how are some more certain of everything than i am of anything?….

i’m using this blog entry to share with those who’s dna matches with my 3rd cousin CS, who also descends from these Baltimore Germans. Her ancestry is fully German so her DNA is picking up lots of Baltimore and PA German lineages/surnames.

update: a new 2nd cousin 1x, a great grandson of gross ma Lena, the lady above, has been found, 12-18-2012. i hope his dna joins her 3 descendants  already at ancestry. CS, RB, AW. kit from 23&me is on it’s way to JM. 3/1/2013, he should be same maternal haplotype as i am, from lena. note: his maternal haplotype did confirm tree.

 

It’s been a twisted error filled difficult journey as i learned the right way to do this kind of research. All I had was a handful of old pictures and the xerox labeled pierpont gals sent from my uncle to my mom. see http://rmwilliamsjr.net/wordpress/2011/12/23/genealogy-research/

But i can now tell you part of the story…..

-=-=-=-=-=-=-the key person in this section is Gross Ma Lena Hedrich-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I’m going to anchor this part of my family’s story with her, because this is such a cool picture.

The first piece of data-this picture.

Alena M KLANKA Your 2nd great grandmother Birth 22 Feb. 1852 in Maryland Death 20 Nov 1930 in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA

i believe the pictures are labelled by my mother, my sister recognizes the printing.

her parents are john klenka and sophia bruer her maternal grandparents are peter and elizabeth bruer her husband is henry hedrick 1848-1931 one of their sons:henry c. heddrick 1877-1960 she had 12 kids, all listed in the Bible possessed by my Maine Pierpont cousins. george v pierpont sr marries their daughter:anna hedrick their son: vernon pierpont jr is writer of the following letter their daughter:emma is our ancestor, she marries george’s brother jacob wells pierpont hence double cousins, 2 brothers marry 2 sisters

the next piece of data-the letter from the maine pierponts i found with the xerox.

-=-=-=-DATA=the uncle vernon pierpont letter, talked about Henry Heddrick as a good cabinetmaker-=-=-=-

Henry HEDRICH Your 2nd great grandfather Birth 17 July 1848 in Dreihausen, Hesse Darmstadt germany Death about 1931 in Baltimore City, Baltimore, Maryland

i assume he is to the left in the white shirt,but i do not know.

-=-=-=-

so we have our pivotal couple, Gross Ma Lena and Henry Hedrick, my 2nd greats.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I’ve been trying to trace them in baltimore directories and via the occupations listed in the census.
In the letter he-vernon, mentions that there are cabinets in an art gallery in baltimore that he-henry made.

There are cabinets in these pictures, it’s nice to think my ancestors built them, they were in the walters gallery, long since upgraded.

http://thewalters.org/about/history/gallery.aspx
—–>so this is my starting point, cabinets.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-occupation cabinet maker-=-=-=-=-=-=-But at first,  i thought kitchen/household cabinets. I wondered if that was how the higher class Pierpont brothers met the working class, German speaking Lutheran Hedrick girls, through their dad’s work. Emma is born in 1870, she marries Jacob in 1897, in 1870 her maternal aunt is working as a servant to Joseph&Sophia Spilman, also emigrants from Darmstadt, he is listed as a tailor in the census. In 10 years emma will be back with her folks and a dressmaker, i suppose having learned from the spilman’s. This same decade census year her slightly older sister just married Henry the cabinetmaker and they live down the road in Washington DC. Joseph Spilman’s son eventually runs the German bank in Baltimore. I can only speculate that the Spilman’s high class knew the Pierpont’s and learned about the pretty Hedrick’s girls when he built the cabinets for the Walters gallery. i wish i knew.

But this remains a mystery, how did the Hedricks girls meet the Pierponts boys?

But first, i had to solve the Klanka ancestry going back 2 more generations into the first generation to emigrate from Germany.
Even there the cabinet maker occupation pops up(maybe, it is stonemason)

which is ok because of how the 1840-1850 census data was collected.
so who did he stay with from the time he arrived to when he married sophie?

this is believe is what happened, twice, a talented apprenticed woodworker marries the bosses’ daughter in the cabinet shop.

Johann Fredrich KLANKA Birth 13 May 1823 in Hunteburg, Hesse-Kassel, Germany he is gross ma lena hedrich’s father. he arrives in baltimore with his family in 1835 from Bremen, Germany on boat Meridian to Baltimore, Maryland on Oct 1835. Friederick Klanke 48 Male Margarethe Klanke 37 Female Henriette Klanke 3 Female Marie Klanke 1 Female Johan Klanke 12 Male Friederick Klanke 12 male Gerhard Klanke 3 male

but he-johann remains in baltimore. the family continues on to cincinatti. (i’ve written a good genealogist who descends from them, she kept the german names while i used english names on census, it took us several months to realize this) imho, the only way this could happen is if he stayed with relatives or entered into an apprenticeship with housing.the first time i’ve found him is in 1860 census Household Members: Name Age John P Clink 35 Sophia Clink 38 Alena Clink 8 Emma Clink 4 Henry Clink 3 Bertha Clink 2 so john klanka married sophia, the bosses daughter after 1850.

i believe the connection is cabinets and wood.

and immigration from hesse through baltimore to milwaukee, leaving the eldest son as an apprentice to the cabinet shop in baltimore.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-
my aunt problem:

how i solved my aunt problem or the importance of inter-generational families/households.
my story of two elizabeths.
elizabeth brauer/bruer b 1802 in hesse darmstadt
in 1880 she is living with her daughter sophia and a grand daughter elizabeth, who i assume is named for her.
John P. Klanka 54
Sophia Klanka 57
Emma Klanka 25
Henry Klanka 24
Rebecca Klanka 21
Elizabeth Klanka 17
Elizabeth Bruer 78

in her turn elizabeth klanka is living with her great niece mary in 1930
George V Pierfont 27
Mary Pierfont 24
Elizabeth Klenke 66

i started with this 1930 census, which listed elizabeth klenke as an aunt. do you have any idea how ambiguous a term aunt is?
at the same time i discovered this census, alma noticed a line of ants by her chair, so we both had a(u)nts problems, however mine took a lot longer to solve.

so what’s in a name? my direct maternal line.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. elizabeth (maiden name unknown) breuer, b 1804 hesse-darmstadt, my 4th great grandmother.
2. sophia breuer klanka, b 1823 hesse-darmstadt, 3rd gmom, her husband johann has sisters named elizabeth and marie
3. alena marie klanka hedrich, b 1852 baltimore, 2nd gmom, her sister elizabeth b 1863, we have a photo labelled gross ma hedrick
4. emma marie hedrich pierpont, b 1870 baltimore, ggma, married jacob wells pierpont, her sister anna married george pierpont, so double cousins. both sisters and brother in photo
5. her daughter anna marie elizabeth pierpont saunders, b 1898 baltimore, grandmother. photo included
6. my mom anna elizabeth saunders williams b 1933 in baltimore.
7. my sister lynn ann
8. my daughters alesha elizabeth and evangeline marie.(likewise this is their dad’s maternal line)

maternal haplotype-mitochrondrial dna H6a1b2, except steve’s and my kids who get their mtdna from their mom’s

there is a curious symmetry, elizabeth breuer was living with her granddaughter elizabeth klanka’s family in 1880. elizabeth klanka in her turn, was living with her grandniece mary pierpont and husband george in 1930. it was those two intergenerational households that enabled me to reconstruct the family tree and grab ahold of maiden names. the maternal line is the holy grail of genealogy since the names change.

final count: elizabeths-6, ann(a)s-4, marys-5

-=-=-now in my zeal, i’ve been tracing the next door neighbors-=-=-=- in the 1860 census,these two families share the same house

fix table display

1860 census Breuer & Carl
i found: Charles Carl sr Birth Sep 1825 in Hesse-Darmstadt in 1860,sophia breuer’s parents live in the same housing unit with the carl’s,henry bruer is a carver.peter b is a locksmith. NOTE: he might be stone carver not wood. charles carl is a carpet weaver. both families are from hesse darmstadt so they speak the same dialect of german. i propose charles is elizabeth’s nephew, making elizabeth breuer’s maiden name carl. other option is peter’s maternal side cousin. which i think unlikely as peter comes and goes through the years.	Brawer Peter 63 abt 1797 Male Hesse-Darmstadt Brawer Elizabeth 54 abt 1806 Female Hesse-Darmstadt Brawer Carrie 23 abt 1837 Female Hesse-Darmstadt Brawer Henry 21 abt 1839 Male Hesse-Darmstadt sophie is already married Carl Charles 33 abt 1827 Male Hesse-Darmstadt Carl Mary 30 abt 1830 Female Hesse-Darmstadt Carl August 7 abt 1853 Male Maryland Carl John 5 abt 1855 Male Maryland Carl Anna 3 abt 1857 Female Maryland so we have gross ma=lena klenka hedrich,her mother sophia bruer klenka,her father john klenka who was left as a 14 year old in baltimore. her uncle henry bruer carves wood and knows charles carl. he’s the first carpenter, lena’s maternal uncle.examine possibility he is a stone carver theory, john met sophia at charles carl’s shop and henry met alena through the shop.	i found him in 1890 balti dir 76 s schroeder cabinetmaker now i trace charles and son august to a showcase cabinet making shop in 1880-1890 Occupation 1880 balti dir home 81 n amity john&charles carl**klenka connection** charles&august showcase manufacturing co. 27mcclellen so it is not household cabinets but display cabinets, just as vernon said were in the art gallery. henry and his son live at 93 n amity and work in the cabinet shop. so henry seems to learn carpentry from his future wife’s father and his brother.——————–

so now i need to look at 1840-1860 again.i have at least 2 dna matches with hedrich’s deriving from germany but the connection is lost back into germany.

henry hedrich’s last appearance in baltimore
1920 census where he is living with daughter’s family.
Hedrick Henry Self (Head) Male White 72 abt 1848 Married Germany Germany Germany 1862
Hedrick Lena Wife Female White 67 abt 1853 Married Maryland Germany Germany add
Kolbe Henry Son-in-Law Male White 30 abt 1890 Married Maryland Maryland Maryland add
Kolbe Louise Daughter Female White 28 abt 1892 Married Maryland Germany Maryland add
Kolbe Anna Granddaughter Female White 5 abt 1915 Single Maryland Maryland Maryland add
Kolbe Beverly Granddaughter Female White 1 abt 1919 Single Maryland Maryland Maryland
and the census further says henry is a cabinetmaker in a car shop and his son in law is a machinist in, i suppose the same car shop.

so 4 generations tied together by woodworking occupations.

 

surnames:

hedrich, klanka, breuer, carl, meyer

location:

baltimore immigrated from hesse

time frame:

earliest immigration 1825, latest 1875

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-the key person in this section is Eugene Henry Shaffer-=-=-=-=-=-=-a few months ago i get an email concerning a posting i made looking for descendants of Eugene. it was his granddaughter showing him the value of the internet by googling his name. i sent them a dna kit but it arrived 2 days before he died, so his daughter did the test for me.

his great grand mother was gross ma lena klanka hedrich above in the rocker.

eugene henry is the little boy in the center, his mom louise is sitting front right with her husband edgar eugene shaffer, her mom-lena hundretmark’s is in the back, next to her is henry c heddrick her husband=eugene henry’s grandfather. who is listed above as gross ma’s son. edgar eugene shaffer’s tree follows:

any dna matches to CES should be on this tree or above.

here is louise heddrick and her pedigree, note the curly hair.

 

DNA results for CS continue to add information to out Baltimore Germans.

The first unknown 3rd cousin match has occurred. The common surname is Hundertmark. The maiden name for the lady with the dark fur coat on the back step above.

LENA E Hundertmark

Relationship to you: wife of great grand uncle Birth Feb 1877 in Germany Death 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

I am very happy with this match because i have a problem with her father. all because of an obit.

her father was Friede Hundertmark Birth abt 1853. he arrives in baltimore with the family:

Name:	Friede Hundertmark
Arrival Date:	20 Apr 1884
Age:	31
Estimated Birth Year:	abt 1853
Gender:	Male
Port of Departure:	Bremen, Germany
Ship Name:	Weser
Port of Arrival:	Baltimore, Maryland

family is elisa, lena, minnie and forest. forrest is completely missing after arrival, but minnie appears in an obit.

i’ve been uncertain whether i had 1 fred hundertmark and 2 wives/2 families or 2 fred hundertmarks. i’m leaning towards two families because that is the only way the same minnie can be involved.what i would love is dna from living members listed on this obit.but the match is with another frederick hundertmark in baltimore who is a german immigrant a generation older than this fred. Friedrich Ludwig Hundertmark Birth abt 1835 in Württemberg, Germany his wife Wilhelmine Pflugstaedt Birth in Württemberg, Germany their daughter Wilhelmine Hundertmark Birth 13 APR 1859 in Iserlohn, Germany

the hundertmarks are complicated enough to warrant their own blog entry
http://rmwilliamsjr.net/wordpress/2013/01/02/cleaning-up-the-hundertmark-class/