My Trails into the Past

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. Vincent Sievert died 23 January 1890 in Joliet, Will County, Illinois. [1] Vincent is my paternal 2x-great-grandfather. He was born 24 January 1823 in Schneidemuhl, Posen, which is in present day Poland. [2]  He, his wife, Susanna Raduntz, and their oldest child, August, came to America 23 June 1852. [3] Vincent was a stone mason. [4] They lived on North Hickory in Joliet at the time of his death at 1146 No. Hickory. [5] To them were born eleven children, eight of which grew to adulthood. Their daughter, Susanna, who married Johan Anton Hork, was my great-grandmother. At his death, Vincent had written a will. His son, John Sievert, brought the will to the Will County, County Court on 7 February 18...

In the previous blog post about Henrietta Fiday, we discovered that she was listed in the 1900 census as a Henrietta Richman. After analysis, it was thought that she was indeed Henrietta (Sievert) Fiday, the mother of Magdalene Reichman, and not the mother of Joseph J Reichman. [1] Jos. J. Richman and wife, Magdalene were living in Joliet at 207 Johns Street. [2] Here is an image of a portion of the census. This was a second marriage for both Joseph and Magdalene. 1900 Will Co, Illinos for Jos. J. Richman (Reichmann) Here is the transcription: Richman, Jos J, head, w, m, Mar 1850, 50 m2, 3 yr, Germany, Ger/Ger, 1870, 30 yr, na, butcher, house                 Magdalene, wife, w, f, Jan 1852, 48, m2, 3 yr, 7 child/4 living, Germany, Ger/Ger                 Elizabeth, dau, w, f, Sep 1878, 21, mar, 3 yr, 1/1, Indiana, G...

Henrietta Charlotte Sievert was the sister of my second great-grandfather, Vincent Sievert. [1] He and three other siblings all immigrated to the United States in the 1850’s.  Henrietta and her husband, Joseph Feitag arrived in New York aboard the Bark Elida on 22 May 1854 and along with her sister, Eva and her husband, Christoph Winke, and her brother, Johan Siewert and his wife, Anna. [2] 1854 Ship List of the Bark Elida  for the Siewert & Freitag families In the United States, the Feitag named morphed into Fiday. There were many records with at least three versions of the spelling: Feitag, Freitag, and Fiday, along with a variety of spellings of these names. The passenger list from Hamburg had their name spelled Freytag which is pronounced the same as Freitag. Freitag in German means “Friday.” 1854_Hamburg List for J. Freytag (see last line above) Joseph Fiday died 16 Apr 1895 and was buried at Saint Johns Cemetery in Joliet. [3] Henrietta die...

Josephine Sievert was the ninth child of Vincent Sievert and Susanna Raduntz. She was born 16 Oct 1871 in Joliet, Will County, Illinois. [1] By the time she was a teenager, she was working as a seamstress. [2] She lived where her family at 1148 N. Hickory until her marriage to Harry J. McNeill on 26 Feb 1900. [3] Here is an image of the marriage license and certificate. 1900 Marriage Record for Harry J McNeill & Josephine Seavert in Joliet, Will Co., Illinois They were married early in the year and I expected to find the couple living together in the 1900 census in Joliet. However, I could only find one couple who matched most of their statistics in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. [4] 1900 U.S. Census, Cuyahoga Co, Ohio for Harvey J. McNeill right side of the same census record of Harvey J. McNeill Analysis So let’s analyze this entry to decide whether this couple is the same couple who married in Joliet. The 1900 census was conducted on June 1. T...