Wolterman Genealogy - Week 4

First, let me mention that the Woltermann families were members of the Lutheran Church in Germany. Their town of Stapelmoorheide was located in Church District V. To date I have been unable to identify which church they worshipped in. Perhaps it was the Cross Church in nearby Stapelmoor, which is one of the oldest churches in Ostfriesland.

Cross Church

Johann (John) Gerhard was the subject of last week’s post. This week I’ll be talking about his father, Gerrit Jans Woltermann. Gerrit was born 21 November 1792 in Stapelmoorheide, Ostfriesland, Germany to Jan Geerds Woltermann and Gepke (Boelen) Woltermann. His brother Jan was born 6 October 1797, and brother Hindertje about 1804 in the same town.

On 29 March 1829, Gerrit married Helena Jans Boze in Hannover. Helena was born in Brual, Emsland, Germany, which is 4 km from Stapelmoorheide but 260 km from Hannover. Why were they married in Hannover? The Cross Church in Stapelmoor would have been much closer since it was just 3.5 km away.

Gerrit and Helena set up their household in Stapelmoorheide, where son Johann (John) Gerhard was born on 24 June 1829. (Maybe they married in Hannover because Helena was 6 months pregnant at the time of their marriage?) Their daughter Antje was born 16 September 1832. Antje married Johann Eugene Williams around 1852, and they had three sons: Wilhelm born in 1853, Heinrich born in 1857, and Johann born in 1862. Unfortunately, Antje died on 23 October 1865 at the age of 33.

Gerrit and Helena made the decision to leave their homeland in 1869. His brother Hindertje had died in 1828, and his brother Jan in 1859, With the passing of their daughter Antje in 1865, perhaps they felt there was nothing keeping them in Germany. Especially since their son Johann had emigrated with his family in 1868.

When Gerrit and Helena left Germany, their daughter's three sons accompanied them. I have no information on whether Antje’s husband Johann was still alive at that time or not. He was not listed as being on the ship with them. Gerrit was 77, Helena 70, Wilhelm 17, Heinrich 12, and Johann 6. They traveled aboard the bark "Olbers".

bark Olbers

A bark (or barque) is a sailing ship of three or more masts, having the foremasts rigged square and the aftertaste rigged fore-and-aft. The journey from Germany to the United States on one of these sailing vessels could take anywhere from five to eight weeks, depending on the winds and weather. Passengers typically had to bring their own food, bedding, and pots and pans. Due to close living quarters and poor sanitary conditions, travel for the elderly and children was particularly hazardous.

The "Olbers" was named for Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers (1758-1840), who was a famous physician and astronomer from Bremerhaven. It was built by J.C. Tecklenborg in Bremehaven and delivered to its owner, a shipping company named D.H. Watjen & Co., on 23 May 1863. Its gross tonnage was 894, the length was 151.5’, the beam was 32.1’ and the draft was 20.8’.

Herman Dieke was Master of the "Olbers", which sailed from the Port of Bremen to Baltimore, Maryland. There were 392 passengers on this particular passage. In notes that were transcribed by the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, it is noted that the Woltermann family was from Stapelmoor, Ostriesland, and that the three children were the grandchildren of Gerrit. It also states that Helena was the second wife of Gerrit, and that her maiden name was Boose/Boze. So far I have seen no records to indicate that Gerrit was married prior to his 1829 marriage to Helena. Most importantly, it is also recorded that Gerrit died on the journey and was buried at sea.

The "Olbers" arrived in Baltimore on 20 July 1869. Helena somehow got herself and the three children from Baltimore to Forreston, Ogle, Illinois where her son Johann (John) and his wife Anna and their children had been living since leaving Germany the previous year. In the Forreston 1870 census, Helena was in the household of John and his family, and so was her grandson Johann. I have found her other grandson Wilhelm living with another family in Forreston as a hired hand, but I don’t know where Heinrich was residing. He would have only been 13 at that time. In the 1880 census Heinrich was living with brother Wilhelm and his family in Forreston, and Johann was a farm hand living with an unrelated Forreston family.

By 1880 Johann (John) and Anna had moved to Carroll County, Iowa and Helena went with them. She died after 1880, probably in Wheatland Township, Carroll, Iowa. It is unclear where she was buried. I do not see a burial listing for her at Saint Bernard Cemetery in Breda, which is where her son and some of his family were laid to rest.

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 3

My husband’s paternal great-great-grandfather was Johann (John) Gerhard Woltermann. As mentioned previously, the name was spelled Woltermann in Germany. That is also the way it was spelled on the ship manifest when the Woltermanns emigrated in 1868. But the family seemed to drop the second “n” in America.

John was born 24 June 1829 in Stapelmoorheide, Ostfriesland, Germany to Gerrit Jans and Helena (Boze) Woltermann. He was baptized 28 June 1829 in Stapelmoorheide. John’s sister, Antje, was born in 1832.

Anna and John with family ~1886

On 6 May 1856, John married Anna Klaasen in Stapelmoorheide. He was 26 years old, and Anna was 21. Their first four children - Helena, Gerhard, Peter, and Gertrude - were born in Germany, while the last two - Anna and John - were born in the United States. I discussed their emigration to America in 1868 in the previous post, which can be found here. John was 39 and Anna 34 when they made the journey. The children were 11, 9, 6, and 1.

In the 1870 census, John and his family were living in Forreston, Ogle County, Illinois. John is shown to be employed as a carpenter. His 72 year-old mother Helena was living with them, as well as Anna’s mother Gertrude Peters, age  62. It is interesting that while I found a birth record in Germany for Anna Klaasen that lists Gertrude Peters as her mother, no father was indicated on the record. The fact that her name is listed as Gertrude Peters could mean that she never married Anna's father.

John and Anna's daughter, also named Anna, was born in Illinois about 1874. Their son John was born in Carroll County, Iowa in 1876. Obviously they moved from Illinois to Iowa between 1874 and 1876.

In the 1880 census the family was living in Wheatland Township, Carroll County, Iowa, where John was farming. His mother, Helena was still living with them at this time, but his mother-in-law was not. This is the only census that their daughter Anna appears in as she was born about 1874. Since she is not in the photograph above and I cannot find any other records on her, I'm guessing Anna died sometime between the 1880 census and the time this picture was taken.

John and Anna's farm in Iowa

Anna died 31 October 1901 in Breda. She was 67 years old. John died at the age of 78 on 30 November 1907, also  in Breda. They are buried in Saint Bernard Cemetery in Breda.

Anna and John's graves

Wolterman Genealogy - Week 2

Last week I wrote about Frank Conrad Wolterman, my husband’s paternal grandfather. This week Frank’s father, Gerhard (George) Wolterman is the topic of discussion. George was the son of Johann (John) Gerhard and Anna (Klaasen) Wolterman, and he was born 18 December 1859 in Stapelmoorheide, Ostfriesland, Germany. He was baptized 19 December 1859 in Weener, which is 6.7 km from Stapelmoorheide.

George’s siblings included: Helena Maria born in 1857, Peter Johannes born in 1862, Gertrude Mary born in 1867, Anna born in 1874, and John born in 1876. The first 4 children were born in Stapelmoorheide, and the last 2 were born in the United States. The family name was spelled Woltermann in Germany.

Stapelmoorheide, Germany

Ostfriesland is an area in the northwest corner of Germany on the North Sea coast. It is located within Germany’s second largest state, Lower Saxony. Stapelmoorheide, in the County of Leer, is about 526 km west of Berlin, and 129 km west of Bremen. It was and is a small rural community. Nearby Stapelmoor was combined with Stapelmoorheide in 1974.

John, Anna and their children emigrated to the United States in 1868, arriving in New York City on 10 April aboard the ship “Manhattan”. It is interesting that they departed from Liverpool, England instead of much closer emigrant port of Bremerhaven. Perhaps the fare was cheaper from Liverpool, but it would be interesting to know how they got from their hometown to Liverpool.

The “Manhattan” was a steamship built in 1866 by Palmer’s Shipbuilding & Iron Co. at Newcastle, England. It had 3 decks, an iron hull, inverted engines, a speed of 10 knots, and accommodated 72 First Class passengers, and 800 Third Class passengers. The passage from Liverpool to New York averaged 14.7 days.  The captain of the ship was James Williams. John’s occupation was listed as Laborer.

Steamer Manhattan

From August of 1855 until April of 1890, immigrants arriving in New York were processed through the Emigrant Landing Depot at Castle Garden. Over 8 million immigrants came through this center during that time period, most of whom were from Germany, Ireland, England, Scotland, Sweden, Italy, Russia, and Denmark. More than 1 in 6 native-born Americans are descendants of the 8 million who entered the United States through Castle Garden.

Castle Garden, photo from National Archives

The Wolterman family first settled in Forreston, a small village in Ogle County, Illinois, but by 1874 they were living in Wheatland Township, Carroll County, Iowa where they had a family farm. On 6 February 1883, George married Catherine Woerdehoff in Breda, Carroll County, Iowa. George was 23 years of age and Catherine was 20. On the Wheatland Township land map from 1906, which I have enlarged below, you can see that the Wolterman land was adjacent to the Woerdehoff farm, so perhaps that is how George and Catherine met. George's brother Peter also owned a nearby farm.

Wheatland Township 1906

Wolterman land 1906

Catherine and George Wolterman

George and Catherine had the following children: Margaret born in 1883, John Alvis born in 1885, Anna C. born in 1886, Gertrude born in 1888, Catharine Margaret born in 1889, Gerhard Jacob (George) born in 1891, Bernadine born in 1893, Peter J. born in 1895, Leonilla Mary born in 1898, Frank Conrad born in 1899, Clara Helena born in 1901, Edmund J. born in 1903, and Albin A. born in 1907.

George continued to farm until his death on 31 March 1921. He was 61 years old. By the 1930 census, Catherine owned a home valued at $1,800 in the town of Breda. She was living next door to her daughter Catherine Margaret Ocken. Catherine died 15 August 1935, and she and George are both buried in Saint Bernard Cemetery in Breda.

George and Catherine Wolterman graves