Katherine Bleser also know as Kate was my brother in law’s 2nd Great Grandmother. She was born in March of 1833 in Prussia. We don’t know her maiden name. The first time we met Kate was in the 1870’s federal census in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Kate and my brother in law’s 2nd Great Grandfather, William Bleser owned a grocery store and they had four children. One child was born after 1870.
All of their children were born in Pennsylvania, most likely in Honesdale.
1. William born August 1859, died 21 March 1925 in Jersey City. He was married to Anna Egan. They had 2 children.
2. Jacob born 1862, died 18 October 1876.
3. Josef born September 1866, died 26 December 1933 Irvington, New Jersey. He was married to Augusta.
4. Catherine E., my brother in law’s Great Grandmother, born 6 Oct 1868, died 30 March 1963 in Jersey City, New Jersey. She was married to Adam Joseph Dittmar Junior. They had 10 children. A picture taken on their 50th anniversary.
5. Catherine born 1873. She was married to Bernard William Vanderminde. They had 2 children.
Kate’s husband died 31 December 1872 in Honesdale.
In 1873 Kate applied for a saloon license
Source: Wayne County Herald
Honesdale, Pennsylvania • Thu, May 8, 1873Page 3
By August 1874 Kate was already married to her second husband, as seen in a newspaper notice about her first husband’s estate.
In 1878 Kate’s daughter Annie Hoefling is born. In 1880 Kate, her husband Adam Hoefling and her son William got into trouble with the law. They did not have a liquor license.
In 1893 her daughter, Catharine E. Dittmar travelled from Jersey City, New Jersey for a visit and Kate also was selling the grocery store.
I wonder how long it would have taken her daughter to travel to Honesdale in 1893?
In 1900, Kate, her husband Adam Hoefling, her widowed daughter, Catherine Bleser Kelleher, her daughter Annie Hoefling and her grandson Edward Kelleher lived in Jersey City, New Jersey. Kate immigrated in 1860 and her husband in 1870 from Prussia.
In 1910 Kate and Adam lived by themselves. Kate’s immigration year is now 1856 in stead of 1860.
In the 1915 New Jersey State Census Kate was a widow and lived together with a daughter and a grandson.
Kate died in April 1920 according to Find A Grave.
I still have so many questions about Kate. When was her exact birthday, where was she born in Prussia, what was her maiden name, when did she immigrate and who were her parents? I couldn’t find obituaries for her and her husbands. May be in the future I will be able to answer some of these questions.
Anna Margarethe Mertzenich was my paternal 6th Great Grandmother. She was baptized 11 March 1671 in the Sankt Blasius catholic church in Düsseldorf-Hamm. Her parents were Hermann Mertzenich and Elisabeth von Collen. The baptismal entry you can find here and below.
The baptism book was only recently made available online, for me that was very exciting to see the original entry from 1671. You can read about the church on Wikepedia.
Anna Margarethe married my 6th Great Grandfather, Cornelius Kauertz, 12 November 1702 in the Sankt Dreifaltigkeit Catholic Church in Düsseldorf-Derendorf.
The wedding church book also was also recently published online. An old postcard of the church is below.
Ann Margarethe and Cornelius had the following children, all baptized in the same church as above.
1. Henricus Wilhelmus Kauertz baptized 19 March 1704, godparents were Henricus Mertzenich, probably a brother of Margarethe, Wilhelmus Eickel and Elisabeth Nullmanns.
2. Joannes Jacobus Kauertz, my 5th Great Grandfather, baptized 23 September 1705, married to my 5th Great Grandmother, Maria Magdalena Elsen, died 29 August 1781 in Derendorf. They had eight children together. Below is his baptism. Godparents are Joannes Wilhelmus Mertzenich, Jacobus? and Elisabetha?
3. Anna Catharina Kauertz baptized 30 November 1706. The writing is hard to read.
4. Elisabeth Gertrud Kauertz baptized 20 February 1708. Married to Antonius Cremer. The couple had 3 children. Her baptism is below.
5. Maria Gertrudis Kauertz baptized 19 December 1709.
6. Winandus Leornardus Kauertz baptized 25 October 1711, married to Anna Helen Maria Magdalena Gast. They had 4 children. He was also married to Anna Margareth Butzong. They had 1 child. Winandus died 17 May 1745. His baptism is below.
7. Maria Catharina Kauertz, the last child, baptized 3 December 1713.
I was able to find copies of all of the children’s baptisms. I do not know when Anna Margarethe died. She was born in Hamm and died probably in Derendorf. A map shows the distance between the two locations. It’s only about 6.4 km or 3.9 miles.
Richard Hickman was my husband’s paternal 3rd Great Grandfather. He was born 8 March 1818 in Kent County, Delaware and died 6 January 1884 in Colfax, Washington. His parents were Roger Hickman and Mary Jenkins. Richard had a full life. He was married four times and he had lots of children, all of whom you will meet in this blog.
Richard married his first wife, Mary Cox, 5 September 1839 in Warren County, Indiana. They had five children together.
1. Martha Ann Hickman, born 1840 in Indiana, married to John Merideth, died 1909 in Illinois. The couple had 6 children. Her second marriage was to Willam B. Ammerman. They had 7 children.
2. Sylvester Hickman, born 1842 in Williamsport, Warren County, Indiana, married to Mary Millhollin and died 1919 in Watseka, Iroquois, Illinois. They had one child. Sylvester was also married to Belinda Catherine Hutchinson. They had 8 children together. He served in the 12th Illinois Infantry in the civil war. Sylvester was an author and wrote the book “Genealogy of The Hickman Family”, which I have used extensively for my genealogical research.
3. John Wesley Hickman born 1844 in Indiana, died 1862 in Iroquois County Illinois. He also served in the 12th Illinois Infantry in the civil war.
4. William Franklin Hickman born 1846 in Williamsport, Warren County, Indiana, was married to Martha Wilson and died 1914 in Colfax, Whitman County, Washington. The couple had 15 children.
5. Mary Caroline Hickman born 1848 in Indiana, was married to William H. Biggs and died 1906 in Muncie, Delaware, Indiana. The couple had one child. She was also married to Francis Marion Justice. The couple had four children.
Richard’s wife, Mary Cox, died 18 August 1848. He married his second wife, Sara Jane Tuttle, 2 March 1850 in Warren County, Indiana. Sara Jane died in childbirth in 1851 and so did their son Alexander Hickman. Richard then married his third wife and my husband’s 3rd Great Grandmother, Elisabeth Jane Canutt, 28 August 1851 also in Warren County, Indiana. They had nine children together.
1. Joseph Henry Hickman, my husband’s 2nd Great Grandfather, born 1852 in Warren County, Indiana, married to Marry E. Davis, died1933 in Colfax, Whitman County, Washington. They had 7 children together. Henry was a very successful farmer and business man.
2. Alexander Hickman born 1854 in Iroquois County, Illinois, married to Elizabeth Crawford, died 1928 in Colfax, Washington. They had 4 children together.
3. Thomas Hickman born 1856 in Indiana, died 1859 in Illinois.
4. Enoch B Hickman born 1858 and died 1859 in Illinois.
5. Sara Florence Hickman born 1862 in Illinois, was married to George Avery Davis, died 1942 in Colfax, Washington. The couple had 8 children.
6. Eliza Jane Hickmann born 1864 in Illinois, married to Ulysses Simpson Grand Story, died 1932 in Pullman, Washington. The couple had 9 children.
7. Elmer Clinton Hickmann born 1867 in Illinois, married to Lovina Unzicker, died 1955 in Colfax, Washington. They had 2 children.
Richard’s third wife, Elizabeth Jane Canutt, died shortly after their last child, Elmer Clinton was born. He then married Maria Sanders 27 August 1868 in Iroquois County, Illinois. They had 3 children together.
1. Ida May Hickman born and died in 1870
2. Infant Hickman born and died in 1872
3. Wilbert Sanders Hickman born 1875 in Milford, Illinois, married to Nettie Ines Martin, died 1859 in Spokane, Washington. The couple had 4 children.
Richard Hickman had a grand total of 18 children and at least 61 grandchildren.
I only have found two detailed census records for Richard. The first one is the 1870 federal census. He lived together with his fourth wife, Maria, his youngest son Elmer and children from the previous marriage in Stockland, Iroquois County, Illinois.
After 1870 the family moved to Whitman County, Washington where the family lived in 1880.
Richard grew up in Delaware, lived in Warren County, Indiana, Iroquois County, Illinois and Colfax Washington. He died 6 January, 1884 and is buried in the Onecho cemetery in Whitman County, Washington. Photo taken by Arthur Allen Moore III on Find A Grave.
A map showing the places Richard had lived. In the 19th century many families moved west as new land became available for settlement.
Heinrich Mühlensieb was my paternal 4th Great Grandfather. He was baptized 7 February 1743 in the Sankt Martinus catholic church in Düsseldorf Bilk, Germany. His parents were Joannes Josephus Mühlensieb and Anna Catharina Schäfers. The following image shows a copy of the baptismal entry in the church book.
Heinrich married my 4th Great Grandmother, Anna Catharina Kauertz, 30 November 1769 in the Sankt Dreifaltigkeit catholic church in Düsseldorf Derendorf.
The last name is spelled Meulensiep instead of Mühlensiep. In Düsseldorf we speak lower German. The groom probably pronounced it that way and the pastor wrote what he heard. I found on old image of the Sankt Dreifaltigkeits church from the 1920’s.
The church is still there. The street and the houses were destroyed during WW2 air raids by the British.
Heinrich and Katharina had eight children, all of them born in Düsseldorf Derendorf.
1. Anna Catharina born 20 April 1771
2. Maria Elisabeth born 3 August 1772
3. Henricus Josephus born 4 July 1773
4. Anna Catharina Frederica born 20 June 1774
5. Petrus Conradus 6 October 1775
6. Peter Joseph Cornelius 10 February 1777, died 17 May 1841 in Düsseldorf Bilk. He was married to Anna Helen Coenenberg. They had seven children together. After Anna’s death, he got married to Anna Catharina Steffen. The couple had three children together. After Anna’s death, he got married to Catharina Gertrud Fischer. They had no children.
7. Joannes Leopoldus 9 December 1779
8. Helene Catharina, my 3rd Great Grandmother, born 8 April 1783, died 30 August 1827 in Düsseldorf Lörrick. She was married to Joannes Petrus Wilhelmus Goetzen. They had three children together. After Joanne’s death, she got married to Joannes Mathias Glasmacher. They also had three children together.
Heinrich Mühlensieb died 16 August 1810 in Düsseldorf-Derendorf. The church book for that death year has not been published yet.
So, where does the last name Mühlensieb come from? If you translate the name into English it would become mill sieve. In Germany family names emerged about 800 years ago, first among citizens and much later for farmers. The name Mühlensieb originated in Westphalia which is next to the Rhineland. May be my ancestors were were mill owners or worked at one. I don’t know what Heinrich’s profession was.
I have a book called “Deutsches Namenlexikon” or translated “German name dictionary”.
I have used this book many times to look up the meaning of German last names. It only contains about 15,000 of them. There also websites covering this topic, however they are sometimes hard to find, so it’s nice to have an actual book to look up names.
I only have two more generation for my Mühlensieb ancestors. My 5th Great Grandfather, Johannes Josephus, born in Düsseldorf-Gerresheim in 1714 and my 6th Great Grandfather , Everhardus, who died before 1729. Most church books in Germany started anywhere between the 16th and 18th century.
As always in my blog I like to include a map and sources.
Derendorf is north of Bilk. You can walk or take the subway and or the trams. It’s only about 5 miles. In Germany most people walk everywhere. It’s hard to find a parking spot in the cities and the traffic is bad. Everything is much smaller over there. It’s very comparable to driving in San Francisco.
This week I am participating once again in Amy Johnson Crow‘s 52 ancestors in 52 week challenge. This week’s prompt is migration.
Adamus Paulus Weingartz was my paternal first cousin five times removed. He was baptized 12 November 1760 in the Sankt Martinus catholic church in Düsseldorf, Prussia. His parents were Joannes Henricus Weingartz and Anna Catharina Heinens. A copy of his baptism is below.
When Adamus was 26 years old he travelled to Holland. Düsseldorf was not that far from the Dutch border as you can see on this map below.
In the Dutch archives I found a document that Adamus was going to travel on the ship Arend.
From this document I could see that he was going to serve as a Dutch soldier from 1786 to 1793. He was sailing to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He travelled with the famous Dutch East India Company.
Name
Adamus Paulus Weingartz
Origin
Dusseldorff
Entry into Service Date
17 jul. 1786 (17 Jul 1786)
Entry into Service Position
Soldaat
Position Explanation
Militair
Departure Ship
Arend
Out of Service Date
31 aug. 1793 (31 Aug 1793)
Out of Service Place
Kaap De Goede Hoop
Reasons for Leaving Service
Overleden
Monthly Letter
Nee
Debt Letter
Ja
Adamus left Holland 17 July 1786 and arrived at the Cape of Good Hope 12 May 1787.
He married Anna Catharina Hansoniús 14 June 1807 in Cape Town. They had five children together, all born in Cape Town and baptized in the Dutch Reformed Church.
1. Anna Christina Fredrica Weingartz born 1808, died 1864 in Cape Town. She was married to John Albert Sinclair. The couple had four children.
2. Maria Magdalena Catharina Weingartz born 1811, died 1893 in Sea Point, Cape Town. She was married to Thomas Kenneth Sinclair. The couple had 11 children.
3. Aletta Margaretha Weingartz born 1813, died 1845 in Cape Town. She was married to Thomas Hall. The couple had four children.
4. Paulus Petrus Heinrich Weingartz born 1816, died 1858 in Paarl, Western Cape. He was married to Regina Johanna Dietlefs. The couple had one child.
5. Frederik Martinus Johannes Weingartz born 1819, died 1891 at Sea Point, Western Cape. He was not married. I did find a grave stone for him on Find A Grave, courtesy of Scooter T. I enlarged the image to see the inscription better.
He is buried together with his sister, Maria Magdalena, and his brother in law, Thomas Kenneth Sinclair.
Adamus was a shop keeper. South Africa, City and Area Directories, 1813-1962
Master’s Office / Orphan Chamber, Cape Town (MOOC)
Source location
National Archives, Cape Town (KAB)
After his death his wife remarried.
About fifteen years ago I was contacted by a descendant of Adamus, who lives in South Africa. He had asked me all kinds of questions about my hometown Düsseldorf. He asked about the church where his ancestor was baptized. I told him about the Sankt Martinus catholic church which still exists. In more recent years I have had DNA matches with other descendants of Adamus, one in particular who moved from South Africa to Australia. DNA is just one more tool for me to validate my research.
It took Adamus almost ten months to arrive at the Cape of Good Hope. I checked with google maps. Nowadays you can make the trip by car in about 174 to 184 hours. It’s over 8000 miles away and a very long trip through the desert.
For today’s article I used the following resources:
Anna Maria Steinhaus was my maternal third Great Aunt and the older sister of my third Great Grandfather, Peter Wilhelm. Maria or later known as Mary, was born 30 January 1806 in Ratingen, which now belongs to Düsseldorf, Germany. Her parents were Wilhelm Herman Steinhaus and Gertrud Strotman.
Mary got married to Peter Ohren 5 August 1833 in Eckamp, near Ratingen. The couple had eight children together. In the year 1852 the family travelled to Bremen and then sailed to North America on the Canopus. On the map below it shows the first part of their journey, which was about 177 miles.
I found the Ohren family on an emigration list published by the North Rhine-Westphalia archives.
It was transcribed in the following order: last name, maiden name, first name, birth year, birth location, last residence, profession, destination town and country.
The family arrived in Castle Gardens, later known as Ellis Island, 28 September 1852. Below are pictures I took in 2019. I would highly recommend a visit.
Below is the ship’s manifest for the Ohren family.
It was recorded in the following order: first name, last name, age, male or female and from which country they were.
The family then started the last leg of their trip to Old Ripley, Bond County, Illinois.
I found Mary Ohren only in the 1880 Federal Census. At that time she was a widow and lived in a boarding house probably with two of her granddaughters.
Name
Mary Ohren
Age
75
Birth Date
Abt 1805
Birthplace
Prussia
Home in 1880
Ripley, Bond, Illinois, USA
Dwelling Number
158
Race
White
Gender
Female
Marital Status
Widowed
Father’s Birthplace
Prussia
Mother’s Birthplace
Prussia
Occupation
Housekeeper
Neighbors
View others on page
Mary’s husband, Peter Ohren, had died already in 1870. Mary died 13 November 1883 in Old Ripley. She is buried in the Brown Cemetery in Old Ripley. I found an obituary in a local German newspaper.
Transcription: Ms. Ohren died on Tuesday last week in the home of her daughter, Ms. Ganza. Ms. Ohren was about 70 years old and is the Mother of Mathias, John and Peter Ohren.
Mary had a large family with lots of Grandchildren. Here is a list of her children and where they settled. All of her children were born in Prussia.
1. William P Ohren born 1832, died 1880 in Old Ripley, was married to Gertrud Maibom. The couple had 4 children.
2. Elisabeth (Lizzie) Ohren born 1836, died 1883 in Madison County, Illinois, was married to Henry Daudermann. The couple had 5 children.
3. Franziska Ohren born 1838, died 25 June 1920 in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, was married to Henry Berg. The couple had 14 children.
4. Peter Ohren born 1841, died 1924 in Leef Township, Madison County, Illinois, was married to Catharine Vonburg. The couple had 4 children.
5. Catharina Ohren born 1843, died 1 December 1897 in Old Ripley, was married to Gottlieb Ferdinand Ganzer. The couple had 3 children.
6. Mathias Hubert Ohren born 1846, died 9 October 1880 in Old Ripley, was married to Elisabeth Helena Frances Hessen. The couple had 5 children
7. Johann Ohren born 1850, died 1877, was married to Catherine Rochin. The couple had 3 children.
8. Wilhelm Ohren born 1851, death unknown.
Mary had a grand total of 38 grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Peter and four or may be even five of her children. That must have been very hard on her. She didn’t have an ordinary life. Mary travelled thousands of miles to a foreign world. She has hundreds of descendants here in the USA. I have quite a few DNA matches with them.
In order to write this article I used many different sources:
Joseph R Brejcha was my Mother In Law’s maternal Grandfather. He was born 23 January 1882 in Pisek, Bohemia, Austria. I found his birth location on his WW2 draft card.
His draft card also stated his birth date, that he lived in Flushing and that he was working for the New York Linen And Laundry Supply Company in New York City. On the lower right side was his signature. On the back side of the draft card it stated that Joseph was white, that he had blue eyes and brown hair and a ruddy complexion. It also stated his height, weight and that he had a mole on his left cheek.
Josef was married 15 May 1902 to my Mother In Law’s Grandmother, Rose Bumbicka.
The couple had their first child, a son, named Joseph Anthony, born 19 February 1904. A second child and my mother in law’s Mother, Anna, was born 7 April 1908 in Defurovy Lažany, Bohemia, Austria.
Joseph left for America and arrived on the steam ship Kaiser Wilhelm II in New York on 24 April 1912.
We also have the ship’s manifest.
Transcript of the manifest:
Name
Jozef Brejcha
Gender
Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality
Bohemian
Marital Status
Married
Age
30
Birth Date
abt 1882
Birth Place
Bohemia, Czechoslovakia
Other Birth Place
Onjerol
Last Known Residence
Laziang, Bohenia
Departure Port
Bremen
Arrival Date
24 Apr 1912
Arrival Port
New York, New York, USA
Residence Place
Bohemia, Czechoslovakia
Final Destination
New York City, New York
Height
5 Feet, 8 Inches
Hair Color
Blonde
Eye Color
Blue
Complexion
Fair
Money in Possession
25
Person in Old Country
Rusena Brejcha
Person in Old Country Relationship
Wife
Person in Old Country Residence
Larany Des Frurs 29 Bohenia
Person in US
William Formann
Person in US Relationship
Uncle
Spouse
Rusena Brejcha
Ship Name
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Joseph had an uncle named William Formann. I don’t have Joseph’s parents names, so this could be a potential brother of his mother. Joseph sailed from Bremen, Germany.
The trip from Defurovy Lazany to Bremen was over 700 kilometers or 434 miles long.
Joseph’s wife Rose and his children followed him to New York only six months later in September of 1912. Their third and last child, Rose Marie, was born 4 March 1917 in Manhattan, New York. In 1918 Joseph filled out a WW1 registration draft card.
Transcription of his draft card:
Name
Joseph Brejcha
Race
White
Birth Date
23 Jan 1882
Residence Date
1917-1918
Street Address
516 E. 82
Residence Place
Manhattan, New York, New York, USA
Draft Board
138
Physical Build
Medium
Height
Medium
Hair Color
Blonde
Eye Color
Grey
Spouse
Rose Brejcha
It states that Joseph was a resident alien and not yet naturalized. Joseph and his family appeared for the first time in the US Federal Census in 1920. It stated that he submitted his first papers meaning that he had applied for US citizenship. A new family member appeared on the census, Joseph’s Mother in law, Anna Urnbick. She had immigrated in 1914.
Name
Joseph Brejcha
Age
37
Birth Year
abt 1883
Birthplace
Bohemia
Home in 1920
Manhattan Assembly District 14, New York, New York
Street
East 82 Street
Residence Date
1920
Race
White
Gender
Male
Immigration Year
1913
Relation to Head of House
Head
Marital Status
Married
Spouse’s Name
Rose Brejcha
Father’s Birthplace
Bohemia
Mother’s Birthplace
Bohemia
Native Tongue
Bohemian
Able to Speak English
Yes
Occupation
Mechanic
Industry
Laundry
Employment Field
Wage or Salary
Home Owned or Rented
Rented
Naturalization Status
Papers Submitted
Able to read
Yes
Able to Write
Yes
Neighbors
View others on page
Name
Age
Joseph Brejcha
37
Rose Brejcha
35
Joseph Brejcha
16
Anna Brejcha
11
Rose Brejcha
7
Anna Urnbick
67
By 1924 Joseph is a citizen. He is on the 1924’s voters list on 112 Norwood Avenue in Queens, New York.
Him and his family appeared on the 1925 New York State Census. His son Joseph probably had moved out already and his mother in law might have died. Also his birth place had changed to Czechoslovakia instead of Austria. After WW1 the borders had changed.
Name
Joseph Brejcha
Gender
Male
Color or Race
White
Age
43
Birth Date
abt 1882
Birth Place
Czechoslovakia
Residence Date
1925
House Number
112
Residence Place
New York, Queens
Relationship
Head
Number of years in US
18
Assembly District
04
Line Number
21
Page number
58
Name
Age
Joseph Brejcha
43
Rose Brejcha
41
Anna Brejcha
17
Rose Brejcha
8
In the 1940 Census Joseph and Anna live by themselves. Joseph had a good job, was a citizen and owned his own house. We also find out that Joseph hat not gone to school or attended college. Despite his disadvantage, he became a successful hard working immigrant with a good job. The census taker completely misspelled his last name. Joseph probably had a heavy accent and the census taker just wrote down what they heard.
Name
Joseph Brezeka
Age
59
Estimated Birth Year
abt 1881
Gender
Male
Race
White
Birthplace
Austria
Marital Status
Married
Relation to Head of House
Head
Home in 1940
New York, Queens, New York
Map of Home in 1940
New York,Queens,New York
Street
168 Street
House Number
61-35
Farm
No
Inferred Residence in 1935
New York, Queens, New York
Residence in 1935
New York
Citizenship
Naturalized
Sheet Number
5A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation
8
Occupation
Machinist
House Owned or Rented
Owned
Value of Home
5000
Attended School or College
No
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census
50
Class of Worker
Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939
52
Income
2000
Income Other Sources
No
Neighbors
View others on page
Name
Age
Joseph Brezeka
59
Rose Brezeka
56
In the 1950 Census, Joseph and Anna lived with their son in law and daughter, Joseph and Anna Pilc, and their family in Nassau, New York. Joseph still worked 47 hours a week despite being older.
Name
Joseph Brejcha
Age
68
Birth Date
abt 1882
Gender
Male
Race
White
Birth Place
Czechoslovakia
Marital Status
Married
Relation to Head of House
Father-in-law
Residence Date
1950
Home in 1950
North Hempstead, Nassau, New York, USA
Street Name
S. Overlook Road
House Number
42
Dwelling Number
225
Farm
No
Acres
No
Questionnaire Number
O
Inferred Previous Residence Place
Queens, New York
Occupation
Millwright
Industry
Laundry
Father Birth Place
Czechoslnvkia
Mother Birth Place
Czechoslovakia
Citizenship
Yes
Occupation Category
Working
Hours Worked
47
Worker Class
Private
Same House
No
Previously on Farm
No
Same County
No
School Completed
S8
Grade Completed
Yes
School Attendance
30 or over
Weeks Worked
52
Income
3000
Other Income
None
Supplemental Income
24
World War II Veteran
No
World War I Veteran
No
Veteran
No
Name
Age
Joseph Pilc
47
Anna Pilc
42
Robert J Pilc
21
Rosemary Pilc
6
Joseph Brejcha
68
Rose Brejcha
65
Joseph’s wife Rose died 4 February 1958 and Joseph died 28 August 1960 in New York City.
Name
Joseph W Brejcha
Gender
Male
Age
78
Birth Date
abt 1882
Residence Place
Albertson, Nassau, New York, USA
Death Date
29 Aug 1960
Death Place
New York, USA
Certificate Number
57197
Joseph left behind one son, two daughters and at least six grandchildren.
Caroline Francisca Amelie was my maternal second Great Grandmother. She was born 5 January 1816 in Berlin, Germany and a few days later was baptized in the Lutheran church. Her parents were the the sugar boiler, Franz Xavier Büttner and his wife Charlotte Friedericke Deutsch. Below are her birth certificate and baptismal entry.
I don’t know if Amelia had any siblings. She got married 4 July 1841 in the Sankt Georgen church inBerlin, to the master armorer, Martin August Eduard Schneider, my two times Great Grandfather. The marriage record from the church book is below.
Amelia and Martin had ten children all born in Berlin. 1. Emilie Ernestine Amalie born 18 April 1841 2. Auguste Wilhelmine Emilie born 13 March 1843 and died 18 July 1844 in Berlin 3. Wilhelmine Luise Friedericke Amalie born 5 May 1845 and died 7 March 1893 in Berlin. She was a seamstress. 4. Louise Emilie Marie born 24 January 1847 and died 26 September 1893 in Berlin. She was married to Emil Albert Gustav Hermann. They had two children. Gertrud Elisabeth Minna Emilie born 1870 and died 1871 in Berlin. Walter Erich Conrad Hermann born 9 Dec 1873 in Berlin and died 1 May 1952 in District Federal, Mexico. 5. Friedrich August Alexander born 11 December 1848 6. Carl Gottfried August Alexander born 17 March 1850 and died 25 September 1850 in Berlin 7. Emilie Francisca Auguste Amalie born 13 June 1851 and died 27 December 1852 in Berlin. 8. Auguste Francisca Amalie born 20 Jan 1854 and died 10 March 1856 in Berlin. 9. My Great Grandfather, Emil August Ferdinand born 13 September 1855 and died 12 July 1935 in Wuppertal Germany. He was married to my Great Grandmother, Sophia Hermina Ontrup. They had nine children. 10. Emil August Eduard born 17 November 1857 and died 27 June 1914 in Berlin. He was married to Elise Auguste Wilhelmine Zaspel. They had two children.
Less than two years after Caroline’s last child was born, her husband Martin died 10 February 1859 of pneumonia.
From this record we learn that my two times Great Grandfather’s calling name was August and not Martin. I just wanted to have more proof that he had died. One great thing about Berlin genealogy research is that the address books are online from about 1799-1970. It is a free website which is always a plus in my book. You can research them here .
First I started looking for August, however he has been hard to find. I found the last name Schneider in the Berlin address book, but after the last name only comes the first letter of the first name and then the profession. What I did find helpful was that the women were mentioned including their maiden names. August had died in 1859 so I looked in the 1861 directory and found a Schneider widow with the maiden name Büttner.
– nee Büttner, widow of a blacksmith, Alte Schönhauserstr. 35 (street)
Front Page of the 1861 Berlin directory
Now I have proof that Ausust did die in 1859. I hope that eventually I will find her death date as well.
Maria was a maternal second Great Grandmother of my husband and she was the illegitimate daughter of Maria Eva Bastian. Maria was baptized 31 January 1845 in the Sankt Jakobus catholic church in Germersheim and died 21 October 1913 in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Just today I found her baptism in the church book.
I always thought that Maria’s maiden name was Bortscheller, that’s what was stated on the marriage certificate. I do not have her parents marriage date. At least now I know to look after her birth date. Once again, looking at original records is so important for accuracy. Maria had several siblings whose parents are also Maria Eva Bastian and Michael Bortscheller. The other children born were, Catharina in 1841 and 1846, Regina in 1850, Eva in 1851, Elisabeth in 1854, Maria Eva in 1856, Susanna in 1857 and Petrus in 1860. Eventually I will look for all them in the baptismal book and find out when their parents got married.
Maria Anna got married to my husband’s second Great Grandfather, Christoph Päbst, 29 June 1878 in Ludwigshafen. Christoph was also born in Germersheim and an illegitimate child. I wrote about Christoph in a previous blog. Below is the marriage certificate.
On the top page of the certificate I circled two side notes or Randvermerke in German. They were the death years of each spouse. Always try to figure what these notes mean. On the back page I circled the name Maria Anna Päbst nee Bortscheller. She should have signed it Bastian, however she might have not ever known her original maiden name. Each document tells a story! In genealogy the more copies of original records you can obtain, the better off you are.
Maria Anna and Christoph had four children together, all born in Ludwigshafen. Anton in 1872, Hans, my husband’s Great Grandfather, in 1874, Maria Eva in 1881 and Magdalena in 1888.
Maria Anna died 21 Oct 1913 in Ludwigshafen. Her death certificate is below.
A few unusual facts about this blog, both Anna Maria and her husband were illegitimate children. Also they didn’t marry in their hometown of Germersheim. As always below you will find a map of where Anna Maria lived. The map shows Manheim which is across the river Rhein from Ludwigshafen. On the left side you see the famous towns of Bad Dürkheim, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Landau in der Pfalz and on the right side you can see Heidelberg, all well known cities in this famous wine region.
I visited Heidelberg in October. Here are few pictures I took.
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Have you ever overlooked something in your family tree? It’s easily done by not checking facts or looking at original records. Let’s get right to it. My two times paternal Great Grandparent Johann and Franziska Müller had at least seven children together. For all them I had their birth and or baptism dates and for some I had the marriage and death dates. In 2018 I had a second and third cousin match on “My Heritage” for that line and I was able to fill in a lot of dates and received copies of marriage and death certificates. One of the children was Helena Müller born and died November 1852 in Düsseldorf. Helena would have been my Great Grandaunt. From what it looked like the infant was still born and or died right after birth. I didn’t have a source for the death. My third cousin gave me this information and I thought may be she had already checked the church books. I didn’t pay anymore attention to this person.
Fast forward to the spring of 2024. I had a new third cousin match at “Ancesty.com”. Most people in the USA have lots of first and second cousin matches. I have neither. I grew up in Germany and lots of people don’t get tested in European countries. So a third cousin match is a big deal for me, in fact this is the best one I have on ancestry. There was no tree associated with the match, so I contacted the owner hoping for an answer. She was living in South Carolina and her first name was Bettina. That first name is quite common in Germany. So I thought may be that there was a chance that she might be from my home country.
Bingo! Bettina answered a couple of weeks later and yes, she was not just from Germany, but also from my hometown in Düsseldorf. Emails went back and forth. I told her that I probably would be able to figure out our common ancestors. She gave me as much information as she had and I got to work. It took me less than two days to figure it out. As soon as I saw the name “Müller” as one of her ancestor, I knew I had the answer. Her direct ancestor was as you guessed it “Helena Müller” who came back from the dead.
Helena Müller was born 9 November 1852, got married 1 January 1877 to Reinhold Gossen and died 20 August 1909 in Düsseldorf. I have her marriage and death certificate as well. Her marriage certificate has her birth date, so I know now had proof that I had the correct name.
Marriage Certificate
Death Certificate
The moral of the story is, only enter a death date if you have proof. I was pretty lucky to have the DNA match with my new found cousin and she was willing to give me the information she had. I have been able to add a new branch to my family tree and that’s always very exciting. Below all the children of Bettina and my common ancestral couple Johann and Franziska Müller.
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Genealogy Is An Adventure 