The Quincy records, a probable German candidate and the limits of the connection.
Magdalena’s life in Quincy—and the family we’re still tracing
Magdalena Wentz and Bernard Roling married at St. Boniface in Quincy on January 7, 1855. They raised their family there. In the 1900 census, Magdalena reported seven children born and two still living; the later notices name her surviving sons Henry and Frank.
Their son John Franklin was born on February 29, 1864, and baptized the next day. Two Wintzes stood as his sponsors—names worth following, although the register does not explain how they were related to Magdalena.
Magdalena died in Quincy on November 17, 1904. Her obituary remembered her birthplace as “Meickammer.” The original county death register gives a clearer reading: Maikammer, Germany. That strengthens the place to search, although the register’s age and years in Illinois disagree with other records. A Magdalena born in Maikammer in September 1827 remains a promising match, not a proved identification.
The Wintz estate papers give us a firmer American connection. They name Lena Roling of Quincy as an heir, and a matching receipt carries Magdalena Roling’s signature. They connect her with that family without saying exactly how she was related.
Bernard’s sons put the family on record
Bernard’s own estate papers bring us back to the family in Quincy. In their 1904 petition, John Henry and John Frank identified themselves as his children and reported that he had died on August 27, 1900. They named Magdalena as his widow and noted that she, too, had since died. John Henry’s final report later called John Frank his brother and described the two of them as Bernard’s only heirs.
The inventory also gives us a small glimpse of what Bernard left: a Quincy lot valued at $1,000 and personal belongings totaling $24.70. These papers strengthen the family connections we already knew and give us an exact piece of property to follow. They do not tell us where in Germany Bernard was born.
Neighbors, property and a Wintz family in need
The Rolings and Wintzes were connected through more than names in church records. In June 1855, Francis Wintz and his wife Anna Maria sold Bernard part of a Quincy lot. Ten years later, Bernard and Magdalena sold that same portion to James R. Tilton.
In 1866, Bernard, recorded as Barney Roling, gave sworn testimony about another part of the property. He said Frank Wintz had died in Jefferson County, Missouri, in 1865, leaving his widow Mary and five children: John, Mary, Catharine, Frank and William. All five were under eighteen and living with their mother. The following year, court proceedings approved the sale of the children’s adjoining property to Bernard and Nicholas Pape. Mary also signed a separate deed concerning that parcel.
These records show Bernard taking part in the Wintz family’s affairs and help us follow the household between Illinois and Missouri. They still do not state how the Wintzes and Rolings were related.
Elizabeth’s story is beginning to emerge
Elizabeth Wintz’s story now has a clear mother-and-daughter connection. Her 1909 death notice names her as Mother Stanisla’s mother. The Ursuline Sisters’ database identifies the nun as Julia M. Fredewest, daughter of William Fredewest, born in Cincinnati. She entered the convent in 1877, took her vows on August 15, 1879, and died in 1932. The records disagree about her birthday, but we no longer have to guess whether Julia M. and Stanisla were the same woman.
Elizabeth died on October 6, 1909, aged 83, and was buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis two days later. We are still trying to learn whether she was Magdalena’s sister. That family connection remains a possibility, not a proved fact.
A newly received German record adds another clue: Johann Joseph Wintz left with an unnamed wife and daughter on April 13, 1854, with two children already in America. We have not yet identified those travelers in American records.
New record note: Landesarchiv Speyer, U 103, no. 725, row 73, gives April 13, 1854. The older book quoted below says April 12; its Paris route is not securely confirmed by the original. Julia M. Fredewest’s identity as Stanisla is confirmed by the Ursuline database, but three reported birth dates remain unresolved; see the source notes below.
Read the sources and research notes below ↓
Sources and research notes
Newly read estate, death and property records
Bernard’s estate: Adams County probate packet, index 280, box 241, DGS 7653958, images 794–821. The petition, image 821, sworn November 19, 1904, names the children and widow and reports the August 27, 1900 death. The final report, image 801, sworn April 20, 1907, identifies John Henry and his brother John Frank as the sole heirs. Inventory image 809, sworn November 23, 1904, values Lot 18, Block 94, John Wood’s Addition to Quincy at $1,000. The $24.70 covers personal belongings, not the entire estate. No German parents or birthplace appear.
Magdalena’s county record: Adams County death register, page 223, entry 10960, DGS 7856146, image 229. It records death November 17, 1904, at 28 Madison Street, and burial at St. Boniface on November 19. The birthplace is read as Maikammer. Its age of 84 and sixty years in Illinois conflict with the 1827 birth and 1854 arrival reported elsewhere. This is an original-register reading; the already-held certified copy should not be counted as an independent account of the same death.
The Quincy deeds: June 1855 recorded deeds, pages 296–297, instruments 6501–6502: John Francis Wintz to Francis Wintz, followed by Francis and Anna Maria to Bernard. The latter transaction was $250 for the western 24-by-95-foot portion of Lot 2, Block 27, starting fifty feet east of the northwest corner. Its body says June 6, while the margin and acknowledgment say June 5; “June 1855” avoids choosing between them. September 23, 1865 deed, DGS 8547743, image 460: Bernard and Magdalena to James R. Tilton, $1,100, recorded May 11, 1866.
Barney’s sworn evidence: Adams County case 1846, testimony subscribed November 1, 1866, DGS 8528866, image 3298 and continuation. It names Frank’s widow and five children but does not give Barney’s relationship to them. Mary’s 1867 deed, DGS 8547747, image 311, page 595, is Mary’s separate personal quitclaim concerning the adjoining eastern 24-by-95-foot parcel, starting seventy-four feet east of the northwest corner, to Bernard Roling and Nicholas Pape for $150. It was executed June 10, acknowledged June 29 and recorded July 22. The transactions and court record support the same property chain; they do not independently prove that every Mary/Anna Maria or Frank/Francis reference is the same person.
The court approval of November 25, 1867, page 208, DGS 7657359, image 526, separately documents the guardian-sale proceedings. Mary’s personal quitclaim alone is not evidence that the children’s interests passed.
William’s estate and Julia: Administration index, estate 7156, and estate docket volume 4, page 74, give Elizabeth’s appointment on June 24, 1862. A deed places William alive on October 31, 1861, so the supported death interval is after that date and by June 24, 1862. Restored land-sale record, volume 20, page 56, case 954, explicitly calls Julia William’s minor child and heir. The land-sale case and estate have different numbers but are now linked by the original records; the numbers should not be treated as interchangeable.
Property figures corrected: The restored land-sale record, volume 20, page 59, writes the appraisal as “Three Thousand Dollars”; page 60 records a $3,130 sale. The previously published $900 appraisal is withdrawn. William’s purchase is in Conveyance Book 272, page 40, not Book 72. Joseph’s sworn answer, page 55 identifies the $500 note and mortgage. Mortgage Book 256, pages 219–221, records William and Elizabeth’s October 31, 1861 mortgage to Joseph and its May 11, 1863 satisfaction. No sibling relationship is stated. These court records do not resolve Julia’s conflicting birthdays or the proposed Elizabeth–Magdalena sisterhood.
The full record details, earlier comparisons and remaining questions are retained below.
Magdalena Wintz: Quincy and a possible Maikammer connection
Bernard and Magdalena’s son John Franklin Roling was born on February 29, 1864, and baptized at St. Boniface the next day. The church recorded him as Johannes Franciscus, with parents Bernardus Rohling and Magdalena Wintz. His sponsors, Johannes Franciscus Wintz and Anna Maria Wintz, give us two more Wintz names to follow in Quincy. The record doesn’t explain how they were related to Magdalena or to each other.
Magdalena died on November 17, 1904, and was buried two days later. St. Mary’s register gives her age as 77 years and two months. Her obituary calls her Bernard’s widow and says she was born in September 1827 in “Meickammer, Germany.” A funeral notice names St. Boniface Cemetery as her burial place.
That birthplace has led us to a promising baptism in Maikammer. A Magdalena Winz was born and baptized there on September 19, 1827, to Johann Joseph Winz and Barbara Koser. The name, place and month of birth make her a probable match for Magdalena in Quincy. Until we can confirm the connection, September 19 and those parents remain possibilities rather than settled family facts.
We can follow the possible Maikammer family a little further. Joannes Josephus Winz was baptized there on July 17, 1794, son of Jacobus Winz and Catharina, née Wilhelm. The same parents appear in the 1821 banns for Johann Joseph Winz and Barbara Koser, making the child a strong match for that groom. July 17 is the baptism date, not a proved birthday. This does not prove that Magdalena in Quincy belonged to this German family.
Before Barbara Koser, Johann Joseph Winz married Catharina Dehm in Maikammer on April 13, 1818. The death register calls her Catharina Barbara Dehm and records her death on February 9, 1821, and burial on February 11. It names Johann Joseph as her still-living husband, explaining why the next marriage record called him a widower. These German records don’t settle Magdalena’s identity in Quincy.
A strong lead for Barbara Koser is a Maikammer baptism dated November 16, 1797. Her father is named “Joanne Koser,” a local citizen and tailor, and his signature reads Johann Franz Koser. Her mother is Elisabetha, with the maiden surname provisionally read as Niclasin. These names fit the 1821 banns. The date is for her baptism; her exact birthday and the link to Magdalena in Quincy remain unproved.
A 1792 marriage record takes this possible German family back another generation. Johann Franz Koser and Elisabetha Nicolaus married in Maikammer on February 20. It names his parents as Johannes Koser and Apollonia Dayn, and hers as Georg Nicolaus and Anna Barbara. The names and place make Johann Franz and Elisabetha a strong match for Barbara’s parents. The link to Magdalena in Quincy remains open.
Magdalena’s arrival in America is still a puzzle. The 1900 census says 1854, but her 1904 obituary says she had lived in Quincy for more than sixty years. We haven’t identified her voyage.
A typed family-book extract supplied by the Pfalzbibliothek on 30 October 2026 adds clues about the Maikammer household. It associates Johann Joseph Wintz and Barbara Kosser with Erbgasse 5 and reports their secret departure for North America via Paris on 12 April 1854, when two children were already in America. It does not identify those two children or name a daughter accompanying them. These details help guide the search, but do not yet prove that their Magdalena was the woman who married Bernard Roling in Quincy. The Erbgasse property records remain a lead to investigate. The suggested Elisabeth Wirtz–Matthes Eichhorn connection needs clarification: the Maikammer marriage of Matthaeus Eichhorn and Elisabetha Winz is dated March 25, 1852, not March 23. Fresh readings leave the bride’s parent clause unresolved. The earlier Johann Jakob Winz/Barbara Wolff reading is not reliable enough to exclude this couple, and no alternative parent pair is adopted.
Source: Günter Schäfer and Martina Stöckl, Ortsfamilienbuch Maikammer-Alsterweiler, 3rd edition (2016), vol. 2, p. 923, entry 7217; typed extract emailed by M. Mook, Pfalzbibliothek, 30 October 2026. This is a transcription of a compiled book, not the underlying records. The email gives November birth dates for Magdalena and Johann Franz, but the original registers show Magdalena born and baptized 19 September 1827, entry 55, and Johann Franz born 19 September and baptized 20 September 1829, entry 51. The compiled-book dates and the September dates in the original registers remain in conflict; the original entries are not changed to fit the compilation. The separate compiled emigrant index supplies the suggested Eichhorn connection. Its identification still needs checking against the 1852 marriage, whose bride-parent clause remains unresolved. The American candidates below add useful evidence but do not establish that they are the same couple.
A Missouri estate names Lena Roling
John F. Wintz’s estate gives us another connection to follow. After his death on April 6, 1904, the Jefferson County, Missouri, probate papers named Lena Roling of Quincy as an heir. A $200 payment recorded for Lena on July 6 matches a receipt signed “Magdalena Roling” that same day. Together, these records strongly identify Lena and Magdalena as the same woman.
The 1906 settlement names Henry and Frank Roling as heirs of Lena. These are useful links to the Quincy family, but the papers do not call Magdalena John F.’s sister or name his German parents. His connection to the Maikammer family remains open.
Source: Jefferson County, Missouri, Probate Court, John F. Wintz estate no. 2921, copies supplied by Jefferson College; PDF sequence pages 2, 7, 12, 16 and 20. Final settlement filed June 2, 1906, Settlement Record Book 8, page 445 (PDF page 19).
Sources and notes
Maikammer Catholic marriage register, March 25, 1852, manuscript page 48, entry 6: Matthaeus Eichhorn and Elisabetha Winz. FamilySearch microfilm 367524, digital film 007947270, item 1, image 33. The exact date is secure on re-reading; the bride’s parent clause remains unresolved, and the former hard exclusion based on Johann Jakob/Barbara Wolff is withdrawn. The entry supplies no bride’s age or birth date. The same-parish index confirms the couple and year but omits parents and the exact day; it is not an independent record.
St. Boniface, Quincy, baptism register, 1864 entry 32: child and parents and facing sponsor page, manuscript page 145. The final baptism date is March 1 after February 29 was crossed out. The source spells the father’s surname Rohling. The sponsors’ relationships are not given.
St. Mary, Quincy, deaths, page 62, entry 14, 1904: Magdalena Rohling, wife of Bernard. It gives no maiden surname, birthplace, parents or cemetery. Quincy Daily Journal, November 17, 1904, page 7, column 4, “Good Woman Called Away”; November 19, page 7, column 5, “Funeral of Mrs. Roling”. The obituary calls one son “Frank of Galesburg,” which differs from his known Salisbury connection. That discrepancy remains unresolved.
Maikammer baptism, 1827 entry 55, digital film 007944343, image 171. The parents’ names read Joannis [Josephi, overwritten] Winz and Barbarae Koser [Kozer?]. Neither the Quincy church entry nor the obituary names Magdalena’s parents. This possible match is separate from the questions about Bernard’s age and German identity. Compare the original 1900 Quincy census, sheet 12B, lines 96–97, which gives Magdalena’s birth as September 1827 and immigration as 1854.
Source notes: Maikammer Catholic baptism register, manuscript page 192, entry 564, July 17, 1794; DGS 008209164, image 151. Compare the April 29, 1821 banns for Johann Joseph Winz and Barbara Koser. The banns give his age as 26 years and 10 months, roughly one month different from the time since the 1794 baptism. That difference remains unresolved.
There was also a Joseph Wintz, a tailor, having children with Christina Ullrich in Maikammer. Their daughter Maria Anna was baptized on December 27, 1819, while the Johann Joseph above was married to Catharina Dehm. We are keeping these records separate until that overlap is explained, rather than combining them because the names look alike.
The Eichhorn and Fredewest trail
A new American sequence is worth testing, but the people in it are not yet proved to be the Maikammer couple or the Wintz estate heir. An 1852 Eastern Queen passenger list records a Mattheus Eichhorn, 27, followed by Elizabeth, 26, under the same surname, with St. Louis as the intended destination. The manifest oath is dated May 10, 1852. The list gives no explicit relationship, maiden name or German town; the ages alone do not establish their identity.
Two records document a marriage in Quincy on September 6, 1858: the Adams County register uses Wilh. Fredewert and Elis. Eickhorn, while St. Boniface, page 7, entry 45, uses Wilh. Fredewest and Elis. Eichhorn. These are records of the same marriage, not proof that Elizabeth was the 1852 passenger or that Eichhorn was a prior married name. Neither entry states widowhood, parents or birthplace.
A typed St. Anthony parish transcription from Cincinnati now supplies a particularly useful mother’s name. Entry 35 records Maria Julia, born July 5, 1861 and baptized July 7, with parents Wilhelmus Fredewest and Elis. Wintz. Two supplied views resolve the mother’s final letter as z. This is an image of a typed parish transcription, not established contemporaneous handwriting. See St. Anthony baptisms, page 6, entry 35 (provider access may be required). It supplies no parents or birthplace for Elis. and does not by itself prove the proposed connection with the 1858 bride, Maikammer family or later estate heir.
Cincinnati court records now take us back to Julia’s childhood. In the proceedings over William Fredewest’s property, the court explicitly called Julia his minor child and heir. Elizabeth was his widow and the administrator of his estate. William had died by June 24, 1862, when she was appointed, earlier than our first newspaper evidence showed.
Joseph Fredewest also appears in those papers, but in a clearly documented financial role: William owed him $500 secured by a mortgage. That explains his presence in the case. Whether Joseph and William were also relatives remains unanswered.
Corrected estate details: The original restored court record gives an appraisal of $3,000, not the previously reported $900, and a sale price of $3,130. The purchase reference is Conveyance Book 272, page 40, not Book 72. Land-sale case 954 is now linked to estate 7156 by the original records; they remain separate case numbers. The April 17, 1863 Cincinnati Enquirer notice, internally dated April 2, remains useful evidence of Elizabeth’s widowhood and the sale free of her dower right.
Elizabeth and Mother Stanisla: the new evidence
Elizabeth’s death notice appeared in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 7, 1909, page 9, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 7, 1909, page 18. It names her as Elizabeth Fredewest, née Wintz, aged 83, mother of M. Stanisla of the Ursuline Order, and gives her death as October 6. The two publications carry the same notice wording, rather than two independent accounts. The funeral was announced for October 8, through St. Michael’s Church to Calvary Cemetery.
The Catholic Cemeteries burial database, viewed in a supplied screenshot, independently records Elizabeth’s burial on October 8, 1909: Calvary, section 21, lot 160, grave 1, record 239333. This is a database entry, not an original burial-register image.
Sister Adele, Ursuline Sisters Area Secretary, supplied institutional database information in correspondence on November 2, 2026: Julia M. Fredewest’s religious name was Stanisla; her father was William Fredewest; she was born in Cincinnati, entered in 1877, professed vows on August 15, 1879, died on March 31, 1932, and was buried in the Ursuline Cemetery at Arcadia, Missouri. This is an institutional database report, not the original membership register.
The birthday is still unsettled. The Ursuline database gives September 5, 1861; Maria Julia’s typed St. Anthony baptism transcription gives July 5, 1861; the 1932 death certificate gives September 7, 1862 and names William Fredewest and Elizabeth Wintz as parents. The comparison strongly supports identifying the baptized Maria Julia with Julia M./Stanisla, but we retain the conflicting dates rather than choosing one. The database itself says “Julia M.,” not “Maria Julia.”
The proposed Elizabeth–Magdalena sisterhood remains unproved. A German Elisabetha baptism names her father as Jakob, while other candidate family records name Joseph; that conflict is not resolved. Nor do these new records automatically identify the 1852 passenger, the 1858 bride, the Cincinnati widow, the 1900 convent lodger and the Wintz estate heir as one woman.