Saturday, July 27, 2019

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 29

Last week I wrote about Filomena Reichel. I know nothing about her family, other than the fact that her parents were Frank and Francina (Fidler) Reichel, so I have no more to add to the Reichel family story.

Alymer, Canada

Instead this week I will talk about my husband’s other great-grandmother Catherine Duffy, who was born 24 April 1862 in Alymer, Quebec, Canada. Alymer was incorporated in 1847 and is located on the north shore of the Ottawa River.

Notre Dame Cathedral
The daughter of James and Katherine (Gorman) Duffy, Catherine was baptized on 25 April 1862 by a priest from the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ottawa. The cathedral was elevated to the status of a basilica by Pope Leo XIII in 1879.

When Catherine was about 6 years of age, her family moved to Ishpeming, Marquette County, Michigan, which is located in the Upper Peninsula. By the time she was 18, they had moved again, settling in Birch Coolie, Renville County, Minnesota. The 1885 Minnesota Territorial Census, taken on May 1st, indicates that 22-year-old Catherine was living with her family in Norfolk Township, Renville County, Minnesota. That same year she married Joseph C. Reger in Renville. Their life together was discussed in Week 24, which can be found here.

Catherine was 72 when she died in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota on 15 June 1934.

Catherine Duffy Reger


Saturday, July 20, 2019

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 28

Next I’ll be writing about my husband’s great-grandmother, Filomena Reichel. She was born 13 May 1873 in Austria. Her parents were Frank and Francina (Fidler) Reichel. I have no information regarding any siblings she might have had.

Mathias and Filomena
According to census records, Filomena emigrated to the United States in 1892 when she was 19 years of age, settling in Minnesota. She married Mathias John Pfeffer, and they had 9 children together. Their family was covered in Week 21, which can be found here.

Filomena died of coronary occlusion due to arteriosclerosis on 26 October 1947 in Renville County, Minnesota, where she is also buried. She was 74 years of age.

Filomena
Filomena's stone

Monday, July 15, 2019

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 27

Last in the line of known Riegers is my husband’s 4th great-grandfather Joseph Vincent. He was born in 1755 in Dewangen, Jagstkreis, Wuerttemberg, Germany. I do not have any knowledge of his parents or siblings.

On 20 October 1783 at the age of 28, Joseph married Catharina Appinn at the Catholic church in Dewangen. Catharina was 27 at the time. They had the following children, all boys: Joannes born 1784; Joseph born 1786; Franciscus born 1787; Joannes Balthasar born 1798; and Joannes born 1800.

Catharina died in 1811 at the age of 55. Joseph was 69 when he died in 1824. This is all the information I have on the Reger/Rieger family male line.

Saturday, July 6, 2019

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 26

Joseph Rieger, my husband’s 3rd great-grandfather, was born 9 February 1786 in Dewangen, Jagstkreis, Wuerttemberg, Germany. He was one of 5 sons born to Joseph Vincent and Catharina (Appinn) Rieger. He was baptized in the Catholic faith on 10 February 1786.

On 19 February 1817, when he was 31, Joseph married 17-year-old Ursula Strobel at the Catholic church in Huettlingen. This town was a distance of 7.5 km from Dewangen. They had the following children: Veronica born 1818; Maria Anna born 1820; Joseph born 1822; Anton born 1824; Caspar born 1828; Maria Theresia born 1829; Johannnes born 1832; and Victoria born 1837. All of the children were born in Germany.

As I mentioned in the last post, I have not been able to find the passenger list for this family, but I believe they came to the United States after 1850. I can’t find them in the 1850 federal census. I found one reference to a Joseph Rieger arriving in Philadelphia in 1852, but it is just an index so I can’t be certain it is the correct person.

Joseph died on 5 January 1858 in Cambria, Pennsylvania. He was 71 years old. Ursula lived to be 83, passing on 14 February 1883 in Carrolltown, Cambria, Pennsylvania.