Luther Alexander Gotwald - Marriage

Marriage

Once he had completed his studies, he made haste to return to Springfield to claim Mary Elizabeth King as his bride. Mary Elizabeth King married newly ordained Rev. Luther A. Gotwald on October 13, 1859 in her home, which was called at the time the “King Homestead”, located at 2 Ferncliff Place, Springfield, Ohio (today the Chi Omega sorority house of Wittenberg University).

His bride, Mary Elizabeth King was born April 1, 1837, in Tarlton, Ohio. She was the daughter of David and Almena (Caldwell) King. Her father, David King was probably born in Baltimore, Maryland. Her mother, Almena Caldwell King, was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire on August 16, 1809. However, she moved with her parents when she was young to early Portsmouth, Ohio, which is in southernmost Ohio at the confluence of the Scioto River and the Ohio River, where her father established a successful carpentry business. Both of Mary's parents had been orphans. Her father, David King, was found as a toddler wandering the streets of Baltimore during a yellow fever epidemic in which both his parents presumably died. David knew only his own name and could tell nothing about his parents. He was found in a Baltimore hotel and taken in by a Robert Quigley who had a farm near Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, who reared and educated him. As a child, David King attended the Middle Spring Presbyterian Church, near Shippensburg, with the Quigleys, whereby he became a lifelong Presbyterian and, as result, he brought up his own family as Presbyterians.

Upon attaining adulthood, David King obtained an apprenticeship as a store clerk in Portsmouth, Ohio, where he met teenage Almena Caldwell. However, her older brother and father fell from a small boat and drowned in the nearby Scioto River. Soon thereafter, Almena’s mother died of grief. Her uncle Hannibal Gilman Hamlin (first cousin to Lincoln’s first Vice President, Hannibal Hamlin) became the guardian of her and her brother, Hamlin Caldwell, moved them to Cincinnati and saw to their education. David King married her there when she was seventeen. Rev. Gotwald wrote a loving biography of his parents-in-law in which, ever the defender of what is right, he still saw the need to point out sternly that Almena was too young to marry at seventeen. The Kings moved to Tarlton, Ohio, where they opened a general store. Several of Robert Quigley’s (her father’s foster father) grandchildren moved to Springfield, Ohio. So, David and Almena King moved there as well in 1840. David proceeded to build a significant portion of early downtown Springfield, which was known for long thereafter as "King's Row". Unfortunately, David King died on August 8, 1849 in a cholera epidemic, which he contracted while caring for other victims of the outbreak. According to the Gotwald heresy book, Almena built the Ferncliff Place homestead (which was out in the country when first built) to get her boys away from the bars near their home in Springfield proper.

Mary King Gotwald was lavishly praised in the Gotwald heresy trial book as a perfect minister's wife. Her obituary added in this respect that “Mrs. Gotwald was always interested in church activities. She was also active in missionary development in the Lutheran church at large.” Luther and Mary King Gotwald had nine children: seven sons and two daughters who were named, respectively, David King Gotwald, who was born October 31, 1860, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania; George Daniel Gotwald, who was born September 18, 1862 in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania; Robert Caldwell Gotwald, who was born September 25, 1864 in Lebanon, Pennsylvania; Luther Alexander Gotwald, Jr., who was born October 26, 1866 in Dayton, Ohio, but who died young on July 11, 1881; Frederick Gebhart Gotwald, who was born May 11, 1869, in Aaronsburg, Pennsylvania; William Washington Gotwald, who was born June 2, 1871 in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and who died young on May 2, 1888; Charles Hamlin Gotwald, who was born August 25, 1874 in York, Pennsylvania and died in infancy on July 12, 1875; Almena Gotwald, who was born June 29, 1876 in York, Pennsylvania; and, Mary Susan Gotwald; who was born August 2, 1879 in York, Pennsylvania.

Luther says of his deceased son, Charles Hamlin Gotwald, "he was ever a frail, delicate child and was not destined to live long. . . . In the summer of 1875 he was brought to Springfield, Ohio, on a visit and died there at the home of his grandmother on Monday, July 12, 1875. He was buried in the family lot in Ferncliff Cemetery.

Luther says of his deceased son, Luther Alexander Gotwald, Jr., "His death was due to lock jaw, resulting from accidentally jumping on an iron rake while playing in Leber’s yard, South Beaver Street, York, Pennsylvania, a week before, July 4, 1881. His early education was received at the York County Academy and he was examined and ready to enter the Freshman Class at Pennsylvania College the following September. . . He was buried in the family lot at Springfield, Ohio, Ferncliff Cemetery. The funeral at York was attended by the Sunday School in a body and by his fellow students of the Academy in a body.

Of his deceased son, William Washington Gotwald, Luther writes:

His early education was received at the York County Academy, York, Pennsylvania, where he prepared himself for College. In December 1885 he entered the Freshman Class of Wittenberg College and was a Junior when he died May 2nd 1888 after a protracted case of typhoid fever. . . He possessed an unusually strong, clear and mature mind and ranked high in his class. He had decided to study for the Lutheran ministry, and if practicable, to go as a missionary to Africa. His death was the first to occur at Wittenberg since 1857. It produced profound sorrow among his fellow students, professors and friends in the Second Lutheran Church and in the city. The funeral was one of the largest ever held in the city. Addresses were made by Dr. J. B. Helwig of First Lutheran Church and Dr. S. A. Ort and Rev. E. L. Fleck of the Third Lutheran Church. Resolutions of esteem and sympathy were adopted by Alpha Psi Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, Ohio Beta Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, the Y.M.C.A. of the city, the Second Lutheran Church, the Class of 1889 and the Excelsior Literary Society. He was buried in the family lot at Ferncliff Cemetery beside his brothers, Charles Hamlin and Luther Alexander, Jr., on the 4th of May 1888. —

Mary Gotwald's mother, Almena Caldwell King, died of diabetes on May 30, 1878. Rev. Gotwald had been out West on church business and stopped in Springfield on his return train trip to find Almena on her death bed. He immediately telegraphed for Mary to come by train. He was at Almena's side when she died and was undoubtedly a great comfort to her. Unfortunately, Mary was unable to arrive until the next day. After Almena's death, various family members, including Mary's unmarried sister, Sarah Jane King, lived in the King Homestead. When Luther and Mary Gotwald first returned to Springfield to serve as a minister, they first lived in the parsonage of his church. However, when he became a professor at Wittenburg, Luther and Mary Gotwald moved into the King Homestead on Ferncliff Place with Sarah Jane King, whom he called in his David King biography "one of the sweetest and best 'Old Maids' that the world has ever had". They continued to live in the King Homestead for the rest of their lives. They were living there at the time that Luther’s famous heresy trial took place at nearby Wittenberg College.