As I wrote earlier today, you may have noticed I’ve been quieter of late. Part of that is that I’ve been busier at work. Part of that is my investigation into genealogy. That’s leading me into some puzzles. I’d love to see your reasoning on my current conundrum… I’ve got it behind a cut because it is graphics heavy.
My great great grandmother was Minnette Hess or Hesse, born about 1832 in Alsace-Lorraine in France. We know that she spent most of her life in Memphis TN. My great-aunt Minnette left me a page detailing the Hesse family, which I’ve been attempting to tease out of the records. Searching through the records, I found an immigration entry from 1849 in New Orleans that shows the following family:
As you can see, this shows Hoest Hesse and his wife Sarah, with children Pauline, Jeanette, Minette, a son whose name isn’t clear (Max? Moses?), and Rose. This fits with Aunt Minnette’s notes, which show Pauline, Rosalie, and Jeanette as sisters to Minnette Hess, with an unknown brother, and potentially two unknown sisters. In 1850, this family seems to be in Cincinnati OH:
Everyone is shown as being from France. the unknown brother might be Seligman, but it is hard to confirm. They’ve gained an older sister, Antonet, but it still fits with Minnette’s notes. I’ve had good luck expanding the tree for Pauline and Jeanette. Tonight I started to work on Rosa/Rosalie. My notes show she married someone named Weiler in New York. I found the following from 1880:
This shows Simon and Rosa Weiler, with daughters whose names can’t all be read. Aunt Minnette’s notes show one son was Merrylle, and this fits with the son Myril. Going back further, I found the following in Memphis TN in 1870:
This shows Simon and Rosa, although Rosa is being shown as being from Germany, but Alsace-Lorraine kept changing hands. Here’s where it gets interesting. On the same page is the following family:
Samuel is being shown as born in France, Nettie in Ohio, and the rest of the kids in Tennesse. Note Sarah on the page. Sarah was also born in France, and the birthdate fits for the original Sarah Hesse I’m investigating. Families often lived near each other, so perhaps this is another child of Sarah’s. Could Samuel be Seligmann or the unreadable son?
Continuing on… one of the notes of Aunt Minnette’s shows ? Hess = Matiel ?, and they had a daughter Minna who married a Mich Hurst (possibly related to the novelist Fanny Hurst, but I digress). Investigating this line, I figured out that Minna’s father was a Saul or Solomon Hurst. How did I do this? In 1880, in Memphis, was the following family:
All of the family was from France. On the page I found Minna Hurst, it was noted that she was living with her sister Stella. Stella = Estelle. Aunt Minnette’s notes also show Sadie and Alma as sisters, but I haven’t found them yet. Matilda could easily be an Americanization of Matiel. Tracing back further, I found:
This appears to be the same family, although the 1870 census shows only Sol and Matilda as being from France. Jennie and Mary are from Ohio; the other kids are from France.
This is where I’m at right now, facing questions such as:
- Did Sarah and Hoest have two sons: Solomon and Samuel? Which one is the unreadable one in the 1849 manifest?
- Have I made the right connections in Minnette’s notes?
- Why am I so obsessed with this?
In any case, I hope you can see why this is so fascinating. It is like putting together a puzzle.
