Genealogy Is An Adventure

Tag: Brachelen

  • Distant Cousins

    We all grow up with first cousins if we are lucky enough. I grew up with several of them living close by in Düsseldorf and a couple who lived near Munich. Even though the Munich cousins were far away, I still got to see them at least once or twice a year.

    When I grew up, I never even heard of the term, distant cousin. No one talked about the family history. My Oma, Adelheid Sevenich, had several siblings whom I never really met, except for one great aunt, named Tante (aunt) Grete.

    I do have a picture of Oma and her siblings and her parents from the 1920’s.

    Oma is the pretty lady in the middle standing behind her parents.

    My Oma and all her siblings lived in Düsseldorf-Heerdt all their lives, except for her sister Sibilla who had moved to the Netherlands.

    In about 2011 I started to contact the Heerdter Bürgerverein (Heerdter Citizens’ Association) via messenger on Facebook. I did this several time to gather information about Heerdt and my extended family. I am sure they got tired of me and low and behold a second cousin, named Gabi, contacted me. Gabi’s grandfather, Jakob, and my Oma were siblings.

    Jakob Sevenich circa 1920’s

    Cousin Gabi and I met in Germany in 2018. She is on left side.

    Gabi then proceeded to tell me about a third cousins, Annemarie, who still lives in Heerdt. Annemarie’s grandfather was Gerhard Sevenich

    who was the brother to our great grandfather Franz Sevenich.

    Sevenich Family early 1900’s

    Gerhard Sevenich is sitting on the left side, next to 2x Great Grandfather, Johann Sevenich and Franz is sitting next to 2x Great Grandmother, Josephine Gröbbels Sevenich.

    Another 3rd cousin, Ursula, contacted me. She is the descendant of Adelheid or Adele Sevenich, who is standing behind Gerhard on the left side.

    Adelheid Sevenich Lenzen 1871-1943 was also my Oma’s Adelheid Sevenich 1899-1982 godmother.

    Baptism entry for my Grandmother. All children were baptized in the Saint Benedict Church.

    Cousin Gabi and I found yet another second cousin, named Hermi, short for Hermine. Her grandmother was Anna Sevenich, who was the sister of Gabis grandfather, Jakob and my grandmother Adelheid.

    The Sevenich family came from Brachelen and migrated to Heerdt in about 1871. I do have one distant cousin named, Peter, whom I have contact with and who reads my blog on a regular basis. He has been able to help with our oldest Sevenich ancestor. Peter still lives in Brachelen and has send me some wonderful literature about the area. I love the way ancestry breaks down how we are exactly related.

    Peter Wilms 
    5th cousin 1x removed

    Karl Josef Wilms 1935-2016
    Father of Peter Wilms

    Helene Franziska Sofia Coenen 1903-1986
    Mother of Karl Josef Wilms

    Peter Johann Coenen 1875-1965
    Father of Helene Franziska Sofia Coenen

    Peter Jacob Coenen 1842-1927
    Father of Peter Johann Coenen

    Anna Barbara Gertrud Sevenich 1817-1883
    Mother of Peter Jacob Coenen

    Johann Jacobus Sevenich 1784-1865
    Father of Anna Barbara Gertrud Sevenich

    Johann Peter Sevenich 1751-1800
    Father of Johann Jacobus Sevenich

    Franz Sevenich 1797-1874
    Son of Johann Peter Sevenich

    Peter Johann Sevenich 1838-1910
    Son of Franz Sevenich

    Franz Sevenich 1870-1950
    Son of Peter Johann Sevenich

    Adelheid Katharina Sevenich 1899-1982
    Daughter of Franz Sevenich

    Katharina Josephine Schneider 1927-1982
    Daughter of Adelheid Katharina Sevenich

    Yvonne Katharina Krings
    You are the daughter of Katharina Josephine Schneider

    Finding my second, third and fifth cousins has been the highlight of my genealogical research. Distant family members don’t just have names, dates and locations, but they come alive.

    I want to thank my cousins, Gabi, Annemarie, Ursula, Hermi and Peter for helping with my research. They contributed names, articles, pictures and so much more. I am so happy that I found you!

    Have you made contact with any distant cousins? If yes, please leave a comment or subscribe!

  • Favorite Photo

    I am participating once again in Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 ancestors in 52 week challenge. This week’s theme is about a favorite photo.

    The photo shows my two times Great Grandparents Peter Johann Sevenich and Josephine Odilia Gröbbels with their young family. The family lived in Heerdt, Germany nowadays is a part of Düsseldorf.

    Peter Johann and Josephine were both born and married in Brachelen. A picture below shows the church.

    His birth date was 13 September 1838 and hers 24 March 1842. They were married 8 November 1867. He died 10 July 1910 in Heerdt and she passed away 27 April 1920 in Neuss.

    The oldest daughter, I believe is on the right side of the picture. Her name was Josefine. She was born in Brachelen 29 June 1868 and died 8 October 1945 in Neuss. Josefine was married to Michael Bolton. They had 7 children.

    The oldest son, my Great Grandfather, Franz, is the handsome young man standing behind his Father. Franz was born 4 Jan 1870 in Brachelen, died 26 August 1950 in Heerdt and he was married 9 June 1893 to my Great Grandmother, Anna Catharina Steinhaus. They had nine children together, including my Grandmother, Adelheid. A picture below of my Great Grandparent on their 50th anniversary in 1943.

    Johann, Josefine and their young family moved around 1870 to Heerdt. There Johann worked for the rail road. The first child born in Heerdt was Adelheid, on the left side of the picture. Her birth date was 16 September 1871 and she died 17 May 1943. Adelheid was married to Stefan Lenzen. They had a bakery in Heerdt. According to her obituary below, they had four sons and five daughters.

    Adelheid Lenzen was also the Godmother to my Grandmother Adelheid Sevenich, born 1899 in Heerdt. Below is the baptismal entry.

    The next child is Gerhard Sevenich. He was born 9 March 1873 and died 16 December 1948 in Heerdt. Gerhard was married to Gertrud von Mertz. They had eight children together.

    Next comes Wilhelm Sevenich. He was born 1 October 1874 in Heerdt and died 8 February 1964 in Battersea, London. The death location and date was a total surprise find on Ancestry’s England and Wales Death Index.

    I found this information in 2014 and was easily able to order the actual death certificate from London.

    The question now presented itself why he was in London to begin with. I found out that he had a daughter Katharina Sevenich who was married to Thomas Baldwin whom I also found in a marriage index. I will write about all these finding in a later post. Back To Wilhelm and his sibling.

    We know where Wilhelm was born and where he died. Wilhelm was married 4 February 1902 to Clara Franzisca Derendorf. They had seven children, one of them was Katharina mentioned above.

    Next up was Andreas Josef Sevenich born 4 July 1877 in Heerdt. He was missing in action in France in 1915 during WW1. Below is the notification that he was missing. I do not have a death certificate.

    He was a corporal when he went missing. Josef was married to Anna Welbers. They had four children, lived in Büderich and had a milk delivery service. I do have a picture of Josef delivering the milk.

    After Josef came Sibilla Sevenich. Sibilla was born 22 May 1879 in Heerdt and died 17 September 1954 in Neuss. She was married to Lorenz Moor. They had no children

    Then came Heinrich Sevenich born 28 February 1881 in Heerdt and died 1 February 1940 in Meerbusch. He was married to Luise Vogel. They had one child.

    After Heinrich came Fredericus Adamus also known as Fritz Sevenich, born 7 February 1883 and died 1 February 1969 in Heerdt. He was married to Elisabeth Struth. They had four children.

    The youngest child was Mathilde Sevenich born 6 December 1885 in Heerdt and died 28 Februray 1863 in Neuss. She was married to Michael Klasen. They had four children.

    So why is this a favorite picture of mine. When I first starting doing genealogy, I didn’t even have the names of my Great Grandparents or my two times Great Great Grandparents. To have this picture and being able to tell a few stories about their lives is so awesome. The icing on the cake is that I have the same picture taken about 25 years later.

    My two times Great Grandfather, Johann Peter Sevenich, died in 1910, so this picture must have been taken before that date.

    I want to thank and give credit to my second and third cousins, Gabi, Annemarie, Hermi and Ursula for their continued support, as this post would have not been possible without their help.

  • Peter Johann Sevenich 1838-1910

    Peter was my maternal 2nd Great Grandfather. He was born 13 September 1838 in Brachelen and died 10 July 1910 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt, Germany. His parents were the farmer, Franz Sevenich, and Maria Sybilla Wilms.

    Peter married my 2nd Great Grandmother, Josephine Odilia Gröbbels, 8 November 1867 in the Sankt Gereon church in Brachelen. Below is an old image of the church.

    A typical street in Brachelen with the church circa 1920’s

    Peter and Josephine had eleven children, one of them is my Great Grandfather, Franz Sevenich. Franz and his older sister Josephine were born in Brachelen and the rest of the children in Düsseldorf-Heerdt.

    Franz worked for the rail road. He was a switchman.

    Above a portrait of Franz and his family circa 1890. I received a copy of this picture from a third cousin in Germany.

    Peter received some sort of medal in 1907. I had found this in a local newspaper. He used his second name Johann for this occasion.

    Less than three years later, Peter died 10 July 1910 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt. Below is his death certificate.

    Peter moved from Brachelen to Heerdt to work for the railroad.

    Sources:

    Newspaper Clipping

    Death Certificate

    Family

    Google Maps

  • Maria Sybilla Wilms 1804-1869

    Maria Sybilla Wilms was my maternal third Great Grandmother. She was born 8 March 1804 and died 12 August 1869 in Brachelen, Germany. Maria was the daughter of the basket maker, Joannes Petrus Wilms and Maria Catharina Heinen.

    The birth certificate above was obtained from the State Archive in Brühl, Germany. The archive has since moved to Duisburg. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia and its archives have put death certificates from 1875-1938 and marriage certificates from 1875-1899 online. I believe that birth certificates will be next. It is a very exciting time for genealogists like myself to be able to view these certificates online. It’s hard to keep with all the genealogical news.

    The birth certificate of my third Great Grandmother is from 1804. May be one day, those earlier certificates will come online as well.

    Maria married my third Great Grandfather, the widower, Franz Sevenich, 13 April 1833 in Brachelen. They had four children together, one of them was my second Great Grandfather, Peter Johann Sevenich.

    The marriage certificate above stating the names of the bride and groom, when and where they were born including their parents. The second page has all the witnesses and signatures of the wedding party.

    I do not have her death certificate. It’s not always possible to obtain all certificates or copies of church book records. I use Family Tree Maker to create genealogical reports.

    Sources

    Ancestry

    Landesarchiv Duisburg

    Family Search

    Family Tree Maker

  • Josephine Odilia Gröbbels 1842-1920

    Josephine was my maternal 2nd Great Grandmother. She was born 24 March 1842 in Brachelen and died 27 April 1920 in Neuß, Germany. Her parents were the saddler Godfried Gröbbels and Marie Josephine Hubertine Meisen. Josephine had at least nine brothers and sisters. All of them were baptized in the catholic church, St. Gereon, in Brachelen.

    Josephine married my second Great Grandfather, Johann Sevenich, 8 Nov 1867, in the same church. They had 10 children together, one of them was my Great Grandfather Franz Sevenich 1870-1950. This is a copy of their marriage certificate from Brachelen.

    The certificates states the date, names of the bride and groom and their parents’ names. It also states that both sets of parents agree to the marriage. There were four witnesses, all of them signed the certificate.

    This a picture of my second Great Grandparents and their young family circa 1884. The tall boy is my Great Grandfather, Franz Sevenich.

    The first two children, including my Great Grandfather, Franz Sevenich, were born in Brachelen. The rest of the children were born in Heerdt, which belongs now to Düsseldorf.

    Josephine died 27 April 1920 in Neuß. I found her name mentioned in the newspaper.

    I also have her death certificate

    The death certificates states when and where Josephine died and that she was a widow. It also mentioned that her parents were both diseased in Brachelen.

    Here is a map of where Josefine lived. Josephine’s husband worked for the railroad, this why they probably moved to Heerdt.

  • Franz Sevenich 1870-1950

    Franz Sevenich was my Great Grandfather. He was born January 4th, 1870

    in Brachelen and died 26 August 1950 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt, Germany.

    He married my Great Grandmother, Anna Catharina Steinhaus on June 9th,

    1893 in Heerdt.

    My aunt Liesel told me that Franz was a very proud man and that he liked to

    celebrate a lot. He even made his own wine. Birthdays weren’t celebrated,

    instead it was Saint’s Day. My Great Grandmother’s middle name was

    Katharina, so was my Oma’s (Grandmother’s), my Mother’s and even my

    middle name as well. Catharina’s Saint Day is celebrated on November 25th.

    My Grandfather as a young man.

    1918, 25th Anniversary

    1943, 50th Anniversary

    The pictures were colorized by https://www.ancestry.com