Week 21 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is Brick Wall. Last year, I think I used my Free Space week to cover this topic, and focused on my 3rd great-grandmother, Jane Felker. I haven’t gotten any further with Jane, despite revisiting her regularly. This year, I chose to focus on my German lines, particularly my 4th great-grandparents, Anna Dietz and John (Johannes) Bernhard.
John and Anna (Dietz) Bernhard were the parents of my third great-grandmother, Caroline (Bernhard) Steltz. Her mother, Anna, is shown living with her on the 1880 census. Anna died at the age of 90 in 1891 in Boston. Her death record lists her husband, John Bernhard, gives her maiden name as Dietz, and her parents’ names as Casper and Helen M. Until recently, I could find nothing about John Bernhard, and didn’t know when John and Anna arrived in America.
Their daughter, 27-year-old, Caroline Bernhard, a dressmaker, arrived in New York City aboard the Southampton from London on December 3, 1853. She was accompanied by her husband, Henry Steltz, a tailor, age 36, and their infant daughter, Minnie. William Bernhard, a 17 year-old shoemaker, was listed immediately before them on the ship’s manifest. I figured he could be Caroline’s brother, and I was correct. He died in 1914. The Rhode Island Death Index lists the same parents, and the immigration information on his naturalization form matches – 1853 in New York City.
I was unable to find any information on John Bernhard. He likely died prior to 1880 because Anna is listed as a widow on the census. There was no death record for John, and neither he nor Anna were mentioned in the newspapers. I was unable to find them on any ship manifests. The only other information I found was for another potential child – Louisa Bernhard.
Louisa was born about 1829 in Germany, and married George Conrad Hasslebrack in Boston in 1869. It was the first marriage for Louisa, then 40. Her parents were listed as John and Anna K. Bernhard. The K was new. It wasn’t on any other documentation about Anna. The same parents were also listed on her marriage record. I wasn't 100% sure I was related to Louisa or if her John and Anna Bernhard are my ancestors. They have common names, and Anna’s maiden name isn’t listed.
With no further information on John or Anna (Dietz) Bernhard, I hit a brick wall. John, or Johannes Bernhard was an incredibly common name. I was unable to find any digitized German records for Anna Dietz with parents Caspar and Helen M. The Bernhards were from Hessen, Germany, which is a large region. None of the documents, save William’s, gives more specific information. William listed Frankfurt as his birthplace on his naturalization paperwork, but I couldn’t locate documents for the family there.
So I set the Bernhards aside until this brick wall prompt came up and gave me the opportunity to revisit them. I started with my notes section on Ancestry, which I use the same way many genealogists use research logs. I had some notes and links for Caroline and William. One potential record for William was a baptismal record in Family Search found in the collection “Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1971.” The record was for Wilhelm Bernhard, baptized in Budingen, Hessen, Germany (not too far from Frankfurt) on January 17, 1836. My William was born on January 1, 1836, per his naturalization document, so the dates and location worked. The parents were Johannes Bernhard and Kunigunde Dietz. Germans usually had several names, often used interchangeably on documents. Could Anna and Kunigunde be the same person?
To test this theory, I decided to find out if Wilhelm had siblings, and if their names and birth dates matched Caroline’s and possibly Louisa’s. Maybe I’d find a match, with Anna or Anna Kunigunde as the mother’s name. I searched through the same set of records using “Budingen, Hessen, Germany” as a location, “Bernhard” as the child’s last name, and “Dietz” as the mother’s maiden name. I gave a birth range of 1820-1840.
And I may have found my Bernhards -- or at least I believe it’s them. A Maria Karoline was born in Budingen the same year as my Caroline M. Bernhard – 1827. Her parents were Johannes Bernhard, but this time the mother was listed as Margaretha Dietz.
I found 2 Luises. The one who matches my Louisa was baptized on October 4, 1829, and her parents were Johannes Bernhard and Margaretha Dietz, like Maria Karoline’s parents. The other was Luise Catharina, baptized September 29, 1825. Like Wilhelm, her parents were Johannes Bernhard and Kunigunde Dietz. My Louisa Bernhard listed her mother as Anna K. Was the K for Kunigunde?
So I had 2 Margarethas and 2 Kunigundes. Were they the same person? If so, was she also my Anna Dietz? I searched for Margaretha Dietz or Kunigunde Dietz born in 1801 to parents Caspar and Helen with no success.
I turned to MyHeritage and found a tree match with a German tree for the Luise Catharina born in 1825. The creator of the tree listed her parents as Johannes Bernhard and Margaretha Kunigunde Dietz – both names together. Their tree also said Johannes Bernhard was born in 1795 in Budingen and died there in 1853. If he’s my John Bernhard, that explains a lot – like why I can’t find any US records for him. He married Margaretha Kunigunde Dietz in 1823 in Budingen. A few generations of ancestors are listed for Johannes, but none for Margaretha Kunigunde Dietz. I was able to find a matching death record for Johannes on the same data collection on FamilySearch that had the children’s baptismal records, but I was unable to locate a marriage record for the couple.
Are these my Bernhards? I can’t be certain this person’s MyHeritage tree is correct because I don’t know where they got their information. Their location is in Germany, so I may use a translator app and reach out to them. I do feel good about the Budingen records available on FamilySearch. Before I can confirm they’re mine, I need to translate the baptismal records. The actual records are available to view, but unfortunately, I don’t read German, and even my one friend from Germany can’t read this old German writing. I bought a Germanology Unlocked course last summer that I have yet to use. I kept putting it off because until now, I hadn’t found any new German records. I think it’s time to delve into that program! These baptismal records likely contain information beyond the bit that’s been translated and indexed on Family Search. Maybe both names for the mother are on there. Maybe the name Anna is thrown in. At the moment, I’m still staring down at a brick wall….but I just might be holding a sledgehammer in my hands.
Comments