoll in 1907, with Edwin as a witness.

The couple spent the first years of their marriage in Philadelphia. Their son E. Harold Detwiler, born on 1 November 1907, died at 2935 N. 6th Street on 23 March 1911, aged three; a coroner’s jury found pneumonia, and he was buried at Hillside Cemetery on 25 March. By 1920 the family had moved to Columbiana, Edwin’s home county in Ohio, and they stayed. Every census from 1920 to 1950 finds Edwin and Sophia in Columbiana or Fairfield Township around it. Edwin worked in “advertising” at a machine shop in 1920. From 1930 he was a job printer, in 1940 the owner of a print shop working thirty hours a week for twenty-six weeks of the year, and in 1942, when he registered for the draft, self-employed at his home address.

ChildBirthDeathMarried
Miriamabout 1906, Pennsylvania(1) Allen; (2) Willard John Schweikert, 1 June 1933
E. Harold1 November 190723 March 1911, Philadelphia
Daniel Kennethprobably 8 June 1910, Philadelphia1 February 2003Mary Carter
Philip G.about 19122002
Franklin Jacob20 April 191423 December 1974Jessie Loretta Bauer

In 1930 Miriam, 23 and divorced, was back in her parents’ house as Miriam Allen, with her son, Robert Earl Allen, four. On 1 June 1933 she married Willard John Schweikert, a clerk, the son of William G. Schweikert and Sophia Hoffman, in Columbiana County; the Rev. David Smith Lamb performed the marriage, and the record names her parents as Edwin H. Detwiler and Sophia Wesemann. In 1950 Miriam E. and Walter J. Schweikert lived at Highland Park, Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where he ran his own painting business. Walter J. is probably Willard John: the wife, her age and her parents all match. He is the “Walter” the family remembered as Miriam’s husband.

Daniel Kenneth Detwiler became a dentist; a family album calls him “now Dr.”. That the Kentucky dentist was Sophia’s son is probable, resting on his name, birth date and birthplace, his age and his wife. In 1940 he was in private practice at Eminence, Henry County, Kentucky, with his wife, Mary, and three children. When he registered for the draft there on 16 October 1940 he named W. F. Carter, probably his father-in-law, Dr. William Carter, as the person who would always know his address. Mary Carter Detwiler (1912 or 1913 to 22 October 2004) taught in the Campbellsburg and Eminence schools. They had four children. Bettie Charles Detwiler (1932 to 2018) became a professor of mathematics at Western Kentucky University, and William Farmer Detwiler Sr. lived from 1944 to 2019; their obituaries and their mother’s all call their father Dr. Daniel K. Detwiler. He died on 1 February 2003. One listing places his death at Shelbyville, Shelby County, and the Social Security index places his last residence in Franklin County.

Franklin Jacob Detwiler, the youngest, married Jessie Loretta Bauer, the daughter of Albert and Charlottie Bauer, born on 9 April 1911 at Clarington, Monroe County, Ohio. They spent their married life on a farm near Rogers, Ohio. Jessie died at Boardman on 27 March 2009. Her obituary names four children. The cousin who supplied the family’s two photographs of George and Fredericka was almost certainly one of these grandsons of Sophia’s.

Sophia died at her home at 110 Railroad Street, Columbiana, on 4 February 1953, of cancer of the gallbladder of more than nine months’ standing. Her Ohio death certificate names her parents as George Wesemann and “Frederika Baur.” She was entombed in the Columbiana Mausoleum on 7 February. Edwin died on 11 December 1967 and is buried in Columbiana Cemetery, as are their sons Philip G. and Franklin Jacob.

References

  • FamilySearch. “Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X6PV-22B, Sophia Henrietta Detwiler, born 12 Sept. 1872 [sic], Philadelphia, died 4 Feb. 1953, Salem, Columbiana County, parents George Wesemann and Frederika Baur; and “United States, Census, 1880,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWV7-WS2, Sophia Weseman, 9, in the household of Geo. and Frederca Weseman, Philadelphia.
  • 1900 U.S. Federal Census record, Fredericka Wesemann household, family archive scan. Read the record
  • 1880 U.S. Federal Census record, George and Fredericka Wesemann household, family archive scan. Read the record
  • Marriage certificate (duplicate), no. 180433, Edwin H. Detwiler and Sophia H. Wesemann, Philadelphia, 22 November 1904, family archive transcript Read the record
  • FamilySearch. “United States, Census, 1920,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDLT-PRR; “United States, Census, 1930,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4S2-X9L; “United States, Census, 1940,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KW6Z-35Q; and “United States, Census, 1950,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XBS-CVFL, household of Edwin (H.) Detwiler and Sophia, Columbiana and Fairfield Township, Columbiana County, Ohio; “United States, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X5C3-VMC, Edwin H. Detwiler, born 28 Oct. 1879, Columbiana; “Pennsylvania, Civil Marriages, 1677-1950,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29M-JLN5, Edwin H. Detwiler and Sophia H. Wesemann.
  • Find A Grave memorials 50283584 (Sophie H Wesemann Detwiler, 12 Sep. 1872 – 4 Feb. 1953) and 50283564 (Edwin Harrold Detwiler, 28 Oct. 1879 – 11 Dec. 1967, parents Jacob Nold Detwiler and Susan Harrold), Columbiana Cemetery, Columbiana, Ohio, findagrave.com, read 24 Sept. 2026; and FamilySearch, “Find a Grave Index,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVL8-QXM7 (Phillip G. Detwiler, 1912–2002) and ark:/61903/1:1:QVL8-QXMM (Franklin Jacob Detwiler, 20 Apr. 1914 – 23 Dec. 1974), Columbiana.
  • The Wesemann Family Bible, illuminated marriage-certificate keepsake page, family archive scan, 2026.
  • Minutes of the Philadelphia Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, volumes for 1902–1905 and 1906–1909: stationing lists, statistical tables and clergy rosters (Rev. J. Wesley Harkins, Erie Avenue and Wissinoming). HathiTrust, full text.
  • FamilySearch. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JD55-6W5, entry for E. Harold Detwiler, born 1 Nov. 1907, died 23 Mar. 1911, parents Edwin Detwiler and Sophia Wesemann.
  • Death record, E. Harold Detwiler, Philadelphia, 1911, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Census record, Edwin Detwiler household, Columbiana, 1920, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Census record, Edwin H. Detwiler household, Columbiana, 1940, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Draft registration (WWII), Edwin H. Detwiler, Columbiana, 1942, family archive transcript Read the record
  • FamilySearch indexes: “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, City Births, 1860-1915” and “Pennsylvania, Births and Christenings, 1709-1950,” Daniel Kenneth Detwiler, born 8 June 1910, parents Edwin H. Detwiler and Sophia H. Weseman Detwiler; “United States, World War II Draft Registration Cards,” Kentucky, 16 Oct. 1940; NUMIDENT and Social Security Death Index, Daniel K. Detwiler, died 1 Feb. 2003.
  • FamilySearch. “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZSY-983, Willard John Schweikert and Miriam Allen, 1 June 1933, Columbiana County, bride’s parents Edwin H. Detwiler and Sophia (indexed “Nesmay”); and “United States, Census, 1950,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XB5-XQQM, Miriam E. and Walter J. Schweikert, Highland Park, Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pa.
  • “Mary Carter Detwiler,” obituary and guest book, Courier-Journal (Louisville), October 2004, via Legacy.com, legacy.com/us/obituaries/louisville/name/mary-detwiler-obituary?id=27263446. Read as text; page not saved.
  • Find A Grave memorials 95140651 (Jessie Loretta Bauer Detwiler, 9 Apr. 1911 – 27 Mar. 2009, with obituary text) and 89763823 (Sgt Franklin Jacob Detwiler, 1914–1974), findagrave.com, read 24 Sept. 2026; and FamilySearch, “United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, Births, and Marriages, 1980-2015,” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVT6-N6T2, Jessie L. Detwiler, Allegheny Times, 29 Mar. 2009.
  • Marriage record, Willard John Schweikert and Miriam Allen, Columbiana County, 1933, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Census record, Walter J. Schweikert household, Upper Darby, 1950, family archive transcript Read the record
  • Wesemann family album pages, set 1, with captions, family archive transcript
  • FamilySearch. “United States, Census, 1940,” Henry County, Kentucky, Magisterial District 1 (Eminence), ED 52-1, sheet 6A, line 13, Dan Detwiler household (K7TZ-3CW, image 16). Read on the image.
  • FamilySearch. “Kentucky, World War II Draft Registration Cards,” QPHD-4FVD, Daniel Kenneth Detwiler (card image unavailable); and “United States, Obituary Records, 2014-2023,” 61XX-KW44, Bettie Charles Detwiler, 2018. Index.
  • Find A Grave memorial 198261098, “William Farmer Detwiler Sr. (1944–2019),” with obituary text (born 11 Nov. 1944 at Shelbyville “to the late Dr. Daniel K. and Mary Detwiler”) and family links to Daniel K Detwiler (1910–2003), Mary Carter Detwiler (1912–2004) and Daniel E. Detwiler (1938–2016), findagrave.com/memorial/198261098. Read as text; page not saved.
  • Ancestry.com, public search page “Daniel Detwiler Family History Records” (user-tree data: Daniel K Detwiler, 8 June 1910 – 1 Feb. 2003, Shelbyville, parents Edwin Harrold Detwiler and Sophia H. Wesemann). User tree; a lead only.
  • Death record, Sophia Henrietta Detwiler, 1953, family archive transcript Read the record