STIEGLITZ family in Prussia/Germany
Greetings. Years ago I caught the genealogy bug, and have been slowly and steadily discovering family history. My family tree currently benefits from over 1000 people, but it lacks certain information on my direct ancestors. I am at an impasse and would greatly appreciate guidance from this group.
My name is Frank Stieglitz. My verified great-great grandparents are listed below. They immigrated to the U.S.A. from Prussia/Germany; probably Baden-Hessian-Wurttemberg. There are records of them in Pittsburgh, PA U.S.A, including their grave.
Valentine Stieglitz
B 1829-Jul-24 (Prussia/Germany)
D 1902-June-02 (Pittsburgh, PA U.S.A.)
Likely arrived in the U.S. from Hesse Cassel in May 1852, and a declaration of citizenship on October 13, 1856.
C. Louise Harding
B 1831-June-10 (Prussia/Germany)
D 1890-August-02 (Pittsburgh, PA U.S.A.)
I do not know what the “C” in C. Louise Harding stands for.
A photograph of them near 1863 exists, from a box of family records, with the first three of their eventual six children; see image at www.stiegnet.com. I have family photographs of all six of their children; also at www.stiegnet.com. I descend from their 4th child; Albert Stieglitz.
For years, I have indeed been attempting to discover the Prussia/Germany lineage of Valentine Stieglitz and C. Louise Harding, with no success. It all seems to be a dead end.
I now reach out to this expert forum for guidance and tips on how best I could proceed. It would be meaningful to our extended family to discover more.
Many thanks for any tips, suggestions, advice or other guidance.
Regards,
Frank
Commenti
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Hello Frank,
just some general remarks:
it would be very helpful to narrow done the origin of your ancestors to a village/parish in Germany as all churchbooks are organized according to the parish. Many of them are not indexed so one may need to scan them visually for the name and/or birth date.
Stieglitz is a rather rare surname in Germany, see https://nvk.genealogy.net/map/1890:stieglitz. Historically, there are some pockets with this name in Hesse around Frankfurt and south of Kassel. For example, one village where the name Stieglitz is more common is Obervorschütz (now part of Gudensberg, about 10 km/6 miles south of Kassel). Church books of Obervorschütz are available on the Archion.de website, but a paid pass (https://www.archion.de/en/step-by-step/) is required for access.
No guarantee given that your ancestor came from this place! I just wanted to demonstrate a possible approach.
Regards,
Ulrich
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If Valentin Stieglitz attended a German congregation in Pittsburgh, it's possible that the records from that church might mention his hometown in Germany. It's worth taking a look.
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Finding the record of their marriage could be a real key. Since their first child was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio it could be that they were married there.
I've noticed that Ohio civil marriage records from that time were pretty brief, often only including the name of the bride and groom. But if they married in a church there may be a much better church record with parents names, ages/birth dates and possibly home village in Germany.
I would advise searching for any available church records from Cuyahoga County, Ohio for the time period from birth of first child and then back three years. In particular, German churches, of course.
Also, investigate whether the Cuyahoga County Ohio library system has old German language newspapers from that era where marriages and births were announced. And the Pittsburg library for local German papers for his death announcement/obituary. Those can be gold mines of information. I would be very surprised if there wasn't an obituary in a German newspaper in Pittsburg for Valentin in June 1902. It was very much the norm at that time for German immigrants to have these important announcements in a local German language paper.
Edit: I did a quick search and found one example of a German Language paper in Pittsburg in 1902. This link shows where microfilm copies of it are available. It would be worthwhile to look up the June 1902 editions for an obituary/death notice.
https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84024545/?st=holdings
There likely are other German language papers in Pittsburg at the same time so don't limit your search to just this one.
Edit #2: I searched to see if any papers were available online and found Valentins death notice in this one. I can only read it well enough to identify it. Sixth entry under the "Gestorben" title.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=ahKOoLCzQxcC&dat=19020604&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
Link to some U.S. German Papers available online:
https://theancestorhunt.com/blog/historic-german-american-newspapers-online/
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Here is a copy of the death notice.
Also in the June 2nd issue:
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Here is Louise death notice in the Der Freiheits-Freund - Aug 4, 1890.
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2hszv8GT5-sC&dat=18900804&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
Image is a little hard to read. Her maiden name appears to be Hartung or something similar.
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This may be her baptism record or it may just be a different Louise Hartung born on the same date.
Image of the baptism is on familysearch
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSZ5-43JM?cc=3015626
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Excellent work, @JohnsonGreg !
It seems that the baptism you found is the correct one: the birthday is identical to the one on the gravestone, the first name Christiana explains the "C", "Harding" is an americanized form of the original German surname "Hartung", and the birthplace Bretten is indeed in Baden!
Here is a transcription and translation of the record:
Nro. 37
In hiesiger ev:prot: Stadtgemeinde Bretten, wurde im Jahr Ein tausend acht hundert ein u. dreißig, den zehnten Junius, Morgens vier Uhr, ehelich geboren, und am zwölften ejsd: Nachmittags Ein Uhr in der Kirche getauft: Christiana Louise, Töchterlein des hiesigen Bürgers und Sailermeisters Jacob Hartung, und dessen Ehefrau Margaretha geb: Schuler. - Pathe ist: Christiana Louise Freund, ledige hiesige Bürgerstochter. Zeugen sind: Christoph Bühler, hiesiger Bürger und Steinhauer, und Alexander Au__?, hiesiger Bürger und Glasermeister.
Bretten, 12 Jun 1831 T: C. Wallraff Pfarrverweser
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No. 37
In the local lutheran city parish of Bretten, was legitimately born in the year 1831 on the tenth of June at 4 a.m., and was baptized on the twelfth of the same month at 1 p.m. in the church: Christiana Louise, daughter of the local citizen and master ropemaker Jacob Hartung and his wife Margaretha née Schuler. - Godmother is Christiana Louise Freund, unmarried daughter of a local citizen. Witnesses are: Christoph Bühler, local citizen and stonecutter and Alexander Au__?, local citizen and master glazier.
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The entry for Bretten in Meyers Gazetteer: https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/10239013
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Greg, Ulrich, Sylvia, and others in this group,
Please let me thank you quite very much for the effort you expended. I am quite grateful.
Your effort has indeed directly benefitted our family. This is the first new information about my ancestors Valentine Stieglitz and C. Louise Harding that we have learned in many years. My heart-rate is faster now that your research points to her being Christiana Louise Hartung !! A wonderful discovery!
My branch of the Stieglitz family has weekly Zoom meetings for siblings, uncles and cousins scattered around the country. As you might guess, we talk about a variety of things and family history. You can be sure that we will talk about your new information next week!
Regards,
Frank Stieglitz
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You are welcome Frank. I found another tidbit. It looks like Louise Hartung immigrated from Baden on January 1st, 1854 on the Ship Helvetia.
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Greg, thank you again. Very sorry for my delayed response. Yes, this seems to match my records. Good!
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