Recent Updates — Family History by Week

NOVEMBER 2–8 · UPDATED NOVEMBER 3, 2026

New information added the week of 11/02/26

What we learned

• Martin Bickel’s marriage gives his parents’ names. The original 1905 register names J. Henry and Anna née Budde. The date and age differences are explained alongside the record. Read Martin’s story.
• A Covington namesake is now clearly separate. Bernard H. Rohling’s 1879 estate names his wife Louise. He cannot be Quincy Bernard, who lived until 1900. A different Cincinnati voyage account still needs its own identity check. See why the distinction matters.
• More of the family stories are now on the website. Read about the Bickels’ Quincy property, the Coffeys’ County Mayo records, Henry Bange’s estate and the Kunkel and Allgeier family clues. Each story keeps the records separate from connections still being tested.
• Bernard’s sons left a clear family record. His estate papers name John Henry and John Frank as his children, Magdalena as his widow, and August 27, 1900 as his death date. A later report calls the sons brothers and Bernard’s only heirs. The inventory also identifies his Quincy property. Read the story.
• Bernard helped document the Wintz family. In sworn testimony from 1866, Barney Roling named Frank Wintz’s widow and five young children. Quincy deeds show property passing between the families. Their exact relationship is still an open question.
• Joe was working for his father in 1917. Joseph Henry Roling’s draft card describes him as a machinist in Salisbury, employed by “Father,” and married with a wife to support. It is a small contemporary glimpse of the family’s working life, not a record of military service.
• We can now read two Coffey baptisms in the original register. Kate’s 1870 entry and Margaret’s 1877 entry both name Thomas Coffey and Mary Jordan. They strengthen the Irish family evidence, while a different mother’s surname in Bridget’s 1880 record still needs explaining.
• Peter and Bridget’s wedding has a place and date. A church transcript records Peter Morrisroe and Bridget Coffey marrying at St Monica in Manhattan on September 22, 1907. It closely matches Delia’s later account. Read their story.
• Joseph and Catherine Jordan were in Lynbrook by 1950. Their census address was 31 Watts Place. Joseph operated an elevator at a bank. See the household.
• A Bange marriage names the groom’s father. The 1853 church entry names Bernard Henry Bange as John Bernard’s father—a useful clue for the search in Germany. Read more.
• The Bruns family is coming into focus in Germany. We found a 1792 marriage, baptisms for Anna Maria Elisabeth in 1800 and Gesina Adelheid in 1810, and Maria Bange’s 1871 burial naming her Bruns parents.
• Elizabeth’s notice names her daughter. Elizabeth Fredewest, née Wintz, died on October 6, 1909, aged 83. Her notice calls her Mother Stanisla’s mother; the cemetery database records her burial at Calvary on October 8. Read their story.
• Julia M. Fredewest was Mother Stanisla. The Ursuline Sisters’ database confirms her religious name and names William Fredewest as her father. Born in Cincinnati, she entered in 1877, took her vows on August 15, 1879, and died on March 31, 1932. She was buried at Arcadia.
• Julia appears in her father’s court records. A Cincinnati court explicitly called her William Fredewest’s minor child and heir. William had died by June 24, 1862. The original property record also corrects our earlier appraisal figure: $3,000, not $900.
• A new German record describes a Wintz family leaving in 1854. Johann Joseph traveled with an unnamed wife and daughter; two children were already in America. We still need to identify them.

What we’re still investigating

• Was Elizabeth Magdalena’s sister? That connection remains unproved. The German Elisabetha baptism names her father as Jakob, while other candidate family records say Joseph. We are also keeping Julia/Stanisla’s three conflicting birth dates open, even though the Ursuline database now confirms her religious identity.
• Magdalena’s German home: the original Quincy death register supports Maikammer, but its age and years in Illinois disagree with other records. Her German parents are not yet proved.
• Henry Bickel’s early years in Quincy: an 1851 purchase and an 1884 deed signed by John Henry and Anna concern the same parcel. That strongly connects the early purchaser with the family, although an intervening transaction means we cannot assume continuous ownership.
• Where do the Bruns connections lead? The German records fit together well, but they don’t automatically prove the Dutch or American family links.
• Was the Elizabeth living at a St Louis convent in 1900 the same woman? She was listed as a widowed lodger with one child still living.
• Two possible family voyages: Bernhard Rohling aboard the Lyons in 1846, and a Widmer group aboard the Belle Assise in 1852. Neither has yet been proved to be our family.

Also new: state outlines on the map and the story of Cincinnati’s 1884 courthouse riots.

OCTOBER 26–NOVEMBER 1, 2026

New information added the week of 10/26/26

A look back at the additions published on November 1—not necessarily the week each record was first found.

What we learned

• A newspaper helped connect Bridget’s names. A 1968 notice identifies Bridget Morrison as Mrs. Robert Roling. Read the family connection.
• The Widmer family story gained more detail. Joseph’s 1888 will names eight children who were to inherit. John’s church marriages name Joseph Widmer and Anna Bog as his parents. We also added records for John Joseph’s 1879 birth and Maria Schuler’s death in 1884. Explore those records.
• Charles Widmer’s two wives are now kept distinct. Helen Depke died in 1934. Ruth was named as his wife in his 1951 death record. We haven’t found Charles and Ruth’s wedding date. Read more.
• Family journeys became easier to follow. Peter and Delia’s arrival accounts and the move from St Louis to Seattle gained clearer links on the family map.

What we’re still investigating

• Michael Morrison’s Irish family: several records point strongly toward the Morrisroe family, but conflicting birthdays and places still need explaining. See the evidence.
• Seattle John’s Swiss roots: the American records strengthen the comparison with Johann born in Switzerland in 1845. The connection still needs care. Follow the Swiss search.
• Passenger names are only clues until we connect them. The 1909 John Morris arrival remained a possibility, and we did not assign Michael Morrison a ship.