Wolterman Genealogy - Week 31

My husband’s 3rd great-grandfather, William Duffy, was born in County Tipperary, Ireland about 1810. The only information I know about William is that he married Johanna Britton, also of Tipperary, and that they had at least one child: James born 1833. This information was obtained from the marriage record of James to Katherine Gorman in Canada.

Duffy Gorman Marriage

It is unclear if either William or Katherine emigrated to Canada with James. This is the end of the information I know of the Duffy family.

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 30

James C. Duffy is my husband’s 2nd great-grandfather. He was born about 1833 in County Tipperary, Ireland to William and Johanna (Britton) Duffy. He emigrated from Ireland to Quebec, Canada around 1850. On 14 April 1856, he married Katherine (sometimes spelled Catherine) A. Gorman in Aylmer, Quebec. Their first 2 children were born in Alymer: William in 1860 and Catherine in 1862.

James and Katherine

Sometime after 1862 and before 1868, the family moved to Ishpeming, Marquette County, Michigan. The following children were born in Ishpeming: Margaret born 1868; Mary Ann born 1870; James F. born 1872; and Rachael born 1873. The 1870 census from Ishpeming indicates that James was a laborer.

After 1873 but before 1878, James moved his family to Renville County, Minnesota where son John was born in 1878. On the 1880 census James was listed as a farmer. The 1900 census indicated that 71-year-old James was a landlord in Renville. Between 1900 and 1910, James and Katherine moved to Yakima, Washington to live with their daughter Mary and her family.

James died at the age of 79 on 31 August 1912 in Yakima County, Washington. Katherine lived to be 86. She died 15 February 1922. They are both buried in Calvary Cemetery, which has served the Yakima Catholic community since 1903. It is interesting to note that the headstone show the name as Duffey. The marriage record of James and Katherine lists the name as Duffy. The stone also has the age of James at death incorrect. Inconsistencies are common in genealogy!

Duffy stone

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

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

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.

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.

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 25

John Reger (spelled Rieger in Germany), father of Joseph Reger about whom I wrote last week, was born 1 July 1832 in Huettlingen, Jagstkreis, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. Johannes, as he was baptized, was the 7th of 8 children born to Joseph and Ursula (Strobel) Reger.

The 1910 census record indicates that John emigrated to the United States in 1853 when he was about 21 years old. I haven’t found immigration information on him, so I am not sure if he came over with his entire family or not. But his parents and surviving siblings did settle in the same area as him, which was Carroll Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania.

In 1858, John married Josephine Fehrenbacher in Carrolltown, Cambria County. He was 26 and she was 19. They had the following 13 children: Anna born and died 1859; Katrina born 1862; Joseph born 1863; Bertha born 1864; Ellen born 1865; Rinehart born 1868; Phimemina born 1869; Josephine born 1871; Mary born 1873; Johanna born 1874; Ann born 1876; Emma born 1878; and Charles born 1879. The first 4 children were born in Pennsylvania, and the remainder in Norfolk, Renville County, Minnesota.

John made his living as a farmer, and the on the 1900 census he indicated that he owned his farm. Josephine died at the age of 61 on 3 August 1901 in Park Rapids, Hubbard County, Minnesota.  She was buried at Straight River Township Cemetery.

Josephine Fehrenbacher Reger's stone

John Reger;s stone

John later moved to North Dakota, where the 1910 census showed him to be living with his daughter Anna and her family in Ellsbury, which is located in Barnes County. He died at the age of 90 on 3 November 1922. He is buried in the Page Cemetery which is located in Cass County, North Dakota.

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 24

Joseph C. Reger, my husband’s maternal great-grandfather, was born 12 August 1863 in Carroll Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. He was the 3rd of 13 children born to John and Josephine (Fehrenbacher) Reger.

Carroll township is located north of the center part of Cambria County, which is about 80 miles east of Pittsburgh. In 1880 the township had a population of 1,295. The main town in the township is Carrollton, and when the Reger family lived in the area it was surrounded by many prosperous farms. There were also saw mills, horse breeders, a couple of flour mills, a blacksmith who also manufactured buggies and wagons, and many livestock operations.

When Joseph was about 2 years old, his family moved to Norfolk Township, Renville County, Minnesota. By the 1880 census, 18-year-old Joseph was working on the farm of Michael Nell in Elk River Township, Sherburne County, Minnesota. This was about 120 miles from where his dad farmed, which makes one wonder why he left the area. As the oldest son, it would seem his father would need his help on the family farm.

While I have not located a marriage record for Joseph, the 1900 census indicates he married Catherine Duffy in 1885. The Duffy family also farmed in Renville County, but in neighboring Birch Cooley Township. Joseph and Catherine had the following children: Mary Francis born 1886; James Patrick born 1890; Alfred Clement born 1891; John Edward born 1893; Christina Agnes born 1895; Catherine Regina born 1897; Joseph Lawrence born 1898; Gertrude Helen born 1900; and William Francis born 1902.

By the 1930 census, Joseph, Catherine and Gertrude owned a home at 3005 Queen Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Joseph was employed as a watchman at a garbage plant. Looking at Google maps, it appears that their house as well as a couple of others, was torn down to make way for new houses. By 1940, only Joseph and Gertrude were living in a home owned by Joseph at 3009 Queen Avenue. He indicated that they had lived there in 1935 as well. This house has also been torn down.

Catherine died 15 June 1934 in Minneapolis. She was 72 years old. Joseph was 91 when he passed on 27 May 1955 in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 23

This week I am shifting over to Christina Agnes Reger, who was my husband’s maternal grandmother, and I’ll work my way back through the Reger side of the family. Christina was born 13 October 1895 in Birch Cooley, a township in Renville County, Minnesota. She was the 5th of 9 children born to Joseph C and Catherine (Duffy) Reger.

Alfred Reger's
stone

When Christina was 22, her brother Alfred died of pneumonia in Meuse-Argonne, France while serving in WWI. Christina lived with her parents and siblings until she was 25 years old. At that time she met and married Joseph John Pfeffer. Their life together was covered in a previous post, which can be found here.

She was 82 when Joseph died in 1977, and 89 when she passed on 9 November 1984 in Fairfax, Renville County, Minnesota.

Pfeffer family in Fairfax 1947, Christina in 1984, and Christina's stone

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 22

My husband’s 2nd great-grandfather was Martin P. Pfeffer, who was born about 1840 in Szentandras, Moson, Hungary. The names of his father and mother are unknown at this time, so therefore I do not know if he had any siblings.

Martin married Rosalia Madl in Hungary. They had the following children: Mathias born 1860 and died before 1865; a daughter (name unknown) born 1863; and Mathias John born 1865. I have found no death records on either Martin or Rosalia, but I did not find any indication that they emigrated to the United States.

That is all the information I have on the Pfeffer family male line.

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 21

Mathias John Pfeffer, my husband’s great-grandfather, was born 3 January of 1864 to Martin and Rosalia (Madl) Pfeffer. He was baptized in the Catholic church on 4 January 1865 in Szentandras, Moson, Hungary. This area was later called Mosonszentandras, and is now part of Austria.

According to information he provided on U.S. census records, Mathias emigrated to the United States in 1886, making his way immediately to Minnesota. He would have been 21 years old. At some point he met Filomena (sometimes spelled Philomena) Riechel and they got married. Though I have found no record, it would have been after 1892 when Filomena entered the U.S. and before 1895.

Mathias and Filomena on their wedding day

They had the following children: Annie born 1895; Rosella born 1898; Joseph born 1900; Philomena born 1902; Mary born 1904; Katherine born 1907; Frances born 1909; Martin born 1913; and Edward born 1916.

photo on left about 1898 and the one on the right about 1920

In the 1910 census for Wellington Township in Renville, the family was living on a farm which they rented. By 1920, they were renting a farm in nearby Cairo Township, a township with an area of 34.2 square miles.

Mathias Pfeffer stone

 Mathias died at the age of 64 on 3 November 1929. The cause of death was listed as toxemia resulting from chronic myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle. He was buried in Saint Andrew’s Catholic Cemetery in Fairfax, Minnesota.

*Note that his stone indicates a birth year of 1865. I chose to go with the birth year 1864 as that is the what the Catholic church in Hungary recorded as the birth year. If records have conflicting dates, it is customary to use the date on the record closest to the event in question, in this case, Mathias birth year.

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 20

For Week 20 I am switching over to my husband’s maternal grandparents. His grandfather was Joseph John Pfeffer, who was the first son born to Mathias John and Filomena (Reichel) Pfeffer on 19 March 1900 in Cairo Township, Renville County, Minnesota. The family lived on a farm in Renville County.

When he was 18, Joseph registered for the World War I draft. He indicated that his occupation was farming, and that he was employed by Mathias Pfeffer in Cairo. He stated that he was of medium height and build, with brown eyes and brown hair. There is no indication that Joseph served in the military.

Joseph and Christine's wedding day

On 19 September 1921, Joseph married Christina Agnes Reger in nearby Fairfax, Minnesota. He was 21 and she was an older woman of 25. The couple had the following children: John born 1922; Bernadine born 1923; Joseph born 1925; and Lorraine born 1930.

Joseph and Christinal Marriage Certificate

The 1930 census showed the family residing in Cairo, and Christina’s 37-year-old brother John was living with them as was Joseph’s 16-year-old brother Martin (this was likely because their father Mathias Pfeffer had died in 1929.) John worked on road construction and Martin as a farm laborer.

Joseph, Christina and their children

By the time the 1940 census was taken, Joseph, Christina and their children were living in the town of Fairfax. The census further indicated that they lived in the same house, which they owned, in 1935 as well. Joseph was employed as a government worker.

On 14 February 1942, Joseph registered for the WWII draft. He gave his weight as 165 pounds, height as 5’9”, listed his complexion as light, indicated he had brown hair and brown eyes, and worked for the WPA. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was an employment program created by President Roosevelt in 1935 during the depression. The program lasted for 8 years, and put around 8.5 million Americans to work.

Nearby projects of the WPA included the erection of Morton rainbow granite buildings and restoration of the original fort commissary at Fort Ridgely State Park in Ridgely Township, construction of several stone structures in Flandrau State Park in New Ulm, and installation of hiking trails, stairs, and seven new buildings at Minneopa State Park in Mankato.

Joseph died on 22 November 1977 in Fairfax at the age of 77, a mere 4 years after the death of his son Joseph. The cause of death for the senior Joseph was listed as massive gangrene of the small and large bowel due to thrombosis of the superior and inferior mesenteric arteries. He was buried in St. Andrew’s Catholic Cemetery in Fairfax.

Joseph Pfeffer's stone

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 19

Nordlohne, Germany

This week’s post is about my husband’s 3rd great-grandfather, Albert Herman Lutchel. Albert was born in 1813 in Nordlohne, which is a village in the Lower Saxony county of Bentheim. Germany. His parents are unknown at this time. Sometime before 1848, Albert made his way to America.

On 20 February 1848, he married Anna Adelheid Dauenberg in Cincinnati, Ohio. On 5 September 1850, Albert purchased land in District 7 of Dubuque County, Iowa where he established his farm. He and Anna had the following children: Herman Bernard born 1850; Anna Maria Elisabetha born 1852; Anna Catharina born 1853; Maria Sophia born 1855; Anna Maria born 1857; and Elisabeth born 1859.

Albert died 15 March 1859 in New Vienna at the age of 46, when his youngest child Elisabeth was just 8 days old. Anna was left a widow with children ages 9, 7, 6, 4, 2, and a newborn. On 26 July 1859, Anna married Johan Wilhelm Pottebaum at St. Boniface Church in New Vienna, Dubuque County, Iowa. She and the children moved to Johan’s farm in nearby Liberty Township. They had a son, Henry, who was born in 1860 when Anna was 42 years old. Anna died on 26 February 1861.

By the 1870 census John had remarried and the census shows that his and Anna’s son Henry was living with him and his new wife, in addition to three children he had with the new wife. None of Albert and Anna’s 5 children (their daughter Anna Catharina died at the age of 10 in 1863) remained in the household of their stepfather. One can only imagine how terrible it must have been for them to lose both of their parents so young, and to then be separated from each other.

This post marks the end of the Lutchel family line in my research.

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 18

Herman Bernard Luchtel, my husband’s 2nd great-grandfather, was born 28 July 1850 in New Vienna, Dubuque, Iowa. He was the oldest child of Albert and Anna (Dauenberg) Luchtel. When he was born his father was a farmer in District No. 7 in the County of Dubuque. After his father died in 1859, his mother remarried and Herman and his siblings moved to his stepfather Johan Wilhelm Pottebaum’s farm in Liberty Township in the County of Dubuque.

By the time of the 1870 census, 19-year-old Herman was working as a laborer on the farm of Henry Steffen in New Wine Township in Dubuque County. On 16 July 1872, he married Sophia Grote in Petersburg, Delaware County. Herman was a farmer in Wheatland Township, Carroll County, and he and Sophia had the following children: Mary Anna born 1873; Anna born 1874; Henry born 1876; Clemens Anton born 1880; Frank Herman born 1882; and Clara Sophia born 1891.

By 1910 Herman was no longer farming, but owned a home in Wheatland Township. He died in Breda at the age of 73 on 15 August 1923. He is buried at St. Bernard Cemetery in Breda.

Luchtel stone

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 17

So far I have covered the Wolterman, Determan and Woerdehoff families in my husband’s tree. The next series of posts will focus on Theresa (Determan) Wolterman’s mother and her family.

Theresa’s mother was Mary Anna Luchtel. Mary was born 17 June 1873, the first child of Herman Bernard and Sophia (Grote) Luchtel. Though Mary was born in Dyersville, Dubuque County, Iowa, by the time the 1880 census was taken, the Luchtel family resided in Wheatland Township, Carroll County, Iowa. That’s a distance of nearly 223 miles!

Iowa map

It is interesting to think that if the Luchtel family had not made the move, Mary would have never met Johann August Determan, whom she married in Breda, Carroll County, Iowa on 27 January 1891 when she was just 17 years old. Their marriage and a listing of their children was covered in Week 8, which can be found here.

Mary and August’s story was also covered in Week 7, which can be found here. Seven years after the death of August on 18 March 1910 in Butte, Boyd County, Nebraska, Mary married Bernard Clemens Schulte (known as Clem) and moved with 4 of her children to the Schulte farm in Breda, Carroll County, Iowa. The 1920 census for Wheatland Township indicates that Clem and Mary were living on the farm with Clem’s children Sarah, Mary, and Edward, and Mary’s children Clement, Theresa, Martha and Joseph.

Clem died in Breda on 11 March 1930 at the age of 81, leaving Mary a widow at only 56 years of age. The 1930 census shows her renting a home that is not located on a farm. Her son Joseph is living with her. By the 1940 census, Mary was living alone in a home in Breda that she owned on Artz Street. This is a relatively short street that runs between N. 1st St. and N. 2nd St., within easy walking distance of St. Bernard’s Church. Further information on the census shows that Mary was living in the same house in 1935, and that the highest grade she had completed in school was 6th grade.

Mary was 82 when she died in Fairfax, Renville County, Minnesota on 25 November 1955. It is probable that she had relocated to the Fairfax area to be close to her daughter, Theresa (Determan) Wolterman, and her family. Mary was buried by her first husband, August Determan, at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Butte, Nebraska.

Mary's stone

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 16

My husband’s 5th great-grandfather was Mathias Woerdehoff, who was born in Hegensdorf, Westphalia, Germany in 1709. At this time I do not know anything about his parents or siblings. On 25 January 1735 he married Anna Maria Rinschen in Hegensdorf.

Mathias and Anna Maria had the following children: Johannes Georg born 1735; Johannes Antonius born 1737; Johannes Theodorus born 1739; Adam Joseph born 1742; Anna Maria Catharina born 1744, died before 1750; Franziskus Henricus (whom I wrote about last week) born 1747; Anna Maria Catharina born 1750; and Maria Elizabeth born 1752.

On 18 October 1775, Mathias passed away in Hegensdorf at the age of 66. Anna Maria lived the rest of her life in Hegensdorf, and was 76 when she died on 24 April 1787.

This marks the end of the Woerdehoff line in terms of documentation that I have found on the family.

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 15

Franziskus Henricus Woerdehoff was born in Hegensdorf, Westphalia, Germany on 14 March 1747. He was the youngest son of Mathias and Anna Maria (Rinschen) Woerdehoff. On 24 January 1775, Franziskus married Catherine Margaretha Bickmann in Hegensdorf.

Franziskus and Catherine had the following children: Johannes (whom I wrote about last week) born 1775; Alexander born 1777, Angela born 1779; and Anna Maria born 1783. Catherine died in Hegensdorf on 1 November 1808 at the age of 56. Franziskus was 62 when he died the next year on the 26th of July.

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 14

My husband’s 3rd great-grandfather was also named Johannes Woerdehoff. He was born to Franziskus Henricus and Catherine Margaretha (Bickmann) on 10 March 1775 in Hegensdorf, Westphalia, Germany. Located in a wooded and hilly area in northwestern Germany, this village may also be referred to as Hegensdorf, Paderborn, Nordrhein-Wesfalen. Paderborn indicates the administrative district that Hegensdorf is located in, and Nordrhein-Westfalen refers to the state. Hegensdorf is one of the oldest villages in the district, and was first mentioned in a document in 975. The local Catholic church is St. Vitus, which dates back to at least 1353.

St. Vitus Catholic Church

In the 1800s, the average population in the village was 450. About 100 of those residents left in that century to head to America and other locations. Included in that number were Conrad Woerdehoff, whom I wrote about last week, and his wife and children.

On 24 November 1808, Johannes married Anna Maria Isabella Josepha Ruether in Hegensdorf. They had the following children: Johannes Conradus (Conrad) born 1810; Vitrus Everhardus born 1812; Johann Herman Aloysius born 1816; and Anna Maria Christina Theresia born 1820.

Having lived his entire life in Hegensdorf, Johannes died at the age of 53 on 7 May 1828. His youngest child was only 8 years old at the time. His wife Anna Maria died 13 April 1835 at the age of 48.

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 13

As recorded in the records of Holy Cross Parish in Hegensdorf, Westphalia, Germany, Johannes Conradus Woerdehoff (AKA Conrad) was born 6 December 1810. He was the oldest child of Johannes and Anna Maria (Ruether) Woerdehoff. The Woerdehoffs of Wesphalia were farmers, not landowners. That fact most likely contributed to Conrad’s later decision to emigrate to America, though he was the only one in his family to leave Germany.

St. Birgitta, Weiberg

He married Catharina Margaretha Wübbeke (whose name also may be shown as Wibbeke)) on 18 November 1843 at St. Birgitta in Weiberg, Westphalia. He was 33 and Margaretha, as she was known, was 22.

Their first 5 children were born in Germany: Johann Wilhelm in 1844; Aloysius Louis in 1848; Elizabeth in 1851; Mary in 1853; and Herman Conrad in 1855.

On 13 April 1857, a travel pass from the Royal Prussian government was issued to Conrad, granting permission for him and his family to emigrate to the United States. The pass indicated that Conrad was 5’6” in height with blackish hair and blue eyes, and was only valid for 40 days. The Woerdehoff family of 7 sailed from Bremerhaven aboard the sailing packet Ernestine the latter part of April 1857. There were 309 passengers on board the ship, which arrived in New Orleans on 17 June 1857.

Ernestine sailing vessel

The Ernestine began its life as the U.S. ship Columbus, built in New York in 1834. These boats were called packets because their original purpose was for shipping mail and freight. In 1847, the Columbus was purchased by a Bremen firm, which renamed her the Ernestine.

Ernestine passenger list

While the passenger list showed that the final destination of the Woerdehoffs was St. Louis, the family instead continued traveling up the Mississippi River to Dubuque. Many German immigrants entered the United States through the port of New Orleans and traveled by boat on this same route because they had heard of German settlements in Iowa, with the additional attraction of Catholic churches being built there.

possible photo of Conrad ~1860

Conrad purchased 40 acres of virgin land from the U.S. government in July of 1857. It was located in Section 9 of Bremen Township, Delaware County, Iowa. He built a log home and planted crops, gradually increasing his holdings to 120 acres.

While the family became some of the first members of St. Boniface Church in New Vienna, they joined St. Francis Xavier Parish in Dyersville when that church was completed in 1862. They worshipped at St. Francis until Saints Peter and Paul parish was constructed in Petersburg in 1868.

Margaretha and Conrad had 5 more children who were born on the family farm: Margaretha in 1858; Anton in 1860; Bernadine in 1860 (Anton and Bernadine were twins); Catherine (whom I wrote about in Week 12) in 1862; and Henry in 1866.

Conrad and Margaretha's children 

Conrad died of pneumonia on 1 May 1870 at the age of 60. He is reportedly buried at St. Francis Cemetery in Dyersville, though there is no tombstone for him. Quite probably there was no money to purchase a stone. His widow, with 9 children still at home, managed to keep the farm and even pay off the mortgage. Margaretha died on 7 March 1893 at the age of 72. She is buried in the cemetery at Saints Peter and Paul.

Margaretha Wübbeke Woerdehoff

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 12

In the first 11 weeks of this year I have written about what I know of the Wolterman and Determan families. Next I will cover Frank Conrad Wolterman’s mother and her family.

Catherine Woerdehoff, my husband’s paternal great-grandmother, was born 8 June 1862 in the area that was later to be called Petersburg, Delaware County, Iowa. She was the 9th of 10 children born to Johannes Conradus and Catharina Margaretha (Wübbeke) Determan.

The farm where the family lived was located in Bremen Township. It is always interesting to me to see the German roots of the early settlers reflected in the naming of geographic areas. In 1864, Bremen Township had 95 dwellings with a total population of nearly 550 people. The Woerdehoff land is indicated by the red outline and arrow on the map below.

Conrad Woerdehoff land 1869

As the post office was not established until 7 March 1874, Petersburg did not technically exist when Catherine was born. Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church and school were also completed in 1874, and by 1877 there were 50 pupils and just one teacher! Prior to 1874, the settlers attended religious services at Louvain and then at Dyersville.

Catherine (also called Katie) was just 7 years old when her father died in 1870. Her family continued to live on the farm, however. The 1880 census indicates that she was still residing in Bremen Township, Delaware County. Sometime shortly after that, she left Petersburg to join one of her siblings in western Iowa. Her brother Aloysious and sister Mary both lived in Carroll County Iowa by 1880.

On 6 February 1883 at the age of 20 Catherine married Gerhard (George) Wolterman in Breda, Carroll County, Iowa. Together they raised 13 children on their farm. George and Catherine’s story was covered in Week 2, which can be found here.

Catherine and George Wolterman

Catherine died in Breda of cardiovascular disease on 15 August 1935. She was 73 years old, and was buried alongside George (who had died in 1921) at Saint Bernards Cemetery in Breda.