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Grandpa Rev. Winfried Tekpenor Odjidja,
prominently listed in the line of our recent ancestry, was born in
1867, from heathen parenthood.
His grandfather was Annor, a famous
herbalist, healer and hunter/warrior who migrated from Apredi, a
village on the hills of the Akwapim area. This was in the early
1800. Annor was only in his twenties, leaving wives and children
behind at Apredi.
The invitation for Annor to come to the
Manya Krobo area came from Nene Baa Dua Asare, the Konor, of
Manya-Krobo. It came because of a deadly plaque/pandemic in the Manya state. The herbalist Annor, a giant of a man, succeeded in
putting an end to the epidemic.
The Konor was very delighted and as a
reward gave him a huge parcel of land and sub-chieftaincy stool at
the South Manya Krobo, at the area called Saisi. There he settled,
married many wives and he became rich and famous through the use of
his herbal knowledge.
His favorite son, Tettehwayo, from his
cherished second wife, Koryo, married the third daughter of the chief of Otalenya, a small district two miles from Korletsom.
His third wife gave
birth to four sons (Tekpetey, Tekpenor (grandpa), Teigaga, Issac),
and a daughter Dede (Maade).
Mamle was a strong hardworking woman and
had a successful marriage to Tettewayo. But some years later
Tettehwayo converted to Christianity to the complete repugnance of
the clan and family at Saisi.
His llfe was threatened by the clan
and this forced Terttehwayo to abandon the village to settle at
Otalenya.
His son Tekpenor, our Grandpa, then
about 12 years old, still had a great interest in tribal activities
like drumming and dancing. Great at entertaining visitors with his
skills, even when he was at school. But after completing middle
school education successfully, he pressured his parents to send him
out for further studies. This “foolish” request, at that time, met
the resistance of both his mother Mamle and his elder brother
Tekpetey, who became a farmer later.
Later on, brother and mother were
persuaded. So, young Tekpenor was among the early few to be trained
at the Presbyterian Training College at Akropong. And during
holidays from the college, he came to Accra to help his mentor Rev.
Daniel Ablorh who was his teacher from the seminary at the training
college, in further missionary works.
It was at the household of the Rev.
Ablorh where he met his wife Louisa Kai Ablorh, the 3rd daughter of
the reverend.
Kai’s mother
(Mrs. Ablorh) was also the daughter of the famous traditional priest
and herbalist Mohenu, who was a tormentor of the early Basel
missionaries in the Accra region and had numerous conflicts with
them. Herbalist Mohenu had an Apostle Paul conversion moment one day on
his wild missions against the Basel missionaries and soon after
became Paulo Mohenu, the catechist
The young seminarian Tekpenor was on a
different path. He was already a practicing catechist when he took
the name Odjidja as his surname.
He married Kai Ablorh in 1893 and
started ministering in many villages in the Krobo and Shai areas.
And around 1900, the family homestead at Korletsom had its
beginning.
The young Rev. Odjidja was among the
first Krobos to be ordained pastors before World War I. He learned
from the German missionaries, Zimmermann, Ehardt, etc. He was also
versatile in many trades, good in blacksmithing, carving, carpentry,
tailoring, masonry, and was also a good hunter, like his
grandfather, the warrior herbalist Annor.
Together with Mrs. Kai Odjidja they had
eight children. The eldest Docia (Mamkpa) was born in 1896, and the
youngest, Adolphus in 1910. Kai, his beloved wife, felt seriously
ill one day and died later, leaving him alone with the children in
1914.
He married his second wife, Johanna
Teimle Tettey, later and had two children with her, Alexander, and
Sophie (Ayongo).
Grandpa took
care of others too. His sister Dede’s son, called Victor, was in his
charge . He enrolled Victor at school and gave him the Odjidja name. He also adopted the daughter of his youngest brother Isaac, called
Renetta Adjoa Odjidja. Renetta was the mother of the late Kpakpo Addo.
The Rev.
Winfried Tekpenor Odjidja died in 1939, after having gained high
acclaims in the areas of Abokobi, Teshie, Osu, the Ga Adagme
regions, among the Akwapims and at some of the places he had served
as either a catechist or pastor.
His counsel was deemed imminent by
chiefs and rulers of the Krobo state. He served on many committees
for development at both state and the Basel/ Presbyterian Mission
levels in the Gold Coast. His grave is marked among the old
missionary burial area at the Presbyterian church cemetery at Odumase.
Today his offspring may number in the
hundreds and spread throughout many countries of the world.
Dr. Stephen Annor Odjidja
Berlin, Germany
To read the entire biography of Rev. W.
T. Odjidja
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