George's wife, Anna "Christina" (?) DENHART was born in 1806, Hesse, Kassel, Germany. After George's death, Anna and her children moved west, arriving in Iowa by 1845. She settled in Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa, where she died at the age of 83 in 1889. She was interred at Marshalltown Cemetery in Ringgold County, Iowa.

George Wilson and Anna "Christina" DENHART were the parents of three children:

1) John DENHART
    Born: 1835, Germany; Died: age 46 in 1881, St. Joseph IL
    Enlisted as a Private 23 Sep 1864, Co. G, 9th Indiana Infantry
    married Elizabeth ZIMMERMAN 04 May 1856, Ramsey IN
                  Born: Oct 1839, Neuwiller, Alsace, France
                  Died: 1927, Blue River, Harrison Co. IN
                  arrived in New Orleans LA at age 12, 1851
                  Elizabeth married 2nd George BYERLEY (1848- ?)
    Children of John & Elizabeth (ZIMMERMAN) DENHART:
      1) Mary E. DENHART (1856-1919) married John FIOCK (1848-1929)
           Mary & John interred Mt. Olive Cemetery, Mayview, Champaign Co. IL
      2) John W. DENHART
           Born: 09 Oct 1859  Died: 30 Jun 1933
           Married Anna Margaret HAUB (1860-1938)
           John & Anna interred Palmyra Cemetery, Harrison Co. IN
      3) George DENHART
           Born: 08 Apr 1860  Died: 26 Mar 1945
           Interment: Old Stearns Cemetery, Ogden, Champaign Co. IL
           Married Anna M. SEASONGOOD (1860-1897)
      4) Frederick DENHART (1863-1937) married Kate (?) (1864-?)
      5) Louis G. DENHART (1865-1918) married Sophia KEEHAN (1871-1942)
NOTE: Louis and Sophia attended his uncle Casper's funeral in 1916.
      6) Phillip Carl DENHART (1867-1917) married Anna WINDISH (1867-1964)
      7) Joseph H. DENHART (1868-1953) married Stella May McADAMS (1873-1965)
      8) Christian E. "Chris" DENHART
           Born: 1870  Died: 1948
           Interment: Mt. Olive Cemetery, Mayview, Champaign Co. IL
           Married Hettie Ellen(?) (1874-1955)
      9) Kate DENHART (1872- ?)
      10) Catharine DENHART (1873-1940) married unknown 24 Dec 1893
      11) Jacob H. DENHART (1876-1966)
             married Sarah "Sadie" ARNOLD (1874-1913)

2) Ann "Dorotha" DENHART
    Born: 1836, Hanover Niedersachsen, Germany  Died: age 83 in 1919
    Married 1st in 1853 John BEAL (?-1858); parents of 3 children
    Married 2nd 1860 Venzell YASBACK
      Children of Dortha & Venzell YASBACK:
        1) Adam YASBACK
        2) Lucinda YASBACK

3) Casper King DENHART
     Born: 15 Mar 1839, Hanover, Niedersachsen, Germany
     Died: age 77 on 15 Apr 1916, Mount Ayr, Ringgold Co. IA
     Interment: Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Ringgold Co. IA
     Enlisted as a Private 04 Jul 1861, Co. G, 4th Iowa Infantry
       mustered out 24 Jul 1865, Louisville KY, Honorable Discharge & Naturalization papers becoming a U.S. Citizen
     Married Rachel Margaret A. MILLER 1866
                   Born: 09 May 1849, OH  Died: age 60 on 22 Jun 1909
                   Interment Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr IA
                   Rachel stepped on her skirt, fell & bumped her head on a tree.
                   She was in a coma for 3 weeks before she died.
     Children of Casper King and Rachel A. (MILLER) DENHART:
       1) Mary L. DENHART
           Born: 11 Sep 1867, IA; Died 21 Jun 1917
           Interment: Diagonal Cemetery, Ringgold Co. IA
           Married A. L. JACOBY
       2) James C. DENHART
           Born: 02 Dec 1868, IA; Died 11 Feb 1952
           Married Ida R. BAIRD, Ringgold Co. IA
                       Born: 21 Jun 1862  Died: 16 Feb 1957
           James & Ida interred Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Ringgold Co. IA
       3) George W. DENHART
           Born: 12 Feb 1870, IA; Died 25 Apr 1949
           Interment: Benton Cemetery, Benton, Ringgold Co. IA
           Married 1st Nellie BARKER circa 1895/97
                           Born: 24 Jul 1879  Died: 01 Aug 1903, interment Benton Cemetery
            It is believed that George and Nellie had a son Lloyd DENHART
           Married 2nd Lura Almeda SPENCER on 25 Jan 1905
                           Born: 22 Sep 1875  Died: 10 Sep 1912, interment Benton Cemetery
                           daughter of James "Jimmy" Whitney/Whitley SPENCER (1835-1907)
                              & Malinda Jane (FRANKLIN) (1838-1922)
           Infant Sons of George W. & Lura A. DENHART:
             Born & Died: 02 Jun 1909, interment Benton Cemetery
           Georgia Nell DENHART
NOTE from Delbert Spencer: Lura married 1st Clyde OGLE 29 Sep 1897. Clyde born 19 Mar 1874, died 20 Oct 1897, Adair Coounty. Clyde was digging a well and succumbed to gas when he went down in the well to remove a rock. Georgia Nell DENHART was an infant when her mother Lura died. Jim Corwin and Ida R. (BAIRD) DENHART, who were unable to have children, adopted Georgia Nell. Lloyd DENHART was left with "other relatives."

       4) Thomas E. DENHART
            Born: 03 Feb 1872, IA  Died: 22 Sep 1878, IA
            Interment: Oak Ridge Cemetery near Mount Ayr, Ringgold Co. IA
       5) Clarence H. DENHART
            Born: 13 Feb 1874, IA; Died: 1952
            Married Mary "Etta" CORNELISON at Benton, Ringgold Co. IA
                           Born: 1879  Died: 1965
            Clarence & Etta interred Violet Hill Cemetery, Perry, Dallas Co. IA
       6) Maude E. DENHART
            Born: 26 Mar 1876, IA
            Married Ferman C. CORNELISON (1874, IA - ?)
       7) O. Howard DENHART
            Born: 07 Mar 1878, IA; Died: 1942
            Married Paroda NEWTON (1882-1973)
            Howard & Paroda interred Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Ringgold Co. IA
            Children of O. Howard & Paroda DENHART:
              1) John Howard DENHART (1915-2007)
                  Married Vada Olive SHAFER
                                 Born: 1917  Died: 11 Sep 2002
                  John & Vada interred Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Ringgold Co. IA
                  Children of John Howard & Vada DENHART:
                     1) John Carlton DENHART
                         Born: 10 Jun 1937  Died: 16 Jun 1937
                         Interment Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr IA
                     2) Sybil Ann DENHART
              2) Ninabel DENHART married S. B. STUCK
              3) Mary L. DENHART married John P. HATTON
       8) Jennie M. DENHART
            Born: 13 Jun 1881, IA; Died: 1908
            Married Sam F. BUCK (1880-1930)
            Jennie & Sam F. interred Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr IA
       9) Laura or Lora May DENHART
            Born: 06 Nov 1883
            Married Mr. BUCK
       10) Julia J. DENHART
              Born: 12 Aug 1889, IA
              Died 13 Jul 1965, St. Francis Hospital, Maryville MO
              Interment: Miriam Cemetery
              Married 28 Dec 1910 Guy W. CORNELISON (1888, IA - ?)
NOTE: Julia visited her uncle John DENHART and family in and around St. Joseph, Illinois in 1909 around Christmas time.
       11) John Floyd DENHART
              Born: 12 Aug 1889, IA; Died: 1969
              Married Lena S. WALLACE (1892-1974)
              John F. & Lena interred Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Ringgold Co. IA
       12) Casper K. DENHART
              Born: 14 May 1893, IA  Died: 03 Jul 1893, IA
              Interment: Oak Ridge Cemetery near Mount Ayr, Ringgold Co. IA

When Anna "Christina" DENHART came to Iowa with her children Dorthea and Casper, John was in an apprenticeship and remained behind in Indiana. They lost contact with John and believed that he was a soldier in the Civil War, which he was. Before John died at age 46 in 1881, one of his sons promised that he would find Christina. The son went first to Pennsylvania to try and find relatives by the name of DENAHRT. There he was treated badly. Someone told him that there were quite a few DENHARTS living in Iowa. Upon coming to Iowa, the son found Casper and Rachel DENHART, his uncle and aunt. When Casper died in 1916, Louis and his wife Sophia attended the funeral in Iowa.

Soon after landing in New Albany, Elizabeth ZIMMERMAN met John DENHART and at the age of 18 married him at Ramsey, Indiana in 1857. They were the parents of eleven children. When the Civil War broke out her husband enlisted in the Union Army and at the close of the war he came home an invalid. Therefore, the burden of earning a living and caring for the family fell upon the shoulders of the mother. These were trying times and many hardships and problems had to be solved. While the invalid husband remained home to look after the children Elizabeth mounted a peddler's wagon and peddled goods around the country. Making her rounds everyday, returning home in the evening to look after things at home. She took one of the older boys with her to blow the horn to notify her patrons that she was coming. She also tended the little farm, plowed the ground, planted and gathered the crops. She held the plow while one of the boys rode the horse.

After John DENHART died in 1879, Elizabeth married George BYERLY at Ramsey, Indiana, 1888. In 1896 they moved to St. Joseph, Illinois where they lived the rest of their lives. She was known as Grandma BYERLY. She died in 1927 and is buried in Patterson Cemetery which is south of St. Joseph, where many of the relatives are buried. In 1914 there were over 100 grandchildren and great-grandchildren who owe their existence to this brave, courageous, and self-sacrificing woman.

One of the other BYERLY descendants was Charles BYERLY who married Katherine (Katie) DENHART on Christmas Eve, 1893, and they had two children, Roy and Grace. Grace married Geroge PHARES and had one son, Dean. Roy married Mabel EARL and they had no children.

Roy passed away on March 2, 1980 - his widow, Mabel, still lives in St. Joseph. Dean, the only son of Grace, also passed away, leaving no heirs that we know of.

(NOTE: Kate DENHART was the daughter of John DENHART and Elizabeth DENHART BYERLEY -- so she married a BYERLEY and her step-father was a BYERLEY.)

Casper K[ing]. DENHART's parents were George W. DENHART (1792-1884) and Christina KING (1800-1889). George and Christina were parents of three children: John (1833-1916), Ann Doratha (1835-1919) and Casper K. (1839-1916) They came to America in 1843 from Hanover, Germany. His father had work in Cincinnati, Ohio and after 2 years they moved to Pickaway County, Ohio where the father had work on a canal and died there in 1844.

Casper's mother, Christina, remarried to Joseph BEAL in 1844. To this union were born Adam BEAL (1845-1919) and Mary Lucinda (1850-1938). At the time of Lucinda's birth they were living near Fort Wayne, Indiana.

In 1851 the family came to Marion, Iowa by oxen cart. In 1853 Casper's sister Doratha married John BEAL and they had three children: Elizabeth A., Joseph F. and Mary J. In 1858 Doratha was widowed.

When Casper was 17, he and all his family except brother John came to Ringgold County, Iowa in 1856. Casper's sister Doratha BEAL remarried in 1860 to Wenzell YASHACK (1822-1897). To this union four children were born: Matilda, 1861, Corabelle, 1886, William, 1868, & George, 1870. Doratha's three BEAL children were raised in the YASHACK home, also Mother Christina, Casper, Adam and Lucinda lived in their own house on the homestead.

On the 4th of July, 1861, Casper enlisted in Company G, 4th Iowa Infantry. In Mount Ayr, Iowa., the first Co. made up in Ringgold County, and served 4 years and 1 month.

He was married to Rachel Miller May 24, 1866. They commenced house keeping in a log cabin on a farm in Washington Township, Ringgold Coounty and spent all their married life on this same farm, which was later owned by Casper's great-grandson, John W. TAYLOR (wife Sandra DOLBEY. He died of heart attack doing morning chores quite young, leaving a widow and 4 daughters.) Casper & Rachel were blessed with 12 children and 10 of them, 5 girls & 5 boys grew to adulthood.

Casper and Doratha's half-brothers, Adam BEAL married Katherine FERTIG and they had six children: Delilah, 1871; John BEAL in 1873; twin daughters Allie & Alice in 1875; Sarah (BEAL) PALEN in 1884; and, Arthur BEAL in 1889.

Adam's sister Lucinda remarried George FERTIG with one daughter, Ida, born to this union. Lucinda remarried to J. A. HAVILAND. Their children were: Delphine LANDES, Mary NICHOLSON, Letta M. DAVIS, Edna MERRILL, J. C. HAVILAND, W. C. HAVILAND and Mrs. Ada KEITH. The Adam BEALS and the Lucinda HAVILANDS lived close around Benton, Ringgold County, Iowa.

Doratha and Wenzell YASHACK and Casper and Rachel Denhart and their children all lived pretty much in the Diagonal & Benton areas. Siloam school served those in it's area as a school, church, and for social gatherings.

The DENHART came here from Germany & were always happy & grateful to be in "Good old U.S.A. & living near their first town "Marshall" and later their home town Diagonal, Iowa. [All that's left of 'Marshall' is Marshalltown cemetery.]

This close family had a deep heart ache, after they came west from Ohio. The older son, John, had apprenticed out to learn a trade and earn his board & room so had stayed in Ohio. Getting lost from one's family happened quite often in those early days. With little means of communication it was hard to become reunited.

It was later learned that John married & lived to be 46 yrs of age. He was wounded in the [Civil] war. He and wife Elizabeth raised 10 children, the oldest son had promised his father he would find the rest of the family. This was accomplished in early 1900. John's mother passed away in 1889.

Casper K. DENHART and his daughter Julia spent Christmas 1909 with the new found family in Illinois. This was the first Christmas after Casper lost his beloved wife, Rachel, in June.

In 1921 the families of John, James and George DENHART and Maude (DENHART) CONNELISON family all traveled together to the Illinois DENHART reunion.

Sources:  Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database
                WPA Cemetery Survey and Cemetery Transcriptions
                IAGravestone Photograph Project
                Comments and notes of Ninabel (DENHART) STUCK, daughter of O. Howard DENHART
                Diagonal Centennial Book, 1888-1988
                Updated by Sara Denhart, February of 2011