As I’ve mentioned before, my grandma gave me a pedigree chart years ago.  I use this chart as a road map to finding out more about my ancestors.  On this chart, my grandma gave my great-great-grandfather’s, Frederick Ludwig Schroeder, birthday as December 12, 1850 and his parents as Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm Schröder and Louise Reese.  I have yet to figure out where she found this information.

Years ago, I entered my family tree on MyHeritage.com and, in so doing, connected with a cousin I never knew I had.  This cousin provided me with a photograph of Heinrich and his parents, Friedrich Wilhelm Schröder and Auguste Wilhelmine Besser.

Frederick Wilhelm Schroeder, Auguste Wilhelmine (Besser) Schroeder, and Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm Schroeder (ca. 1875)

Earlier this year, I began to get curious about Heinrich.  I looked for him on FamilySearch and found an index to his baptismal record.  He was christened on January 5, 1851.  If that date is correct and Frederick’s birth date is correct, there is no way he could be Frederick’s father!

Unfortunately, there was no image attached to the index and it didn’t give much information.  Fortunately, I work in a place that is certified to receive film on loan from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  I ordered the associated roll, Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898 (German Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898), and looked for Heinrich’s record.  My German is very basic, but I managed to find and decipher it.

Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm Schröder, son of Friedrich Wilhelm Schröder and Auguste Wilhelmine Besser was born on December 13, 1850 in Prussia.¹  Definitely not Frederick’s father.  I feel as though we must be related if we have a photograph, but I haven’t yet figured out how.  Could Heinrich and Frederick be cousins?

It’s disappointing to have to take two generations off of the tree, but I’d rather have it be right.  There is still much work to be done on Frederick to find out who his father was.  My biggest hurdle is that Frederick didn’t live very long.  Consequently, I’m a little stuck as to where to look next for evidence of his parents.

Sources

1. “Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898,” , FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NZ5S-8XJ : accessed 12 August 2015), Friedrich Wilhelm Schroeder in entry for Heinrich Ludwig Schroeder, 05 Jan 1851; citing ; FHL microfilm 1,050,751.