The following is based on research of Arndt Richter, which has no documentation [1]
1526 Johann Balthasar Orth was born, perhaps in Bingen, in 1526. [2]
1555 Johann Balthasar Orth was a chaplain [at Kirn]. [3]
1555 Johann Balthasar Orth married Maria. They had 9 children. [4]
1560-69 Johann Balthasar Orth was pastor [at Kirn]. [5]
1566 Jacob Orth, son of Balthasar Orth, was baptized at Kirn, Germany in 1566. [6]
1569 Johann Balthasar Orth died on May 1 at Kirn/Nahe, Germany. [7]
Three persons have been proposed as the father of Johann Balthasar Orth [8]
a) Jacob Orth III-1 [9], son of Johann II-1
b) Balthasar Orth III-8 [10], son of Ludwig II-5
c) Jacob Orth III-26 [11], son of Nikolaus II-7
All three are grandsons of Antonius Orth I-1 [12].
The prayer book of the Kirner priest Balthasar Orth (1526-1569), was found in a 15th Century nunnery in the Rhine and suggests that his son, Jacob (1150 at Kirn - 1602 at Merxheim), could be the Jacob Orth (1556 at Kirn - after 1608 at Merxheim) shown at this website as a son, although the children of Jacob may not agree. A description, translated from German [google] from parts of an owner's website [13] follows:
They arrived over the Count Salm in Kirn on the Nahe in the hands of the pastor's family Orth. His grandson, she has taken with the wind home. When he died in the 30-year war, and had no children, the manuscript came into the Windsheimer library. ... The prayer book contains numerous entries of the pastor's family Orth. ... It's about Balthasar Orth (1526-69) from Kirn, Jacob Orth (1550-1602) and his wife from Kirn and their children and grandchildren in Windsheim. It is a Decorated manuscript on parchment, written in German and Latin. The book may have originated in a Rhenish nunnery and was owned by Balthasar Orth (1526-1569), his death is recorded by his son. Jacob Orth (1550-1602) from Kirn: entries to his life, he was appointed pastor at Kirn 1577, he married Catharina ball hard on the 1578 Kyrburg and births and deaths of his children from 1577 to 1592. In 1578 he baptized Otto, game and Rheingraf, The son of Otto I, wild and Rheingraf on Kyrburg, and his wife Anna von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg. In 1579, they were godparents of the son of Otto Jacob Orth. The names of the cousins of Otto I, Frederick, game and Rheingraf, Duke of Salm-Vinstingen (1547-1608) and his brother Adolf Heinrich von Dhaun (1557-1606) also appear, dated 1578 and 1579. The name of her father, Philip Francis (1518-1561) also appears. The book was then owned by Otto Orth, Jacob's eldest son (1579-1631). Windsheim records the death of his father and brother, to his arrival in Windsheim 1611, the births and deaths of his children from 1612 to 1626, the death of his wife in 1622. The last entry of 1631 recorded Otto's death. The entry was made by William Orth, a grandson of Balthasar Orth, who lived in Remlingen (1594-1657).
A description of the prayer book from an auction site reports [14]:
2. Probably Balthasar Orth (1526-1569): his death recorded by his son on f.8; certainly Jacob Orth (1550-1602) of Kirn: records of his life, his appointment as parish priest of Kirn in 1577, his marriage to Catharina Kugelhart in 1578 at Kyrburg and the births, and some deaths, of his children from 1577-1592 on ff.296-303v. In 1578 he baptised Otto, Wild- und Rheingraf, the son of Otto I, Wild- und Rheingraf of Kyrburg and his wife, Anna of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg, who acted as godparents for his own son, Otto, in 1579. The names of Otto I's second cousins, Friedrich, Wild- und Rheingraf, count of Salm-Vinstingen (1547-1608) and his brother, Adolf Heinrich of Dhaun (1557-1606), appear on ff.4 and 1, dated 1578 and 1579 respectively. The name of their father, Philip Franz (1518-1561) also appears on f.1 but not clearly in the hand of the date. His name may have been given posthumously or Balthasar Orth may already have been on close terms with the family.
3. Otto Orth, Jacob's eldest son (1579-1631), of Windsheim: records of his father's and brother's deaths ff.9, 304, his arrival in Windsheim as apothecary in 1611, the births and deaths of his children 1612-1626, the death of his wife 1622 ff.302-313v.
4. Sebastian Orth (b.1619, Otto's only surviving child: record of his father's death f.314.
[1] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 1.
[2] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 8, person IV-43.
[3] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 8.
[4] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 8.
[5] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 8.
[6] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 12, Person V-31.
[7] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 8.
[8] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 85.
[9] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 2.
[10] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 3.
[11] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 5.
[12] Arndt Richter, Entwurf einer Stammliste zur Marburger Familie Orth, 1.
[13] http://juergenbuch.de/verleger/, Website of Jürgen Buch, is now broken.
[14] The book was auctioned at Christies in 2005, [URL].