Peter Wilhelm Steinhaus was my maternal third Great-Grandfather. From his death certificate I know that his calling name was Wilhelm. He was born 1 June 1811 in Eckkamp and died 15 August 1881 in Heerdt, Germany. His parents were Wilhelm Herman Steinhaus and Gertrud Strotmans.
Wilhelm married my third Great Grandmother, Marie Christine Bolten, 14 June 1830 in Eckkamp. The family lived in Heerdt and had eight children together. One of them was my second Great Grandfather, Balthasar Hubert Steinhaus 1838-1893.
Wilhelm died 15 August 1881 in Heerdt. His death certificate below, states his name, when and where he died. It also states that his parents died in Rath. The information was given by Wilhelm’s son, the farmer, Mathias Steinhaus. The mother on the death certificate, Elisabeth Brückman, is actually his stepmother. Mathias probably never met his real Grandmother.
You have always to research official documents. They are not always correct.
Wilhelm’s oldest sister, Anna Maria Steinhaus 1806-1883, married Peter Ohren 5 August 1833 in Eckamp. Anna Maria and Peter had three children together in Germany. They immigrated and arrived in New York 28 September 1852. The family settled in Old Ripley, Bond County, Illinois. I have DNA matches with some of their descendents. I will write a seperate blog about Anna Maria in the future.
Here is a map of where Wilhelm was born and where he lived after he got married.
Maria Johanna Becker was born 12 July 1885 in Hamminkeln and died 4 March 1975 in Schiefbahn, Germany. She was my paternal Grandmother. This is her birth certificate from Hamminkeln
It states that her parents were the day laborer, Johann Heinrich Becker and Gertruda Johanna Görtzen. To the left is a side note that says that she died in Willich 4 March 1975 and the number of the death certificate Nr 75/1975.
Maria was baptized in the St. Mariä Himmelfart Catholic Church in Wesel
Above is her baptism entry in the church book. Her Godparents were Mathias Görzen and Mara Becker nee Sickel who was her Grandmother.
Maria got married 13 May 1907 in Wesel to my Grandfather, Wilhelm Eduard Josef Hubert Krings.
Above is the front and back page of the marriage certificate. Most of the time, marriage certificates will mention the bride and groom and their parents. On page one, the side note states that my Grandfather died in 1952. Three different side notes on the back page mention three of the children.
My Grandmother and Grandfather had eight children between 1907 and 1929. They were all born in Düsseldorf. This picture shows them together with their first born, my uncle Willi circa 1908.
Two of her sons died while fighting during WW2.
Hans Krings 1911-1948
Josef Krings 1914-1943 Shown With His Son
My Dad missed his brothers very much and talked about them often.
Shortly after WW2 in 1952 my Grandfather died suddenly at home. Now my Grandmother had lost three family members within a ten year period.
My Grandmother had her faith. When I grew up, every Sunday we would pick her after church services at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Düsseldorf. She would have lunch with us at home.
Her large family kept her very busy. She attended all the baptisms, first communions and weddings of her all her children and grandchildren. She got to fly in a very small plane for the time ever when she was 85. She would never say a bad word about anyone. Family was everything to her.
Near the end of her life she became very frail. All three of her daughters took care of her around the clock. In the end she had to be put into a nursing home in Schiefbahn. My aunt had tried to find one in Düsseldorf but it didn’t work out. My Grandmother hated it there and told us flat out that she wouldn’t make it a year. She was right. Grandma died peacefully 4 March 1975. All the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren attended her funeral in Heerdt. Her grave doesn’t exist anymore. Graves in Germany get recycled.
Barbara Wippel was my husband’s paternal Great Grandmother. She was born 28 May 1881 and died 3 February 1933 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein in Germany. Her parents were Heinrich Wippel and Elisabetha Hochdörfer.
Above is Barbara’s birth certificate from Ludwigshafen. It shows her Father and Mother and their ages. He was 45 years old and quite a bit older than her Mother who was only 32 years old at the time of her birth.
Barbara got married to my husband’s Great Grandfather, Johann Christoph Päbst, 29 September 1906 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. Most marriage certificates will have two pages. Here is the first page:
Under number 1 the groom is named and that his parents live in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. A side not the right, states the groom died 12 January 1916. Under number 2, the bride is named and that her Father lives in Ludwigshafen am Rhein and that her Mother died in the same city. A side note to the right states that the bride died 3 February 1933. The second page has different information as seen below.
Under number 3 and 4 the witnesses signed the certificate. To the left of the witnesses are more side notes. These notes state the birth of the twins Herbert and Lothar in 1913 and their respective marriage dates. Underneath is the birth of another son, Ottmar, who was born in 1907 and got married twice. The second marriage was in 1957, the first one is unknown. Barbara and Johann had six children together. The second oldest, Werner Päbst, was my husband’s Grandfather.
Barbara became a widow in 1916 when Johann died. She had a young family to provide for and got quickly married to her second husband, Phillip Friedrich Schneider, 6 March 1917 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein.
The marriage certificate has the same layout as the first one. Under number 1 the groom’s name is stated and that he was born in Pirmasens and that his parents had died there. Under number 2 it states the bride’s name and that she is a widow and that her Father lives in Ludwigshafen. Her Mother died in Ludwigshafen am Rhein.
Above is once again the second page of the marriage certificate. Under number 3 and 4 are the witness. To the left of the witnesses, once again more side notes. This time you can see 4 children and their respective marriages. Philip Anton born 1918, Renate Ann Else born 1921, Manfred Jakob born 1922 and Edgar Adolf born 1920. All four children were born in Ludwigshafen am Rhein.
Unfortunately Barbara lost her second husband in 1925. The older children had to pitch in and help raise the family. Barbara died in 1933 leaving behind a large family. The second oldest, my husband’s Grandfather, Werner Päbst took on the responsibility of taking care of the family.
Barbara was only 51 years old when she died. She was widowed twice and left behind 10 children.
Above is her death certificate. I have a picture of eight of her children.
All ten of her children had families of their own and were successful in their careers. My husband’s Grandfather is the handsome man on the right side of the picture.
Helene was my maternal 3rd Great Grandmother. She was born 8 April 1783 in Derendorf and died 30 August 1827 in Oberlörick, Germany. Her parents were Heinrich Mühlensieb and Anna Catharina Kauertz. Helene was baptized in the Heilige Dreifaltigkeit church. This is her baptismal record.
Look at the beautiful penmanship! Here you can learn a little Latin. Parentes are her parents, infans is the infant and patrina are the witnesses. Helena married my 3rd Great Grandfather, Joannes Petrus Wilhelmus Goetzen, 13 April 1809 in Düsseldorf. They had only three children together, one of them was my 2nd Great Grandmother, Maria Agnes Götzen 1813-1863. Helena got married again 5 Oct 1817 in Heerdt to Joannes Mathias Glassmacher.
Above is the marriage record from the church in Heerdt. It shows the name of the groom, the bride and their parents. It also states that Helene was a widow. Helene and Mathias had four children together. I didn’t know about the last child, Anna Maria Glasmacher 1827-1827, until I found Helene’s death entry in the church book in Heerdt.
Helene died 31 August 1827. Right above her on August 25th is her stillborn daughter Anna Maria Glasmacher. It is so important during your research to get copies of the original records. You just never know what you might find. Helene was only 44 years old when she died.
I always like to include a map. Helene was born and baptized in Derendorf. She also lived in Lörick and got married in the church in Heerdt. Derendorf, Lörick and Heerdt are nowadays all part of Düsseldorf.
Maria was my 3rd Great Grandmother and she was baptized on February 17th, 1756 in the St. Lambertus church in Düsseldorf.
The photo of the church was taken by a famous photographer, Julius Söhn, probably during the late 19th century. This is her baptismal record:
Maria’s parents were Petrus Josephus Weingartz and Anna Elisabetha Herbst. She got married to Joannes Winandus Josephus Krings, my 3rd Great Grandfather, in the same church on 24 June 1787. This is their marriage record:
Their marriage was also announced in the local newspaper:
Maria died in Düsseldorf on 17 September 1814. I found her death record at St. Martins church in Bilk which is nowadays a part of Düsseldorf.
I know from this death entry that her calling name was Anna and not Maria. Anna had nine children, at least five of them lived to adulthood. One of them is my 2nd Great Grandfather, the shoemaker, Andreas Daniel Joseph Krings.
Johann Ernst Muecke is my husband’s 2x Great Grandfather and he was born on 8 Feb 1837 in Markersdorf, Moravia, Austria. At present the town is called Markvartovice and it is located in the Czech Republic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markvartovice
Johann’s parents were Ernst Johann Mücke and Johanna Tögel. Johann married Rosina Schneider 24 April 1863 in Zauchtel, Moravia, Austria. Zauchtel is nowadays called Suchdol nad Odrou and is also in the Czech Republic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suchdol_nad_Odrou
A postcard from the 1920’s of Suchdol nad Odrou, that I own.
Johann Muecke and Rosina Schneider lived in Hof, Moravia, Austria where all of their children were born except for Lilly Muecke who was born in Tennessee.
A postcard of Hof in Mähren from my postcard collection.
Johann and Rosina settled together with their children in Oliver Springs between 1883 and 1884. A son, Adolph Mücke was born in 1881 and died in Hof in 1883. The daughter, Lilly Muecke, was born in 1884 in Oliver Springs. I have not been able to find any immigration records for this family.
Johann and Rosina had at least nine children together:
Rosina 1864-1960 (My husband’s Great Grandmother), Augusta 1867-1899, Julia 1870-1956, Earnest John 1871-1951, Charles 1875-1945, John Ernest 1877-1956, William 1880-1880, Adolph 1881-1883, Lilly Elizabeth 1884-1980, Joseph 1889-1889.
Johann was my husband’s Great Grandfather. He was born in Germersheim, Bavaria. Bavaria was an independent state in 1874. Nowadays the town belongs to the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. Johann’s parents were the postmaster, Christoph Päbst, and his wife Maria Anna Bordscheller.
Getting records for Johann was fairly easy. I was able to order the marriage and the death certificate from the Ludwigshafen city archives. Johann died in Ludwigshafen very young at the age of only 41 years. He left his widow, Barbara Wippel 1881-1933, and six children behind. On his death certificate his profession was given as a master painter and white washer.
I emailed the archive in Germersheim to order his birth certificate, but they couldn’t find one. I already had his birth and marriage record telling me that he was in fact born in that town. I talked to one my genealogy friends in Germany and he tried and got the same answer. He eventually called the archive in Germersheim and we finally found the answer. His birth certificate was under the Mother’s maiden name, Bordscheller.
The lesson I learnt is not to give up and be persistent. Collaborate with other genealogists. I used to be on many different mailing lists but they have kind of disappeared. Nowadays you can find lots of different genealogy groups on Facebook for example.
My goal is for all our direct ancestors to find birth, marriage and death records. It’s not always possible of course. I have to research each town to see what records are available for the particular time period.
On this particular birth record of course the child is mentioned and his parents. Also the parents of the mother are mentioned as well. On the left side of the certificate is a “Randvermerk” translated as a side note. These side notes are very important on German birth, marriage and death certificates. If you order a certificate from Germany order it with the “Randvermerk”. Not every certificate will have one of course. In the side note it states that Christoph Päbst is the actual Father of Johann Christoph Bordscheller. This side not was written after the Father married the Mother in 1878 and from that moment on the child will carry the last name, Päbst.
What I have not done yet, is to try to get the baptismal record for Johann Christoph. I have to research if the record might be online already. In the last couple of years, Germany has exploded with records coming online. If I do find the record I will post an updated at a later date.
Genealogy Is An Adventure 