Sophie Hagemann was my maternal second Great Grandmother. The only document I have, is her death certificate.
The information on the certificate was given by her son in law Wilhelm Althoff. It states that Sophie, a widow, was living in his house in Hamm and that she died at the age of 76. She was married to my second Great Grandfather, the linen weaver, Christian Ontrup, in Gadderbaum near Bielefeld. She was the daughter of the shoemaker couple Hagemann who died in Werther also near Bielefeld, Germany. I already had found her parents. Their names were Friedrich Wilhelm Hagemann and Anna Maria Elisabeth Feldhorst. The son in law did not have that information.
Sophia Hagemann and Christian Ontrup had 11 children together. One of them was my Great Grandmother, Sophia Hermina Louisa Ontrup. I blogged about her in June of this year.
The map below shows where Sophie was born (Werther), where she got married (Gadderbaum) and where she died (Hamm).
Emil August Ferdinand Schneider was my maternal Great Grandfather. His calling name was Ferdinand. He was born 13 September 1855 in Berlin and died 12 July 1935 in Wuppertal, Germany. Ferdinand’s parents were the master armorer, Martin August Eduard Schneider and Caroline Francisca Amelie Büttner. He was baptized 7 October 1855 in the Sophien church in Berlin.
Above is Ferdinand’s baptismal entry from the church book.
Ferdinand got married 12 May 1883 in Gadderbaum, Bielefeld to my Great Grandmother, Sophia Hermina Louisa Ontrup. The couple had nine children together, including my Grandfather, Theodor Alexander Schneider 1898-1990.
Sophia Hermina Louisa Ontrup was born 17 June 1860 in Bielefeld and died 11 June 1934 in Galkhausen, Germany. Her calling name was Louisa. She was my maternal Great Grandmother. Louisa’s parents were the damask weaver, Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Ontrup, and Henriette Sophie Friedericke Hagemann. The couple had at least eleven children including Louisa.
Louisa got married to my Great Grandfather, the locksmith, Emil August Ferdinand Schneider, 12 May 1883, in Gadderbaum which is now part of Bielefeld. His calling name was Ferdinand.
Below is their marriage certificate
The certificate first states the name of the groom, Ferdinand, and his parents, the diseased master armorer, Martin August Eduard Schneider, and the widowed Caroline Francisca Amalie Büttner who lived in Berlin at the time of the marriage. It also the states the name of the bride, Louisa, and her parents which I mentioned already at the beginning of the blog. On the second page the witnesses and the bride and groom signed the certificate. Louisa and Ferdinand had at least nine children together, one of them was my Grandfather, Theodor Alexander Schneider. The oldest child was born in Bielefeld, the rest of them were born in Wuppertal.
Above is Louisa with two of her daughters, my Great Aunts, Anna on the left and Frieda on the right.
Louisa died 11 June 1934 in a hospital in Galkausen, near Düsseldorf.
Above his death certificate which dates her name, the death date, her birth date and the city she was born in. Please note, that German death certificates do not have a doctor’s signature. The registry office will issue the certificate.
Above is a map of where Louisa lived. She was born in Bielefeld, got married in Gadderbaum, lived most of her life in Wuppertal and died in Galkhausen.
My maternal Grandfather, Theodor Alexander Schneider, war born on March 1st, 1898 in Elberfeld and died February 12th, 1990 in Düsseldorf, Germany. His parents were the locksmith, Emil August Ferdinand Schneider from Berlin and Sophia Hermina Louisa Ontrup from Bielefeld.
His birth certificate from the registry office states that my Great Grandfather appeared and gave the following information. The street he lived on, that he was not affiliated with any religion and that his wife had given birth to a son in their apartment. The child was given the names Theodor Alexander. He then signed his name and the registrar as well and the document was dated. On the bottom right you can see a side note which stated that my Grandfather died 1990 in Düsseldorf and the number of the certificate is number 1176. I have written about these side note in a previous blog. They can be of utmost importance in your research in German genealogy. I was surprised to see that my Great Grandfather had left the Lutheran church. I am still not sure if my Grandfather was ever baptized. Some of those records were destroyed during WWII.
My Grandfather fought in France in WW1.
I have no idea when and where this picture was taken. WW1 military records from Elberfeld which now belongs to Wuppertal, were also destroyed during WWII.
I called my Grandfather “Opa”. Most of the people he knew called him Alex the short form for Alexander. I didn’t know about his name Theodor until I had received a copy of his birth certificate. Opa loved to tell stories, I just wished I had written them all down. When he lived in Elberfeld, he told me that his Mother would bring him lunch at the factory. He probably finished school in 8th grade and had to go to work.
Opa love to eat eel, he would buy some from the local fish market. Fresh eel didn’t look very appetizing to me and I never had to eat them. Opa also loved to read and do crossword puzzles. At one time he had a canary he enjoyed. He called him Hansi and the little bird would sing many different songs. Every morning Opa would get up, make the bed, make breakfast for him and my Oma (Grandmother) and go for his morning walk. He would buy the local newspaper and play lotto once a week, I don’t remember him ever winning it big, I probably would have heard about that. He loved his pipe and I will always remember that smell.
Here is my Opa with his beloved pipe. The picture was taken in 1971 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt where he lived with my Oma.
Opa was born in a very famous town, Elberfeld which now belongs to Wuppertal. Wuppertal is world famous for the “Schwebebahn” suspension railway.
Opa loved his five grandchildren and we loved him. When we gathered around the table to eat a meal, Opa was the boss. He always sat at the head of table. We children had to behave, there was no complaining allowed. We could not get up from the table until every one was finished eating. We then got up and help clear the table and head to the kitchen and do the dishes. It was expected of us and we liked doing it. We loved and respected our Opa.
Opa had eight sibling, at least six of them lived to adulthood. He was the second youngest. He never talked about them, I only found them through my research. I have a picture of the five sisters together.
The picture is a colorized version from the original. It might have been taken near Wuppertal where the family grew up. These are all my Great Aunts.
Opa died in March of 1990 at the age of 92. I still miss him. I wished I could talk to him one more time about his life and his family.
Genealogy Is An Adventure 