Category: Uncategorized

Mable Harriet Scholz Carty 1903-1958

Mable was the daughter of Adolph Scholz and Rosina Muecke. She was the 8th child, born 14 February 1903 in Inskip, Knoxville, Tennessee. A year later Mabel was baptized in the First Lutheran Church.

Name	Mabel Harriet Scholz
Baptism Age	1
Record Type	Baptism
Birth Date	19 Feb 1903
Birth Place	Knox County, Tennessee
Baptism Date	7 Aug 1904
Baptism Place	Knoxville, Tennessee
Father	Adolph Scholz
Mother	Rosa Mücke

Her godparents were her uncle and aunt, Julius and Julia Schwenke. Julia was the sister of her mother, Rosa Mücke. The same year her younger brother Walter was born.

In 1905, she and her family moved across country to a farm in Dusty, Whitman County, Washington. Her younger brother, Robert was born a year later, in 1906. The first census Mabel appeared on was the one in 1910.

Name	Mabel Scholz
Age in 1910	7
Birth Date	1903
Birthplace	Tennessee
Home in 1910	Dusty, Whitman, Washington, USA
Sheet Number	7a
Street	Alkali
Race	White
Gender	Female
Relation to Head of House	Daughter
Marital Status	Single
Father’s Birthplace	Austria
Mother’s Birthplace	Austria
Enumeration District Number	0267
Enumerated Year	1910
Neighbors	View others on page

Name	Age
Adolf Scholz	45
Rosie Scholz	45
Albert Scholz	19
Frank Scholz	17
Earnest Scholz	15
Rosa Scholz	13
Agness Scholz	12
John Scholz	10
Mabel Scholz	7
Walter Scholz	6
Robert Scholz	4

Mabel was 7 years old. Her older siblings had already attended school and could read and write. Her parent’s birth place was given as Austria, even though her father’s was from Prussia. In 1920 Mabel was 16 years old and she lived with her parents in Dusty. She still had not attended school, however she was able to read and write.

Name	Mabel Scholz
Age	16
Birth Year	abt 1904
Birthplace	Tennessee
Home in 1920	Dusty, Whitman, Washington
Street	Dusty-Colfax Highway
Residence Date	1920
Race	White
Gender	Female
Relation to Head of House	Daughter
Marital Status	Single
Father’s Name	A A Scholz
Father’s Birthplace	Austria
Mother’s Name	Rosa Scholz
Mother’s Birthplace	Austria
Able to Speak English	Yes
Attended School	No
Able to read	Yes
Able to Write	Yes
Neighbors	View others on page

Name	Age
A A Scholz	54
Rosa Scholz	54
Ernest Scholz	25
John Scholz	20
Mabel Scholz	6
Walter Scholz	15
Robert Scholz	13

All of Mabel’s siblings got married, had children and went onto farming. She was the exception. Mabel decided that farming was not for her, so she moved to Los Angeles, California. I have not been able to find her in the 1930 Census, however I found her in the 1936 California Voter Registration.

Name	Miss Mable H Scholz
Residence Date	1936
Street Address	427 S Westlake av
Residence Place	Los Angeles, California, USA
Party Affiliation	Democrat
Occupation	Operator

Mabel also had a souvenir from the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

I did find her in the 1940 Census. She was a machine operator at a clothing manufacturing company.

Name	Mabel Sholz
Respondent	Yes
Age	37
Estimated Birth Year	abt 1903
Gender	Female
Race	White
Birthplace	Tennessee
Marital Status	Single
Relation to Head of House	Lodger
Home in 1940	Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Map of Home in 1940	Los Angeles,Los Angeles,California
Street	So Hobart Avenue
Inferred Residence in 1935	Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Residence in 1935	Los Angeles
Resident on farm in 1935	No
Sheet Number	18A
Occupation	Machine Operator
Attended School or College	No
Highest Grade Completed	High School, 2nd year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census	40
Class of Worker	Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939	40
Income	750
Income Other Sources	No
Neighbors	View others on page

Mable married the love of her life, Ray Lawrence Carty, 18 January 1940 in Clark County, Nevada.

In 1950 they still lived happily in Los Angeles.

Name	Mabel Carty
Age	47
Birth Date	abt 1903
Gender	Female
Race	White
Birth Place	Tennessee
Marital Status	Married
Relation to Head of House	Wife
Residence Date	1950
Home in 1950	Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
Street Name	W 14th St
House Number	2214
Dwelling Number	314
Farm	No
Acres	No
Occupation	Power Machine Operator
Industry	Dress Factory
Occupation Category	Working
Hours Worked	40
Worker Class	Private
Institution Type	Large Flat
Household Members (Name)AgeRelationshipLawerence Carty 51 HeadMabel Carty47Wife

In 1955 Mabel travelled back to Washington for a family reunion. In the picture she is the lady with the pretty dress. Her brother Frank was absent and her father Adolph had died in 1939.

Just three years later Mabel died of cancer at the Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles. According to the death certificate she had lived there since 1925.

She is buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles County.

Time Line for Mable

1903 Born in Inskip, Tennessee
1904 Baptized In Knoxville, Tennessee
1904 Birth of Brother Walter
1905 Moved to Dusty, Washington
1906 Birth of Brother Robert
1910 Lived in Dusty
1920 Lived in Dusty
1925 Moved to Los Angeles
1932 Attended the Olympic Games in Los Angeles
1941 Married Ray Lawrence Carty in Nevada
1955 Family Reunion in Washington
1958 Died in Los Angeles

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August 2, 2025

The Paternal Ancestors of Maria Becker 1885-1975

Last year I wrote about my paternal Grandmother, Maria Johanna Becker.

Lets see how far I can take back her paternal line. When I first researched Maria’s ancestry I had a tough time finding any information at all. All my ancestors were born in Germany, so I have no way of using census records. My Dad died in 2006 and the only information I had from him was her birth and death dates and locations, which is not bad at all to get started. Oma (Grandma) was born in Hamminkeln outside of Wesel. I ordered her birth certificate from the city archive hoping to find the names of her parents.

Twenty years ago, I had to send a letter to the archive in Hamminkeln, Germany and request a copy of the birth certificate. I would receive a letter back with the copy and then had to pay the archive. They would not allow cash. We had to instruct our bank here in the USA to pay them via theirs in Germany. It was complicated but it worked. In the end I received the birth certificate and the names of Oma’s parents, the day laborer Johann Heinrich Becker and his wife Johanna Görtzen. There was also a Randvermerk (side note) on the left lower side which gave the information about her death certificate and where to order it.

After I found Oma’s parents I wanted to find their ancestors. How was I going to do that? There was not much online about Hamminkeln and Wesel. Oma was catholic so I had to look into church records. There was no catholic church in Hamminkeln, however there was one in Wesel. Wesel belongs to the diocese Münster. I emailed the diocese about the parents marriage record. They did not send me a copy however they gave me the wedding date and the birth years. These days the church book is online. I looked up the wedding record for Johann Heinrich Becker and Gertruda Görtzen.

Johann and Johanna were married 6 May 1884 in Wesel and I found out that both of them were born in the year 1861 in Hamminkeln. This wedding record did not mention the parents names only the witnesses. I wrote back to the dioceses and they gave me their names. Many years later I found the baptism records online. Johannes was baptized 6 December 1861. His parents were Franz Becker and Maria Sickel. Gertruda was baptized 13 October 1861 also in the same church. Her parents were Mathias Görzen and Maria Anna Spelleken.

1. Johann Heinrich Becker Baptism

2. Gertruda Görtzen Baptism

Finding the next generations of the Becker family proved difficult again. Franz Becker was working for the railroad, that’s all I found in the baptism record of his son Johann. No location of where Franz was from. Was he from Hamminkeln or somewhere else? It took another five or six year to find that information.

In the year 2021, death certificates started coming online for North Rhine-Westphalia. I was lucky as the website My Heritage published some of them on their website. I found Franz’s death certificate.

New information I found in Franz’s death certificate. He died in 1907, he had another son named Theodor, who was the informant on the certificate. Number two is that Franz was born in Messinghausen. Number three is that the parents of Franz were unknown. He was 80 years old when he died in 1907. That meant that Franz was born about 1827.

Messinghausen postcard from my personal collection.

Franz was born in Messinghausen, however he was baptized in the catholic church in Thülen. I found his baptismal record on the website Familysearch.

Name	Franz Joseph Egidius Becker
Gender	Male
Baptism Age	0
Birth Date	30 Aug 1827
Baptism Date	01 Sep 1827 (1 Sep 1827)
Baptism Place	Sankt Dionysius Katholisch, Thuelen, Westfalen, Prussia
Residence Place	Thülen, Westfalen, Preußen, Germany
Father	Johann Becker
Mother	Christine Muenster
FHL Film Number	1056008

I also found the original record in the church book. This record verified that the parents lived in Messinghausen. I circled the location.

Finding this location in the baptismal record was important, because there a tons of Becker families in the area. Anytime you have a very common name one has to be careful with finding the right ancestors.

Two new names, Johann Becker and Christine Münster/Muenster. I found their marriage just a couple of years before Franz was born.

Name	Johann Becker
Gender	Male
Marriage Date	25 Jan 1825
Marriage Place	Thülen, Westfalen, Preussen, Germany
Spouse	Christine Muenster
FHL Film Number	1056007

I found the original church record online. Johann was a farmer in Messinghausen and Christine was from Weiberg, however no parents, only the witnesses are mentioned.

Once again I was stuck for a couple of years until church records from Weiberg came online. It was quite common for catholic couples to get married twice. Johann and Christine also tied the knot in her church in Weiberg.

The top part is Johann’s and the bottom part is for Christine. Johann was born in Messinghausen, his parents are Johann Michael Becker and Maria Gertrud Schröder. Christina was born in Weiberg and her parents are Joannes Caspar Münster and Anna Catharina Maria Dören.

Johann Michael Becker and Maria Gertrud Schröder got married in Thülen.

Name	Joannes Michael Becker
Gender	Male
Marriage Date	10 Feb 1779
Marriage Place	Thülen, Westfalen, Preussen, Germany
Father	Caspari Becker
Mother	Annae Elisabethae Wuerminghausen
Spouse	Gedrud Schroeder
FHL Film Number	1056007

I found the original entry in the Thülen church book.

I also found Johann’s baptismal record.

Name	Joannes Michael Becker
Gender	Male
Baptism Age	0
Birth Date	28 Feb 1750
Birth Place	Olsberg
Baptism Date	01 Mär 1750 (1 Mar 1750)
Baptism Place	Sankt Martin Roemisch-Katholische, Bigge, Westfalen, Prussia
Residence Place	Bigge, Westfalen, Preussen
Father	Caspar Henrich Becker
Mother	Anna Elisabetha Wuerminghausen
FHL Film Number	1051950

Found the original record in the church book in Bigge. Johann was born 28 February and baptized on the first of March, 1750.

Johann’s parents Caspar Henrich Becker and Anna Elisabetha Würminghausen married 18 November 1747 in the same church in Bigge.

Name	Casparus Henricus Becker
Gender	Male
Marriage Date	18 Nov 1747
Marriage Place	Sankt Martin Roemisch-Katholische, Bigge, Westfalen, Prussia
Spouse	Elisabetha Wuerminghausen
FHL Film Number	1051950

I found the marriage in the church book.

The word behind his Mother Elisabetha Würminghausen is vidua, which means, she was already a widow. So at this point I don’t know if Würminghausen is her maiden or married name. Original records are very important. Most likely Johann had half siblings.

Let’s see if I can take the Becker line back another generation. I need to find Caspar’s parents and baptism.

Name	Casparus Henricus Becker
Gender	Male
Baptism Date	07 Apr 1733 (7 Apr 1733)
Baptism Place	Thülen, Westfalen, Preussen, Germany
Residence Place	Preußen, Germany
Father	Joannes Henricus Becker
Mother	Maria Catharina Wiessen
FHL Film Number	1056007

Voilà! I found them, thanks to the Family Search website and here is the original entry from the church book.

It’s possible that I eventually can find a marriage for Joannes Henricus Becker and Maria Catharina Wiessen, but for now this is the end of the Becker line.

Here is timeline I created for Maria’s paternal Becker line

Maria’s was born in Hamminkeln, however her direct paternal line came from Messinghausen and surrounding villages.

Finding your ancestors can be very tricky and difficult at times. It takes a lot of time, patience and money. In the end the reward is priceless. No matter how long you have waited for a record to be published. Finally you can go back one more generations. I found my 6th Becker Great-Grandparents. It will take me some time to go through more of the church books backwards to hopefully find their marriage and may be even their parents.

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July 25, 2025

What Happened To Franz Beiersdörfer (1859-?)
Franz Beiersdörfer was my husband’s maternal 2nd Great Grandfather. He was the son of the soldier, Johann Heinrich Beiersdörfer (1829-1891) and his wife Margaretha Johann (1830-1876). Franz was baptized 21 July 1859 in the catholic church in Albersweiler, a famous wine region in Germany.

Baptism of Franz Beiersdörfer in Alberweiler.

Town of Albersweiler Circa 1910

In 1884 Franz lived in Friesenheim, which is now part of Ludwigshafen am Rhein. That year he married my husband’s 2nd Great Grandmother, Elisabeth Höcker (1864-1928). Elisabeth was the daughter of Johannes Höcker (1836-1874) and his wife Wilhelmine Katharina Bauswein (1839-1907).

This marriage certificate has a lot more information that just the groom and bride and their parents. On the second page it stated that Franz and Elisabeth had a son, named Karl, together in 1881. It has been my experience with quite a few of my husband’s Bavarian ancestors that the women had children before they even got married. Children that were born before the wedding, will always be mentioned in the marriage certificate.

On the top page there is a side note in the upper left corner which states that Franz and Elisabeth got a divorce in 1900. We know that Elisabeth died 1928 in Ludwigshafen. What happened to Franz? Franz and Elisabeth only had one son. Two other children died in infancy.

Their son, Karl, married in 1908 in Ludwigshafen. In his marriage certificate it said the location of his Father, Franz, is unknown. Karl fought in WW1 (1914-1918). In the WW1 Peronnel Roster it stated that Karl’s Father lived in America, location unknown.

A long time ago my husband’s maternal Grandmother talked about her Grandfather, Franz. She had heard that he had left for America and that the ship sank.

Searching for Franz is becoming like finding a needle in a haystack. America could have been the USA or Canada or even Central America. How about South America? Many Germans immigrated to Brazil for example.

I searched the following websites for Franz hoping to find emigration or immigration records.
- Ancestry
- Ellis Island
- My Heritage
- Bremen Passenger List
- Family Search
- Deutsche Auswanderer Datenbank (German Emigration List)
I even contacted the city archives in Ludwigshafen to see if they had any emigration information about Franz. It’s possible that Franz used a different name when he left the country. He was a butcher by trade, so it would have been easy for him to find work. I found the 1896 directory for Friesenheim in google books.

His wife Elisabeth was in it, but he was not. My guess is that Franz was already gone by then and it took a couple more years for her to get a divorce in 1900.

Here is Franz’s timeline:
- 21 July 1859 Birth in Albersweiler
- 24 July 1859 Baptism at the catholic church in Albersweiler
- 16 November 1881 Son Karl is born in Friesenheim
- 11 October 1884 Marriage to Elisabeth Hoecker in Friesenheim
- 28 December 1884 Birth of daughter Susanna
- 10 February 1885 Death of daughter Susanna
- 18 April 1887 Birth of son Adam
- 29 March 1900 Divorce
- Death date and location unknown
I will contact the city archives in Ludwigshafen again to see if I can obtain a copy of the divorce record. I do not know if they even kept it. May be I can find a clue in that record.

As always I like to include a map. Friesenheim is north of Albersweiler, about 60 km or 37 miles.

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July 8, 2025

Anna Catharina Boeckers 1757-1829

My 4th paternal Great Grandmother, Anna Catharina Boeckers was baptized 15 Jun 1757 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt and died 20 March 1829 in Düsseldorf-Lörick. Her parents were Wilhelm Boeckers and Christine Muellers.

An old postcard of the St. Benediktus Catholic Church In Heerdt.

Anna got married in the same church 20 August 1782 to my 4th Great Grandfather, Heinrich Goetzen (1747-1820).

She and Heinrich had 6 children, all baptized in Heerdt.

1. Joannes Petrus Wilhelmus, my 3rd Great Grandfather, born 1783 in Heerdt, died 1816 in Lörick. He was married to my 3rd Great Grandmother, Helen Catharina Muehlensieb. They had 3 children.
2. Maria Magdalena, born 1785
3. Wilhem Balthasar born 1788, got married 25 October 1825 in Eckamp to Maria Margaretha Hamacher. They had 7 children.
4. Maria Christina born 1791, got married 21 January 1826 in Neuß to Johann Mathias Fleur
5. Johannes Henricus born 1794
6. Michael Anton born 1802

Anna died 20 March 1829 in Oberlörick which is not far from Heerdt. In the church book entrance it was written that she had been a widow.

I have three primary sources for Anna, her birth/baptism, her marriage and her death entries in the church book. My goal is to have these type of sources for all my direct ancestors, even though it’s not always possible. For her parents so far I only have the marriage record in the church book. I do have all the baptism entries for her children.

You might ask what is a primary record? Primary records are original records like the excerpt from a church book, or a copy of a birth certificate. Secondary records you can for example look up on the Family Search Website. A secondary source for Anna’s marriage:

Name	Anna Catharina Boeckers
Gender	Female
Marriage Date	20 Aug 1782
Marriage Place	Katholisch, Heerdt, Rheinland, Prussia
Father	Wilhelmi Boeckers
Mother	Christinae Muellers
Spouse	Henricus Goetzen
FHL Film Number	174320

This information was taken from the church book and entered into a database, that’s a secondary source versa a copy of the original entry.

The original entry tells me that her parents were from Lörick as well as the name of the witnesses who were Petrus Goetzen and Joannes Schillings. Always try to obtain a primary source whenever possible and make a note of where you found it.

Anna lived in Heerdt and died in Lörick which is only a couple of miles away.

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June 30, 2025

Johann Georgi Selzer 1740-?
Johann Georgi Seltzer was my husband’s 5th paternal Great Grandfather. He was born 12 June 1740 in Raden, Kreis Leobschütz, Silesia, Germany. Since the end of WW2, Raden has belonged to Poland and is now called Radynia. After the war had ended, all the German people of that region were expelled by the new Polish government. It was a terrible time for them. They could barely take anything with them and many people lost their lives. Raden (Radynia) is a tiny village close to the Czech border.

Johann’s parents were Anton Selzer and Johanna Englisch. He married my husband’s 5th Great Grandmother, Elisabetha Grimm, 17 October 1769 in Schönwiese, now called Krasne Pole. This village is about 7 miles away from Radynia.

An old postcard of Schönwiese (Krasne Pole) from the 1920’s.

Johann and Elisabetha Selzer had 10 children, all born in Raden (Radynia).
- 1. Anton Valentin born 1771
- 2. Joseph Urban born 1772 and died 1789 in Raden
- 3. Carl Johann born 1774
- 4. Johann Georg born 1775 and died 1846 in Raden. He was married to Elisabeth Krischker. They had 12 children.
- 5. Maria Elisabetha Theresia was born 1779. She married Franz Schindler. They had 4 children.
- 6. Johann Martin born 1780
- 7. Johanna Selzer, my husband’s 4th Great Grandmother, was born 1782 and died 1822 in Raden. She was married to my husband’s 4th Great Grandfather, Anton Wiedemann. They had 9 children, one of them was husband’s 3rd Great Grandmother, Karolina Wiedemann who married Fridolin Scholz, my husband’s 3rd Great Grandfather.
- 8. Carolus Joannes, no dates available, he supposedly had at least 3 children
- 9. Clara Victoria died 1785 in Raden
- 10. Bernard Paulus no dates available
Johann and his wife had 10 children, 29 grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren, 58 2x great grandchildren and 57 3x great grandchildren. These are the ones I have found, there are probably a lot more. Many of Johann’s descendants live in Germany, Austria and the United States.

Johann’s relationship to my husband, his 5x Great Grandchild:
- Johann Georgii SELZER 1740-1800
  5th great-grandfather of husband
- Johanna SELZER 1782-1822
  Daughter of Johann Georgii SELZER
- Karolina Wiedemann 1811-1862
  Daughter of Johanna SELZER
- Franz Scholz 1832-1891
  Son of Karolina Wiedemann
- Adolph Albert Scholz 1865-1939
  Son of Franz Scholz
- Robert William Scholz 1906-2004
  Son of Adolph Albert Scholz
- William “Bill” Edward Scholz 1935-2002
  Son of Robert William Scholz
- Husband
  Son of William “Bill” Edward Scholz
Do you know how many sets of 5th great grandparents you have? 128! Every generation doubles in numbers. Let’s see if this correct.
- Generation 1: Child
- Generation 2: 2 parents
- Generation 3: 4 Grandparents
- Generation 4: 8 Great Grandparents
- Generation 5: 16 2x Great Grandparents
- Generation 6: 32 3x Great Grandparents
- Generation 7: 64 4x Great Grandparents
- Generation 8: 128 5x Great Grandparents
- Generation 9: 256 6x Great Grandparents
- Generation 10: 512 7x Great Grandparents
- Generation 11: 1024 8x Great Grandparents
- Generation 12: 2048 9x Great Grandparents
- Generation 13: 4096 10x Great Grandparent
- Generation 14: 8192 11x Great Grandparents
- Generation 15: 1638 12x Great Grandparents
- Generation 16: 32768 13x Great Grandparents
So you have 128 sets of 5x Great Grandparent, that means you have 64 5x Great Grandfathers. How many have you found in your research?

In order for me to find the Polish name for Raden, I used Kartenmeister.

This is the best website to find the current names of former German cities. There were a couple of other towns with the name Raden, however I knew which Kreis (sort of like a county) it belonged to. Raden, Kreis Leobschütz which now is called Radynia.

I did find an image for Raden on a Polish website. You can see the image here. On the top half it shows a guest house and the owner has the same last name, Selzer. He might very well be related to my husband’s 5th Great Grandfather.

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June 23, 2025
Anna Elisabeth Herbst 1722-1782
My paternal 4th Great Grandmother, Anna Elisabeth, was baptized 21 June 1722 in the Sankt Lambertus Catholic Church in Düsseldorf, Germany. Her parents were Joannes Dionysius Herbst and Anna Elisabeth Borrigs.

The church is located in old town Düsseldorf near the river Rhein.

Anna Elisabeth had ten brothers and sisters, all born and baptized in Düsseldorf.
- 1. Maria Gertrudis born 1717
- 2. Anna Christina born 1718, married to Bernhard Henricus Robertz, they had 16 children.
- 3. Anna Sophia born 1721
- 4. Joannes Petrus born 1724, married to Sybilla Schumachers. They had one child.
- 5. Theodorus Godefridus born 1726
- 6. Theodorus Wilhelm born 1727, married to Margaretha Dahmen
- 7. Joannes Theodorus born 1729
- 8. Anna Margaretha born 1730
- 9. Joannes Ferdinandus born 1732
- 10. Anna Sybilla born 1734
Anna also had five half siblings from her Father’s second marriage to Anna Margaretha von Rath
- 1. Catharina Sophia born 1737, died 1802 in Benrath, was married to Joannes Wilhelmus Heubes. They had 8 children.
- 2. Anna Gertrudis born 1738
- 3. Anna Maria born 1740
- 4. Sybilla Catharina born 1744
- 5. Maria Anna born 1746
Anna married my 4th Great Grandfather, Petrus Josephus Weingartz, 4 August 1746 in Sankt Martinus Church in Düsseldorf-Bilk.

The Weingartz couple had 11 children, all born and baptized in Düsseldorf.
- 1. Anna Gertrudis Bernadina born 1747, died 1787 in Düsseldorf, married to Petrus Josephus Sebus. They had 8 children.
- 2. Joannes Petrus born 1749
- 3. Christina Catharina born 1750
- 4. Henricus Paulus born 1752
- 5. Maria Sophia born 1754
- 6. Maria Anna, my 3rd Great Grandmother born 1756, died 1814 in Düsseldorf, married to my 3rd Great Grandfather, Joannes Winandus Josephus Krings. They had 9 children including my 2nd Great Grandfather, Andreas Daniel Joseph Krings born 1808.
- 7. Joannes Angelus Josephus born 1758, married to Anna Wilhelmina Margareta Hellersberg.
- 8. Joannis Henricus born 1759, married to Anna Catharina Hoenen.
- 9. Magdalena Josepha born 1761
- 10. Anna Elisabetha Josepha born 1763
- 11. Henricus Antonius Bernardus born 1767
Anna died in April of 1781. I found her in the catholic burial’s announcements in the local newspaper.

Transcription: Den 21ten, Anna Elisabetha Herbst, Ehefrau Weingartz, alt 59 Jahr 10 Monat. Translation: The 21st, Anna Elisabetha Herbst, wife of Weingartz, age 59 years and 10 months.

Elisabeth had lots of descendants. 11 children, 17 grandchildren, 42 great grandchildren and 82 two times great grandchildren. Those are the ones I have found, there might be a lot more.

I would love to be able to time travel and meet all my ancestors to see how they lived, what they ate, how they cooked, what they feared. Were they able to read and write? Did they go to school?

Which ancestor would you like to meet and why?

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June 3, 2025

2ndLt Howard A Scholz 1921-1944

Howard A Scholz was my husband’s first cousin, once removed. He was born 8 August 1921 in Seattle, Washington and died during WW2 in Peteliu, Palau, Philippines. His parents were Albert Julius Scholz (1890-1981) and Elizabeth Mackleit (1896-1972). His paternal grandparents were Adolph Scholz (1865-1939) and Rosina Muecke (1864-1960). Adolph immigrated from Prussia and Rosina from Austria. His maternal grandparents were Georg Mackleit (1868-1959) and Catharina Weitz (1872-1950) They both immigrated from Russia.

In the 1930 Census Howard and his family lived in Colfax, Washington. They were wheat farmers.

The same in the 1940 Census

In 1943 he attended Washington State College (Washington State University) in Pullman as seen on his WW2 draft card.

Howard enlisted just four days later, on April 23rd, 1943.

Name	Howard A Scholz
Race	White
Marital Status	Single, without dependents (Single)
Rank	Private
Birth Year	1921
Nativity State or Country	Washington
Citizenship	Citizen
Residence	Whitman, Washington
Education	4 years of college
Enlistment Date	23 Apr 1943
Enlistment Place	Spokane, Washington
Service Number	39464950
Branch	No branch assignment
Component	Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source	Civil Life
Height	83
Weight	000

Howard graduated from college in June 1943 and married his sweetheart, Miss Nancy E Rogers, a couple of months later in Seattle.

In December 1943 Howard received his commission in the marines at Quantico, Virginia.

According to the HonorStates.org, I quote: “Howard Scholz was wounded 9-15-1944 during the invasion of Peleliu. He died on board a hospital ship the next day and was buried at sea.”

Howard received two medals.

The Silver Star

Quoted from Home of Heroes: “The Silver Star remained exclusively an Army decoration until August 7, 1942 and was expanded by Act of Congress for award by the Navy Department.”

The Purple Heart

Quoted from Wikipedia: “The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving.”

Howard gave his life for his country. He will never be forgotten. Howard is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines or on Find A Grave.

His name is also displayed at the Washington State University Veterans Memorial. The structure was dedicated in 1993 and completed in 2000.

To conclude this article I found a picture of Howard and his family in happier times at the Whitman County Online Heritage Collection.

Howard with his parents, Albert Julius and Elisabeth Scholz and his siblings, Audrey Jean, Winifred, Virginia and Bert in December 1936.

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May 29, 2025

Josef Richard Heinrich Krings 1914-1943
My paternal uncle, Josef Krings, was born 18 May 1914 in Düsseldorf, Germany and was killed 5 July 1943 during WW2 at the battle of Korowina, Bjelgrod, Russia. His parents were Wilhelm Krings and Maria Becker. I recently was able to obtain a copy of his birth certificate, which is now in the public domain, from Düsseldorf City Archives.

His birth certificate has two Randvermerke or side notes. One is for his marriage and the other one for the death certificate. I have copies of both.

Josef grew up in a large family with seven brothers and sisters. At one point he moved to Berlin. I don’t know exactly when and why. There, he married Antonia Sotola, 24 July 1940. She was born in Stockerau near Vienna, Austria. They had a son in 1941, named Georg, my first cousin. I have never met him.

Uncle Josef, probably with his wife Antonia and may be his mother in law. Location unknown, probably taken in Berlin, circa 1940.

Uncle Josef and cousin Georg circa 1942, location may be in Berlin.

Josef and Georg 1941 in Berlin

Cousin Georg 14 months old probably in Berlin, 1942

Josef was killed in Korowino, Russia in July 1943. The death certificate was issued a year later, in July 1944, in Berlin.

Josef’s wife, Antonia, together with their son Georg, moved back to Austria.

I gathered the information about Josef from several source.
- 1. Birth and death dates I learnt from my Dad who passed away in 2006
- 2. The pictures were given to me by his younger sister, Ursula, who also passed away in 2006.
- 3. Berlin death certificates are online from 1874-1985 at Ancestry. I didn’t know that my uncle had lived in Berlin, until I saw the certificate. From the side notes I learnt where to order the marriage and birth certificate.
- 4. His marriage certificate from 1940, which I did not post here, I ordered from the City Archives in Berlin .
- 5. I tried to look for his grave, but there is none. His body was never recovered. You can search for graves here at the German War Graves Commission.
A few tips when you search at the German War Graves Commission site. The spelling of the names have to be exact. I would start with just a last name. Birth dates also have to be exact as well. German dates are written differently. For example today’s date is 5-19-25. In Germany the date would be 19-05-25.

Every time you search the site, they want you to enter your name, address, email and so on. If you do find your relative, you then have the option of getting updates by email and/or also make donations to the website. I have never received any junk mail, only an occasional email every few years if there is something new on the battle/grave site.

You can order military records at the Bundesarchiv (Federal Archive) in Germany. The web site is in German and English. I ordered my Dad’s service record over 10 years ago. It took two years to get them. It might even take longer nowadays. If you are looking for WW1 service records, you will have no luck. They were destroyed during WW2. The only exception are the Bavarian WW1 Personnel Records 1914-1918 which are at ancestry.

Here is a map of where Josef was born (Düsseldorf), lived (Berlin) and died (Russia)

In a future post I will write about Josef’s brother who was also a soldier and died shortly after the war ended. I am still gathering facts and documents.

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May 19, 2025
Happy Mother’s Day
This Sunday, May 10th, we celebrate once again Mother’s Day here in the United States and in Germany as well. Today I will introduce you to my direct maternal line, meaning my Mother, her mother and so on.
- 1. My Mother, Katharina Josefine Schneider, was born 4 November 1927 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt and died 12 November 1982 in Düsseldorf, Germany. She married my Dad in 1946. She loved flowers, lucky for her, my Dad owned a wholesale flower business, so there was an endless supply. I inherited all her vases. I love this particular picture of her, it was taken in 1943.
- 2. Her Mother and My Grandmother, Adelheid Katharina Sevenich, born 24 September 1899 and died 17 October 1982 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt. She married my Grandfather in 1922. Oma was a seamstress and made cloths for all my dolls. She made the best paprika chicken and pudding desserts.
- 3. Her Mother and my Great Grandmother, Anna Catharina Steinhaus, born 18 November 1870 and died 10 March 1958 in Düsseldorf Heerdt. She married my Great Grandfather in 1893. Anna died before I was born, so I didn’t get to meet her. She had a large family of nine children. Her picture was taken on her 25th wedding anniversary in 1918.
- 4. Her Mother and my 2x Great Grandmother, Anna Christina Gather, was born 16 October 1842 in Büderich and died 13 May 1906 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt. She married my 2x Great Grandfather, in 1869. Her baptims is below.
Her marriage:

Her death certificate:
- 5. Her Mother and my 3rd Great Grandmother, Anna Catharina Underdenbäumen (the last name literally translated means “under the trees”), was born 23 February 1808 in Neuss and died 3 February 1850 in Büderich. She married my 3rd Great Grandfather in 1832. She had a large family of 9 children.
Her marriage:

Her death:
- 6. Her Mother and my 4th Great Grandmother, Maria Sibilla Gather, born 9 January 1767 in Büderich and died 4 December 1827 in Neuss. She married my 4th Great Grandfather in 1790. She had 4 children. Here is the marriage from the church book.
- 7. Her Mother and my 5th Great Grandmother, Sibille Gertrud Korschgens (also spelled Körschgens), born 15 January 1736 and died 8 April 1817 in Büderich. She married my 5th Great Grandfather in 1758. She had 11 children.
- 8. Her Mother and my 6th Great Grandmother, Helena Maria Kreitzen, born about 1710 and died 13 September 1757 in Büderich. She married my 6th Great Grandfather in 1732. She had 9 children.
- 9. Her Mother and my 7th Great Grandmother was Maria Leven. I do not have any dates for her yet. Hopefully in the future I will be able to find some.
I was able to go back nine generation for my direct maternal line. That’s pretty awesome, don’t you think?

The first Mother’s Day in the United States was celebrated in 1908, in Germany not until 1922.

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May 5, 2025
Petrus Josephus Weingartz 1721-?
Petrus Josephus Weingartz was my paternal 4th Great Grandfather. His parents were Joannes Petrus Weingartz and Anna Gertrudis Bommels. Petrus was baptized 4 April 1721 in the Sankt Martin church in Düsseldorf-Bilk.

St. Martins Church in Bilk

Petrus had several siblings all baptized in the church above.
- 1. Sibylla Gertrudis born 1716
- 2. Wihelmus Henricus born 1718
- 3. Anna Sophia born 1719
- 4. Catharina Elisabetha born 1723, was married to Paulus Kucks.
- 5. Joannes Henricus born 1724, was married to Anna Catharina Heinens. They had 10 children. One of them emigrated to South Africa.
- 6. Anton Xtiantius born 1727
- 7. Joannes Petrus born 1729. He was married to Anna Margaretha Schwan. They had 7 children
- 8. Maria Margaretha born 1731. She was married to Joannes Angelus Wallinger
- 9. Maria Magdalena born 1734. She was married to Franciscus Breidt.
- 10. Joannes Petrus born 1736.
I have found several spelling variations of the name Weingartz. Weingarts, Weingart and Wingart. The name originates from Weingarten (vinyard). May be my ancestors grew whine.

Petrus married my 4th Great Grandmother, Anna Elisabeth Herbst (1722-1782), 4 August 1746 in Bilk.

A week later they married a second time in the Sankt Lambertus Church in Düsseldorf. This was the church where Anna was baptized.

St. Lambertus Church Circa 1920’s

Petrus and Anna had 11 children, all of them were baptized in the church above.
- 1. Anna Gertrudis Bernadina born 1747, died 1787, was married to Petrus Josephus Rebus. They had 8 children.
- 2. Joannes Petrus born 1749.
- 3. Christina Catharina born 1750.
- 4. Henricus Paulus born 1752.
- 5. Maria Sophia born 1754.
- 6. Maria Anna Josepha, my 3rd Great Grandmother, born 17 February 1756, died 17 September 1814. She was married to my 3rd Great Grandfather, Joannes Winandus Josephus Krings. They had 9 children.
- 7. Joannes Angelus Josephus, born 1758. He was married to Anna Wilhemina, Margareta Hellersberg.
- 8. Joannes Henricus born 1759. He was married to Anna Catharina Hoenen.
- 9. Magdalena Josepha born 1761.
- 10. Anna Elisabetha Josepha born 1763.
- 11. Henricus Antonius Bernardus born 1767.
Petrus’s wife, Anna, died 21 April 1782 in Düsseldorf. Her death was mentioned in the newspaper.

I do not have a death date for Petrus yet. The church books were only recently published online.

Sankt Lambertus church is located only about 4.4 km or 2.73 miles north of the Sankt Martinus church. Both churches still exist and survived WW2.

The sources I used were mainly on Ancestry and the church books from Düsseldorf which are listed here.

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April 23, 2025