Source:Lucas, Wilma. Warthan, Warthen, Worthen Family

The WARTHAN, WARTHEN, WORTHEN Family

Our Warthan/Warthen family which originated in Maryland should not be confused with the Worthen family from Massachusetts, many of whom are also living in Indiana. In Maryland our name is found both as Warthan and Warthen, and as Warthen when they were living in Ohio. The first Worthen spelling appears after they moved to Hartford City in 1847. The portion of our family that remained in Hartford City continued using the Worthen spelling, while the family members moving on to Iowa retained the correct original Warthen spelling.

1. NICHOLAS WARTHAN/WARTHEN, b. 10 June 1786, either in Prince Georges or Ann Arundel County in Maryland. Nicholas is our earliest Warthen ancestor for whom we have documented proof of relationship. However, over the past thirty-four years, David Warthen of San Francisco and his cousin Ted Warthen of Las Vegas, Nevada, have been researching their Gr-Gr-Grand-father Theodore Frederick Warthen born in Maryland in 1782 and his brother Alban Warthen, also born in Maryland. Evidence they have found indicates Nicholas was probably a brother to Theodore and Alban.

Their research has found that Nicholas, after 1788, was in Montgomery County, Md (now Washington, D.C.), later moved north between Rockville and Sugarloaf Mountain near Fredericks County, MD border, and in 1820 .was in Middletown Valley area in Fredericks County.

In 1817 Nicholas married Elizabeth Spurling, daughter of Jeremiah Spurling of Fair¬fax County, Virginia. They married in a Lutheran church in Lovettsville, Virginia and resided in Fredericks County, MD. Nicholas and Elizabeth had three daughters and one son between 1817 and 1824. Elizabeth died probably around 1830, after which Nicholas remarried in 1832 to Henrietta Maria Mitchell in Fredericks County where they had one daughter in 1833. By April 1834 Nicholas had moved with his family to Newton Twp., Licking County, Ohio, following the earlier moves of both Theodore and Alban Warthen also to Licking County in Newton Twp.

Alban Warthen moved to Licking County in 1810, where in 1833 he was murdered and his body found in a canal near Newark, Ohio. Theodore Warthen had moved to Licking Co. by 1822. He died there in 1857.

In 1836 a bench warrant for Nicholas arrest, in connection with some stolen wheat, was issued in Licking County but he was "out of the county" and could not be arrested. This was probably when he moved to Perry County, OH, 25 miles from his Licking County home. Three children were born to him and Henrietta from 1839 to 1846 in Perry County, Ohio. In 1847 Nicholas moved with his family to Blackford County, Hartford City, Indiana, where he stayed until 1856 when he once again moved with Henrietta and four of their children to Chickasaw County, Iowa. His five older children remained in Hartford City. By then Nicholas was physically unable to continue his shoemaking trade or to farm, and his wife Henrietta had become deaf and walked with a cane or crutches. They depended on their son Emanuel for support until his death in 1864 as the result of illness contracted while serving in the Civil War in Arkansas.

Nicholas died 13 July 1872 in Chickasaw Co., Iowa, and in 1881 Henrietta began receiving Emanuel’s Civil War pension for which Nicholas had made application twelve years earlier. Attached copies of the pension applications and verification letters indicate Nicholas and Henrietta lived in abject poverty in their later years although conditions were very often exaggerated in the applications in order to receive these pensions. Pearl Warthen of Calmar, Iowa contributed much of the Iowa information.

Nicholas was said to be tall, well built, with red hair, as were several members of the Theodore and Alban families. Also the names Perry and Alban were found in all the families. All the above information found by David and Ted Warthen over the past thirty-plus years indicates a very close relationship between Nicholas, Theodore and Alban.

NICHOLAS and ELIZABETH SPURLING's children were: 1-1. Daughter , b. 1818/1819, Fredericks Co., Md.

• 2. JAMES PERRY WARTHEN. b. 20 June 1820, Fredericks Co., Md. (See add'l. info, below)

3. Daughter_______, b. c!822, Fredericks Co., Md. 4. Agatha Warthen, b. 1823/4, Fredericks Co., Md., m. Daniel Foreman 1844. (Four above children, plus Annexielle Warthen, remained in Hartford City, IN) Nicholas and 2nd wife Henrietta Mitchell's children: 5. Annexielle Warthen, b.1833 Fredericks Co., Md, m. David H.F. Stout 1849. 6. Emanuel Warthen, b. 30 Apr 1834, Licking Co., OH. Enlisted early in 1864 in Civil War from Minnesota. His regiment was sent to Arkansas where he became ill and was sent home to his parents house in Chickasaw County, Iowa, where he died 8 Oct 1864, age 30. He never married. 7. Benjamin Warthen, b. 27 Aug 1839, Perry Co., OH, d. 1917 Chickasaw, Iowa; on 7 Sep 1862 m. Amy Norena Hewitt in Iowa b. 111. in 1847, d. 1930 Chickasaw County. Their children were: 1-7-1. Enoch Warthen, b. 1861 2. Franklin Henry Warthen, b. 1870 3. Ezra James Warthen, b. 1872 4. Albin Clark Warthen, b. 1877 5. Perry Warthen, b. 1879 6. James Warthen, b. 1885 . 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. - 5 daughters, names unknown. All Warthens presently living in NE Iowa, and around Sparta, Wisconsin, are said to be descendants of Benjamin and Amy Warthen. 8.,Susannah Warthen, b. 12 Dec 1841, Perry Co., OH, m. Micholaus Bender 1864, Iowa. 9. Mary C. Warthen, b. 24 May 1846, Perry Co., OH, m. Basil Gardner 1860, Iowa. 1-2. JAMES PERRY WARTHEN. b. 20 June 1820, Fredericks Co., Md, moved with his father and step-mother first to Licking Co., Ohio, then to Perry Co., Ohio, then finally on to Hartford City, In in 1847, where he worked at a spoke factory and resided until his death on 22 Oct 1904. His father, step-mother and their four youngest children moved on to Chickasaw Co., Iowa in 1857. On 2 Nov 1848 James Perry Worthen married Elizabeth Snider/Snyder b. 13 Aug 1826 Stark Co., OH, daughter of Joseph and Mary Snyder of Upland, In. Elizabeth died 6 Dec 1910, both are buried in IOOF Cemetery in Hartford City. Their children were: 1-2-1. Joseph Worthen, b. 1849 Hartford City, d. 26 May 1893 Montpelier, In. He married Melissa b. 1847, d. 22 Sep 1896 in Montpelier. Their children: 1-2-1-1. Eliz.(Lizzie) Worthen, b 1876, d 1 June 1894, Montpelier. 2. Rosa Worthen, b 1880, d 26 Auq 1896, Montpelier. 3. Jacob 4. Arthur V 5. Charles- lived in Sydney, OH 1-2-2. Mary Jane Worthen (Aunt Molly) b March 1851, d , Hartford City; m 1871 to.Jacob White. They owned and operated a hotel and dining room

      in Hartford City. 

1-2-3. John Wesley Worthen, b 7 Aug 1857, d 2 Apr 1912 in Hartford City; m. 12 Mar 1885 to Ella Awilda Albright b 13 Sep 1861 Darke Co., Ohio, d 17 Feb 1933 Hartford City. Their children were:

1-2-3-1. Harry Edgar Worthen, b 26 May 1888, Hartford City, m Lena Jacobs. 2. Fred P. Worthen, b 12 Jan 1891, d 21 Dec 1953, H.C., m Mildren Chapman on 15 June 1909. 3. Phillip Holland Worthen, b 13 July 1900 B.C. 4. Lucille Catherine Worthen, b 13 Dec 1904. 1-2-4. James Oscar Worthen, b 22 Nov 1859, d 16 Jan 1903, H.C., m Viola___ b Jan 1867. James O. admitted to Blackford Co. infirmary 3 Oct 1900, insane, • dismissed 4 Oct 1900. Divorced in 1900. They had one daughter: 1-2-4-1. Delight Worthen, b Nov 1886, B.C. 1-2-5. Marvie/Marvel/Marvin Worthen, b 1861/2 H.C. 1-2-6. Emma Ada Worthen, b July 1863 H.C., m Charles Reed b Oct 1862 H.C. Their children were: 1-2-6-1. Fred O. Reed, b Dec 1882, H.C. 2. Carl O. Reed, b Mar 1884 H.C. 3. Eddie H. Reed, b Oct ,1886 H.C. 4.;Walter F. Reed, b Oct 1886 H.C. 5. Edith B. Reed, b Aug 1889 H.C. 6. Crystal Reed, b Nov 1894 H.C.

• 1-2-7. WILLIAM ALFRED WORTHEN. b 12 Sep 1886 B.C., d 17 Feb 1941 H.C., house painter and paper hanger, m (1) Anna B. Sleeth, (3) Delia , (2) Mattie Jane Klinger on 30 May 1897; Mattie Jane b 5 Apr 1878 Preble Co., OH, d 20 Mar 1910 B.C., daughter of Samuel Klinger and Eliza Ann Piles/Pyles (Hector). Both were Methodist Episcopal and both buried loof Cem. in Hartford City. Their children were: 1-2-7-1. Lawrence Alfred Worthen, b 28 Apr 1898, d 6 June 1898.

2. MABEL MARIE WORTHEN. b 1 July 1899 H.C., d 13 Mar 1978 age 78 in Muncie, In. She was not quite 11 years old when her mother died, and when her father married his third wife shortly thereafter, he sent her (Mabel to work and board at her aunt Mary Jane White-s

hotel and dining room. At age 18 she was working at a candy store in Muncie where she was introduced to August Haas by his very good friend, Ed Dowling. She and August were married on 23 Mar 1917 in Muncie. He was born 29 Aug 1894 in Defiance, OH, son of Henry Haas and Caroline Whetstone. After his father died in 1904, he moved with his mother and older brother, Valentine, closer to his Grand¬father Whetstone near Stryker, OH, where they lived in a log cabin. He often told the story of snow blowing between the logs and having to shake it off his blankets in the morning- also of "skinny-dipping" in the river, probably either the Maumee or Auglaize when he lived in Defiance, and being forced to learn to high dive because people came too close to where he was standing with no clothes on. He was a veteran of WWI, Musician 2nd Class, playing clarinet, on at least one occasion under the direction of John Philip Souza. He died on 17 July 1943 at age 49. Both are buried in Elm Ridge Cem., Muncie, Indiana. Their children are:

1-2-7-2-1. Living as of 8 Dec 2007

1-2-7-2-2. Norma Louise Haas, b 13 Oct 1919 Muncie; on 29 May 1943

1-2-7-2-3, Olive Jean Haas\, b 25 Apr 1921 Muncie; Veteran of WWII _________________; m (1) James Field Muncie 1940, (2) Walter Most, 1946 Hawaii, (3) Joseph Hanson on 17 Dec 1963 Virginia City, CA, b 21 Oct 1917 Mineunk, suburb of Phila., PA, son of Alexander Hanson and Loretta Ann Kroze. Olive and Walter Most had one daughter:

1-2-7-2-4 Marjorie Ruth Haas, b 16 Juno 1923 Muncie. Veteran of WWII, USNR(W), Mailman 2nd Class, San Francisco Fleet Post Office. On 8 Apr 1945 m Frank B. Van Couwenberghe, San Francisco, b 6 Aug 1920 Hoboken, N.J., son of Eenoit Van Couwenberghe and Florentine Van de Vyver, and veteran of WWII, U.S. Coast Guard, Seaman 1st Class, San Francisco Bay Area ship patrol. They had 3 children

1-2-7-3 William Franklin Worthen, b 28 Feb 1902 in H.C., d 13 Jan 1986 Lafay-1-2-7-3.ette, IN. On 17 Mar 1928 m Maudella Luzzader, b________ They had four children

1-2-7-4. Margureite Neoma Worthen, b 23 Feb 1906 Hartford City, IN, d 15 May 1971. On 14 July 1928 m Harold Atha b _______ d 1960.

Research by Wilma Lucas

The original pamphlet consisted of four typewritten pages. I have removed data for living persons.

The original copy of the pamphlet is in the collections of Robbhaas.