Ratermann Family in and around Merzen

 It has been awhile since my last post but that doesn't mean I haven't been working on the key question of where Anna Maria Ratermann was born. Having identified St. Lambertus Catholic Church in Merzen, Osnabruck, Niedersachsen, Germany as the place of baptism for her children, further delving into the records (page by page) was necessary.

There are four Catholic Churches identified in Matricula-online for Merzen. St. Lambertus and St. Nikolaus both contain records for Ratermann in the appropriate time period. Utilizing the baptismal records and searching the likely time period of 1811 to 1825, 3, possibly 4 families were identified.

The birth date on her death record from St. Rose Catholic Church in Clinton County, Illinois indicates she was born in April, 1819 in Merzen, Hannover, Germany. To date, I have been unable to find any other records in the US for Anna Maria Ratermann. Reviewing two letters obtained by Sr. Olivia Woltering, ASC from Sr. Terentia Woltering, ASC (Emma Woltering), and Wilma Ratermann nee Woltering, both daughters of Herman Woltering, indicate their grandmother, Anna Maria Ratermann went by the name of Elizabeth. The 2005 printing of the family tree shows 14 Jan 1820 as her birthdate. This corresponds with the frequently attached record for Anna Maria Catharina Woltering in Altenberge, Westfalen, Prussia. Having reviewed the original, I searched the parish marriage records from 1837 to 1841 for a marriage record and failed to find one. I'm not sure what my next step will be but I wanted to share this information.

Next time I will provide the same breakdown in Wolterings in an attempt to identify Theodor.

I look forward to your comments or ideas. Please comment below and click follow to be notified when I post next.

Hermann Woltering - what can he add to the search?

Hermand Heinrich Woltering was born on 20 July 1847. He was baptized at St. Lambertus on 21 July 1847. The baptism record provides two significant pieces of information. His mother is listed as Maria Elisabeth Ratermann and his father as Theodor Heinrich Woltering. Henry, born in 1840, lists mother as Maria Ratermann and father as Dirk Woltering. As the second oldest of the children who immigrated to the United States, it is interesting that there is a seven year gap between them. This points to at least two children being conceived and/or born. Indeed, there are two birth records recorded, 1842 and 1844, but that story is for another day.

The second interesting tidbit is a notation in the margin that he emmigrated to the USA in September of 1872. This correlates with the 1900 and 1920 US Census information. 

There are two marriage records for Herman and Anna Niemeier, one from St. Rose Church and one in Clinton County. The Clinton County record shows he is from Furstenau. His parents are Theodore Woltering and Anna M Ratermann. The county record states Anna Niemeyer, while the church record states Anna Niemeier. Date of Marriage is 22 Feb 1881.

Herman was naturalized as a United States citizen on 11 Oct 1880 in Clinton County, Illinois. Witnesses were Hy Felderwert and B Vouder Haar. Germany is listed as his birthplace.

Herman died 24 Oct 1930 in St. Joseph Hospital in Highland. Funeral was held 28 Oct 1930 at St. Rose.

Herman and Anna had twelve children. 

Research on Herman Woltering has confirmed that Anna Maria was in Merzen, Germany and married to Theodor Woltering. We know Herman emmigrated in 1872 but do not know if Anna came with him or came later. In my next post, we will review the 9 known children of Anna Maria. Three additional children remain unknown despite an exhaustive search of the St. Lambertus baptism records from 1938 (2 years before the birth of Henry) to 1859, 2 years after the last identified baptism record. 

As always, leave me a comment or question below and be sure to follow this blog!

Henry Woltering

 This week I want to start looking at the children of Anna Maria Ratermann Woltering to see if they can provide any clues to her birthplace and date. There are six documented children who immigrated to the Clinton/Madison Counties area in Illinois. The eldest was Henry.

Henry Woltering had two marriages. His first wife was Catherine Vosholler. The marriage record is found in the St. Paul Church, Clinton County, Illinois records available at Family Search. It identifies his father as Dieterich Woltering and his mother as Anna Mariae Ratermann and says he is 31 years old. There is, also, a county record of this marriage but it adds no other information. Their marriage date was 18 Apr 1872.

Henry's second marriage was to Francisca Bole on 23 Apr 1883. This record is also available at Family Search and adds nothing to his information. There is also a county marriage record of this marriage and it adds the information that Henry Woltering is from Merzen.

Identifying his birthplace and using the birthdate on the family tree given to me, I was able to use Matricula Online to identify four churches with baptismal records in Merzen. In the St. Lambertus Catholic Church records, on 1 July 1840, the entry is found for Henry. This was an exciting discovery. This record identifies his birthplace as Sudan which I still need to locate on a map. His mother is Maria Ratermann and father is Dietrich Henrich Woltering.

Henry died 11 Nov 1812 according to the St. Rose Church Records and was buried 15 Nov 1812. He was 72 years old. No cause of death is given.

Well, we've placed Anna Maria in Merzen. Using the records of the four Catholic Churches, perhaps we will be able to find the remainder of her children.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Please leave comments below and subscribe to get notified when the blog is updated. Until later!

Anna Maria Ratermann Woltering

 I've been told many times that you should start with a research question. My research question is where and when was Anna Maria Ratermann baptised.

What do we think we know? 

• She was born in Germany.
• She immigrated with 6 children to the United States on or around 1871
• She was buried from St. Rose Catholic Church on 4 April 1891
• Her death record from St. Rose Catholic Church states
• Her husband was Theodore Woltering
• Her maiden name was Ratermann
• She was born in Merzen, Hannover, Germany April 1819
• She died 2 April 1899 (location not specified)
• There is a commonly attached baptism record from Saint Johannes Roemisch
• Baptism 15 January 1820
• Birth 14 January 1820
• Altenberge, Westfalen, Germany

Familysearch.com. Belleville Diocese Death Record 1729-1956.

Problem: Either the baptism record attached is wrong or the death certificate is wrong. No other records are attached to support either one. The two baptismal sites are 190 miles apart.

Records to explore

• Baptism, confirmation and matrimony records from Merzen available on Matricula Online for Anna Maria and Theodore and for children that immigrated and, possibly, children that died prior to immigration
• 1880 Census
• Marriage records of children that immigrated with Anna Maria
• Naturalization records
• Land records
• Wills and probate

Over the next several posts, I will explore available records for each child to see what additional information these might provide. I anticipate some problems with reading the German handwriting and Latin words so I will need to explore available options to handle this.

Can you think of other records that might shed some light on the reference question? Please leave your comments below. Also, subscribe to this blog so you don't miss any of the updates.

Thanks for reading

        Elaine

Welcome to Woltering from Merzen to Illinois Blog

 

Welcome to the Woltering from Merzen to Illinois Blog. In this blog, I will share my research on the Anna Marie Ratermann Woltering family that migrated from Merzen, Germany. Anna and six of her children, three sons (Henry, Herman, and Bernard) and three daughters (Bernadine, Christine, and Catherine) migrated on or around 1872. Family legend has it that she left six deceased children and her late husband buried in Germany when she migrated.

This picture is St. Rose from the 1913 Commercial History of Clinton County from the Clinton County IL Genweb page.

Much of my research has been derived from the St. Rose Church Registries available on Family Search and the Matricula Online records for Merzen. 

I hope you will subscribe to this blog and leave your comments. I would love to have old family pictures to add to my research. Feel free to contact me to share information.