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:
- 1. Google Maps
- 2. Ancestry
- 3. North Rhine Westphalia Archive
- 4. Find A Grave
- 5. Illinois Statewide Death Index
- 6. Genealogy Bank (old newspapers)
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Genealogy Is An Adventure 