Tag Archives: Frederick Schroeder

Pieces to the Schröder Puzzle

Posted on by under 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, Birth, Documents, Family History, Genealogy, Schröder Family, Schroeder Family

A few months ago, I wrote about some confusion with dates regarding Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm Schröder.  Since then, I have been collecting records on all of his siblings to see how Frederick Ludwig Schroeder (my great great grandfather) could be related.

From German baptism records, I’ve learned that Heinrich’s parents, Friedrich Wilhelm Schröder and Auguste Wilhelmine Besser were the parents of eight children.

I’m thinking my Frederick must be a cousin to Heinrich, if he’s related at all.  I suppose it’s possible that he and Heinrich are the same person and Heinrich changed his name at some point, but that seems unlikely unless his name was changed around the time of the birth of Heinrich Wilhelm Rudolph.

Supposedly, my Frederick was born on December 12, 1850 in Germany (or Prussia).   So far, all I know for sure about Frederick is that he married Louise Reisenberg on May 8, 1882 in Lucas County, Ohio.9

Sources

  1. “Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898,” , FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N691-F7P : accessed 12 August 2015), Friedrich Wilhelm Schroeder in entry for Dorothee Helene Schroeder, 07 May 1838; citing ; FHL microfilm 582,899.
  2. “Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898,” , FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NFN5-K82 : accessed 12 August 2015), Friedrich Wilhelm Schroeder in entry for Franz Wilhelm Schroeder, 17 Jan 1841; citing ; FHL microfilm 582,900.
  3. “Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898,” , FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NTV2-8K9 : accessed 12 August 2015), Friedrich Wilhelm Schroeder in entry for Hermine Dorothee Schroeder, 29 Oct 1843; citing ; FHL microfilm 582,900.
  4. “Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898,” , FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N5Q1-YLX : accessed 12 August 2015), Friedrich Wilhelm Schroeder in entry for Auguste Charlotte Schroeder, 25 Jan 1846; citing ; FHL microfilm 582,900.
  5. “Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898,” , FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NZ5S-DB9 : accessed 12 August 2015), Friedrich Wilhelm Schroeder in entry for Anne Wilhelmine Schroeder, 30 Apr 1848; citing ; FHL microfilm 1,050,751.
  6. “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.
  7. “Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898,” , FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NZ5S-7JR : accessed 12 August 2015), Friedrich Wilhelm Schroeder in entry for Carl Friedrich Schroeder, 14 Aug 1853; citing ; FHL microfilm 1,050,751.
  8. “Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898,” , FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NFN5-PXM : accessed 12 August 2015), Friedrich Wilhelm Schroeder in entry for Heinrich Wilhelm Schroeder, 28 Mar 1858; citing ; FHL microfilm 582,900.
  9. Lucas County, Ohio Marriages 1920, Vol. 39, p.483, FamilySearch.org.

 

Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm Schröder: A Question of Paternity (52 Ancestors #43)

Posted on by under 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, Family History, Genealogy, Photographs, Research Process, Schröder Family, Schroeder Family

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)

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.

Louise Reisenberg: A Leap of Faith (52 Ancestors #17)

Posted on by under 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, Family History, Genealogy, Photographs, Reisenberg Family, Schroeder Family, Stories

I am fortunate to have a family full of storytellers with long memories. What this means for me, though, is that my genealogical research primarily entails proving or disproving these stories. One story, on which I am currently working, is about my great great grandmother, Louise Reisenberg (or Risenburg).

Louise (Reisenberg) Schroeder, circa 1900.

Louise (Reisenberg) Schroeder, circa 1905.

Louise’s story, if I remember right, is as follows. One day, a sixteen year old Louise was working in the field on her family’s farm, she heard God tell her to leave her home and her family and go to America. She went back to the house and told her parents what God had told her to do. Her parents believed that she should do as God commanded and sold a cow to buy her passage to America. Louise didn’t speak a word of English, so she found a German family on the boat who were heading to Toledo, Ohio and she went with them. In Toledo, she got a job to support herself and married Frederick Schroeder.

Proving the story has been difficult, but I do believe that it is true based on what I have found so far.

Louise Reisenberg was born in Germany in November of 1860.1,5,6,8,10,11  She came to America in 1882, and arrived in Baltimore, Maryland on the Hermann on April 19th of that year, at the age of 21.1,5,6,8  From Maryland, she went on to Ohio, where she met Frederick Schroeder.  Fred and Louise married on May 8, 1882 in Lucas County, Ohio.2  Louise was a carpet weaver.5  Fred and Louise had six children:  Emma W., born circa 1883; Elizabeth A., born January 1885; Henry F., born circa 1887; Bertha Amelia, born March 30, 1890; John F., born October 1892; and George Herman, born September 21, 1896.3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

Fred died sometime between 1896 and 1900.3,4,5  By 1900, Louise had been naturalized and could speak English.5  By 1930, she was living with her daughter, Bertha, and her son-in-law, Lloyd Bersticker.  She lived with them until she died in 1955.10,11

Most of the story couldn’t be directly proven with facts, but I feel that the facts support it.  A sixteen year old Louise could have heard God, and her parents could have sold the cow.  It may have taken some few years between the initial voice of God and setting off for America.  It also would have taken about a month for the actual voyage.  It seems likely to me that a non-English speaking young lady would have found a family to travel with that spoke her language.  I also have to wonder if maybe this family had connections to the Schroeders in Toledo.  Louise arrived in Maryland on April 19th and married Fred on May 8th, so maybe the family arranged it or suggested it.  Louise certainly did have a job as a carpet weaver.

Louise Reisenberg Schroeder is one of my ancestors about whom I am dying to know more.  She’s always been a bit of a mystery and I’m glad to have uncovered what I have so far.

Sources

1.  Baltimore, Maryland Passenger Lists Index, 1820-1897, FamilySearch.org.

2.  Lucas County, Ohio Marriages, 1789-1997, Vol. 3, p.379, FamilySearch.org.

3.  Ottawa County, Ohio Births, 1841-2003, Vol. 1, p.324, no. 94, FamilySearch.org.

4.  Ottawa County, Ohio Births 1891-1908, Vol. 2, p.245, no. 382, FamilySearch.org.

5.  1900 U.S. Federal Census, Benton, Ottawa, Ohio, p.12B, Ancestry.com.

6.  1910 U.S. Federal Census, Toledo, Lucas, Ohio, p.9A, Ancestry.com.

7.  Genesee County, Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925, Vol. 2, p.335, FamilySearch.org.

8.  1920 U.S. Federal Census, Toledo, Lucas, Ohio, p.4A, Ancestry.com.

9.  Lucas County, Ohio Marriages 1920, Vol. 39, p.483, FamilySearch.org.

10.  1930 U.S. Federal Census, Toledo, Lucas, Ohio, p.12B, Ancestry.com.

11.  1940 U.S. Federal Census, Toledo, Lucas, Ohio, p.7B, Ancestry.com.

12.  The Blade Correspondent (Toledo), 5 October 1964, Obituary, Emma Damschroeder, found a copy in my grandparents’ box not cited.