I really want to find out more about my third
great grandparents, Martin and Maria Nufer.
There are several research questions I have about this couple. Included in my research To Do’s for them are
the following:
○
What is Maria’s maiden name?
○
Were Martin and Maria married prior to
immigration?
○
What are their home towns in Baden Germany?
To this point in time finding the answers to
these questions has proven to be an elusive endeavor. I have been working my way back one
generation at a time on my maternal line.
Rosa Nufer Loescher is my great, great grandmother and the fifth child
of Martin and Maria Nufer in a family of seven daughters.i My research to date on Rosa and her children
has not turned up any family knowledge or artifacts that would help answer
these research questions about Martin and Maria Nufer. While I continue to look for this couple in
traditional records, documents and newspapers I really feel like I need to
additionally see if I can find out more about their other children and maybe
even find a cousin in that branch of my family tree who has the answers to my
questions. Good idea, right? But wait…..
Seven daughters….oh my goodness. The idea of
trying to identify the families of seven women from 19th century Central
Illinois seemed rather daunting. But I
decided that the only way to tackle this research challenge was simple….one
daughter at a time.
But what is known
about Martin and Maria already? From
Rosa’s obituary it says she was born in Groveland, Illinoisii My assumption is that if in Tazewell
County. The first time this family
appears in the US Federal census is in 1860.
They are in Peoria Ward 1, Peoria, Illinois. Along with their parents, there are five of
the seven daughters - Mary L, Caroline, Josephine, Emily and Rosina (10 months
old).
 |
| 1860 US Federal census - Martin Nufer Family |
If Rosa’s birth location is correct in her
obituary (that information is suspect in my evaluation) it means this family
had only been residing in Peoria for a few months. The first appearance of this family in a
Peoria City Directory of the time was in the 1861 edition where Martin is
listed as a “dealer in cattle, hogs, etc.iii”
What about this couple’s immigration? The 1860 census lists the birthplace for the
oldest daughter, Mary L (aka Maria Louisa) as Illinois. But the 1870 US Federal census lists her
birthplace as “Baden”.iv
Maria’s birthdate on her death certificate is not direct. It is written as the number of years, months
and days instead. From that calculation
her birth date is 1 Nov 1851.v
In the 1860 and 1870 census records Martin and Maria are listed as being
born in Baden also. I have never been
able to find Martin and Maria (separately or together) in a passenger
list…..yet. Martin is not listed in the
only extant index of naturalizations for Peoria County, Illinois. (Note to self: check Tazewell County naturalizations to see
if he was listed there.) Based on
additional census records, city directories and Federal tax lists from the
Civil War, Martin and Maria continued to live and work in Peoria, Illinois
until the early 1870’s.
My working theory is that they came to America
around 1850 or 1851 as a married couple (possibly pregnant). But where can I find out more the daughters;
especially the oldest one Maria Louise?
How can I find their descendants?
In order to do that I really need to find their husbands names.
Martin
Nufer passed away sometime in March 1873.vi The only record or mention of this passing
that I have been able to find is from his probate file from Peoria County,
Illinois from 1877. Evidently he died in
Texas and likely was not brought back to Peoria for burial. There is no record of him being buried at St
Joseph’s Cemetery in West Peoria (where his wife is buried) nor any record of a
funeral at any Catholic church in Peoria.
In his probate file there is no will and no
mention of any property or heirs. It
only includes a request by his widow to be name the Executrix of his estate so
that a mortgage maybe settled.
So….no help here in finding the names of his
daughters’ husbands.
Based on family information, discussions with
my grandmother and other records, I was able to identify married names for two
of Rosa’s sisters. Caroline was married
to John Friling and Josephine’s husband was Andrew Brutcher. Both of these men were from Jubilee Township
in Peoria County, Illinois and would have lived not far from Rosa and her
husband Frank Loesher. While this was
very nice to find these married names and the descendants of Caroline and
Josephine it really did not help me to identify any new information about
Martin and Maria.
But wait….listed in the same index of probate
files I found online at the Illinois Regional Archives Depository website for
Peoria County was a listing for Maria Nufer!!
Given that her husband’s probate file was so small and included no real
information I did not have much hope for finding out anything meaningful from
Maria’s file. But, I requested the file
and was overjoyed at the results.
Maria Nufer died on 17 March 1882 in Peoria,
Illinois.vii The probate packet contents were just 5 pages
including the front cover and included a handwritten will!viii It reads as many wills do in that it provides
instruction about who should administer her estate and what is to be done with
her personal possessions. But at the end
of the will it lists each of her daughters and for six of the them their
husbands first and last names are included.
Wilhelmina (Minnie) was not married at the time and evidently was still
living with her mother.
Finally….I found the married names of 5 of my
great great grandmother’s sisters! Maybe
this would help move my research about the third great grandparents forward.
Probate File Transcription - Maria Nufer
Probate File - Maria Nufer
Peoria County, Illinois and Illinois Regional Archives Depository
Source Citation -
Peoria County, Illinois, probate case files,
file, no. 2585, Maria Nufer (date),will record no. 4, pages 60 - 61,1882;
Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Western Illinois University, Macomb,
Illinois.
Filed 21 March 1882.
[Page 1 of PDF file]
No. 2585
PROBATE COURT
PEORIA COUNTY
ESTATE OF
MARIA NUFER
DECEASED
Security
BOND $ ______________
Letters Granted ______________19_____
Inventory Files_______________19_____
Amount of Appraisement . . $_________
Amount of Specific Allowance . . $_________
Amount of Sale Bill . . . . . . . . . . .
.$_________
RESIDENCE OF ADMINISTRATOR
Will record No. 4, Pages 60 - 61
[Page 2 of PDF file]
STATE OF ILLINOIS,
Peoria County,
In the
County Court of said County,
In Probate, March Term, A.D. 1882
PERSONALLY APPEARED in open Court, Harmon
Alkis
and John M. Niehaus subscribing witnesses to
the foregoing instrument
Of writing, purporting to be the Last Will and
Testament of Maria Nufer
late of Peoria County, deceased, who being
duly sworn according to law, do
depose and say, each for himself, that the
foregoing is the Last Will and Testament of the said
Maria Nufer, deceased; that they subscribed
their names thereto as the
attesting witnesses at the request of the said
Testator, and in her presense, and in the
presence of each other, on the 4th day of
January A.D. 1882
That she then and there subscribed her name
thereto in their presence, and
declared the same to be her Last Will and
Testament; and that the said Testator at the time
of executing the same as aforesaid was of full
age, of sound mind and memory, and under no
constraint.
Subscribed and Sworn to in open Court, this
21st day of March A.D. 1882
John D McClure County Clerk.
Lawrence Olhmert
John M Niehaus
[Page 3 of PDF file]
THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, PEORIA COUNTY. SS.
Fridalin Braun being duly sworn, deposeth and
saith:
That Maria Nufer late of the Town of Peoria
in the County of Peoria and State aforesaid,
departed this life at Peoria
in said County, on or about the Seventeenth
day of March
A. D. 1882, and that she died leaving a last
will and testament to
the best of my knowledge and belief.
Fridolin
Braun [signature]
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 20th
day
of March A. D. 1882.
John
D McClure [signature]
County
Clerk.
[Page 4 of PDF file]
In the name God. Amen. I
Maria Nufer of the City and
County of Peoria and State of
Illinois, being in poor health but
Of Sound and of posing mind and
Memory did make, publish
and declair this to be my last
will and testament.
I desire that my funeral Ex
penses and all just debts to be
fully paid.
I give and bequeth to my be-
loved daughter Wilhelmina Nufer
all my household effects, that
is to say all the personal propo
irty now being or which at the
time of my death shall be in
My house and home. Except notes
or other o????
in action or money
on hand.
It is my wish and will that
after the payment of my just
Debts and funeral Expenses all of
My Money and property Except
That bequeathed to my said daughter
Wilhelmina shall be divided equally
Between all of My children ????
Mary Braun wife of Fredolin Brown
Caroline Freiling wife of John Friling
Josephine Brutsher wife of Andrew Prutcher
Emma Powell wife of Wm Powell
Rosa Loeshe wife of Frank Loeshe
[Page 5 of PDF file]
Freidricka Miller wife of George Miller
And Wilhelmina Nufer
And I herby appoint Michael
Blank of the City and County as
Executor of this my last will
and
testament fully comprising my
Said Executor to Execute the pror??I?
of the same.
In witness thereof I the said Maria
Nufer have hereunto set my haus and
have this
4th day of January A D 1882
Maria
Nufer [signature]
Signed Sealed, published and declared
By the said Maria Nufer, as her
Last Will and testament in our
presence, who in her presence and
the
presence of Each other at her
request Signed our Names as ??????
to the Same on the on?? above written
L
??????? Miller [signature]
J.
M. Niehauc [signature]
I decided it would be best to start with the
oldest daughter Mary. It would seem that
maybe if there were any letters or documents passed down in the family that
maybe they be with her children and grandchildren. But in looking at the handwritten will, I had
a hard time reading the writing and decided that Mary’s last name was
Brown. Her husband’s first name was also
hard to make out but it looked like “Fredolin”.
Off I went in search of a “Fredolin and Mary Brown” in Peoria or the
surrounding areas. I came up with
nothing in census records or city directories or in church records for these
names. Oh there were lots of Brown’s but
nothing with anything close to a couple with these two first names.
Life goes on and this all got set aside for
several years. In 2014 I reread the
handwritten will again of Maria Nufer and this time I enhanced and enlarged the
scanned image. This led me to see that
the surname was not “Brown” but was instead “Braun”. Also, “Fredolin” was Fridolin.
BINGO!
I went back to the Peoria census records, city directories and church
records again and there they were.
Fridolin and Maria Louise Braun made their home at 115 Smith Street,
Peoria, Illinois starting around 1885.
There are Braun family descendants living at that same address until at
least 1946.
There are many, many descendants of Fridolin
and Maria Louisa Nufer Braun and their seven children. There are also some very tragic stories
also. I’ll be writing about some of them
in future blog posts.
But back to the other Nufer sisters.
Here are their names and their husbands’ names from Maria Nufer’s probate
file along with a brief snopsis of their lives.
○Mary Braun
wife of Fridolin Brown - This couple had seven children and lived their married
life in Peoria, Illinois at 115 Smith Street.
○Caroline
Friling wife of John Friling - They live in Jubilee Township, Peoria County for
a few years and then lived in Peoria for the rest of their married life. They had seven children.
○Josephine
Brutsher wife of Andrew Prutcher [surname is really spelled Brutcher] - Andrew
was raised in Jubilee Township also and their entire married life was spent
here as well. They have six children.
○Emma Powell
wife of Wm Powell - I have not been able to find this couple yet or what
happened to them.
○Rosa Loeshe
wife of Frank Loeshe [surname is spelled Loescher] - these are my great great
grandparents. See other related blog
posts about this couple.
○Freidricka
Miller wife of George Miller - I have not been able to find this couple yet or
what happened to them.
○And
Wilhelmina [Minnie] Nufer - She is a mystery.
She may have married Charles Shotte from Kickapoo, Illinois after the
death of her mother.
While I
have found been able to identify and find four of the seven Nufer daughters and
their families, I have not been able to find out the answers to my original
questions that I started with. More
research is needed. More work is
necessary. Ho Hum.
I have had some small success with autosomal
DNA testing. I found a couple of
“cousins” in my AncestryDNA match list that were descendants of Fridolin and
Maria Nufer Braun. But they did not know
anything about this couple (in fact I was the one who told them about this
couple). Maybe through more DNA testing
and efforts by these two newly found “cousins” we will find some family
artifacts that have survived.
I also would like to find a German language
newspaper from Peoria from the 1870’s and 1880’s. Maybe there would be death notices or stories
about this family in the pages of that periodical. Recently I have found another Nufer family in
Peoria during the 1860’s - 1880’s as well.
I have now started trying to research them in hopes of finding a
connection between that new couple and my Nufer’s. Maybe that will yield some new clues also.
I’ll just keep trying to find out new information by investigating this
family one person at a time!
Links to
Previous Blog Posts -
Where Did Martin Nufer Die?
Rose Loescher – The Mystery of Her Birth
Copyright
©2016 – Diane Minor – All Rights Reserved.
i "Mrs. Rose Loescher,"
obituary, Brimfield (Illinois) News,
22 Sep 1938; microfilm, Brimfield Public Library, Brimfield, Illinois.
1860 U.S.
census, Peoria County, Illinois, population schedule, Peoria Ward 1,
Enumeration District (ED) 134, p. 40, line 10, household 301, family 324, Rosina
Nufar; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com
: accessed 3 Dec 2014), citing National
Archives microfilm publication T653, roll M653_216, FHL microfilm 803216.
ii "Mrs. Rose Loescher,"
obituary, Brimfield (Illinois) News,
22 Sep 1938; microfilm, Brimfield Public Library, Brimfield, Illinois.
iii O. E. Root, compiler, Root’s Peoria City Directory 1861 : (Peoria, Illinois: O. E. Root, Publisher, 1861), 92, entry for "Martin Nufer"; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 May 2015).
iv 1870 U.S. census, Peoria County, Illinois, population schedule, Peoria Ward 6, p. 109, line 23, dwelling 765, family 765, Mary Nufer; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 19 May 2014), citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll M593_267, page 466A, image 506, FHL film 545766.
v Peoria County, Illinois, death certificate, no. not included (23 Apr 1893), Maria Louisa Braun, Peoria County Clerk, Peoria.
vi Peoria County, Illinois, probate case files, no. 2097, Martin Nufer (1877); Illinois Regional Archives Depository System, Western Illinois University, Macomb.
vii Peoria County, Illinois, probate case files, file, no. 2585, Maria Nufer (date),will record no. 4, pages 60 - 61,1882; Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois.
