Fred Belitz family Muskego, WI

The family consists of Frederick Belitz (1826-1896) and wife Wilhelmina (1828- abt 1879), children: Frank (born abt 1850), Lezarette (born abt 1853) , Louisa (born abt 1856) and Bertha (born 1861).

The first time the family is found is the 1855 WI State Census where Friederick Belitz lives in Milwaukee, WI with a household of 2 Males/2 Females; and 3 are Foreign born. This should be Fred, Wilhelmina, and Frank as the foreign born, with  Lezarette as the second female family member  as she was born before 1855.

The 1860 census Fred, wife Mina have children Frank , Lezarette and Louisa (born abt 1856) and now live in Muskego, WI. Fred and Wilhelmina list Preussen as their birth nation.  Bertha was born in 1861 and is not listed on this census. I have not found her by name on any census in the household with Fred or Wilhelmina. There is a Fred Belitz on the 1870 census with wife Anne age 44, son Carl age 15 and daughter Lansa age 11. (I know names are fluid but the dates don't match up to anyone I've come to believe are his family as Frank would now be about 20 and Lezzetta would be 17, Louisa would be 14 and Bertha would be 9). In 1875 Fred lives with 3 females and on the 1880 census Fred lives with Dora still in Muskego, WI; in 1895 Fred lives with 1 woman (who I believe is Dora) and the Herman Lucht family lives next door which is Bertha’s family. 

Also found in Muskego are Carl Belitz , wife Henriette and son Fred in the 1880 census; Carlitiz Balitz with wife Henrietta, children Maria, Louisa and Anna  on the 1870 census. There is also a Wilhem Belitz and wife Mary are also in Wisconsin on the 1880 census.

In numerous census years Fred Belitz is listed living with a sister Dora Peters (abt 1832-1906).

In the Brandenburg, Prussia Emigration Records there is a Wilhelmine Dabruck, verh. Belitz; age 23; Frau von Friedrich (wife of Frederick); place of origin is Mohrin/Koenigsberg; destination is North America; year is 1851; birth date is abt 1828. As all the information fits Wilhelmina I am still searching for more records as proof.

Bertha Lucht, Frederick and Wilhelmina Belitz were buried in the old Muskego cemetery. The cemetery was moved in 1955 to make way for Dandelion Park. The graves were moved to a number of area cemeteries but the graves of Bertha, Fred and Wilhelmina were moved to Highland Memorial Park in New Berlin, WI.  In the legal notices at the time there is a Dorothea Peters listed but at this time I haven't found Dora's grave. I do believe it was moved to Prairie Home Cemetery in Waukesha as some of the graves went there.

There isn't a death date for Wilhelmina in any of the grave information located. I went to Highland Park and while they have her name there is no birth or death dates listed.  I did find a write up on the Rootsweb website where it is supposed that she ran off taking some of the children with her;  I didn't agree at the time I read that and as evidence mounts it looks less and less likely.  I believe she died sometime around 1879/1880 and was buried in one of the now lost cemeteries with just her name added to Fred's gravestone at the time he died.  Wilhelmina Belitz is on the 1860 census and for the marriage information of daughter Lezarette ( Lizzetta or Elizabeth) to Herman Kreuger in Waukesha county, WI. who married in 1875. 

In the Madison WI State Journal dated 25 May, 1879 Fred Baetz of Muskego reported his wife  missing. Mrs. Baetz is 50 years of age , and ten years ago was an inmate of the insane asylum at Madison. As there is no Fred Baetz in Muskego on the 1880 census I believe this to be Fred and Wilhelmina Belitz.

According to plat maps Fred's farm was located in Muskego on the East side of Muskego Lake, off Durham Dr. and down what is now Priegel Dr. Records show that Fred died in 1896. A earlier news article from 1895 mentions he is suffering from malaria.

  In the 1900 census Bertha and husband Herman Lucht (first from right) live next door to "Deborah Peters" (I believe that to be Dora (second from left) as the birth year is close). In July 1900 Bertha is struck by lightning and dies leaving Herman to raise their five children.

In July 1900 in the death information for Bertha there is husband Herman Lucht and father Fred Belitz mentioned.

I also do not believe Dora ever had children, she has widow on the census' and on the 1900 census "Deborah Peters"  has 0/0 for children.  On the 1900 census she also has 1850 for the year she immigrated.

Taken between 1900 and 1906 this picture includes the Lucht children: Selma, Alfreda, Alma (against post) , Elsie and Otto; Dora Peters (second from left), Herman Lucht (on right). In the center I believe that to be  Lezarette (Elizabeth) Krueger nee Belitz with her daughter next to her.
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In a probate article from the Waukesha Freeman around May 24, 1906 in the estate of Dorathea Peters the petitioner is Herman Lucht and he is named the executor of her estate.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Updated 4/21/2018
For future research:
Fred's immigration
Find proof of Wilhelmina's maiden name
Find proof of Wilhelmina being in a Madison insane asylum
Find Wilhelmina's death information
Locate Dora's grave
Get Dora's probate records
Find Fred and Wilhelmina's parents

1)       

As a child there was a drawer full of old photographs that I loved digging through, one day my grandmother pointed out a picture of her mother, sisters and brother. The photo intrigued me as I knew her mother died when she was quite young. Now as an old woman in her 70s that picture was one of the only things she had to remember her mother. There were many other pictures in the drawer including old wedding photos of women in black, photos of people long unremembered.

Fast forward 45 years, my grandmother has been dead for 40 years, my parents are gone and life has moved on. One day my brother who still lives in the family home called that he had a box of old pictures and since I'm the one doing the genealogy he thought I might be interested...I was.

Picking up the box one day I couldn't wait to take a look at the people who's lives have put me in this place and time. One of the first pictures I found was of a group of people in front of an old car.

The back was labeled" Danny Rieck, Joan Bleth, Fred Rieck, Alma, Alma's mother, Herman and Elsie". I knew the Alma is not my grandmother Alma and Alma's mother could not be my great grandmother Bertha since she died in 1900 and this picture was taken many years after that it was time for a bit of detective work. I knew Joan was my dad's first cousin and Elsie his aunt, So Herman would most likely be Elsie's father Herman Lucht. But who is are the other four people?

Continuing through the pictures I found this one of Herman and the older woman. Who was she that they would take a picture together with just the two of them? The back of the picture said, "Herman and Bertha Belitz". I knew Herman's wife Bertha Belitz was not right since I already knew that Bertha died in 1900 but Herman had a younger sister named Bertha. Could that be her?

Pulling out my lineage chart I mentioned in my last post to see if I could make some connections.  Herman did indeed have a younger sister named Bertha, who married Fred Bodanski. Fred and Bertha Lucht Bodanski had a daughter named Alma. Looking at my first picture the woman labeled "Alma" is linked arms with the older woman...So that would be Alma Bodanski and her mother Bertha.

Taking another look at my chart, Alma Bodanski married a man named Fred Rieck, as she is linked arms with both the man and the woman that is a good chance he is Fred. I also had that they had a son named Daniel, so that would be the Danny Rieck in the picture. After just a few minutes I was able to name all the people in my photograph.

Sadly I still haven't found the picture of my great grandmother I remember as a child but I have hope one day I'll get another call from my brother to come see what he found.

How Do I Know Those Are My People?

As I've searched to find the lives of my ancestors many times I've asked (or been asked), "How do I know those are my people?" How do you really know? You don't, until you do. Many times there are people with the same names, I've found two men named Herman Lucht in the same county, same birth location, immigration is a decade apart, and birth years are a few years different but one is my ancestor and one isn't (at least not that I've found...yet) So how do I know which is which?

I started with what I knew. Luckily my dad told lots of stories about his family so I knew
   A. where my ancestor is buried.
   B. who his children are including my grandmother and her sisters and brother.
   C. The location where they lived.

After that I was back to the "but how do you know?"

I decided to create a lineage document so I could follow down the line to verify that I had the right people.

I found the easiest way was to use an Excel spreadsheet.  Starting with my great grandfather and great grandmother I added them to a column. I included their birth and death dates. In the next column I added their children, one on each row. Now I merged the 5 lines in my great grandparents row. 

I continued adding children and spouse's. Adding rows and merging where needed. Sometimes I work backwards if a name comes up, sometimes working forward when I find an obituary or some other type of information. 

After a bit of time I have a pretty good chart although it's hundreds of people short. My Lucht family now goes nine generations starting with Peter Lucht (1758-1837 and Anna Schwanke ( 1756-1807). It includes their son Peter Lucht (1798-1846) and his wife Dorothy Zikuf (1796-1848), their 9 children, some of their children...and some of their children all the way up to their 6th great grandsons. 

Now as I've searched my genealogy once in a while the name I'm searching will be right but the name of the  children doesn't match up. This is my clue to start retracing a line to find out where the problem comes from. 

Next post will be how this has helped me to identify people in a photograph. 

Albert Weber Family

 Albert Weber Family

Albert Gustav Weber

Birth: 12 June 1868

Place: Germany

Immigration: 1886

Marriage: 18 October 1890

Place: Milwaukee, WI

Death: 15 July 1935

Buried: St. Pauls Cemetery, Tess Corners, WI 

Parents: Heinrich Weber and Ernestine Busemeister

Albertina "Tina" Henriette Blank

 Birth: 10 February 1870

Place: Germany

Immigration: 1886

Marriage:  Albert Gustav Weber

Place: Milwaukee, WI

Death: 15 July 1935

Buried: St. Pauls Cemetery, Tess Corners, WI 

Parents: Martin Blank and Albertine Schulz

Children:

Emma b.1890 in Milwaukee, WI

Ida Anna Bertha b. in Milwaukee, WI;  d. 1902 in Lake, WI; buried in Pilgrim's Rest, Milwaukee, WI

William John b. 21 August 1898 in Milwaukee, WI; 

Arthur b. 24 November 1895 in Milwaukee, WI; married Alma Lucht 25 Jun 1927; died 1 Oct 1947 Greendale, WI; buried St. Paul's Cemetery, Tess Corners, WI

Reinhold C

Anna Hulda Friedericke b. 1 May 1900

Minna Augusta Bertha b. June 1902

Winnifred Bertha b June 1902

Walter W

Violet

Adeline

Irene

Family Lines

These are the family lines I'm searching:

Reiman Family
Richard Reiman married Viola Cipisauer
     Rudolph Cipisauer married  Anna Erdmann
          Herman Friedrich Wilhelm  Erdmann married Augusta Bertha Wilhelmine Spierling 
Arthur Reiman married Louise Wolfe (son Richard)
Ludwig Reiman married Antonia Spaerke


Weber Family
Harold Weber married Darlene "Susie" Jean Schmidt
     Julius Schmidt married Inez Yeager
          John Yeager married Ida Hafferman (or Haverman)
               Charles Hafferman married Emilia
               John Hafferman married Ernestina
          Spencer Gaige Yeager married Lydia Ann Howard
               Jesse Howard married Nancy Young (daughter Lydia Ann)
                    Zachiriah Young married Lida
               John Howard married Jane Covert
                    James Covert married Irene Tompkins
                         Stephen Tompkins married Anne Fields
                         Nathaniel Tompkins married  Elizabeth Cornell
                    Sylvanus Covert married Frances Kortright 
                         Nicholas Korthright married Elizabeth Van Huyse
                    Isaac Covert married Elizabeth Horton
               Jesse Howard married Cloe Watson
                    Cyprian Watson II married Dorothy Benton 
                         Caleb Benton married Hannah Hopkins Ensign 
                              Thomas Ensign married Hannah Shepard
                                    John D Shepard married Hannah Peck
                               David Ensign married Mehitabel Gunn
                    Cyprian Watson I  married Abigail Galpin
                         Samuel Galpin married Elizabeth Saint John
                         Philip Galpin married Elizabeth Smith
                    John Watson married Anna Nichols
               John Howard married Anna Margareth Inman
          Peter Yeager married Mary Ann Biesecker  
               John Biesecke married Susanna Riegal
                    John Jacob Riegal married Mary Margaret Overpeck
               Johann Jacob Biesecker married Catherine Geres
                    Leonard Geres married Anna Elizabeth
          Henry Yeager married Mary Dings 
          Philip Yeager married Unknown
     Daniel Schmidt or Kowalke married Emilie Langen
Arthur Weber married Alma Lucht
     (Johann Herman) Herman Lucht married Bertha Belitz
          Fredrick Belitz married Wilhelmina
     Johann Erdmann Lucht married Marie Henriette Unke
          Adam Unke married Hedwig Regine Steuk 
               Johann Lorenz Steuk married Hedwig Juliana Schwanke
          Erdmann Unke married Hedwig Pitann
     Peter Lucht married Dorothea Louise Zikuf  
     Peter Lucht married Anna Marie Schwanke
Albert Gustav Weber married Albertina Henriette Blank
     Martin Blank married Albertine Schulz
          Michael Schulz married Eufrozina Priebe
          Johann Schulz married Marianna Grzebietkin
Heinrich Weber married Ernestine Buemeister

Why Search?

Over the years I've gotten more and more interested in my family line. Growing up a part of me always knew where I came from as my parents told stories of their parents and grandparents. I also knew that the majority of my family came from Germany but all the stories and bits of  information was never put together into a cohesive picture...more like a disjointed puzzle with  missing pieces.

 As time has went on I've become more interested and curious as to where it all began.   I don't know if it's just a sense of curiosity or out of mortality; as proof that as long as we are remembered we continue to live. I remember my mother going to library's to try and find information that included long days searching handwritten indexs. With the internet I've been able to search far faster and many more people then she could have ever dreamed. And as I've found more ancestors, looked at far away  courthouse records from the comfort of my living room or found a short newspaper article that included mention of my grandmother's first marriage, her occupation and the location where they lived at the time , I'm now leaning more toward mortality then curiosity. Maybe 100+ years from now my grandchildren and great grandchildren will be looking up information on their great-great grandmother Jules with an interest in each new piece of the puzzle that makes up their heritage.

Slowly pieces of the puzzle come together. My great grandfather Albert met his future wife, 16 year old Albertina Blank on the ship as they traveled to America from Germany. Herman Lucht was left to raise 5 small children when his wife Bertha was struck by lightening in July 1900. My grandmother Alma, daughter of Herman and Bertha lost her first husband in an accident when his truck was struck by a train at a railroad crossing in 1912. These stories make up the me, through their lives it had an impact on their children that was passed down to me.

I hope that someday a clear picture of the many people that make up my DNA will emerge. The history of their travels from great distances,  the wars they fought including the Civil War and the Revolutionary War. The hardships they endured that made up their lives but were also passed down to me and my family so that we could have the lives we live today.

What ever Happened to Wilhelmina?

In the search for information on my Great Grandmother Bertha Belitz Lucht I've found her mother Wilhelmina, a sister Lousia and brother Frank have done a disappearing act.

Here's the story:

My Great Grandmother Bertha died and was buried in the Muskego, WI Cemetery in July 1900. To make way for an amusement park in the 1950's the graves were moved to a mass grave located in Highland Cemetery located in New Berlin, WI.

In the process of tracking down her grave I noticed two people with the same last name listed in the records for the moved cemetery. Frederick Belitz has a birth and death date listed but his wife Wilhelmina didn't have either, just her name. This reminded me of my mother's headstone with my father's name but with no dates as he hadn't yet died when she was buried. Could this be the case with Wilhelmina?

I know Fred and Wilhelmina are Bertha's parents because Fred shows up on her marriage information and Bertha's husband Herman is listed on Bertha's aunt, Dora Peters will. The family is listed in the 1860 census with Fred, Mina and 3 children; a boy and two girls: Frank, Lezarette and Louisa.  My Great Grandmother Bertha isn't included since she was born in 1861.

In 1865 there should now be 2 males, Fred and son Frank. And there should be 4 females, Wilhelmina and daughters, Lezarette, Lousia and Bertha, but there's only 2 females counted. So what happened to 2 of the females?  An aunt, Dora Peters lives at a residence farther down the census so I know she's not one of the females. I know Bertha is alive in 1865 since she goes on to marry and give birth to my Grandmother, and I know she dies in 1900. I also know Lezarette is alive as I've found her marriage in 1875 and death information from 1914.   On a later US census' Fred lists widower in the marriage column, so I know Wilhelmina has died before him so that rules out that she was still alive at Fred's death.

In the 1870 census Fred now lives with his sister Dora Peters. I believe Bertha is possibly living with a brother of  Fred's since there is a Bertha Belitz that is the right age living with a Carl Belitz in the same area. Lezarette Belitz lives with another family as a servant. Frank is gone, so he either died between 1865 and 1870 or possibly went to fight in the Civil War as I have not found anything after the 1865 census.

A distant relative had a Rootsweb post assuming Wilhelmina ran off taking Bertha with her since a later  census  has a mother/daughter named Wilhelmina and  Bertha living in a near by town. Which might make sense if Fred didn't have  Wilhelmina's name on his headstone and Bertha and Lezarette  didn't marry men from the same area where they continued to live and raise families. And why would Wilhelmina only take Bertha but leave the son and two other daughters?  

I think Wilhelmina and the other daughter, Louisa died sometime between when Bertha was born in 1861 and the 1865 WI census. This would account for the 2 males and 2 females in the 1865 census. So I searched cemeteries in nearby towns using findagrave.com.   I did find Lezarette (who has changed her name to Elizabeth) but still no sign of Wilhelmina or Louisa.

I've also checked the courthouse but records don't go back that far. 

My thought is in looking at findagrave there are a few cemeteries that were destroyed and have no records of the graves that were located there. A few cemeteries are now on private property and also have no grave records. I think Wilhelmina and Louisa were buried in one of these cemeteries. Possible when Fred died the family had hopes of  having Wilhelmina's body moved so they could be together but either it cost to much, they couldn't find her grave, or just never got around to it since my Great Grandmother Bertha died shortly after Fred.

Hopefully sometime in the future it will all come together but in the meantime I'll keep looking for the rest of the family.