Introducing my BRICK WALL of genealogy:
My great-great-grandparents, Gottfried and Alwine (Noffke) Waldeck. Gottfried was 1841 – 1913. Alwine 1846 – 1912.
Back row: Fred (in a terrible accident and lived out the rest of his life at the Kalamazoo State Hospital) married Caroline Meier, Ada (Helene/Lena Ida) married Frederick Steeby, Anna (who was married, but I still need to iron out this “mess”–she was at least married to William Alexander Stewart), August (died in WWI, a bachelor)
Front row: Gottfried, Clara (my great-grandmother), Alwine, Godfrey married Anna Ruehs
There were other children who died young, but exactly who they were needs sorting out.
The family story in America may have started with Alwine’s older brother August. I wrote about him here: Pioneer of the Family
I have written many posts about my great-grandmother Clara and have also written about Fred and his accident and his wife and her family in other posts (search Waldeck).
Gaps might be a ridiculous word for what I have missing from this couple’s lives. I do not know where in Prussia either of them were born, although if the information is correct about August, it is possible that Alwine was born in Pomerania. However, together, the couple seem to have lived in West Prussia, where they may have worked on a large estate or two. I do have birth and/or baptism records for several of their children, but I can’t read them well enough and the place names for Prussia are soooo confusing. I will need help with this portion to create a timeline of locations.
If you are not familiar with Prussia, East Prussia was the province furthest east, but West Prussia is just to the west of East Prussia–still in what is now Poland and on the Baltic Sea. Pomerania, also on the Baltic, is just to the west of West Prussia. Posen is to the south of these provinces.
I don’t have a marriage record for the couple, so I don’t know which area of Prussia they were married–or how they might have met.
Gottfried and Alwine did arrive into Baltimore from Germany in 1882, but I don’t have any other immigration and naturalization records.
I do not have a headstone for either, but have put in a request through Findagrave. I also requested management of their memorials, but have not received a reply. I can only hope for the kindness of the current holder because at 2x greats, they are one removed from my right to manage their memorials. Hmm, but my mother could do it!
I don’t have any military information for Gottfried. Or an obituary.
So what in the world DO I have then (besides anything mentioned above)?
*Gottfried’s death certificate: he died of chronic nephritis. His place of birth is gibberish; nobody has ever heard of such a place.
*Alwine’s death certificate; she died of interstitial nephritis. Her place of birth is just listed as Germany. Notice they both had a form of nephritis and died a year apart.
*Land ownership map in Caledonia, 1894.
*1900 and 1910 census records. The 1890 doesn’t exist, and Gottfried died a few years after the 1910. When there are only one or two census records it really brings home how many of these immigrants only lived 10-20-30 years in this country before dying.
*I know it’s above, but let’s face it, having a photograph of your 2xgreats is pretty cool :).
*Alwine’s obituary, although it’s very limited–and spells her first name Albina. (Alwine is pronounced Alveena)
Finally, I would like to post the property map. The parcel owned by Gottfried is near the bottom, in the center darkened area. His land is a small piece. Do you see the darkened section in the middle at the bottom? His parcel is second from the farthest right (of the darkened section) and the second from the bottom. Although Gottfried and Alwine’s son-in-law, my great-grandfather Charles Mulder, eventually owned a lovely farm in Caledonia, 1894 was long before he purchased his property.
The Family Kalamazoo 
Luanne, thanks for the help with the East Prussia/West Prussia explanation. I’m not sure my family designated between the two. I think they just called it Prussia. And I really didn’t realize Poland was a part of Prussia. So much for my knowledge of European geography.
I have confidence you will find every grave you look for, Detective Castle.
Good work, and thanks for posting.
Thanks, Sheila. Why weren’t we taught about Prussia in school? I admit I did take German history in college and blew the whole semester off. But before college, it was never presented to us. From genealogy I learned about Prussia being where other countries are located, especially Poland, and then how the German ethnics were kicked out of Poland after WWII. Then I learned that my accountant and his family were those people! He was a toddler, and his family was forced out and put in a camp for a couple of years. He didn’t get proper nutrition, of course. So Poland got rid of all their Germans although they had lived there for a long time. They were German speakers. Now it’s funny because 23andme has shown me with 10% Polish DNA all along. With a specific Polish gene. But this is the only place it could have come from. Yet they were Germans, Lutherans, and definitely not Poles. This one great-grandmother whose branch this is would be approximately 12% of my total DNA . . . .
Wow – I’m not sure why we didn’t learn about Prussia in school, but you have given me a lot to think about for sure. Thanks so much for always delving into the whys.
I think we were so anti-German right after the war . . . .
Now that you mention it, I was never taught about Prussia in school either.
I think it’s because we had history from our American viewpoint after the war. I am just shocked that I didn’t even know about my own ancestors living on land that is now Poland haha.
This was a great inventory for this family. It really lays out the haves and haves not. Glad your on the case 🙂
Thanks, Sharon! It was hard enough to get my mind around what I have and don’t have with these guys. They are so tough!
Totally get it 🙂
Haha, I know you have your share of brick walls!
In your research, have you found many inaccuracies in obituaries?
No but rarely an obit is embellished….
I’ve seen inaccuracies in names and dates in some of my ancestors’ obituaries.
Where I really hate seeing them is on the headstones! That is so annoying!
Now, that’s something I haven’t seen!
I’ve lately found a couple good resources for finding German place names. And I’m reading a book on German genealogy that I hope will help, too. I do empathize with trying to sort out place names. With my ancestors from Mecklenburg, every record seems to have a different place name entirely. Surely they didn’t move around that much!
That’s what I mean. It’s as if any one place can be identified by a different layer or tiers of place names!
I sometimes have seen Prussia as place of birth for relatives on US census when I know that they weren’t technically born in Prussia (they were born in Hesse), but were perhaps under Prussian control at the time of their birth. I find German history and geography quite confusing.
So what is it you are most trying to find? Birth records? Marriage? Have you tried the German Genealogy group on Facebook? They might be able to steer you in the right direction.
Yes, it’s the shifting borders. My grandmother told me when I was a kid that her parents from the Rhine area (Bingen) used to say that “the Prussians are coming!” as a bad thing.
Birth and marriage records. I have not been able to get a lot of help on this because it’s very daunting, but now I am hoping that Stephen Wendt who runs the Prussian FB groups is going to help me. Fingers crossed.
Good luck! In researching my book about Bernard Seligman, I’ve also read about the Prussian invasion of the Rhine Valley area in the late 1800s. And the attempt to take over the area in the late 1840s.
Tell me more about this Bernard Seligman book.
It was the late 1800s invasion that I think my grandmother had been told about when she was very little.
Thanks for providing information about East Prussia and West Prussia. I hadn’t known where that area was located until I read this post.
It’s clear none of us were taught about Prussia!
I am currently reading a book about Prussia called “Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia 1600-1947” by Christopher Clark…it’s not a light read, especially if your not a history person, but it is certainly all the info you wanted to know about Prussia! Nearly 700 pages of Prussian history!
Oh, that sounds amazing. I would love to learn more about Prussia. Is it all big picture/military and economic stuff or does it give cultural information as well?
So far (Im in chapter 3 – more than 50 pages in!) it’s about how the rulers were established (more religious than political), and tried to marry into power much like the English crown did – and in typical fashion, the towns people usually got rolled over in search of their wealth. Im not that far into the book – it’s not my favorite genre, so my mind keeps wandering LOL! There are small maps in the book, but it helps to have a big map of Prussia handy to see where these areas are located. Amazon has a better synopses of the book, and you can listen to a portion on audio book to get a flavor of the writing style.