Rev. J. A. Griffith

According to the BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF PASTORS OF THE AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH (c1962), John Adam Griffith was born on February 22, 1885 in Ashville, Ohio to Mr. and Mrs. G. D. Griffith. Rev. Griffith married Golda Wheeler in 1910, the same year that he graduated from Seminary at Capital University.

Rev. J. A. Griffith served as the pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sandusky from 1919 until 1957. Prior to coming to Sandusky, he had also been a minister in Lancaster and Youngstown, Ohio. He was a past president of the Erie County Ministerial Association. In 1952, Rev. Griffith authored a book of inspirational poems, entitled GARLANDS GATHERED FROM GOD'S GARDEN. This book is housed in the Local Authors Collection of books at the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library, as well as at the library of the R. B. Hayes Presidential Center.

In the 1960's a local area business owner, speaking to a group of high school students, credited Rev. J. A. Griffith with successfully helping him to turn away from alcoholism. Rev. Griffith officiated at several weddings, funerals, baptisms, and confirmations for members of my extended family. Though I was very young when I met him, I thought the pastor looked like an angel, with his white hair and gentle spirit. Rev. Griffith is pictured below at a baptism in March, 1952.



Rev. J. A. Griffith passed away on January 13, 1963. He was survived by his wife, two brothers, two sisters, and several nieces and nephews. He was buried at Oakland Cemetery. Mrs. Griffith died in 1974.The symbol of the Luther Rose appears on the tombstone for Rev. and Mrs. Griffith. Though Rev. J. A. Griffith did not have any biological children, he was mentor to many young people who attended St. Paul Lutheran Church. During the years of Rev. Griffith's service in Sandusky, St. Paul Lutheran Church was located at the southeast corner of Central Avenue and Tyler Street.

Below is a photograph of Rev. J. A. Griffith with a Confirmation Class, about 1923.

Poetry Book by Rev .J.A. Griffith

This delightful book of poetry, entitled Garlands Gathered from God's Garden, written by Rev. J.A. Griffith, was recently given to me by a dear cousin. Rev. Griffith was the minister who confirmed my mother and maternal grandmother; he married my parents; and he baptized several of the children of Paul and Joyce Orshoski, including myself! He served as the minister of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sandusky, Ohio, for many years.

I was very young when I met Rev. Griffith. My parents called him out of retirement, to christen my younger brother Todd. He held my hand gently, and said to me, "You are almost  as lovely as your mother." At that time he had white hair, and to me he seemed like an angel. The poem below was read at the wedding of my dad's cousin Janet, when she married Richard.

This poem was written to remind us that you can see the Lord's handiwork throughout the earth.

This small poem is entitled "I Would be Sorry."

Truly I would be sorry if I had never met Rev. J.A. Griffith. He was a positive influence on so many members of my family, and he was a well respected leader in our community. The final resting place of Rev. J.A. Griffith and his wife Golda is the Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.

Joyce's Confirmation at St. Paul Lutheran Church in 1945

According to the Lutheran Book of Worship, Confirmation in the Lutheran Church is a public profession of faith prepared for by long and careful instruction. In English, it is called "affirmation of baptism", and is a mature and public profession of the faith which "marks the completion of the congregation's program of confirmation ministry." (You can read more about Confirmation within the Lutheran Church at Wikipedia.)

Along with several other teenagers, my mother, whose name was Joyce Parker at that time, was confirmed at St. Paul Lutheran Church, located at Central Avenue & Tyler Street in Sandusky, Ohio, on March 25, 1945.

Though my mother had been baptized at the Methodist Church, her great grandfather's second wife, Emma Larkins, introduced her to the Lutheran faith. Rev. J.A. Griffith was the minister who officated at the confirmation service. Rev. Griffith had also confirmed Joyce's mother, Doris Wheeler, at the very same location in 1923. Doris died before Joyce was confirmed, but both mother and daughter respected and loved their Lutheran pastor very much. (You can read my mom's middle name, Emada, on her confirmation certificate. Doris made up this unusual middle name, a combination of Emma and Ada, the first names of Joyce's maternal step great grandmother, and her paternal grandmother.)

On July 1, 1950, Rev. Griffith performed the wedding ceremony of Paul Orshoski and Joyce Parker, and later he would baptize several of the children of Joyce and Paul.


















After a long battle with cancer, and my mother knew her days here were soon to be over, she called on the present pastor of Sandusky's St. Paul Lutheran Church to be the minister at her funeral service, along with the pastor of the church where she had been been attending for several years. Joyce took her confirmation seriously, and she never forgot the tenets of faith that she learned from Rev. J.A. Griffith that were based on the Lutheran catechism. She passed on many of the Christian values and scripture verses that she learned to her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

Tombstone Tuesday: Mrs. Rhoda Griffith Moss

Joseph Moss had this monument placed at Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, after the death of his wife on September 28, 1851. The side of the monument which faces south reads "Our Mother." A lengthy inscription is found on the side of the monument that faces north. Not all the words are legible.

 The words which I could decipher read:

Erected by 
Joseph Moss
To the memory of
His Wife
Who Died
September 28, 1851

Her children arise up and
call her blessed.

According to the book PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM OF SANILAC COUNTY, Joseph Moss was born on September 8, 1775. His wife was the former Rhoda Griffith, born on July 28, 1780. Joseph and Rhoda (Griffith) Moss had a large family. The sons all had successful business careers. While visiting family in Sandusky, Ohio, Rhoda Moss died on September 28,1851. Her husband died in Marshall, Michigan on October 28, 1856. The lovely monument in memory of Rhoda Griffith Moss stands as a testament to the love her family had for her. More details about the family of Joseph and Rhoda Moss can be found at FamilySearch.


(Note: While the tombstone of Mrs. Moss indicates she died on September 28, 1851, some sources list her death date as September 29, 1851.)

"Blooper" Picture from Mom and Dad's Wedding in 1950

Recently I found a stray negative in a box of old pictures.I asked my co-worker if he could scan it, and it turned out to be a "blooper" picture from my parents' wedding photographs. Pictured above in front of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Sandusky, Ohio,  are: Paul Orshoski, Sr., Joyce Parker, Sally Parker, and Wayne Orshoski. My parents, Paul and Joyce, were married by Rev. J.A. Griffith on July 1, 1950. Sally is Mom's younger sister, and Wayne is my dad's younger brother. You can just barely see Rev. Griffith, just behind my Aunt Sal, on the steps of the church. I think this picture didn't get in with the regular wedding photos, because all those in the wedding party are not looking at the camera. My close friend Ginny, lives right across from this church on Central Avenue. When I sit with Ginny on her porch, I can view this spot, and remember the stories Mom told me about how Rev. Griffith confirmed both my mom and her mother, married my parents, and baptized several of the infants in our big family.

Paul and Joyce's First Date

Paul R. Orshoski,Sr. married Joyce E. Parker on July 1,1950 at St. Paul English Lutheran Church in Sandusky, Ohio. But before they were married, they had a first date. I found this account of my parents' first date in the back of my baby book.









Here is a transcription of the first three paragraphs:

Paul R. Orshoski
&
Joyce E. Parker

met on the 28th day of December, 1947, which was their first date, upon going to a movie at the Clinton Theatre at Port Clinton, Ohio. Miss Betty Ferrall (who in Sept. 1941 became Mrs. Wayne Orshoski), & Don Orshoski were also along.

In April of 1950 they became engaged. Miss Parker & Mr. Orshoski that is. (They would have been wed sooner,but Miss Parker's father did not approve.)

On a very beautiful sunny day, the first of July, 1950, the couple were happily married in St. Paul's English Lutheran Church by the Rev. J. A. Griffith, Sally Parker & Wayne Orshoski, attendants. First apt. - 436 Huron Ave., Sandusky. In Aug. 1951, the moved into their own home at Crystal Rock, Rt. #1, Vickery, Ohio.

Joyce Parker Orshoski continues her narration by telling about the birth of her first three children, and after briefly living in a rented house in Bay View, Paul and Joyce Orshoski and their three children moved into a new house on Route 269 in Bay View in April of 1956. Paul built the house himself, with a great deal of help from his extended family. For many years Paul and Joyce lived next door to Paul's brother Wayne, who incidentally married Joyce's good friend Betty Ferrall.

Joyce Orshoski lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on September 8, 2010. She was buried next to her husband Paul at the Perkins Cemetery.

Rev. Theodore J.C. Stellhorn

Rev. Theodore Julius Christian Stellhorn was born in Watertown, Wisconsin. He was the son (and later would be the father of) a Lutheran minister. The Stellhorn family moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the father of the family was a professor at Concordia College. Next, the Stellhorns moved to Columbus, Ohio, where Rev. Theodore J.C. Stellhorn attended Capital University. He graduated in 1889, and three years later he became a graduate of the Divinity School at Capital.

In June of 1892 Rev. Stellhorn became the pastor of a newly organized church in Fort Wayne. He came to Sandusky in November, 1897, to become an assistant to his brother in law, Dr. August Dornbirer. In 1907, Rev. Theodore J.C. Stellhorn was called to become the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Sandusky.























Rev. Stellhorn helped to organize Lutheran churches in Castalia, Huron, and Venice, Ohio. From 1928 ti 1948, Dr. Theodore J.C. Stellhorn and Rev. Theodore Stellhorn, Jr. worked together at Zion Lutheran Church, the being the assistant pastor, and the elder Rev. Stellhorn serving as the head pastor. In 1948, Dr. Theodore J.C. Stellhorn was advised by his doctors not to preach at public worship services any longer, so the senior paster visited the sick and shut-ins of the community, and continued to serve on several church committees.

On February 18, 1955, Rev. Theodore J.C. Stellhorn died at at the age of 83. He was buried at Oakland Cemetery with his wife Katherine. Officiating at the funeral of Dr. Stellhorn was: Rev. Maurice White, of Lima; Rev. David Wolber, assistant pastor at Zion; Rev. J.A. Griffith, of St. Paul's Lutheran Church; and Rev. John Braun, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Port Clinton, and formerly of Trinity Lutheran at Venice.

An obituary for Rev. Stellhorn appeared on the front page of the February 18, 1955 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News. The article reported that Dr. Stellhorn was one of the most able leaders of Lutherans on the Sandusky area. Rev. Stellhorn was survived by his son, Rev. Theodore Stellhorn, Jr., two daughters, and several grandchildren and great grandchildren. One son, Luther, had died in 1954, and his wife, the former Katherine Dornbirer died in 1951.

Doris Wheeler

Doris Mary Wheeler was the only child of Clifford Wheeler and Irene Larkins Wheeler. She was born July 26, 1910 in Sandusky, Ohio. For part of her young life, Doris was raised by her grandfather, Thomas F. Larkins and his second wife Emma. Doris attended St. Paul's Lutheran Church, and she was confirmed by Rev. J. A. Griffith. When in her teens, Doris participated in a beauty contest held at Cedar Point.

Doris Wheeler married Steen Parker in 1927. Sadly, Doris died from cancer when she was only in her thirties, on May 6, 1943. She died before her mother and beloved grandfather. Doris Wheeler Parker is buried in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. She is buried next to the second wife of her maternal grandfather, Thomas Larkins. Doris was very close to her step grandmother, Emma Larkins. As is often the case in certain Irish surnames, the last name of Larkins is sometimes spelled without an "s" on the end, and sometimes it is spelled with the final "s." The stone memorializing Doris Parker and Emma Larkins is found in Oakland Cemetery's 11-B section, south of the main entrance.















Pictured below are Doris and Steen Parker and their son Steen Thomas Parker, fondly known as "Tommy" about 1927.










A newspaper article from the Sandusky Star Journal, April 21, 1921,reports about a club to which Doris and her school friends belonged.

Mom and Dad's Wedding Booklet

My parents, Paul and Joyce (Parker) Orshoski, were married in a small ceremony at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sandusky, Ohio on July 1, 1950. Rev. J. A. Griffith officiated at the wedding. Here is the cover of a small booklet from the day of their wedding ceremony.


















The witnesses were siblings of Paul and Joyce, Sally Parker and Wayne Orshoski.
(Note: The stamp from the National Pension Fund dated May 11, 1983, is an indication that the Pension Fund viewed this item, as proof of my parents' marriage, after the death of our dad in 1983.)
















Below is a list of the guests who attended the wedding. While I do not recognize every name, most are family, friends, and neighbors of Paul and Joyce and their extended families. Mr. and Mrs. Morris Johnson would later be my godparents.














Here's a listing of the gifts my parents received. The brand names of Sunbeam, Pyrex, and Revere Ware would be found in our family's kitchen for many years to come.














Mom and Dad are in Heaven now, but it was fun to look through this booklet, to learn a bit more about who was important to them on that very special day in 1950.

I Found My Parents and Grandparents in the 1940 Census!

Today I finally got to view some of the 1940 Census records, at My Heritage (Thanks for the tip, Schelly Talalay Dardashti!) and I was able to locate my parents and grandparents in the 1940 Census for Erie County, Ohio! My dad, Paul Orshoski, was residing with his parents and four siblings on Newberry Avenue in Bay Bridge, just down the road from the Medusa Cement factory, where so many of my ancestors worked. Dad was 12 years old. His father was employed as a filter operator at Medusa. Grandpa Steve Orshoski was age 34, and Grandma Emma (Yeager) Orshoski was 33. Dad's siblings' ages in the census were: Alberta, 13; Wayne, 10; Donald, 8; and Clifford, age 6. The image above shows the five children of Steve and Emma Orshoski about five years prior to the enumeration of the 1940 Census. In the year 1940, none of the boys had yet thought about enlisting in the service, and none of the Orshoski children had met their future spouses yet. Several descendants of Steve and Emma Orshoski still reside on Newberry Avenue in Bay Bridge! Below is a portion of the 1940 Census page from Erie County, Ohio's Enumeration District 22-9, which contains the names of my father and my paternal grandparents, along with my aunt and three uncles. Click here to see the full census page.

My mother was only 8 years old at the time of the 1940 Census. She was living with her parents, Steen and Doris (Wheeler) Parker at 916 Polk Street in Sandusky, Ohio. My grandfather, Steen Parker, is the last name on page 20 of Enumeration District 22-29 . He was 32 years old, and worked as an enameler at Holland-Rieger, a business that made washing machines. Holland-Rieger later became Apex Manufacturing.

My maternal grandmother, Doris Wheeler Parker, was 29 years old. The three children of Steen and Doris were: Thomas, age 12, Joyce (my mother) age 8; and Sally, age 2. A 21 year old cousin of Doris, named James Larkins, was also residing with Steen and Doris Parker in 1940. In the image below, page 21 of ED 22-29, my grandmother Doris, her three children, and her cousin are the first five names listed on the census page.

Mom and her sister and brother appear in the picture below a few years after the 1940 Census was taken.

By 1943, Steen and Doris Parker had divorced, and Doris passed away from cancer on May 6, 1943. It was interesting to see the Steen Parker family listed in the Census before the onset of all these sad events. My mom, Joyce Parker Orshoski, attended school at Osborne School, just a few blocks south of her home on Polk Street. St. Paul Lutheran Church was within walking distance of her childhood home. St. Paul's was the church where Mom was confirmed and where she was married to my father. She so loved and respected Rev. J. A. Griffith. Good Samaritan Hospital (now Firelands Regional Medical Center) was just a few blocks away from Mom's home on Polk Street. Good Samaritan Hospital was the hospital where all six of Joyce and Paul's children were born, and the Firelands Regional Medical Center was my mother's final employer. She spent many happy hours at Firelands!

What a joy to see the names of my family members in the 1940 Census! I wish you "Happy Hunting" as you look for the names of your ancestors in the 1940 Census too!