Franz Beiersdörfer was my husband’s maternal 2nd Great Grandfather. He was the son of the soldier, Johann Heinrich Beiersdörfer (1829-1891) and his wife Margaretha Johann (1830-1876). Franz was baptized 21 July 1859 in the catholic church in Albersweiler, a famous wine region in Germany.
Baptism of Franz Beiersdörfer in Alberweiler.
Town of Albersweiler Circa 1910
In 1884 Franz lived in Friesenheim, which is now part of Ludwigshafen am Rhein. That year he married my husband’s 2nd Great Grandmother, Elisabeth Höcker (1864-1928). Elisabeth was the daughter of Johannes Höcker (1836-1874) and his wife Wilhelmine Katharina Bauswein (1839-1907).
This marriage certificate has a lot more information that just the groom and bride and their parents. On the second page it stated that Franz and Elisabeth had a son, named Karl, together in 1881. It has been my experience with quite a few of my husband’s Bavarian ancestors that the women had children before they even got married. Children that were born before the wedding, will always be mentioned in the marriage certificate.
On the top page there is a side note in the upper left corner which states that Franz and Elisabeth got a divorce in 1900. We know that Elisabeth died 1928 in Ludwigshafen. What happened to Franz? Franz and Elisabeth only had one son. Two other children died in infancy.
Their son, Karl, married in 1908 in Ludwigshafen. In his marriage certificate it said the location of his Father, Franz, is unknown. Karl fought in WW1 (1914-1918). In the WW1 Peronnel Roster it stated that Karl’s Father lived in America, location unknown.
A long time ago my husband’s maternal Grandmother talked about her Grandfather, Franz. She had heard that he had left for America and that the ship sank.
Searching for Franz is becoming like finding a needle in a haystack. America could have been the USA or Canada or even Central America. How about South America? Many Germans immigrated to Brazil for example.
I searched the following websites for Franz hoping to find emigration or immigration records.
- Ancestry
- Ellis Island
- My Heritage
- Bremen Passenger List
- Family Search
- Deutsche Auswanderer Datenbank (German Emigration List)
I even contacted the city archives in Ludwigshafen to see if they had any emigration information about Franz. It’s possible that Franz used a different name when he left the country. He was a butcher by trade, so it would have been easy for him to find work. I found the 1896 directory for Friesenheim in google books.
His wife Elisabeth was in it, but he was not. My guess is that Franz was already gone by then and it took a couple more years for her to get a divorce in 1900.
Here is Franz’s timeline:
- 21 July 1859 Birth in Albersweiler
- 24 July 1859 Baptism at the catholic church in Albersweiler
- 16 November 1881 Son Karl is born in Friesenheim
- 11 October 1884 Marriage to Elisabeth Hoecker in Friesenheim
- 28 December 1884 Birth of daughter Susanna
- 10 February 1885 Death of daughter Susanna
- 18 April 1887 Birth of son Adam
- 29 March 1900 Divorce
- Death date and location unknown
I will contact the city archives in Ludwigshafen again to see if I can obtain a copy of the divorce record. I do not know if they even kept it. May be I can find a clue in that record.
As always I like to include a map. Friesenheim is north of Albersweiler, about 60 km or 37 miles.
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Genealogy Is An Adventure 