ChicagoGildermeisters

Gildermeister/Gildemeister/Gilmeister/Gillmeister/Gilmaster et al

Oh, and Radtke's too while we're at it. Heh. Updated as of 24 October 2019.

About my Prussian family in Chicagoland, with a surname they and others had a hard time spelling consistently.

They arrived just before the Chicago fire. Can we track them back to the old country and maybe even further back in time?

BIG NEWS ON 12/2/2019 - Gildemeister marriage records from the First Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church of Chicago (found in the Newberry Library) show birthplaces of Charbrow (Gustav) and Landechow bei Köslin (Auguste) in Kreis Lauenburg, Ostpommern, Prussia. And a followup on 2/21/2020 per his 1891 marriage records (St. Peter's German Evangelical Lutheran Church Chicago) my great great grandfather Carl Gildemeister was born in Landechow bei Köslin in Kreis Lauenburg, Ostpommern, Prussia.

Hi, this is Rob Vance, I'm the author of this Google Site, and my email is rkvance@gmail.com. This is about my father's maternal line and here we go...

WORKING BACKWARDS IN TIME - A WHO's WHO ...

My paternal grandmother, Anna Rintz Mayer 1893-1931 (see Ancestry R & M V Family Tree image above) (aka Anna).

My great grandmother, Anna's mom, Magdalena Gildemeister Rintz Schlabowski 1877-1951 (who sometimes [and particularly when dealing with the Catholic Church] goes by "nee Wagner" after her mother's Catholic family) (aka Maggie).

My great great grandmother, Maggie's mother, Anna Wagner Gildemeister Kunkel, c.1861-1925 (aka AWGK) and her first husband, Karl (Carl/Charles, -Wilhelm?) Gildemeister (aka Karl Jr) c. 1854-1936. They married in 1876 when Maggie was 4 months pregnant with the first of their four children and they divorced in 1884 over religious differences - he was Protestant (Lutheran) and she was Catholic. She remarried a year later to August (the undertaker, OK, florist) Kunkel. Not sure how they worked that out with the church other than he was a widower. And she's buried next to Augie in a Catholic cemetery (St. Adalberts in Niles, Il.).

Where precisely were the Gildemeisters and Wagners living in Chicago, around 1876, at the time when Karl Jr and AWGK got together? See this map for the answer to that question based on census and city directory information. Location matters in confirming this family tree, and West Town Chicago is the place. Note: this part of Chicago was heavily industrialized during the relevant time frame. For instance the Wagner's son John (Anna's younger brother) worked at a steel mill (likely the North Chicago Rolling Mill). The Chicago and North Western Railway went north to south through this part of town and there were many coal yards and leather tanneries in the area in the 1880s per the Robinson's map. Based on a variety of sources, Karl Jr. worked in a wood planing mill in the area.

Karl Jr and AWGK had four children - Maggie, their eldest, Clara (1878-1950), John (1880-1952) and little Agnes (c. 1883-tbd [likely died young]) - only Maggie is listed in the tree chart above - the others are found at Ancestry, of course, and referenced below as applicable.

For AWGK, we know her parents, August (aka Augie the shoemaker) and Eva Dypoldt Wagner, who were from Chodziez in West Prussia (now Poland, near Posen). They immigrated to Chicago around 1871 per census records. This relationship is confirmed by Ancestry DNA results with several other common descendants and I.

The Gildemeisters and family were from Prussia per their immigration and census records, which at the time (c.1870) was in the late stages of unifying Germany and was a rather large place geographically speaking. Karl Jr's parents are the people in the Castle Garden passenger list below. Specifically this is Karl Sr and his wife Constancia Radtke and Karl Jr and siblings Carolina, Auguste and Gustav, and they immigrated to the US in 1869. That assessment is based on review of census records for Illinois with that or similar surname, several branches of the family's burial in Concordia Cemetery, marriage and death records (particularly Gustav's which dials in his mother's maiden name and was "informed" by Karl Jr.), and location in Chicago in city directories/census records, etc. This conclusion is somewhat complicated by naming issues (i.e. lack of consistency in spelling).

Also: Karl=Carl=Charles in this write up. The naming convention here is to map the consistent name on to the record to avoid confusion. As noted in the title their surname had quite a number of variations. And "Americanization" also is a factor.

Again, see R & M V Family Tree at Ancestry for many more details.

The focus of this site is on facts before 1900, with some later references as applicable up to about 1950 as they illuminate the storyline and solve our primary question...

THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED HERE IS:

Where were said Gildemeisters (and related Radtke's) from in Prussia? That is the question of interest here because then we can go back in time their ancestors in Europe. There are other Gildemeisters in Chicago, so watch out. See the spreadsheet of census records and the timeline references for heads of families. And the other Gildemeisters may well be related. This is not a surprise, as West Chicago at the time was where immigrants went, and there were a lot of immigrants from Germany arriving in the relevant timeframe.

Should the effort to find direct references to the Gildemeister's original location in Prussia fail to pan out in American records there are two facts that should be noted. First, is the Gildemeister's early membership in the First Bethlehem Lutheran Church which from its own published church history states that "the vast majority of whom [German immigrants coming into West Town in 1871 at the church's founding] came from the Lauenburg area of Pomerania." Second, the maiden name reference for Constancia G. ties with DNA results that I have associated with a family named Radtke (also spelled Rettke). At some point it might be reasonable to go directly to related West Prussian records (Protestant church records?) because of the collateral line connection to Lauenburg (aka Lebork Poland).

FACTS IN TIMELINE:

1860 US Census - we find no Gildemeisters (or similar) in Cook County, Illinois. There is, however, another family of that surname in Peoria, which stayed in Peoria during the period of interest.

1869, May 14th Castle Garden NY Passenger List is my family arriving, see also the immigration year identified in the 1910 Census of Karl Jr. Logic around this is found in the spreadsheet below that summarizes multiple US census years of data showing the Gildemeister (and surname variants) families of Chicagoland. Notice also the Radtkes'are right next to the Gildemeisters in the log - I have Radtke DNA connections at Ancestry. Likely they are related as Constancia's maiden name was in fact Radtke. That said, this particular Radtke family ended up in Milwaukee, WI. per the 1870 census. Their ship, the Christel, is made of oak, was built in 1864 in Bremen and was powered by sail.

1870 US Census Karl Sr and Karl Jr and family, they are clearly the same folks as the passenger list above given the names and ages. It is also true that the names are somewhat mixed, note: census (taken in June) finds them in Ward 15 (West Town, west of Goose Island) 91 W. North Ave (old) is likely address per city directory. This group has the right names (well close), right ages, right place at the relevant time period, with no counterexamples found to date.

1870 Census summary information - Cook County Illinois Gildemeisters' families headed by 1) Karl Sr, 2) Fred and 3) Godfred.

1870 Chicago population 300K.

1871 The Fire. October 8-10.

1871 Wagners emigrate per 1910 Census of Anna Wagner Gildemeister Kunkel - note grandson Raymond Johnson (Clara's son) was living with them in 1910. He's the fellow who hung on to the family pictures including the one at the bottom of this page.

1872 city directory Charles G at 174 W. Division - likely Karl Sr, given Jr.'s age. Of course Jr. is likely living with his family there.

1873 city directory Charles G at r. Dickson nr. Western- likely Karl Sr, given Jr.'s age. Of course Jr. is likely living with his family there.

1873 Augie W (the shoemaker) lives at 91 North Ave (old) per city directory - there are more than one August Wagner living in Chicago at this time. Counting on his profession as the decider, as well as location near the Gildemeisters.

1874 Karl Sr.'s daughter Auguste G. marries Emil Hupke. She is quite pregnant at the time btw. Note: Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (German)

1874 Auguste G. Hupke dies, as does her very young son. Sad. Note: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church

1875 a Charles G. lives at r.124 Front and another Charles G. lives at r.174 W. Division (not clear which is Jr or Sr or both?) - per city directory.

1876 123 Front St. Charles G. lives there per city directory (Karl Jr or Sr or both?)

1876 city directory >>Wegwert, August boots and shoes 734 Milwaukee Av (I think this is the right guy, even with the awful spelling issue), nope not Wegner August, shoemaker, house 259 3rd Av, we do see him again, but he's in the wrong part of town, Wagner, August, peddler, house 605 Archer Av., wrong part of town also. This is a bit frustrating since this is the critical year.

1876 633 N.Ashland Ave Charles Gillmeister lives there per city directory (Karl Jr or Sr or both?)

1876 Marriage Record Gildemeister Wagner (by a justice of the peace KG Jr + AWGK)

1877 Magdalena G is born (various, aka Maggie). No birth record at this time in Chicago. Married in 14 October 1876 and Magdalena born 27 March 1877).

1878 Clara G born (various). No birth record document at this time - in Chicago.

1878 August Wagner house 607 Elston per city directory - Augie the shoemaker, and AWGK's father.

1878 Charles Gildemeister at 35 Wade - not sure if this is Karl Sr or Karl Jr, or both

1878 Carolina G (Karl Jr's younger sister) marries Charles F. Stoewsand

1880 Chicago population 500K

1880 Constancia G death certificate, her address is 29 Wade (old), buried Concordia Cemetery Section 2E (plot 55) (Lutheran).

1880 Constancia G death US Census mortality schedule

1880 Census Karl Sr at 16 Augusta Blvd., with daughter Caroline and son Gustav about a half mile from Karl Jr and family. Note this area becomes the very heart of Polish Chicago aka Noble Square, and has a historical presence to this day. That was of course after the Germans/Prussians moved out.

1880 US Census - Karl Jr + AWGK and kids - 30 Cleaver St.

1880 US Census - Wagners 607 Elston Ave.

1880 US Census Cook County Gildemeister families 1) Karl Sr (actually living with daughter and her husband), 2) Karl Jr 3) Fred, 4) Joseph, 5) Theodor, 6) Theodore.

1880 Birth Record Gildemeister (John), 10 October, 30 Cleaver St.

1881 Gustave G marriage record Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran (German), Bertha Gliewe.

1882 August Wagner death record (note address [607 Elston Ave.] is same as on 1880 Census and Maggie's 2nd marriage documents).

1882 marriage breaks up per Anna in divorce paperwork (June).

AWGK divorces Karl Jr (Charles) - court papers 1884 - it's not a pretty picture and they go by Gillmeister. No doubt it's them given the children and the kids ages. See also newspaper announcements of the divorce filings here.

1884 Another Charles G. b. 1857 immigrates to US so watch for him in public records and know he lives in the north of Chicago (not in West Town) and his wife is Henriette. He is in the shoe business. Data from 1900 Census record.

1886 Haymarket riot, a couple of miles south of our family.

1889 Charles (not our Karls) G. marries Henrietta Hoppe (this is the guy with the similar name who is a bit younger than Karl Jr). Point is to make sure which is which.

1890 Chicago population 1.1M

1890 Karl Sr death record buried at Concordia Cem. (Lutheran, section 2E (plot 55), unmarked, along with other family [e.g. Caroline and her husband]), see also this newspaper announcement of flu deaths.

1891 Karl Jr and Christine Ernestine Schultz married at St. Peter's German Evangelical Lutheran Church (Rev. Gotthilf J. Lambrecht) which was at West Chicago Avenue and Noble Street at the relevant time. Second marriage for her (Frank Bomme first husband). The couple's birthdates don't tie to the Concordia Cemetery record perfectly. BUT Karl Jr.'s birthday is problematic on his death record (and the tombstone), and her marriage license and her death certificate both show her maiden name as Schultz. That ties it for me.

1892 Rintz - "Wagner" marriage church record from St. Stanislaus Kostka - address and parents names are consistent with the Wagners, however, the bride is Maggie G. Civil record here.

1893-4 Karl G and a Charles G get naturalized and the data associated with it is not helpful.

1899 Clara G. marries Edward Johnson. Pastor is John Torgerson - Evangelical Lutheran Church Bethania (Norwegian).

1900 Chicago population 1.7M

1900 Census Karl Jr and Ernestine 67 Julian less than a half mile from daughter Maggie and family. Note census says they've been married since about 1885. That's not what the marriage record says from 1891.

1900 Census Maggie and Anton Rintz and family on Dickson St. (now Bosworth) still in West Town not far from St. Stanislaus Kostka.

1900 Census Cook County Illinois Gildemeister families 1) Karl Jr, 2) Albert, 3) other Carl/Charles (NORTH TOWN! - not West Town), 4) Hen, 5) Theo, 6) other John, 7) F, 8) Fred, 9) G and 10) Johann

1900 Census our John Gildemeister is missing

1905 John G marries Louise Behrens at the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (which at the time was at 742 N. Ada St. if I have this properly understood, and there are several "Trinity" Lutheran churches).

1910 Census Anna Wagner Gildemeister Kunkel and second family

1910 Census Magdalena Gildemeister Rintz and family 1762 Robey St. (now Damien)

1910 Census John Gildemeister and family 2125 Huron St.

1910 Census Karl Jr and Ernestine (Alstina?)1017 North Francisco Ave.

1911 Death of Bertha Gliewe Gillmeister (wife of Gustave) - buried Concordia.

1913 Karl Jr (says Charles) 1017 North Francisco Ave. per city directory, near hospital and same as address on wife's death record.

1915 Death of Gustav - BINGO record confirms his mothers maiden name to be Radtke AND its source is his brother Karl Jr. - connects to Karl Sr. too. Karl Jr.'s address is 1017 North Francisco Ave. check.

1917 Death Record Ernestine 1017 North Francisco Ave. S. buried at Concordia Cem. section 5 (plot 591). Address same as 1910 census with Karl Jr. Karl Jr.'s immigration year in the census is 1869 as expected from the Christel passenger manifest, and it is the second marriage for both of them.

1920 Census John and family 1950 Huron St.

1920 Census Karl Jr. missing in action.

1923 Death Record Carolina G - 4950 Nelson St., ties her to Karl Sr mother's name "not known" (it was Constancia and her mom died in 1880 so unsurprising that 43 years later her relations may not know this fact)

1925 Anna Wagner Gildemister Kunkel death certificate where we find her parents names confirmed.

1930 US Census John Gildemeister, and Karl Jr is there. This is an important data point. And Karl Jr. City directory is illegible in Ancestry. It appears that even with the divorce father and son have reconciled.

1931 Anna Rintz Mayer death certificate ties mothers maiden name as Gildemeister. Informant is my grandfather, Edward Mayer.

1936 Death Record Karl Jr are you sure this is the right guy? The birth date appears off when compared to self reported birth date in census records (April 1854 compared to 1853). Yes, this is this the right guy. 3444 Potomac address is one reason (a few blocks from son John's address per 1930 and 1940 census), and burial at Concordia (section 5 plot 591, next to "Earnestine") does help tie. See also 1930 census records - no other Karl G. of the right age (and born in Germany) in Cook County. Got a feeling they just got the birthdate wrong. Could not even name his mother either on the death certificate (again she died in 1880). See also Concordia Cemetery photo (not the same one as below).

1936 John Gildermeister social security application Karl Gildemeister and Anna Wagner are his parents per this document - address is 1135 Monticello Ave., birth date is 10 October 1880.

1949 John's wife Louise Behrens G. passes away - newspaper record, interment Elmwood.

1950 Clara Agnes Gildemeister Johnson death certificate includes references to Karl Jr and AWGK. This is an important data point. Poor lady, she spent decades in the insane asylum (Chicago State Hospital). She did marry and have kids.

1951 Magdalena Gildemeister Rintz Schlabowski death certificate - note parents names are in error. Yes this is her, irrespective of the errors. Why? Street address is the same as the 1920 US Census where we find my grandfather (Edward Mayer) and grandmother (Anna).

1951 Magdalena Gildemeister Rintz Schlabowski obituary - again note N. Kedzie St. address, which is a tie to other records.

1952 John Gildemeister death certificate, father Karl Jr, mother Wilhelma which is likely wrong (see also birth certificate). Buried at Elmwood Cemetery, River Grove, Il. Section 45 Lot 128 Space 6.

A NOTE ON NEWSPAPERS SEARCHED AND RESULTS THEREOF:

I subscribed to both Newspapers.com and Newspaperarchive.com and searched for the following surnames from 1860-1960 limited to the state of Illinois: Gildemeister, Gildermeister, Gilmaster, Gillmeister, Gilmeister. Among the papers I searched using the websites were The Tribune, Telegraf, Chicago Dziennik Narodowy, Inter Ocean and multiple others. The relevant results of which are integrated in the timeline above.. There are a number of other Gildemeister families in Illinois during the period and I did get hits from them. They are NOT included. I found one relevant death notice and no relevant obituaries. Here is a link to the full set joined together, including some notes.

GENERAL:

Google map of family locations - reasonably accurate - includes other branches of the family, coded by color and layered by date range

Castle Garden passenger list data (Gilmeister/Gildemeister/Gillmeister/Gildermeister) spreadsheet (prior to 1892)

Gilmeister/Gildemeister/Gillmeister/Gildermeister Illinois census data spreadsheet (1860-1930) - best data is 1900 and prior.

Concordia Cemetery photos -Karl Sr., Constancia and Caroline G. Stoewsand (section 2) and Karl Jr. and his second wife (section 5). See also Radtkes nearby Karl Jr. and Ernestine - not sure of a specific connection as of 10/20/2019.

OTHER:

John Gildemeister (aka John) got married in the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. Sadly not much of help from their records. Been through them at Ancestry. Baptismal data and marriage data on John and Louise and their kids is fine, but limited. Searched under various names and for Chicago. Not much else of interest. RE: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Chicago, Il.: Synod: Northern Illinois Synod of the General Synod Organized: 1870 - Closed / Merged: 1997 Street Address (from 1871 to 1924): 742 North Ada Street (building now gone) Chicago, IL Street Address (from 1924 to 1997 [when merged]): 1400 N. LaramieChicago, IL

Addresses are original style, and remember street number change in 1911.

I have tried to find other Gildemeister relations via Ancestry public family trees, and none appear helpful at this time. I do note some Wagner Ancestry DNA connections, including one that likely ties back in Poland.

A small variety of other Gildemeisters and others in the newspaper are found here. IOW there is absolutely no point in more newspaper searches unless you have access to ones NOT indexed by these two companies (Newspapers.com, Newspaperarchives.com). Please don’t waste your time and my money going over this stuff. Newberry may well have some others in ProQuest. Among the papers I searched using the websites were The Tribune, Telegraf, Chicago Dziennik Narodowy, Inter Ocean and multiple others were searched.

RADTKE/RETTKE RELATIONS? GO TO MILWAUKEE:

Now that we know that Constancia's maiden name was Radtke, who was Ferdinand Radtke/Rettke (and Caroline and Carl) listed next to the Gildemeisters on the 1869 Christel passenger manifest? Possibly a relation, but if so how close? And btw, the Rettkes apparently went to Milwaukee, WI. Please see the following to confirm that 1870 census here. 1880 census here - note they are on 617 Vliet St. - downtown Milwaukee. As a side note, as of 1890 Ferdinand (and family) were the only Rettke's in the Milwaukee city directory (and yes it's them per the given names, and yes there were plenty of Radtkes in the book). There is now a Rettke Family Tree at Ancestry for these folks. They had a number of other children (after Carl/Charles), almost all of whom died young. Given where they lived (2 blocks from) they might have been involved in Saint John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in downtown Milwaukee (and on the National Register of Historic Places btw), which is also on Vliet Street. Pending Ferdinand's death record (d.1894) as of 10/24/2019. Here's his death certificate. I reached out to the cemetery that accepted the graves from Saint Johns Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery when they were moved (which is where I believe Ferdinand was planted). They could not find the records. In 1896 and 1897 the Rettke's disappear from the city directory - did not check further. Also, the population of Milwaukee in 1870 was 71K - and in 1900 was 285K residents - huge growth rate in the period, as in Chicago, albeit not as large on an absolute basis.

NEW: RADTKE/RETTKE DNA CONNECTIONS:

So I have five Ancestry DNA relations with Radtke/Rettke surnames. Here's a chart that lay's out the relationships.

The short version is the person with the closest measured relation to me (Cyndy Harkins) has Rettke family from the area of LAUENBURG, Prussia. I believe these folks are related to Constancia Radtke Gildemeister, my great great grandmother.

Map of Cyndy Harkins related locations.

Other Pomeranian maps.

Obit for Cyndy's great grandmother Wilhelmine Gnadt Rettke born in Pomerania in 1824 (Freist Prussia, now Wrzeście Poland, near Lauenburg/Lebork Poland). Cyndy's great grandfather was Johann Rettke nominally born in Charbrow (Charbrowo Poland) which is near Lauenburg in 1827 - I don't have a good original record for this fact which comes from other family trees.

1920 Census for Macon County Illinois with Julius Rettke, Cyndy's grandfather, specifically points to Lauenburg, Germany as his birthplace, and that of his parents.

WRT the other four Rattke families, I've given them more than a basic search and can't seem to get back to Europe with a finer resolution than "Germany/Prussia."

WHATS NOT HERE:

Other Carl - another Carl G arrived in Chicago about 1884. Not the same guy as our Carls, for sure - he's not a working class guy - lives in the wrong neighborhood (North Chicago).

Gildemeisters not living in Cook County Illinois or in other states. There were some of both but it's not a common name. See the census spreadsheet for the Illinois folks.

I've ignored voting records and naturalization records. Specifically and given that the naturalization records were prior to 1900 there is no significant data to be realized from them. I have looked at them and determined not to include their images, etc.

Looks like my Gildemeisters were renters based on census data, so no need to evaluate real estate records in the relevant time period.

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/11479.html

https://chicagology.com/rebuilding/

Street renumbering of 1911

http://www.odessa3.org/collections/land/wprussia/

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/fs1germanybirthsandbaptisms/ no luck, did look

https://www.lindstreet.com/german/

http://chicagogenealogy.com/find-chicago-research-help.html

https://www.genealoger.com/german/pommern/pommern__immigration.htm

Google books History of Chicago 1871-1885

Lakeside Annual Directory 1887

Chicago and Her Churches 1868

https://www.newberry.org/sites/default/files/researchguide-attachments/churchguide.pdf

A RECAP OF BIRTHS MARRIAGES AND DEATHS IN THE US FOR MY IMMIGRANT ANCESTORS WITH CHURCH REFERENCES (WHERE KNOWN):

The "gildermeisters" google sheet link that summarizes the details.

The purpose of this document (see also below for a repeat of the data in grid format) is to consolidate information on the life events of the core family members who immigrated to the US. Namely:

Karl (Johann?) Sr. (1812-1890)

Constancia Radtke Gildermeister(1823-1880)

Gustav (1844-1915)

Auguste Gildermeister Hupke(1850-1874)

Karl Jr. (Wilhelm?) (1854-1936)

Caroline Gildermeister Stoewsand(1859-1923)

Why present the data this way (on a grid sorted by date)? So as to make it easy use the data to search through church records. And especially so if the church where the event was held is not known given that you have dates to look through for the various church's the family had used for other events.

Life events (birth, marriage and death) are laid out on a timeline and where known, the church where the baptism, marriage or funeral took place is tied to the date. Typically the way the church is known is the name of the pastor on a document, which is compared to The Lakeside Annual Directory or other period document. That way, when looking at microfilm or other record, you can go straight to the date range where the baptism, marriage or funeral took place. Or scan through a relevant timeframe if needed in the case where the church is not known, and you need to do a wider ranged search in hope of connecting to an event at a church. If you need the image of the original record, go back to the top of this page and find the link in the timeline under "FACTS IN TIMELINE:."

Here's two specific examples:

We note that Auguste/Emil were married on 18 January 1874 at First Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church. The church (per their web site) says pre-1935 records are on microfilm at The Newberry Library. Go to the library and get the film, etc. Go to the relevant date (or range) and get the image, and so on.

1891 Karl Jr/Caroline (Ernestine?) second marriage for both, by Gotthilf J. Lambrecht of the German United Evangelical Lutheran St. Peters. Image of the marriage license is in the timeline. The church is still in existence and has the old records, but it's now a Methodist church of all things. See the google sheet for more details. This is one where I'd ask you to get in your car and go look at the original record(s).

Caveats:

Dates are approximate in some cases. The years are of high quality, month and day may be a bit off (e.g. date of death <> date of funeral). Be sure to look around a bit to be sure not to miss relevant records. Should be no surprise at this technique.

List of Churches:

It should be noted that my family went to several different Lutheran churches in Chicago. Suspect they went to nearby churches based on where they lived - and they moved around a bit (and were renters).

First Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Augustus Reinke pastor during the relevant time period - the church web site says pre-1935 records are on microfilm at The Newberry Library. Church is still in operation at their early location in Wicker Park. First Bethlehem was founded in 1871. The area was also flooded with German immigrants, the vast majority of whom came from the Lauenburg area of Pomerania. (That town is now in the north of Poland and is now called Lębork.)

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church - 742 North Ada, Chicago Rev. Robert Fahner, pastor 1905-1915 per blue book. Records are available in Ancestry have been downloaded and links to the images are included in the "FACTS IN TIMELINE" area above. This might need some more looking, but the basics are there.

4th German Evangelical United Lutheran St. Peter’s, which was just being established at Chicago Ave & Noble circa 1898. The Lakeside Annual Directory says Lambrecht was pastor there in at least 1887. Organized in 1864 as a member of the Evangelical Synod, the congregation for a time was a union congregation of Lutherans and Evangelicals. Later a member of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, it is now a member of the United Church of Christ, and is known as St. Peter UCC. NOTE>>>>>Parish records from 1864 are at the current church office, 2805 N. Linder, Chicago, IL 60639. Please visit this church! https://www.facebook.com/StPetersUCCChicago/

Church location links:

https://www.chicagoancestors.org/place/4th-german-evangelical-united-lutheran-st-peters

https://www.chicagoancestors.org/place/4th-german-evangelical-united-lutheran-st-peters-0

https://www.chicagoancestors.org/place/first-bethlehem

http://fblcchicago.org/about-us/history/learning-from-our-history

https://www.chicagoancestors.org/place/trinity-evangelical-lutheran-church-4

https://www.chicagoancestors.org/place/trinity-evangelical-lutheran-church-5

The hope here is that this compilation of data will help find relevant church records with additional data. That and a trip to the Newberry Library that is.

gildermeisters

Family wedding photo at cousin's wedding

Anna Wagner. first row, fourth from left,

Maggie Gildemeister back row, third from right,

Anna Rintz first row on right

Early 1920, just before Anna married Eddy Mayer.

Thank you Cousin Donna for this!

Karl Jr. and second wife at Concordia Cemetery (section 5 plot 591). So her name may be Ernestine, or it may be Christine, but her marriage license and her death certificate both show her surname as Schultz. Note the Radtke's to the left (enlarge). Might be a connection to the Radtke family that came over with them on the Christel in 1869 (and again that was Karl Sr.'s wifes maiden name). Note: I think that his birth date is in error. It's not the same birth year as on the Christel's passenger list, but the address on the death certificate is near Karl Jr. and Anna's son John. Findagrave does not show William Radtke (or WR Jr. for that matter) so do not trust it in this matter.

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