My grandmother, whom we called "Ami" (thats Ah-Me, not Amy), was born Lydia Hedwig Kroll. She was the ninth of eleven children of Ottilie and Julius Kroll, German Immigrant dairy farmers from Chester, N.Y.
She was a teller of tales and one I remember well was the story of her parents. Her father came to America from Germany to be with his brother. When he arrived in Blue Island, Illinios, he was introduced to his brothers wife's sister, Ottilie Herzke. Presumably they fell in love, courted, got married and started a family.
Ami had several siblings that were born in Germany...in between siblings born in Illinois and Chester, N.Y. In fact, she implied that her parents traveled back and forth to Germany having children, willy- nilly, in both America and Germany.
I recently had my DNA tested through AncestryDNA. It confirmed I was about half German, as I expected. What surprised me is the number of my German-American Cousins that "found" me because our DNA and family trees matched. Now that is amazing!
Using my newly discovered sources, I began to more fully explore my Herzke-Kroll genes and will share what I have found.
The Marriage of Ottilie and Julius
I have been unable to pin down exactly when Julius Kroll arrived in America. Several U. S. Federal Census records indicate 1890. Did he tell the census taker this or did his wife or one of his children? Did they have an exact correct date or were they rounding off to "around" the time he arrived. Until I find reliable immigration records, we may never know.
I do have a reliable immigration record for Ottilie Herzke, She arrrived in America in May 1893 aboard the German registered ship "Darmstadt" from Breman.
Who knows how Ottilie and Julius actually met, probably from attending the same church...they may have even known each other from the old country. What we do know are the following facts:
- Ottilie Herzke (1873-1955) is the sister of Anna Marie Kroll nee Herzke (1860-1940)
- Anna Marie Kroll nee Herzke is married to Frederick Kroll (1862-1927)
- Frederick Kroll is the brother of Julius Kroll (1865-1944)
- Anna and Frederick Kroll immigrated from Przepandowo, Prussia in April 1891
- Ottilie Herzke immigrated from Przepandowo, Prussia in May 1893
Whatever brought them together, carried them to the alter of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Blue Isle, Illinois on Saturday, September 23, 1893. The First Evangelical Lutheran Church, founded by German immigrants in 1861, has occupied the site since 1863. The original building, which is still intact, was added to on the north in the mid-twentieth century, and to the south a parochial school was constructed. But the Old Postcard below shows the building as it would have appeared to the young German immigrants in 1893.
My newly discovered cousin Donna, a descendant of Anna and Frederick Kroll, shared my Great Grandparents Marriage License with me:
Recently Donna and I were talking on the phone and comparing notes when I manually searched the First Evangelical Lutheran Chuch of Blue Island's membership books and found the actual church register for their marriage.
The young couple celebrated the happy occasion in Photographs, I scanned this from an original in my aunt Dee's collection. She is the Granddaughter of the bride and groom.:
Donna sent me her copy, which is a slightly different pose, but its clearly the same people, same clothes, same photographer, but hers and mine have been seperated by half a continent for over a century until we reunited them this week!
Judging by the clothing and the cost of a photographer, we can well imagine that their wedding included a reception. imagine the good german food...and frothy mugs of bier!
Maybe they even splurged on a honeymoon, but I have not found a record of any of these things so far...but I will continue to look.
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