Johanna Hecht (1877-1929)

[Brinch1984]

Greetings from a Danish genealogist,

I am stuck on the 3rd great-grandmother of my daughter. I have been researching her in various turns, but I have never been able to determine her origin or confirm her parents. I have uncertain information as a starting point, and I have to admit that I get completely lost, when I try my own luck at Archion. Therefore, I hope that you geniuses will be able to help me get new information. The individual in question is:

Name: JOHANNA HECHT (married name: JOHANNA VON DÜHREN)
Date of Birth: Between 30 November and 6 December 1877 (see photo "1", excerpt from email from a descendant; however see information about date of death).
Place of Birth: Wernigerode, Germany (see photo "2", marriage certificate).
Parents: Carl Hecht and Johanna Schubert (see photo "2").

Migration: Departed Hamburg, Germany on 5 April 1900. Her soon-to-be husband was on the same vessel (see photo "3").

Married WILHELM LEO VON DÜHREN (1878-1955) on 14 April 1900 in New York City, New York, USA (see photo "2").

Date of Death: 9 June 1929 (see photo "4", excerpt from public records) or 15 June 1929 (see photo "1" and link from findagrave.com).
Place of Death: Wayne (Passaic County), New Jersey, USA (see photo "4")
Place of Burial: Pompton Plains First Reformed Church Cemetary, Pompton Plains (Morris), New Jersey, USA

(My own guess is that 9 June 1929 is the date of death - based on the public record - and 15 June 1929 could be the date of burial).

Children: Six (6), namely:

1. Elsa Marie von Dühren (1900-1978)
2. Anita von Dühren (1902-1982)
3. Margareta Johanna von Dühren (1907-1987)
4. Edith Helena von Dühren (1909-1909)
5. Edith Helen von Dühren (1914-2013)
6. Marie Martha von Dühren (1916-2015)

I appreciate your time and I sincerely hope, you will be able to help me. Please let me know if there is any additional information, I can provide or clarify.

Thank you!

Thomas

[hehesani]

Hi,
The closest I could get so far was the birth of a Johanna Christiana, born November 3rd, 1874, at Hasserode (which is part of Wernigerode Christuskirche church book). She was the illegitimate daughter of Johanna Christiana Hecht.

https://www.archion.de/p/d469c931f5/

Let me know in case you don't have a subscription to archion anymore.

Greetings,
Christine

[Werner52]

Goddag!

May I ask you three questions, please.

1.) In a Danish forum, you wrote that you only found the names of Johanna's parents (Jeg har heller ikke fundet spor af hendes forældre andet end deres navne, Carl Hecht og Johanna (født Schubert).
You are probably referring to the marriage certificate from New York. So you didn't find a married couple named Schubert-Hecht in the protestant parish-records of the city of Wernigerode around 1877. Is that correct?

2.) Do you have any proof that Johanna was protestant? She could also have been catholic. In that case, the Catholic parish in Halberstadt would have been responsible for her in 1877. However, she is not listed in the parish-records there. But Hecht and Schubert could also be Jewish surnames.

3.) Did you ask for her birth certificate at the Wernigerode city archives?

Greeting
Werner

[Brinch1984]

Hi,
The closest I could get so far was the birth of a Johanna Christiana, born November 3rd, 1874, at Hasserode (which is part of Wernigerode Christuskirche church book). She was the illegitimate daughter of Johanna Christiana Hecht.

https://www.archion.de/p/d469c931f5/

Let me know in case you don't have a subscription to archion anymore.

Greetings,
Christine

Thank you, Christine.

I appreciate the work. Thank you very much. I have access to the documentation. Thank you for sharing it. It does not line up with the information I have, but I will reach out to the archives in Trenton, New Jersey to see, if they have additional information. Your proposal is however, by far, the closed, I have gotten.

Best,

Thomas

[Brinch1984]

Goddag!

May I ask you three questions, please.

1.) In a Danish forum, you wrote that you only found the names of Johanna's parents (Jeg har heller ikke fundet spor af hendes forældre andet end deres navne, Carl Hecht og Johanna (født Schubert).
You are probably referring to the marriage certificate from New York. So you didn't find a married couple named Schubert-Hecht in the protestant parish-records of the city of Wernigerode around 1877. Is that correct?

2.) Do you have any proof that Johanna was protestant? She could also have been catholic. In that case, the Catholic parish in Halberstadt would have been responsible for her in 1877. However, she is not listed in the parish-records there. But Hecht and Schubert could also be Jewish surnames.

3.) Did you ask for her birth certificate at the Wernigerode city archives?

Greeting
Werner

Pænt goddag, Werner.

You can indeed ask questions. Let me respond accordingly:

1. That is correct. I only have the names from the New York City Marriage Certificate, of which I have shared a copy. I have not been able to find any relevant couples having primarily focused on resources available on ancestry.com and myheritage.com -- I have tried archion.de as well, but I have not gotten close in any instance.

2. I have to be honest that I have not really considered this at all. Being Danish, (almost) all births, confirmations, marriages, death, etc. will go into the parish records, so this has not crossed my mind at all.

3. I have not. Thank you for the suggestion. I was not aware that this was a possibility.

All inputs greatly appreciated.

Mange tak!

Thomas

[hehesani]

Hi again,

I found this entry in the address book of Hasserode-Wernigerode from 1893/1894:

image.png

https://digital.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/hd/periodical/pageview/325112

I assume that these two widows living together at Friedrichstraße 140, Hasserode, might be the mother and grandmother of the above mentioned "Johanne Christiane Hecht" born November 3rd, 1874. I have unfortunately not been able to find a marriage of Johanne Christiane's mother to a husband called Schubert.

The mother of Johanne Christiane was also called Johanne Christiane. Her parents were "Carl Hecht" and "Marie Friederike Hecht". Her birth certificate is in ancestry.

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61132/records/846798

This might all be completely irrelevant to your search. But I would not rule out completely yet that this might be the Johanna Hecht you are searching for.

Don't forget to keep us posted on your progress. This is an interesting search!

Greetings,
Christine

[hehesani]

Sorry this message has been sent four times. It had got stuck somehow. Hopefully someone can remove the three copies not needed!

[Alter Mansfelder]

Double post deleted.

[Brinch1984]

Hi again,

I found this entry in the address book of Hasserode-Wernigerode from 1893/1894:

image.png

https://digital.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/hd/periodical/pageview/325112

I assume that these two widows living together at Friedrichstraße 140, Hasserode, might be the mother and grandmother of the above mentioned "Johanne Christiane Hecht" born November 3rd, 1874. I have unfortunately not been able to find a marriage of Johanne Christiane's mother to a husband called Schubert.

The mother of Johanne Christiane was also called Johanne Christiane. Her parents were "Carl Hecht" and "Marie Friederike Hecht". Her birth certificate is in ancestry.

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61132/records/846798

This might all be completely irrelevant to your search. But I would not rule out completely yet that this might be the Johanna Hecht you are searching for.

Don't forget to keep us posted on your progress. This is an interesting search!

Greetings,
Christine

Hi Christine,

Thank you for looking further into this. While currently not lining up with the information I hafe, this is indeed the closest I have gotten. Thank you!

I have reached out to the Wernigerode City Archives, as suggested by Werner, and received confirmation that they have started researching (for a fee). I will reach out to the archives in Trenton, New Jersey later today.

Another thing that puzzles me is that he future husband, Wilhelm Leo von Dühren is from Danzig and I have no trace of them together before leaving for New York City from Hamburg. However, they seemingly marry immediately upon arrival, so I wonder, if there are records of her (either with or without him) somewhere else, before the departure. I also know that they return to Germany a few years later after having been in La Salle, Illinois. Their second daughter, Anita von Dühren, is born in Germany on 22 August 1902. I have also seen Danzig mentioned, but I cannot get any confirmation of that and I have checked https://www.archion.de/en/viewer/chu...e660ecce644954. I was hoping to find additional information about Johanna that way but no luck.

I will keep you posted. Thanks!

Best,

Thomas

[hehesani]

Are they also searching the "Einwohnermelderegister" (register of residents) of Wernigerode for your families? That might have some clue as to where Johanna Hecht went when she left Wernigerode.
It is strange that both Leo and Johanna list "Frankfurt" as their former address when they emigrate. But since Leo was married at the time (in Berlin), they might have tried to disguise their tracks?
Certainly, if their first child's birth date is correct, then they must have met before. Unless Leo wasn't the father of the first child.

Greetings, Christine

[Werner52]

Christine,

Great!

Yesterday, I only looked at the names, not the streets.

But ... the woman mentioned there was the wife/widow of Heinrich Schubert / Schubbart. Here in the 1890 census list, he is still mentioned at Friedrichstraße 140. Take a look:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS29-33CZ-1?cat=393929&i=806&lang=de

Greetings
Werner

[Werner52]

Thomas,

it seems to me that Leo was a bigamist. But you already know that, don't you?

For everyone else here:

First marriage in Berlin on June 7, 1899;
divorce on November 29, 1901,
second marriage in New York on April 14, 1900!

Greetings
Werner

Tr Leo von Dühren.jpg