Genealogy Is An Adventure

Tag: Genealogy

  • Edward “Ed” Hickman 1880-1946

    Ed Hickman was my husband’s paternal Great Grandfather. He was born 16 May 1880 near Almota, Whitman County, Washington and died suddenly during a visit to his daughter in Redding, California, 24 June 1946.

    Ed’s parents were Joseph Henry Hickman and Mary E Davis. He had three brothers and three sisters. Ed got married to my husband’s Great Grandmother, Edith Martha Burgess, 11 July 1906 in Whitman County, Washington.

    A copy of this picture was given to me by his Granddaughter, Claudia Hickman Young (1936-2019). It shows Ed and his wife Edith. Ed received a wedding gift from his Father Henry Hickman.

    The Colfax Gazette

    Colfax, Washington • Fri, Jul 27, 1906Page 2

    Ed and Edith Hickman had two children together. Lloyd (1912-1972) and Lucy (1916-1997), who was my husband’s Grandmother. A picture of the children below.

    Ed’s wife Edith died 7 May 1928 in Colfax, Washington. Three years later he married his second wife Nancy Bartlett. Ed and Nancy did not have children together. At the time of Ed’s death, they lived together in Moscow, Idaho. Ed died suddenly in 1946 in California. He is buried in the Onecho cemetery in Whitman County, Washington.

    The picture above shows Ed in the middle with his brothers Will and Jim Hickman. The copy was given to me by his Granddaughter Claudia Hickman Young (1936-2019).

    Ed lived most of his life in Almota, Washington and moved later in his life to Moscow, Idaho. He died in Redding, California. Whenever possible, I will include a map.

  • Helene Catharina Mühlensieb 1783-1827

    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.

  • Franciska Getrud Müller 1812-1886

    Franciska was my paternal second Great Grandmother. She was born on 23 March 1812 in Engelskirchen and died on 27 July 1886 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Her parents were the shoemaker, Johannes Müller and Anna Catharina Miebach.

    Above her death certificate from Düsseldorf. It mentioned her son, Eduard Müller who gave the death information to the registrar, her husband Johann Müller who was still alive and it also stated that her son only knew that her parents died in Engelskirchen, however he didn’t know their names.

    Franziska was married to my second Great Greatfather Johann Müller. The marriage date has been a mistery. We don’t know when and where they got married, even so both of them were from Engelskirchen. A second cousin of mine in Germany has tried very hard to find the marriage, but no success so far.

    Franziska and Johann Müller moved a lot and they had a large family. Their first two children, Elisabeth and Wilhelm, were born in Hückeswagen. Their next three children, Bertha who is also my Great Grandmother, Johann and Eduard were born in Elberfeld (Wuppertal). The last two children, Helena and Gertrud were born in Düsseldorf. May be Johann was looking for better job opportunities. In Düsseldorf he worked in a factory.

    Here you can see the towns of Engelskirchen, Hückeswagen, Elberfeld and Düsseldorf on a modern map. My guess is that my second Great Grandparents married somewhere between Engelskirchen and Hückeswagen. Why did they not get married in Engelskirchen? May be their parents didn’t approve? Lots of questions I can’t answer yet. I am also waiting for Engelskirchen church books to come online.

  • Maria Anna Josepha Weingartz 1756-1814

    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 1837-1920

    I am participating in Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

    52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Themes for 2024

    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 died on 6 March 1920 in the Eastern State Hospital in Bearden, Tennessee. He is buried in the Oliver Springs, Tennessee, cemetery. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39213166/john-ernst-muecke

  • Johann Christoph Päbst 1874-1916

    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.