Ira Wolfe and Clara Brenizer were married in Hadam (or Abilene) Kansas, although they were both born in Pennsylvania. The convoluted and uncertain path that led them to this fortunate reunion followed the trials and trails of their families. Ira and Clara were cousins. Ira's mother, Anna Brenizer, and Clara's father, Joseph Ritner Brenizer, were sister and brother. But their sister Caroline Brenizer, who married Joseph Eichelberger, also fits into the story. And the whole story would not hold together without the steady influence of the oldest brother, John Leonard Brenizer. Ira visited Darke County Ohio as a young man, returned to Pennsylvania, and then went to Kansas. Clara moved with her family from Pennsylvania to Darke County Ohio, apparently after Ira had left Darke County, and then moved to Kansas after Ira was already there. How did this come about?
The story is not simple, but it is best to start with their grandparents. Michael Brenizer and Mary Wise, who lived in South Middleton, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania until Michael died at age 36, leaving Mary with 7 children ranging in age from 2 to 14. No wonder that Mary's death record says that she was "the mother of many children". Mary and several of her children lived together prior to her death in 1853. Several of her children eventually moved to Kansas, some with stops in Ohio. Mary's oldest son, John Leonard, married Catherine Mummert and then Beatrice Picking, both from families who lived nearby in Hampton, Reading Township, Adams County, PA. Mary's daughter Caroline married Joseph Eichelberger, from a family with long roots in the area. The youngest three children; Joanna (Ira's mother, who later called herself Anna) and two twins with the wonderful names Lafayette and Washington, lived at home with their mother Mary until at least 1850 and were still minors at the time of her death in 1853. Sometime between 1850 and 1853, Mary moved from South Middleton to Hampton, where John Leonard then lived. When Mary died, John Leonard was named as executor of Mary's estate, along with his in-law Picking. A guardian was named for the minors Lafayette and Washington when their mother died. Although Joanna was only 19 at that time, there is no record of her status as a minor. In the 1860 census, Joanna was married to Joseph Chronister, Levi's younger brother and Ira (Chronister) is listed as their son at age 6. They lived in Hampton in 1860. No record has been found of the birth of Ira or the marriage of Joanna and Joseph Chronister, but it is clear that Joanna (Annie) Brenizer was Ira's mother. Sometime after 1860, Caroline and Joseph Eichelberger moved to Darke County, Ohio and raised a family there. Their move might have motivated the later movements of other family members to Darke County Ohio. As a young man, Joseph Ritner Brenizer (Clara's father) started a trade as millwright. Joseph married Sarah Weigle and started to raise a family in the Reading Pennsylvania area and Clara was born in 1862. Joseph and Sarah Brenizer and their children moved to Darke, Co, Ohio sometime between 1860 and 1870. George Brenizer, the brother of Joseph, Caroline, and Anna, apparently remained in Pennsylvania and does not fit into the story further.
The life of Joseph Chronister, wife Annie Brenizer Chronister, and Ira Chronister included several upheavals. Joseph went off to the Civil War while Ira was young. Confederate soldiers swept through Hampton twice while Joseph was at war. As a young man, Ira left home on foot to go to the Eichelberger farm in Ohio. After some travels, Ira returned to PA for a teaching certificate. Ira then went to Kansas in about 1870 with neighbor Wes Howard. In Kansas, Ira Wolfe married Mattie Lott in 1876 but, sadly, was widowed within a year.
Some time after 1870, John Leonard Brenizer sold his house in Hampton, PA and moved to Kansas. Joseph Chronister's family left Reading for Kansas after 1870 and his house was put up for sale by the Sherrif, sometimes a sign of economic trouble. In 1880, we find Ira listed in the Chronister household in Kansas as a widowed step-son of Joseph Chronister with the name Ira Wolfe. We still don't know how that (becoming a step-son and changing his name from Chronister in 1860 to Wolfe in 1880) happened.
Clara moved from Ohio to Kansas in a covered wagon, some time after 1880 with Eichelberger relatives, but not with her parents. With all their common connections in Kansas, Clara and Ira met, fell in love, and married in Kansas in 1885.
The events above are retold in the stories of each of these people in this website.
Go To ✍ Marriage Notes for Ira Gerald Wolfe and Clara Verlillia Brenizer
Go To ➔ Genealogy page for Ira Gerald Wolfe
Go To ➔ Genealogy page for Clara Verlillia Brenizer
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