Maria Sievert was the fifth child and second daughter of Vincent Sievert and Susanna Raduntz. She was born on 1 April 1861 in Joliet, Will County, Illinois.[1] In 1860 Vincent said he was a farmer, so she was likely born on the farm.[2] By 1870, she was known as Mary and attended school in Joliet. Her father worked as a stone mason and owned property in the second ward in the city of Joliet.[3]
On 12 September 1878, she married Carl Schultz at St. John’s German Catholic Church in Joliet. She was eighteen years old. He was twenty-seven and stated he was born in Tarkenbrugge, Prussia.[4] This town couldn’t be located in an online search. Perhaps he misremembered the town's name, or the clerk misheard the name when recording the license information. Carl was Lutheran and they needed a dispensation to be married in the Catholic Church.[5]
Two years later, they were living at North Broadway in Joliet. He worked as a laborer and she kept house.[6] In March 1884, Charles (as he was known now) and Mary migrated to Emmet County, Iowa. He bought M.B. Crumb’s farm.[7] This map of Emmet township shows the family’s location in Section 24. Emmet County borders Minnesota.[8]
 |
| https://iagenweb.org/emmet/images/1918_emmet_twp.jpg |
Newspapers tell of daily life. In 1891, two of Charles and Mary’s children were ill with lung fever and Dr. Salisbury was attending them.[9]
By 1900, their family had grown to seven children. Charles owned a farm free of a mortgage.[10] The next census also listed that she had seven children, all seven living.[11] Newspaper articles gave some details about Charles’ farm. He took steers to Chicago.[12] Another day he had an accident while raking when one of his horses “kicked over the tongue, breaking it, and then started to run so fast he could not hold them. Mr. Schultz was thrown down and the rake picked him up and dragged him some distance until the horses got away from the rake and ran home.” Fortunately, Charles was not badly hurt.[13]
By 1920, they had moved to Estherville, the county seat, and all children were gone.[14] Checking newspapers brought up the public sale, the move to Estherville after the sale, and the renting of the farm to his son, Walter.[15]
Mary died on 14 December 1929 in Estherville and she was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery. Her obituary was full of information: They moved to Iowa in 1884. They lived on the farm for twenty-nine years. She had eight children with the eldest dying in infancy. They also wrote, “She was a woman of broadest sympathy and endeared herself to a wide circle of neighbors and friends by her ready helpfulness at every time of need.”[16] Sadly, we have to wait for an obituary to learn anything about a woman’s life.
I checked for her on FamilySearch Family Tree and found two profiles, one with her attached to her parents and another with her attached to her husband. I spent some time adding information found from the baptism record and merged the two profiles.[17]
I also checked for “Mary Sievert” in the Ancestry Public Trees. One tree had Mary listed with only one record: 1870 census. There were no siblings, but parents were listed, along with her siblings.[18] Four other trees had the same information. No tree had “Maria Sievert.”
Why do I care about her? She is the sister of my great-grandmother, Julia Sievert, who married John Anton Hork. I have not done extensive research on several of Julia’s siblings. I have collected some documents, but I have not entered them into RootsMagic, nor written about them. So here is one of the overlooked Sievert children of Vincent and Susanna Sievert.
#52Ancestors-Week 4: Overlooked
This is my eighth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe.
I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.
-------------------------------------
1. Baptism of Maria Sievert, Church of St. John the Baptist, Joliet, Illinois, Maria Siebert, 1861, Bk 1, p. 49, no. 31. She was baptized on 5 May 1861.
2. 1860 U.S. census, Will Co, Illinois, pop sched, Joliet, p. 612 (penned), household 2791/2721, Vincent Sever.
3. 1870 U.S. census, Will Co, Illinois, pop. sched, Joliet 2nd ward, p 211 (stamped), 133/159, Vincent Seivert.
4. Will County, Illinois, marriage certificates, 1878, no. 7314, Charles Schultz-Mary Sievert; FHL film 2342816. These images are locked.
5. “Illinois, U.S., Catholic Diocese of Joliet, Sacramental Records, 1800-1976,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62097) > St John the Baptist, Joliet > Marriage Register, 1868-1884 > image 53 of 92, p. 30-31, no. 2, Carl Schulz and Maria Sievert, 1878.
6. 1880 U.S. census, Will Co, Illinois, pop sched, Joliet, ED 202, p. 257 (stamped), 57/71, Charley Schultz.
7. Northern Vindicator (Estherville, Iowa), 21 March 1884, p. 5, col. 3.
8. Standard Atlas of Emmet County, Iowa, (Geo A Ogle & Co, 1918), p. 28, “Map of Emmet Township,” IAGenWeb (https://iagenweb.org/emmet/images/1918_emmet_twp.jpg). His property description is the southwest quarter of Section 24, Township 100 North, Range 34 West of the 5th Meridian.
9. Northern Vindicator (Estherville, Iowa), 12 Feb 1891, p. 5, col. 2.
10. 1900 U.S. census, Emmet Co, Iowa, pop. sched., Emmet township, ED 76, p. 45 (stamped), dwelling 94, Charles Schultz.
11. 1910 U.S. census, Emmet Co, Iowa, pop. sched., Emmet township, ED 86, sht 3A, household 59, Charles Schultz.
12. “Emmet Echoes,” Estherville Democrat, 27 Feb 1907, p. unk, col. 4.
13. “Emmet,” Vindicator & Republican, 19 July 1911, p. unk, col. 1.
14. 1920 U.S. census, Emmet Co, Iowa, pop. sched., Estherville, ED 96, sht 9b, household 149, Charles Schultz.
15. “Emmet Echoes,” Estherville Democrat, 4 Dec 1912, p. unk, col. 2.
16. “Mrs. Mary Severt Schultz,” Estherville (Iowa) Enterprise.
17. “Mary Sievert,” profile GLSS-JMT, FamilySearch Family Tree (https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GCSS-JMT).
18. “Bastian,” Ancestry Public Trees, (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/5235800/person/142136656747/facts), maintained by Jorn Bastian.
It's not easy to uncover details of a woman's life so congrats on learning so much about her background! And you are doing a genealogy good deed by correcting the FamSearch tree for Maria.
ReplyDeleteI was a bit afraid to merge the two profiles, as at first it seemed one would be deleted, but once I started the merge I saw the facts of one were merged into the other. Phew!
DeleteThis is a great write up on your great-aunt and her story. It always feels great to explore your great grandparents' immediate family further and learn more about their siblings and stories.
ReplyDelete