THE FRUTH FAMILY
Copyright © December 2003, Revised 2006, 2011, 2018
Mary Fern Souder

The first known member of the Fruth family was Hans Martin Fruth, I, born by 1600. A legend passed down among Fruth families who now live in Germany and America is that Hans Martin Fruth was born in France, and during the time of the Protestant persecutions there in the 1600’s, Hans Martin’s catholic neighbor smuggled him over the border into Germany underneath the hay in his hay wagon. Beginning in the 1600’s public records for Hans Martin Fruth can be found in the region of Beindersheim, Germany.

Hans Martin Fruth’s descendants have lived for many generations in Beindersheim, a village in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. The Fruth family is still among the most progressive and industrious families in Germany.

All vital records for the Fruth family while they lived in Germany have been taken from very complete Evangelical church records. The pedigrees that are shown for the two Fruth participants in this study will begin with their most recent common paternal ancestor, Johann George Fruth, born 1718 in Beindersheim, who was married to Anna Maria Nagel, whose father was burgermeister (mayor) of Beindersheim.

As can be seen in the pedigrees of the two participants of this study, the early Fruth family in Germany intermarried with cousins to a considerable degree during the 1600's and 1700's. Our relatives in Germany said that this was because of a limited number of marriage candidates, and also to preserve wealth and farm property within the family.

Participant # 43669, Brother # 1:
Generation 1:
Johann "Heinrich" Fruth, born 1757 in Beindersheim, Germany, was the son of Johann Georg Fruth and Anna Maria Nagel. He married Katherine Scherer, and they were the parents of six children.

Generation 2: Johann Fruth, II, born in 1779, son of Johann Heinrich Fruth and Katherine Scherer, married his first cousin, Maria Barbara Fruth. Participant 43669 is a descendent of this Fruth family that has remained Germany.

Johann Georg Fruth, II, son of Johann Georg Fruth and Anna Maria Nagel, was born in 1759 in Beindersheim, Germany. He married his first cousin, Anna Maria Fruth.

Generation 2: Johann "Georg" Fruth, III, was born in 1798 in Beindersheim, and on 12 February 1828 he married Maria Margaretha Schubach. German Evangelical church records between 1829 and 1832 show that they had two stillborn sons, and a daughter who lived only two months. The Fruths decided to immigrate to America and arrived in New York on 6 August 6, 1833. Their ultimate destination was Seneca County, OH, where they joined relatives who had previously immigrated there. In Ohio, George and Maria Margaretha Fruth had three children that lived: Sybilla M. Fruth, b. 1839, + George Frederick Souder; Melchoir Fruth, b. 1840, + Jacobbena Peter; and Margaretha Fruth, b. 1842, + John Heilman.

The history of the early Fruth family is based on three main sources of information:

1. Extensive research provided the late Dr. Arta Fruth Johnson of Columbus, OH, language professor at the University of Ohio, and the late Rev. Glenn Fruth, who served several parishes in Kansas. Both have extensively researched the Fruth family of Seneca County, OH. Rev. Fruth's book, "Families in the Stream of History: An Overview with Focus on the Melchoir Fruth Family," was privately published in 1993.

2. The prolific amount of Fruth data extracted by Charlotte Fruth Esswein. These include civil and church records from the region of Beindersheim, Germany.
3. Letters written by Christine Herbert (1845-1925) of Seneca County, OH, and a letter and a diary written by Adam Fruth of Beindersheim (1816-1906). These letters and the diary were intended to be shared by all members of the family and they provide a glimpse into the difficulty of living in that day and time as well the opportunities available America. All are in the safekeeping of Ms. Esswein.*

Analysis of DNA Results: From the most recent common ancestor, Johann Georg Fruth, born 1718, there have been six transmission events for Participant 4445, and seven transmission events for Participant 43669. Due to the small number of participants in the study, it is not possible to tell in which of the two Fruth lineages the three-step mutation occurred.

The order of the numbers in DYS 464 a, b, c, and d is not significant. This is a "fast-mutating" marker and the important thing is that the same numbers appear in the same frequency within DYS 464. Therefore, the variance between these two participants at DYS 464c is inconsequential, because a DYS of 15 at 464b for Participant 4445 is counterbalanced with a DYS of 15 at DYS 464c for Participant 43669. The three-step mutation, shown in gold on the above chart, is thought to have occurred on the same DYS number during one mutational event.

The particular haplogroup to which the Fruths belong is extremely common, and as of April 2011, each participant matched 1,298 individuals of many differing surnames on the 12-marker test administered by FamilyTreeDNA. They had 16 matches of varying surnames on the 25-marker test. However, when upgraded to the 37-marker test, they only matched each other, which supports the advisability of using 37 markers to gain definitive identification of close common ancestry.

In addition to the published works of Herr Wilhelm Schardon and Dr. Afta Fruth Johnson, I am deeply indebted for the assistance of Charlotte Fruth Esswein, Leonhard and Edeltraut Sperling Fruth, Archie and Clara Rinebold Fruth, Sr., Archie and Ann Merkle Fruth, Jr., Larry Fruth, Rev. Glen and Mary Wine Fruth, Robert P. Fruth, Rev. Ronald D. Fruth, Barbara A. Templin, Janet Calland, Kevin Reinhard, Raymond Souder, Edward Souder, Wanda Souder Benninghoff, Joan Dysinger, Lois Fruth Waeltz, Susan Platt, Linda Fruth Grenwalt, Kristine Krumm and Helen Rice Souder.

* A link to family correspondence from Christine Herbert (1825-1845) of Seneca County, OH, and Adam Fruth (1816-1906) of Beindersheim, Germany, can be found at: Family letters: 1861-1895.