Sevenich – Genealogy Is An Adventure

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.

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!

September 7, 2025

Happy Mother’s Day

This Sunday, May 10th, we celebrate once again Mother’s Day here in the United States and in Germany as well. Today I will introduce you to my direct maternal line, meaning my Mother, her mother and so on.

1. My Mother, Katharina Josefine Schneider, was born 4 November 1927 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt and died 12 November 1982 in Düsseldorf, Germany. She married my Dad in 1946. She loved flowers, lucky for her, my Dad owned a wholesale flower business, so there was an endless supply. I inherited all her vases. I love this particular picture of her, it was taken in 1943.

2. Her Mother and My Grandmother, Adelheid Katharina Sevenich, born 24 September 1899 and died 17 October 1982 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt. She married my Grandfather in 1922. Oma was a seamstress and made cloths for all my dolls. She made the best paprika chicken and pudding desserts.

3. Her Mother and my Great Grandmother, Anna Catharina Steinhaus, born 18 November 1870 and died 10 March 1958 in Düsseldorf Heerdt. She married my Great Grandfather in 1893. Anna died before I was born, so I didn’t get to meet her. She had a large family of nine children. Her picture was taken on her 25th wedding anniversary in 1918.

4. Her Mother and my 2x Great Grandmother, Anna Christina Gather, was born 16 October 1842 in Büderich and died 13 May 1906 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt. She married my 2x Great Grandfather, in 1869. Her baptims is below.

Her marriage:

Her death certificate:

5. Her Mother and my 3rd Great Grandmother, Anna Catharina Underdenbäumen (the last name literally translated means “under the trees”), was born 23 February 1808 in Neuss and died 3 February 1850 in Büderich. She married my 3rd Great Grandfather in 1832. She had a large family of 9 children.

Her marriage:

Her death:

6. Her Mother and my 4th Great Grandmother, Maria Sibilla Gather, born 9 January 1767 in Büderich and died 4 December 1827 in Neuss. She married my 4th Great Grandfather in 1790. She had 4 children. Here is the marriage from the church book.

7. Her Mother and my 5th Great Grandmother, Sibille Gertrud Korschgens (also spelled Körschgens), born 15 January 1736 and died 8 April 1817 in Büderich. She married my 5th Great Grandfather in 1758. She had 11 children.
8. Her Mother and my 6th Great Grandmother, Helena Maria Kreitzen, born about 1710 and died 13 September 1757 in Büderich. She married my 6th Great Grandfather in 1732. She had 9 children.
9. Her Mother and my 7th Great Grandmother was Maria Leven. I do not have any dates for her yet. Hopefully in the future I will be able to find some.

I was able to go back nine generation for my direct maternal line. That’s pretty awesome, don’t you think?

The first Mother’s Day in the United States was celebrated in 1908, in Germany not until 1922.

If you like this article, please leave a comment and/or subscribe. Thank You!

May 5, 2025

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.

January 8, 2025

Anna Catharina Steinhaus 1870-1958

Anna Catharina Steinhaus was my maternal Great Grandmother. She was born 18 November 1870 in Heerdt. Her parents were Balthasar Hubert Steinhaus and Anna Christina Gather. Below is her birth certificate.

On the bottom of the certificate you can see the signature of her Father, Balthasar Steinhaus. Anna was baptized 21 November 1870 in the catholic church in Heerdt.

Her godparents were Wilhelm Steinhaus and Catharina Gather nee Wanders.

Anna was married 9 June 1893 in the same church to my handsome Great Grandfather, Franz Sevenich.

Witnesses were Gerhard Sevenich and Michael Bolten. Below is a picture of my Great Grandparent on their 25th anniversary.

Followed by a picture of their 50th wedding anniversary in 1943.

Both my Great Grandmother and my Great Grandfather survived WW1 and WW2. They had nine children together. One of them was my Grandmother, Adelheid Sevenich.

Anna died 10 March 1958 in Heerdt at the local hospital. Below is a postcard of the hospital from 1920.

The hospital still exists.

Anna is the youngest of my Steinhaus ancestors. My oldest Steinhaus came originally come from Eckkamp and Ratingen across the river Rhein.

November 17, 2024

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

September 26, 2024

Adelheid Katharina Sevenich 1899-1982

Adeleheid Katharina Sevenich was my maternal Grandmother. She was born 24 September 1899 and died 17 October 1982 in Düsseldorf Heerdt, Germany. Her parents were Franz Sevenich and Anna Katharina Steinhaus. My Grandmother or Oma came from a large family. She had six sisters and two brothers. Oma was baptized in the catholic Sankt Benediktus church in Heerdt. An old postcard of the church from about 1910.

A picture of my Oma, her parents and her siblings circa 1920. She stands in the middle behind her parents.

Another image of her circa 1920

A picture of my Oma with her Mother and some of her siblings circa 1907. She is the girl with the white apron standing to the left above her Mother.

My Oma got married to my Grandfather, Alexander Theodor Schneider, 7 October 1922 in Heerdt. They were married for 60 years.

Oma was a seamstress and she would make all the clothes for my dolls. She made the best paprika chicken and “Schnibbelskartoffeln”. Fried potatoes from left over boiled potatoes. I haven’t been able to duplicate these recipes. I can still smell them when entering her apartment. Oma also made a special desert for us grandchildren called Tutti Frutti. It was a layer of fresh or canned fruit, sour cream and vanilla pudding. It was made with love and tasted so yummy.

Oma died 17 Oct 1982 peacefully in her sleep. Even so that she has been gone for over 40 years, I will never forget her. I still miss and love her.

September 25, 2024

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.