52 Ancestors Challenge -- What do I know about Josef Niehues (Niehaus) -- Westphalia, Germany -- 1804 - ????

Thanks to  Amy Johnson Crow  for leading many of us genealogy bloggers into this 52 Ancestors Challenge.  There’s a weekly update on her blog, No Story Too Small, linking to these ancestor stories alphabetically by surname.  I'm uncovering more details of our ancestors’ lives as I write this series, as well as enjoying other writers’ interesting family stories.   
     In this week’s 52 Ancestors Challenge I’m reaching back as far as I can for now in our Niehaus family. The name originally in German was Niehues and the family origins are in the village of Riesenbeck, Westphalia (geographical location: Steinfurt, Munster, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Europe; geographical coordinates: 52° 16' 0" North, 7° 38' 0" East).
     Currently, my most distant ancestor in this family is my paternal second great grandfather, Josef Niehues.  His estimated birthdate is 1804, based on his marriage record. The relationship chart posted here outlines my daughter’s direct line ancestry to Josef.  So, here you go cousins, insert yourself, your parents and grandparents. There are so many of us who can follow this line back!
     But what’s the story anyway? What do we know about Josef Niehues at this point? That marriage record I mentioned is an important piece.  Josef married Maria Anna Beerman on October 10, 1843 in St. Kalixtus Catholic Church in Riesenbeck at the age of 39. The record shows that he was a “kotter”, small farmer, and that he lived in Lage, a village south of Riesenbeck.  The culture and economy of those times lets us speculate that Josef didn’t marry until he was 39 because he hadn’t been able to establish himself financially.  Because of the limited land and lack of opportunities, it was common in the early 19th century that a man would take years to build his economic status before he would marry so that he could support a family .  He could also have waited until he inherited some land at his father’s retirement or death.  Being a kotter, Josef would have owned only a small amount of farm land.  He could also have worked for another more wealthy person with more land in order to make ends meet, or had some other trade. 
    The photos I’ve posted here are of the church in Riesenbeck where Josef’s family attended Mass, baptized children and married.   St. Kalixtus Catholic Church stands today.   The records of St. Kalixtus are rich with Niehues and Beerman family.  Those records were microfilmed and are available from the Family History Library.  The mining of those records is ongoing and I expect more family history details to keep surfacing. These photos are from Wikipedia and from the Panoramio page of Dirk Schoppmeier.    Mr. Schoppmeier has also posted several photos of Riesenbeck and the surrounding area that are super. 
        In my research online at the Understanding Your Ancestors website, I found a helpful article on marriage customs and laws in the first half of the nineteenth century, when Josef would have been a young man.  The article is republished from The Palatine Immigrant - Parish Records: Using German Parish Marriage Records, by Leslie Albrecht Huber.  Here are two excerpts that give background on what may have been the circumstances for Josef in the early 1800s:
     “Around the beginning of the nineteenth century, state governments got involved with the marriage decision. Concerned by the rapid population growth, many states passed laws creating restrictions and making marriage more difficult. The hope was that these laws would decrease marriage and thus slow the population growth. By the 1860s, many rulers recognized that the legal restrictions were ineffective. The laws had brought increases in illegitimacy but did little to slow birth rates. Most of the barriers were removed.” Source:  James J. Sheehan, German History, 1770-1866 (Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1994), p. 785)
     “The reasons for these late ages at first marriage were usually financial. Young people had to find some way to establish themselves independently – a process that took time. Children of landowning peasants sometimes waited until their parents retired and they received their inheritance. Yet, children of landowning farmers, particularly women, generally married earlier than the children of landless laborers. This second group spent these extra years working on other farms, carefully saving their resources in preparation of beginning their own households.”  Source: Regina Schulte, “Peasants and Farmers’ Maids: Female Farm Servants at the End of the Nineteenth Century,” in The German Peasantry: Conflict and Community in Rural Society from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century, Richard J. Evans and W.R Lee, editors (St. Martin’s Press: New York, 1986), 167.
     Eventually Josef was able to come to the point he could provide for his family, one way or another.  Josef and Maria had three sons, Heinrich Josef, Heinrich August and Bernhard Josef, born 1848, 1850 and 1860, respectively.  The family came to maturity by the 1880s.  It was time for these young men to also establish themselves as Josef had done.  It’s not clear yet when Josef and Maria died. However, if they were living, the decisions made by two of their sons around 1880 and 1885 must have been tremendously hard on them. The oldest and the youngest sons emigrated to America between 1880 and 1886. Joseph Niehaus (Heinrich Josef Niehues) followed his brother Bernhard to Indianapolis….and so the story continues to this day. 
     But let’s not stray away from Josef Niehues’s story in Germany.   The village of Lage where Josef lived and farmed at the time of his marriage in 1843 is a part of the town of Riesenbeck. Today these two villages where the Niehaus life took place are both unified into the city of Horstel.  Hörstel is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.  In modern days, Riesenbeck is known for hosting international equestrian events.   The Dortmund-Ems Canal runs through Riesenbeck, transporting the products of the area to the sea.  When looking at a current map of the Riesenbeck area there are still many farms dotting the landscape.   Josef’s small farm had to be a part of this land. (Here’s a link to the Google map showing Riesenbeck.)
     Researchers in our family have visited descendants of Josef’s son Heinrich August who remained in Riesenbeck.  I wrote in another post about the family history by Charles Niehaus in 1955.  Other cousins who have visited those descendants in more recent years have also shared generously of their experiences.  All of us who learned something of the Niehaus history from our parents, aunts, uncles and cousins are carrying it forward.  My Josef Niehues story has puzzles to solve yet.  But I’m seeing the tremendous potential.  I’ll keep piecing together his life until we know him better.
     I’m happy to hear of any details you may have to add to this family history.  Thanks so much for visiting Indiana Ties!

Here are links to other related stories you may want to browse:
Niehaus Family Descendant Reports
Joseph Niehaus Family in 1900 Census
Niehaus Cousins Celebrating a Reunion

Citing the St. Kalixtus Catholic Church marriage record: "Deutschland, Heiraten 1558-1929," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NDC8-7XX : accessed 30 Apr 2014), Joseph Niehues and Maria Anna Beermann, 10 Oct 1843; citing ; FHL microfilm 841522.

Copyright © 2014 Nancy Niehaus Hurley

52 Ancestors Challenge -- Amelia Micol Weber’s Civil War Pension Quest

This is another post in the 52 Ancestors Challenge offered by Amy Johnson Crow at the No Story Too Small blog.  I'm having a great time bringing our ancestors’ details into this series and reading the interesting family history of the other bloggers.   
Amelia Weber, a 40-year-old mother of four living children, became the widow of a Civil War veteran in 1873. Yes, her husband survived the war but was struck down by a train eight years later on his way home from work in Indianapolis.  The intriguing details of his death is a story, or two, for a future post.  For today, I’m relating the family history created as this widow went through the pension application process.  
In July of 1890 Amelia (Micol) Weber applied for a Civil War widow's pension based on her husband, Adam's, service in 1865. Prior to 1890 the laws did not afford her benefits since Adam had no disability resulting from the war. But as the pension laws went through a series of amendments, she became eligible. The law that affected Amelia was the Dependent and Disability Pension Act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on June 27, 1890.   There had been a tremendous growth in the sentiment supporting veterans benefits since the end of the Civil War.  Other changes had been enacted previously; but this particular version signed by President Harrison allowed benefits to widows such as Amelia who were in dire need of support.  This new pension law resulted in an enormous spike in federal expenditures.  By 1894, 37% of the federal budget was allotted to pensions.
That brings us to Amelia’s quest.  Along with her application, she was required to submit affidavits and documentation proving that she was married to Adam Weber as well as proof of his military service.   She had to also provide witnesses who would say that she did not remarry and that she was in need of support.  In her pension application in 1890 she seems to have met all of those requirements. 
But, poor Amelia was not successful with her first application because there was an error in reporting Adam's company within the 143rd Indiana Volunteers. (You can see on the record to the left that the application was filed under Co. A, 143rd Ind. Vols.)  After she received word that no records could be found, she submitted other affidavits with the correct company, including more testimony from witnesses to his service.  Adam’s service records were located in Company E, 143^rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry.  Amelia was approved for her widow’s pension on October 10, 1892.
Fortunately, over 130 years after Adam Weber’s service, I was able to request a copy of the service records and Amelia’s pension application from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).  When the files arrived, I discovered a tremendous amount of family history.  Little did Amelia know that her determination in pursuing her pension would help her curious great great granddaughter learn so much about our family history.  I’m guessing she would be happy we know her now.  So, in her memory, I’m offering to share any of these documents with other descendants.  Here are a few examples of the interesting information I found:
Adam’s military service records:  These records provide information on his enlistment at the age of 44, his promotion to Sergeant shortly after he was sworn in, his assigned duties, etc.  There are many stories to develop on Adam’s military experience, but today is Amelia’s pension story.  However, I am posting one page of the service record to illustrate the documents that were included in the NARA file.  (You should be able to click to enlarge.)

Let’s keep exploring this historical find through a few of the documents that relate directly to Amelia’s application for the pension.  Below is the affidavit presenting Amelia’s request.  I am including the transcription first and then the actual document:  
General Affidavit,
Stamped by the U. S. Pension Office, Oct 28, 1890
State of Indiana, County of Marion
Personally appeared Amelia Weber, No. 126 Greer St., Indianapolis, County of Marion, State of Indiana, who being duly sworn upon her oath declares as follows:
That she is the widow of Adam Weber, late a member of Co. A, 143^rd Regt., Indiana Vols.  And is claimant for a widow's pension(Act June 27, 1890)
That the evidence presented herewith as to her marriage to the soldier is the way best she can obtain or produce as she was married in Germany and cannot obtain a copy of the marriage certificate. Nor can she find any witnesses to the marriage.
She files the evidence of ? persons as to the time and place and manner of death of her late husband and asks that the same may be sufficient and as the best she can get, as her late husband was killed by the cars and there was no physician called.
She prays the evidence filed may be enough.
Signed: Amalie Weber
13 Oct 1890
Fitzgerald & Vagen, U. S. Claim Attorneys, Indianapolis, Indiana

 
Amelia secured affidavits from friends as a part of both the 1890 and 1892 applications.  In this testimony the witnesses relate that they have known her for varying amounts of time, from 18 to 33 years, and that she has never at any time remarried.  In the first application in 1890, three of her friends state that “Mrs. Weber is dependent upon her own labor for support, has no property and no income, save her own labor.”  Below is an affidavit from 1892, by Henry Guetig, who states he has known Amelia Weber for some 30 years.  In this document he says: “I know Mrs. Weber to be poor, has no property and has no income from any source outside of her own labor.”  Identical to the wording in the other affidavits, Henry states that he knows Amelia’s situation  through “long and intimate acquaintance and association.”  Thankfully, she had good friends to help her out.

 
 
This brings me to one of the big bonuses that I found in the pension package.  As a part of her application, Amelia produced a transcription of her marriage record to Adam on May 12, 1856, from the Catholic Church in Vilbel, Germany.  The record was provided by the pastor of the church in indecipherable-to-me German script.   What is even more fabulous is that this document was also translated for this file!  This is another rich piece of history. In addition to the date and location it contains the names of the parents of the bride and groom and witnesses.  Below is that record provided on March 23, 1892:  

 
Amelia received approval and was issued her Pension Certificate #358088 on December 28, 1892.  The record indicates that she was allotted $8.00 per month commencing July 9, 1890.  So, she must have received retroactive payments for those two years while she was going through the application process.  She was an enrollee for 21 years. Around 1896, probably after the death of her son, Theodore,  Amelia went to live with her only surviving child, Henry Adam Weber, and his large family.  I want to believe that life became a little easier with this pension and that she had good years living in the Weber home on South Alabama in Indianapolis.  When she died in 1913 her son wrote a letter to the Commissioner of Pensions in Washington, D.C., informing them of her death and asking that there be any final payments sent.  On the right is the last document in this segment of the family history.  We can see a recounting of this piece of history on this one page, ending with the stamp: “Dropped, Oct 6, 1913”:
Believe it or not, this story could be much longer. There’s no doubt many more details I’ll be dissecting from these pages of Amelia and Adam’s records.   Have any questions on your mind after reading about Amelia’s quest?  Let me know and I’ll be glad to try to dig up the answers. Meanwhile, thanks for reading Indiana Ties.
 
 
You may also want to read this post:  Adam and Amelia in 1870 Censuses
More information on the history of pension laws is at Wikipedia.
Essential Civil War Curriculum  by Kathleen L. Gorman, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Note: The first hint of any Civil War service by Adam Weber came when browsing late one night on Ancestry.com.  I found an index card in: U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. 
 
Copyright 2014 © Nancy Niehaus Hurley

Family Recipe Friday - Millie’s Ham Loaf

Happy Easter everyone!  Since ham is one of the traditional foods for this holiday, I thought I would share Millie’s Ham Loaf recipe for Family Recipe Friday.   I enjoyed this lady’s company, her sense of humor, her caring ways and her strong nature.  She made this tasty recipe often.  And I’m positive she would say: Of course, pass it along!

52 Ancestors Challenge -- John Leppert, From Bavaria to Dearborn County, Indiana, in 1836

The 52 Ancestors Challenge is a blogging series initiated by Amy Johnson Crow at the No Story Too Small blog. I'm having a great time bringing our ancestors to this party and reading other bloggers' stories.  

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My next choice of ancestor story is John Leppert’s emigration from Bavaria to Indiana. John is my maternal third great grandfather, a farmer, and the father of Julianna Leppert Risch.  Hopefully, more details of his life before 1836 will come into focus at some time.  But right now I’m ready to look a little further into his journey across the Atlantic. 
On approximately August 18, 1836, an American passenger shipped named Potomac departed the port at Le Havre, France, with 110 passengers.  We can only imagine the feelings of excitement, yet fear; of hope, yet sorrow; of confidence, yet doubt that were prevalent among this group of emigrants.  Regardless of their feelings, they all had to trust Captain John Baxter and his crew to deliver them safely to America.  Their trip would take approximately eight weeks.  The type of ship they traveled on was a bark (barque). Wikipedia’s definition is: A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the foremasts rigged square and only the aftermast rigged fore-and-aft. (You can read more about the vessel at this link.)
John Leppert, his wife, Susanna, and six children from the ages of 2 to 18, boarded the Potomac in the port Le Havre in August 1836. John was 60 years old at the time he decided to uproot his family, to take a chance on this new place called America.  These circumstances can surely bring up many questions.  Of course, there’s no way to know for sure the motivations that brought the Lepperts to the decision, but gathering the facts that are available help us to speculate. 
     In the 1830s many Germans were feeling the pressures of a dense population. Farmers and small business people were seeing their living conditions deteriorate year by year.  The poor economic and social conditions didn’t look promising for the children of peasants.  Crop failures began to also take their toll on the farmers such as John Leppert.   In my research at the Family Search wiki the following information might also illuminate some of what pushed John Leppert to leave Bavaria.  “The reason for emigration was hunger.  In Bavaria Anerbenrecht (inheritance law) was prevalent. This meant that farms were divided among heirs, leaving each with small parcels of land which could not support a family.” (3)
      The stories of America as the land of opportunity abounded. Letters and books written by those already across the pond encouraged their family and friends to join them.  Shipping companies were busy marketing the journey. Agents worked for shipping lines to fill steerage compartments so the trip was profitable for the company. A factor that no doubt played a part in John Leppert being able to afford passage for his family in 1836 is that the increase in shipping between Europe and America resulted in considerable decreases in the cost of transport for people.  From 350-400 francs in 1818 to 120-150 francs in the early 1830s.
     John’s family would have had accommodations in what was called steerage, below the ship’s waterline. These were not at all comfortable quarters.  Some of the letters from immigrants informed those coming over about what foods they might want to bring for the trip.  By the mid-nineteenth century, the U. S. government  required minimum rations of food and water from the ships’ provisions; but earlier travelers risked disease, storm, and a high mortality rate. (1)  The last page of the Potomac’s passenger manifest includes the regulations enacted in 1819, signed by James Monroe. (See document below.)  "An Act to Regulate Passenger Ships and Vessels of 1819" was the first federal legislation to regulate how immigrants came into the United States.  This act did not restrict anyone from coming in.  Rather, it attempted to improve the conditions on board the ships on which incoming passengers came.  By requiring the master of the ship to prepare a list of the incoming passengers, the government could get an idea of how much space existed on board for each passenger.  The lists were to be prepared upon arrival in the United States and given to the customs official of that port.  The lists came to be known as Customs Passenger Lists. (2) 
    In my search for more understanding of John Leppert’s move to America, I came across another researcher, Kathy Gosz, who has put together stories on her blog that do a fabulous job of providing background on immigration (plus lots of other interesting topics).  Here’s a link to one of her articles about Le Havre.   Kathy describes the circumstances that the Lepperts endured this way: “Immigrants were housed in steerage, just like the inanimate cargo they were replacing.  It was usually miserable and overcrowded.“
        After what may have been a treacherous trip across the Atlantic, John Leppert and his family disembarked on 18 October 1836 in Baltimore, Maryland.  Having found the passenger list at ancestry.com (3), I can talk about those who were on the Potomac for that voyage:   
     First, I am including below a section of page 1 with:
     -- Captain’s name, John Baxter, and carrying 222 tons, bound from Havre for Baltimore. 
     -- Categories of information: Name, Age, Sex, Occupation, Country, Country they intend to inhabit, Remarks. 
     -- Note that under Occupation is Farmer, under Country is Bavaria, under Country they will inhabit is United States.

     All 110 passengers on this list are marked with ditto marks under “Farmer” except for one “Tailor” and two females at the end that appear to be “Spinsters.”  Of course, we have to presume that there are children from maybe ages 1 to 12 who aren’t really farmers!  But these similarities in occupation could be a hint in this overall story, eventually.  Ditto marks also appear under Bavaria throughout the list, except for the two spinsters who are from Aschaffenburg.  These 108 passengers from Bavaria may also be clues as I continue my research. 

     My second image is the excerpt from the page of passengers containing the Lepperts.  The family name is spelled Lebert here:  Johann Lebert, age 60, male, farmer, Bavaria, United States; Susanna Lebert, age 26, female; Catharina Lebert, age 18, female; Johann Lebert, age 16, male; Anna M. Lebert, age 12, female; Julianna Lebert (my great great grandmother), age 9, female;  Franz Lebert, age 2, male; Marianna Lebert, age 18, female.   A few of their fellow passengers on other pages are named: Clement, Lang, Klug, Rufford, Herman, Schmidt, Kuhn and the tailor who was Johann Weber.

     And lastly, here’s the final page of the accounting for the Bark Potomac landing in Baltimore on 18th day of October 1836.  Captain John Baxter swears that this report delivered to to the Collector of the District of Baltimore contains the names, age, sex, and occupation of all the passengers, together with the name of the country to which they severally belong, and that of which they intend to become inhabitants.  Here we see there’s also two more passengers that seem to be added subsequent to the list from Bavaria.  These two men are from Stuttgart and Aschaffenburg.  Below that, the Health Officer also declares that there are 110 passengers, 17 of which are under the age of 5. 
     As a part of this final page there is the printed ‘Act regulating passenger ships and vessels’ that I referred to earlier.   There are details in this small print pertaining to the number of passengers allowed per ton.  It states that if a ship exceeds these regulations it shall be “deemed and forfeited to the United States.”  Then, in Sec. 3 there are provisions for a payment of $3.00 for each day a passenger is shorted the allowances of provisions required.   Some interesting regulations here. Makes you wonder whether anyone actually enforced them. 


     This journey with great grandfather John Leppert across the Atlantic ends when he establishes his family home in Dearborn County, Indiana. The 1840 Census for Jackson Township, Dearborn County, Indiana, (4) lists John Leppert with what we assume to be his wife, Susanna, four of his daughters and one son.  (The only names listed are for head of household.) Although two children are missing from this family accounting, the family is confirmed to be our Lepperts.  Thanks to Mary Cathryn Zimmer who wrote The Leppert Family, 1836-1899, Dearborn County, Indiana, (5) I have additional roads to follow for future Leppert stories.  Her research helped me a great deal in understanding their Bavarian roots and the Indiana connections.  In discussing their coming to America, Ms. Zimmer says: “How this Leppert family of eight managed to pay for passage to the U. S. is a matter of some wonderment.  They appear to have been people of extremely modest means, since they bought no farm land on arrival in Indiana.  The probability is that they lived on and farmed the land of someone else, someone with more land than he could farm himself.”    
     Where did John take his family between that day in Baltimore in 1836 and the 1840 census?  How did they come to be in Indiana?  Those questions may never be answered completely.  But, surely, there are more places to look and more to know about John Leppert.  
     For seven generations of John Leppert's Descendants, Click Here

Research goals -- Where am I going from here in researching the Leppert family:
    -- Study the list of passengers for people that may have settled in Dearborn County, Indiana, with John Leppert.  Maybe there are leads to the town in Bavaria where the Lepperts originated.
    -- Investigate the Leppert (Lebert) surname and Bavarian connections. 
   
Thanks for visiting Indiana Ties.
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Sources:
1.  Ancestry.com wiki: Immigration Research Approaches.  This article originally appeared in "Immigration Records" by Loretto Dennis Szucs, FUGA, Kory L. Meyerink, MLS, AG. FUGA, and Marian L. Smith in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy
2. Legal History of Immigration:  http://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Legal_History_of_Immigration
3.  Ancestry.com Source Information: Baltimore, Maryland. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Baltimore, 1820-1891. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. Micropublication M255, rolls # 1
4. Ancestry.com, digital images: 1840 U. S. Census, Dearborn Co., Indiana, Jackson Township, p. 77, penned pg. 249, John Leopard.
5. The Leppert Family, 1836-1899, Dearborn County, Indiana, copyright 1995, Columbia, MD.  This book is in my personal collection, purchased from Mary Cathryn Zimmer.
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Copyright 2014 © Nancy Niehaus Hurley

Wordless Wednesday (Almost) - Ed and Gin Niehaus’s Cabin at Prince’s Lake, IN

Continuing my "Almost" Wordless Wednesday photo posts with another great memories place:
This cabin at Prince’s Lake in southern Indiana was the site of many good times for Ed and Gin Niehaus’s family.  Uncle Ed, his son Bill, and Ed’s brother Larry built the cabin in the early 1950s.  This photo is of those early days.  Sisters, brothers, cousins, grandchildren and friends all have fond memories of floating on inner tubes on the lake, fishing from the shore - enjoying the company and surroundings.  It wouldn’t be right to make this post without including a second photo of my Uncle Ed relaxing on the deck that he added to the cabin.
Ed and Gin’s daughter, my cousin Marilyn, shared some thoughts with me of her memories of Prince’s Lake:
There were many memories built at this cabin over the years not only by our family, but also by our friends and extended family members. I remember the times that Uncle Robert and Aunt Emma and their girls and later their grandchildren would come and fish and spend weekends. Jerry and I spent our three day honeymoon there as well. Mom and her sister, Peg, spent many weekends down there together after Dad and Shad had passed away.

Thanks for the memories! What’s your Prince’s Lake story?

Copyright © Nancy Niehaus Hurley