Today in Family History

On today’s date (August 30th) in family history, the following happened:

In 1811, my 6th great grandfather Giuseppe Marzola died in Farindola at 8 am at age 77. He was born in Farindola and lived at Rione della Croceria and was a contadino. His parents were Domenicantonio Marzola and Anna Maria Colella. He was the widow of Rosina Pompili. Domenico and Rosina are in my tree twice. They are the ancestors of both my paternal grandmother, through their daughter Giovanna Marzola, who was married to the Cancelliere di Farindola, Nicola Carusi, making them the ancestors of Luigia Massei; and, my paternal grandfather, through their son Domenico Marzola who married midwife Maria Donata Di Costanzo from Penne, making them ancestors of Serafina Merlenghi. This is why we research the female lines. The fact they were in my tree twice made my paternal grandparents 5th cousins to each other.

1811 death record

Also on today’s date in Farindola, a pair of several times over great grand aunts Apollonia Cirone and Anna Eleuteria Iannascoli passed away in 1817.

On my maternal side, the following happened:

In 1816, the parents of my immigrant 3rd great grandmother Marie Louise Koppel Eckebrecht, Johann Christoph Koppel and Anna Maria Dorothea Grabe were married in Koerner, Thuringia, Germany. Johann Christoph is noted as owner of the Riethmuhle (mill) on his children’s baptisms in Koerner through at least 1820. Koerner is on the River Unstrut. There is a Riethmuhle in Koerner as of 1900, at the west end of the village on the Heuberg Hill, on Notter Creek. At the time of Marie Louise’s death in the United States, her property included a mill in Germany that may have been this mill.

Marie Louise Koppel

In 1820, a cousin several times removed, Bernardo Criscuolo, was born in Nola, outside Naples. He was a blood relation of Filomena Napolitano.

In 1854, my second great grandmother Katharina Schuttler was born in Chicago to immigrants John Schuttler and Louise Gerbing. She was my first ancestor born on this continent.

Katharina Schuttler is seated in the middle of the 3 women

In 1866, my second great grand aunt Anna Maria Heinzen was born in Brig, Valais, Switzerland to Joseph Anton Heinzen and Italian-Swiss Regina Gentinetta.

In 1896, cousin several times removed, Charles Gerbing, won the German Wheelmen’s Race (Cycling) in Chicago but ended up being disqualified.

Finally, it was reported in two newspapers on today’s date in 1912, that my great grandfather, Carmen Ferraro, used a stage name of Mr. Armanno Vittorio, and told the reporter he was from the Colon Theater in Buenos Aires, when he gave an operatic performance as a dramatic tenor.

Are we related? Do you have an addition or correction? Please email me-cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net

Today in Family History ~ Johann (John) Schuttler’s Birthday

193 years ago today, Johann (John) Schuttler was born in Wachenheim, Germany. He was my first immigrant ancestor and my third great grandfather. I have written a lot about this ancestor and the struggle to identify his parents.

The one huge clue about him was that his uncle was the Chicago Wagon King, Peter Schuttler, who made his fortune supplying wagons to the Union Army. According to the 1850 census, one year after John’s immigration, he was living with Peter Schuttler. John was the foreman at Peter’s and his son’s wagon company for decades, and my second great grandmother lived with Peter Schuttler’s family for a little while when her mother Louisa Gerbing Schuttler passed away from cholera and her father John remarried the lady he had been seeing while married to my second great grandmother.

A Charles Schuttler also worked with John, who, during the Civil War, became a Corporal in the 24th Illinois Infantry. That Charles was the godfather to John’s oldest son, according to his baptismal record, so I was again sure there was a familial connection.

Is it possible to prove who his parents really were with DNA that many generations removed? Perhaps. I have a number of matches to the Rupps of Monsheim and Harxheim near Wachenheim, and I hypothesize they are relations of Konrad Schuttler’s second wife Susanna Rupp who was also from Harxheim. I hypothesize Susanna was John’s mother and her marriage to Konrad Schuttler in December 1829, legitimized John, making the location of his baptism another mystery. Konrad is the oldest sibling of Peter Schuttler and the father of Charles Schuttler, Friedrich Schuttler. That all makes Peter his uncle and Charles his first cousin. With the help of two residents of Wachenheim, I was given the well-documented ancestry of Peter Schuttler and his siblings from that area of Germany.

When more records are digitized, the theory of his parents may be proven or disproven. Until then it is a theory and my online tree states such.

31 Day Genealogy Challenge – Day 15: Share a Baby or Child Photo

Today I share a photo of my great grandmother Caroline Eckebrecht Leies. She appears to be around age 10, dating it to abouty 1886. I think her hair was dark, like her father’s – Fritz Eckebrecht. Her mother Katherina Schuttler was said to have had red hair.

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31 Day Genealogy Challenge – Day 8: Share a Burial or Cemetery Record

Today I share plot and burial information from the John Schuttler owned plot in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago. John bought the plot in 1864 to bury his first wife, and my ancestor, Louisa Gerbing Schuttler, and his infant daughter Loretta. John was my first American ancestor, who emigrated in 1849 from Germany.

Do we share ancestry? Do you have any comments? Do you want to swap photos? I would love to hear from you! Feel free to email me – cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net.

Women’s History Month 2020 ~ COVID-19 Edition ~ The 1864 Cholera Epidemic of Chicago

Greetings!  Because of the current world-wide pandemic, and an obvious increase in free time, I’ve been looking back at my tree to find those that were affected by past life-threatening outbreaks.  There are many, of all ages, who can be mentioned.

When Chicago was still growing in the 1860s, my immigrant third great grandmother Louisa (Elisabetha Anna) Gerbing Schuttler lost her life during the cholera epidemic after losing her young daughter.  Last March I did a brief write-up on her life and those of her descendants, mentioning the epidemic –

In September 1864, Loretta and Louisa contracted cholera during an outbreak in Chicago. My third great grandmother lost Loretta on September 9th. Two days later, Louisa also passed. She was only 28 years old. My second great grandmother was only 10.

The rest of my write-up can be found here:  Women’s History Month/Immigrant #49 ~ Third Great Grandmother Louisa Anna Elisabetha Gerbing Schuttler ~ Mother of my first American–born ancestor.

Next: I will start summarizing the lives of those that lost their lives during an outbreak and famine in Italy in more than one region.

Please stay home and stay safe.  Prayers for you and for those in our medical community…  

 

12 Months of My Family Tree in Print – January

This year I am trying a different series – my family tree in print.  Starting out with January news, I collected the following sampling of clips that mention events in the lives of my relatives and ancestors.

On January 8, 1974, there was a mention in The Chester County Times, that my great uncle Alberino Marcella was appointed building inspector for Lower Chichester Township.  Alberino was born in Farindola, Italy in 1930 and was a United States Army Veteran.

On January 6, 1888, The Chicago Inter-Ocean court docket pages listed my second great grandfather Frederick (Fritz) Eckebrecht as a defendant on the Criminal Court docket 833 before Judge Horton.  I tried to get the criminal file related to this matter and was informed it was destroyed.  So I researched his co-defendants W.A. Westfall and William Hummel.  W.A. Westfall was a saloonkeeper who was a party in a case where he was accused of violating the Dram Shop Act.  Based on 1888 being around the time period I know that Fritz and my second great grandmother Katharina Schuttler were separated due to what family lore says was his physical assault on her, I suspect Fritz either owned part of a saloon that violated the Dram Shop Act, or that he was the drunk patron that was served by saloonkeeper W.A. Westfall.  It could be something easily explained as a bar fight in which Fritz was involved.  I couldn’t find anything on William Hummel.  Good for my Granny for leaving him!

Finally, on January 22, 1906, former Peter Schuttler Wagon Company foreman Johann Schuttler’s death notice appeared in Chicago’s largest German language newspaper –  Abenpost.  It is below.  Next to it is the English language death notice as it appeared in
The Chicago Tribune on January 23 and January 24, 1906.  Unfortunately, no parents were listed, and he continues to be the biggest brick wall in my tree.  (Click on the images to make them larger.)

Do you have edits, additions, comments, or corrections, please feel free to email me – cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net.

Next up – My family tree in print during the month of February.