Authors: 

Donald S. Guenther: BS in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics, MA in Business

Edward F. Guenther: BA in Art and Mathematics; Teacher, Principal

Researched and Written 2014- 2021

Technical support:

Jereme E. Guenther: BS and MA in Software Engineering, MCP

Support Consultant:

Ronald B. Guenther: OSU Professor, Ph.D. in Mathematics

Editor:

Deborah D. Guenther: Homemaker, Teacher, AA Degree

Special thanks to:

Washington County Museum for photographs;

Oregon Genealogical Society for Genealogies; 

Oregon Historical Society for Documents.

Mary Jane Baldra Wiley(1840- 1926): First white woman born in Oregon in 1840, a member of the Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers. She began the work that we are finishing; Edwin Doyle for research before the advent of computers; Otto Delsman for his many letters; Sally Ryan for Wiley research; Nancy Snodgrass, an Ingram historian; Judy Goldman, a descendant of Joseph Meek and local historian; and Stephenie Flora, Oregon Trail expert.

A special thanks for the endless hours of research by Donald S. Guenther. Don also traveled to many of the locations of the ancestors.

John Emil Guenther(1912- 1991) and Geraldine Clara Delsman(1916- 2012)

The Guenther/Delsman Family Tree

Forward by Don and Ed Guenther

The union of the Guenther and Delsman families began in the fall of 1934 when John Emmel Guenther and Geraldine Clara Delsman first met. But the stories of each family go back centuries, and their origins are obscured in the mists of time. We shall go back and trace the development of both the Delsman and Guenther families, and watch as ancestors come alive. The ancestry is a conglomerate of bloodlines throughout Europe. 

These were hard working people, innovative in many ways. They belonged to various religious and secular groups. They tried and they persevered. They did their best and they made every effort to care for their children. In this ancestry, we find neither criminals nor well-known politicians. They were ordinary people, some of whom did extraordinary things. Sometimes, just living can be an extraordinary thing!

They can be found among the first groups of Europeans to settle in America in the 17th century. Many of them would eventually go west, many following the Oregon Trail in the 19th century. The vast majority of them were farmers, but some worked as shopkeepers, sheriffs and a host of other things. Some of them were war heroes who gave their lives for our country. The women persevered through the trials of the westward movement. They nursed their children through sickness and disease. Many children died.

Pride can be taken in them. They never quit.

Beginning in the 17th century there began a stream of civilization with a common goal: to reach America, the new land. The first comers were the American Indians who were already here in the 17th century and their origin is unknown. But in the 1620’s a new wave hit the eastern coast of America, a great European surge that lasted through the 19th century. Some came for adventure, some for farming, some for profit, and others with reasons of their own. For many it was the land of opportunity, the place where dreams were made. They came young and old, men, women, and children.

In Europe there was much political unrest as well as religious conflict. People wanted peace and a future for their progeny. America offered land for the taking. The sea voyage was extremely treacherous and difficult. The trek across America on the Oregon and California trails was no less so. Many lost their lives in the various travels. Sometimes whole ships went down at sea. Wagon trains were decimated from disease, untold trials, and they faced the threat of hostile as well as peaceful and helpful Indians.

The generations through these centuries saw much change. In America there was early colonizing and then the American Revolution. Slavery in the South became a national issue and the Civil War ensued. Following this was the Industrial Revolution, the use of steam power and then electricity. In the early 20th century there was the advent of cars and then planes. Trains began bringing people west. World War I plunged America into a world conflict. Then World War II. In all this the heart of America never lost track of its purpose, to make a place where people could raise families and live peacefully.

In early America the push was always westward, but then the West was settled and  part of America and there was no more westward movement. The western spirit revived when Alaska opened up. Wild and open and dangerous. The adventure of America lives on for all those who understand what has gone before.

The story pauses with the births of fourteen children in the 1940s and 50s, the result of the union of John Guenther and Geraldine Delsman. At this point, each member of the family will have to add his or her own continuation of their personal stories. The stories continue. We are doing this for our children and grandchildren, and hope that you enjoy what you find. 

Heroes and Antiheroes

The lives and journeys include family heroes Francis Duke, Marie Callaby, Anna Blanke and many more. Antiheroes can also be found within these pages, maybe even villains.

Hendrick Harmensen (1590-1643), the first to settle on Long Island, died in 1643 in an Indian raid along with his neighbor Ann Hutchinson. An Indian killed him with one of the hatchets he’d made and traded them. He’d made armor for the Dutch military.

Francis Duke (1751-1777), born in Ireland, died trying to re-enforce Fort Wheeler in the American Revolutionary War. The captain of the fort was his father in-law, David Shepherd.

Marie Callaby (1816-1888), born in England, traveled the 2,000 mile York Factory Express across Canada on horseback, on foot, and in canoes for two months with a one and three year old in 1839. She gave birth to Mary Jane Baldra in 1840, the first white girl born in Oregon.

Anna Blanke (1811-1902)  was orphaned when she was 5 years old. Working as a maid, she married her employer in Germany. Anna’s husband died 3 weeks after having arrived in America. With 3 small boys she ran the farm in Iowa. Anna finished the trek west and died in Tillamook, Oregon. 

Richard Wiley(1823- 1889), sheriff in Hillsboro, Oregon, threatened  Ulysses S. Grant, future President of the United States, with arrest, forcing Grant to pay up on a past due loan.

Colonel David Shepherd(1733-1795) received a letter from George Washington thanking David for helping him out with a land dispute. Washington signed off with, “ I am Sir, with very great esteem, Your most obedient servant, Geo. Washington.”

Ancestral Journeys

Background map prepared by a family relative, Ortelius, and printed by Emanuel Van Meteren, a direct ancestor on the Guenther side, in  1570. The inscription on the map, TYPVS ORBIS TERRARVM, means, “Who can consider human affairs to be great, when he comprehends the eternity and vastness of the entire world.” Edited by Don Guenther

These are just a sampling from the stream of blood that flows through our veins, a testimony to the heritage of America.

Introduction by Ron Guenther

Our first ancestors in this country were Dutch who came from The Netherlands to the colony called New Amsterdam.  The Dutch were guided by one of the first accurate maps of the Americas that one of our Dutch ancestors had printed.  After a war between The Netherlands and Great Britain, New Amsterdam became English and The Netherlands obtained what is now Suriname in South America.  New Amsterdam was renamed New York.

The English roots of the family migrated to America gradually over the course of time. Europe was plagued by wars and famine.  The nobility, aristocracy, and wealthy dominated the societies and controlled the economies.  There was little upward mobility.  Our early English ancestors were labourers, farmers, and small business owners.  Land was plentiful as the American Indians were displaced and the new settlers seized the opportunities.  

The Atlantic crossing in those years was difficult and dangerous.  The ships were small and passage was expensive.  Initially, one of the common ways to pay for passage was to sign an agreement as an indentured servant, that is, to be a servant for a specified period of time.  The program was not entirely successful as the “servants” tended to disappear into the population, the servants could not then be found, and the program ceased to exist.

The first Germans started to arrive, principally, to Pennsylvania in the sixteen seventies.  The farms in Germany were small and it was hard for independent farmers to eke out a living.  The nineteenth century saw massive immigration of Germans into the United States.  Our ancestors were part of this immigration.

Independent entrepreneurs developed  the heavy Conestoga wagons, which were replaced by the popular and efficient prairie schooners. Our ancestors used both types of wagons as they migrated west, always west.

The Dutch, the English, and the Germans in our ancestry started out mainly in the East and Midwest and partook of the westward American  expansion.  New land continued to open up as the various Indian groups were forced to cede their lands or died from disease.  It was dangerous to make the crossing by wagon train, typically from Missouri along the Oregon and California trails, but again those with initiative and were fearless enough, made the trek.  The Western United States was fairly lawless at the beginning of this process, local sheriffs did their best and one of our ancestors was such a sheriff.

The stories of our ancestors coincides with the stories about the opening up of what was to become the United States of America.  We can be proud of them.  They were the ones who showed courage and initiative.  They adapted to the conditions they found, they worked hard.  They paved the way for us to become who we are.  We can be proud of them and the pictures and the stories we give are all told against the background of the development of our country.

A Successful Journey 

A child sails a ship alone,

An adult sails with others,

  And truth is at the helm.

by Donald Guenther 1/27/2014