Catherine Elisabeth Orth (1825-1897)

Catherine Elisabeth Orth was born on 16 Mar 1825 in Holienroth, Nassau, Germany, as the child of Jost Henrich Ort and Elisabeth Margarethe Ross.¹

When she was 22, she married Ludwig Stolp, son of Johann Christianus Stalp and Sophie Margarethe Goebel, on 28 Nov 1847 in Nassau, Prussia.

Ludwig Stolp and Catherine Elisabeth Orth had the following children:

1. William Stolp was born on 08 Jan 1849 in Germany. He died on 21 Sep 1871 in a threshing accident at Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois.
2. Adolph Edward “Ed” Stolp was born on 28 Nov 1850 in Germany. He died on 28 Sep 1903 in Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois. He married Nettie May Clark on 16 Feb 1875 in De Kalb, Illinois.
3. Amelia Stolp was born on 01 Aug 1855 in Germany. She died on 23 Mar 1915 in Boulder, Boulder, Colorado. She married William M Cluphf on 04 Jul 1875 in Kendall, Illinois.
4. Louis L Stolp was born on 17 Mar 1858 in Yorkville, Kendall, Illinois. He died on 13 Apr 1909 in Orange, California (Age: 51). He married Louise A Hubbell on 29 Sep 1896 in Illinois.
5. Theodore Stolp was born on 26 Nov 1860 in Yorkville, Kendall, Illinois. He died on 24 Oct 1927 in Big Rock, Kane, Illinois (Age: 66). He married Hattie E Diamond on 10 Oct 1881 in De Kalb, Illinois.
6. Louise Stalp was born on 16 Sep 1862 in Yorkville, Kendall, Illinois. She died on 08 Aug 1919 in Little Rock Township near Plano, Kendall, Illinois, USA (Age: 57). She married Herman Herold on 21 Apr 1881 in De Kalb, Illinois.
7. Caroline Stolp was born on 06 Oct 1863 in Yorkville, Kendall, Illinois. She died on 15 Mar 1908 in Hinckley, De Kalb, Illinois, USA. She married John F. Nehring on 02 Sep 1882 in De Kalb, Illinois, USA.
8. Julia Stolp was born on 03 Mar 1865 in Little Rock, Kendall, Illinois. She died on 01 Apr 1933 in Naperville, DuPage, Illinois (Age: 68). She married Christian Hable on 31 Mar 1886 in De Kalb, Illinois.
9. John S Stolp was born on 13 Oct 1867 in Yorkville, Kendall, Illinois. He died on 24 Apr 1902 in Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois. He married Lida Rafferty on 02 Oct 1891.
10. Henry Stolp was born in Oct 1869 in Somonauk, De Kalb, Illinois. He died about 1870 in Somonauk, De Kalb, Illinois.
11. Mary Stolp was born on 06 Apr 1871 in Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois. She died on 15 May 1915 in Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois. She married Frank Palmer Miller on 29 Dec 1897 in Somonauk, De Kalb, Illinois.

Catherine and Ludwig started their married life in Germany.  A few years into their marriage, they and their children William, Adolph and Amelia (sometimes spelled Emilie) left from Bremen, Germany aboard the Isverland to immigrate to America. It was probably a difficult voyage for Catherine as she tried to care for her two sons who were eight and six-years old, and for her infant daughter. Steerage, or “between deck,” passengers had little space and no privacy. The whole family would have had to share a single wooden bunk on the ship. There were 212 between-deck passengers, including the Stolp family, who had so share the space. But, the family safely arrived in New York on 5 Aug 1856. From there, they made their way to Illinois.

In the United States, the name was sometimes spelled Stalp and sometimes spelled Stolp. Some descendants adopted the Stalp spelling and others the Stolp spelling.

Ludwig and Catherine were residents of Somonauk, De Kalb, Illinois for one year after their arrival in America. They then lived in Yorkville, Kendall, Illinois for eleven years. By the time of the 1870 Federal Census, they were settled on their own farm in De Kalb County, north of Sandwich, Illinois. The family had grown a lot by then.

While 1871 brought the joy of the birth of their last daughter, it also brought sorrow. Their youngest son, Henry, who was born in 1869, died sometime around 1870 and their oldest son, William, only 22-years old, died in a threshing accident on 21 Sep 1871. In the following years, Catherine saw her children marry. Adolph Edward and Amelia both married in 1875, so the grandchildren started arriving in 1876. Through the next years there were many weddings and births to celebrate.

Catherine even made her own land purchases. Or, maybe they just decided that some of the land should be purchased in her name. On 20 Sep 1880, she bought about 38-acres of land from her son Ed and his wife, Nettie.

Catherine was widowed when Ludwig Stolp died on 20 Oct 1894 in Plano, Kendall, Illinois. Her husband died suddenly, but it took years to settle his estate. As the widow, she was entitled to a third of the property. The rest was divided among her nine living children. A land transaction dated 13 Sep 1895 and the probate accounting indicate that the children sold their portion of the real estate back to their mother for $10,600, so that she could keep the farm after their father’s death.

Catherine Elisabeth Orth Stolp died on 14 Dec 1897 in rural Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois. She was 72-years old. She was buried, with her husband and other family members, in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Sandwich, De Kalb, Illinois.

After Catherine’s death, the family again spent years working through the probate process. Because she owned property, the process to settle her estate was as lengthy and complicated as it had been to settle her husband’s affairs. Catherine’s estate was split between her nine children.

The heirs of Ludwig and Catherine sold the farm to the youngest daughter Mary and her husband Frank Palmer Miller, thus keeping it in the family.

Where is she in the tree?

¹ Information about Catherine’s parents, birth, and marriage date comes largely from another family researcher, Cathy Mellor. The source records were available, in the past, on microfilm at LDS Family History Libraries.

Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006), www.ancestry.com, Year: 1856. Record for Ludwig Stalp.

Ancestry.com, 1860 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009), ancestry.com, Year: 1860; Census Place: Fox, Kendall, Illinois; Roll: M653_194; Page: 202; Image: 223; Family History Library Film: 803194.

Ancestry.com, Selected U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), www.ancestry.com, Census Year: 1870; Census Place: Somonauk, DeKalb, Illinois.

Ancestry.com, 1870 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003), www.ancestry.com, Original data – Ninth Census of the United States, 1870. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1870. Somonauk, DeKalb, Illinois, post office Somonauk, roll 215, page 535, image 394.

Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1880 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005), www.ancestry.com, Year: 1880; Census Place: Somonauk, DeKalb, Illinois; Roll: 202; Page: 196A; Enumeration District: 039. Name: Luduyg Stalk [Ludwig Stolp].

Ancestry.com, Illinois, Wills and Probate Records, 1772-1999 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Ancestry.com, Illinois, Dekalb County, Probate Records; Author: Illinois. Circuit Court (Dekalb County); Probate Place: DeKalb, Illinois. Record for Ludwig Stalp.

Katharine Stalp, “Illinois, DeKalb County Land Records, 1838-1927,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8938-99WD-P?cc=2043772&wc=QDK8-BVP%3A349546601%2C349548301 : 1 August 2016), Indexes > Grantee index vol H 1894-1902 > image 168 of 201; County Clerk and Recorder, Sycamore., Family Search – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (familysearch.org).

“Illinois, DeKalb County Land Records, 1838-1927,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G938-994K-C?cc=2043772&wc=QDK8-BG5%3A349546701%2C349580601 : 20 May 2014), Land and property records > Deed record vol 99 1898-1901 > image 398 of 642; County Clerk and Recorder, Sycamore., Family Search – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, discussion list (familysearch.org).