Johanna Hecht (1877-1929)

[Werner52]

Hi Carl-Henry!

Thank you very much for your interesting explanation.

Further research into Johanna Hecht can therefore only begin before April 14, 1900, because after that date she probably lived under a false identity.

Geographically speaking, there are currently no further research opportunities at the presumed starting point in Weringerode or at the end point in New York.

In between lie Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg.

In Hamburg, the two probably only stayed in a hotel for a short time. There is no evidence to support this.

That leaves only Frankfurt am Main and the registration file I already mentioned. But the chances of success are certainly slim.

Thomas - it doesn't look good for the search for your Johanna Hecht.

[Werner52]

Leo was a bad boy, wasn't he?

Dühren 01.jpg

[Gastonian]

Hello everyone:

One important way you do genealogy in the U.S. is via the census records.

Johanna von Duehren with her daughters Elsa and Anita returned from Germany to the U.S. via Rotterdam in March 1906. At this time Johanna gave her age as 25 (i.e., born 1875/76): https://www.ancestry.de/search/colle...rds/4034775200

In the April 1910 census Johanna von Duehren is living with husband Leo (a liquor salesman!) and daughters Elsa, Anita, and Johanna in the Bronx, New York City; in this record her age is 35 (i.e., born 1874/75): https://www.ancestry.de/search/colle...ords/103340534

In the 1915 state census the family is living in Queens; here, too, Hannah says she is 35 and thus finally a year younger than her husband (i.e., born 1879/80): https://www.ancestry.de/search/colle...ecords/8846429

I have not found them in the 1920 census.

In the June 1900 census, incidentally, Leopold von Dühren, age 22, German, arrived in the U.S. 2 months ago, married 2 months, working as laborer for a cement company, is listed as resident of a boarding house in La Salle, Illinois: https://www.ancestry.de/search/collections/7602/records/981541

The records from 1906 and 1910 are in agreement with the records from 1900 as to Johanna's age, and thus support the suggestion that she was the Johanna born 1874 in Hasserode.

Regards

--Carl-Henry

[hehesani]

I am not aware how to proceed from here, but hopefully I will find a way.

Hi Thomas,

There are three things I would still be interested in finding out:

(1) Was Anita, the second von Dühren/Hecht child (or any von Dühren/Hecht child) possibly born at Hasserode or Wernigerode in the years 1902-1906?

(2) Can Johanne Hecht or Leo von Dühren be found in the "Einwohnermelderegister" (residents' register) of Berlin in the years 1895-1900?

(3) Can Johanne Hecht or Leo von Dühren be found in the "Einwohnermelderegister" of Frankfurt in the years 1895-1900?


I tried to check the address books of Berlin for those years but many first names are abbreviated and I could not find out anything definite for Johanne Hecht. Leo von Dühren is not in there at all as far as I could see. And he is not mentioned at "Lindenstrasse 111", the address he reported for his marriage to Francisca Kowaczek.
If you ever want to go down that path, you might have to be quite specific in the information you give them so they can look for the right person. For example, there was a Johanne Wilhelmine Marie Hecht, born 1860 at Wernigerode, who got married at Berlin in 1898 and she might get muddled up with our Johanne easily.

Hopefully at least the question about von Dühren children at Hasserode or Wernigerode can be found out pretty easily.

All the best,
Christine


PS: Do we know yet whether this Adolph is part of the family?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27BG-5B7?lang=en

https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/view/1620092

[Werner52]

So Leo had at least one more child with another woman who came from Hungary ...

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2W48-2MW?lang=de

[Gastonian]

Hello:

Bad boy! The actual birth certificate of that 1904 child can be seen here: https://a860-historicalvitalrecords....v/view/1620092

Regards

--Carl-Henry

[Brinch1984]

Thank you everyone.

I am so grateful that you are throwing yourselves into this (apparent) mess. I am looking forward to the weekend, where I will be able to allocate time to catch up.

Best,

Thomas

[Werner52]

Christine,

I would like to discuss your three questions.

1.) Anita
According to Thomas' information, she is here. This is the US Social Security Death Index 1935-2014, which states that she was born on August 22, 1902.

On February 24, 1906, she traveled by ship from Rotterdam to the United States with her sister Elsa and mother. The trip is said to have been booked from Berlin here, the only line that begins with a B.

Elsa was born on October 24, 1900, in the United States. It is unclear when the family returned to Germany. However, Leo separated from Johanna in Germany and traveled alone from Hamburg back to the United States on March 28, 1904. Johanna followed two years later, during which time Leo had another child with another woman.

The birth records of Berlin are available online at Ancestry. Anita is not listed there.

2.) Berliner Einwohnermeldekartei
Today, the Berlin State Archives only contain a card index created after 1945. This means that it is no longer possible to find evidence of anyone who lived in Berlin between 1900 and 1906 and did not have their own household. People with their own households are listed in the address books.

3.) Frankfurter Einwohnermeldekartei
That looks a little better - see here

Regards
Werner

[Brinch1984]

Hello:

Bad boy! The actual birth certificate of that 1904 child can be seen here: https://a860-historicalvitalrecords....v/view/1620092

Regards

--Carl-Henry

Hi Carl Henry,

I was aware that he was a bad boy, but I was unaware about a child born out of wedlock and as a result of an expected affair. Good catch and thank you for bringing it to my attention. This is also especially interesting, as his wife seemingly was in Germany at the time and he must have gotten Emily Mildi pregnant almost immediately upon his return.

Best,

Thomas

[Brinch1984]

Hi Werner (and Christine),

I apologize for getting back into this so late. There has been way too much going on. I really appreciate your continued involvement, and I hope that my absence has not caused you to withdraw. I am impressed with your dedication and findings.

First of all; everything I have found about Wilhelm Leo von Dühren and has family/families, I have stored here: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree...65561496/facts. I do not know, if you can access it, but it might give an overview.

I will provide responses to your great questions and observations in the subsequent replies.

Once again, thank you.

Best,

Thomas

[Brinch1984]

Leo was a bad boy, wasn't he?

Dühren 01.jpg

Thank you for finding additional information about his marriage to (divorce from) Johanna Kowazek. It was great to get documentation supporting this link. It is greatly appreciated. Luckily, I have had success using AI to help me read and translate the record.

[Brinch1984]

Hello everyone:

One important way you do genealogy in the U.S. is via the census records.

Johanna von Duehren with her daughters Elsa and Anita returned from Germany to the U.S. via Rotterdam in March 1906. At this time Johanna gave her age as 25 (i.e., born 1875/76): https://www.ancestry.de/search/colle...rds/4034775200

In the April 1910 census Johanna von Duehren is living with husband Leo (a liquor salesman!) and daughters Elsa, Anita, and Johanna in the Bronx, New York City; in this record her age is 35 (i.e., born 1874/75): https://www.ancestry.de/search/colle...ords/103340534

In the 1915 state census the family is living in Queens; here, too, Hannah says she is 35 and thus finally a year younger than her husband (i.e., born 1879/80): https://www.ancestry.de/search/colle...ecords/8846429

I have not found them in the 1920 census.

In the June 1900 census, incidentally, Leopold von Dühren, age 22, German, arrived in the U.S. 2 months ago, married 2 months, working as laborer for a cement company, is listed as resident of a boarding house in La Salle, Illinois: https://www.ancestry.de/search/collections/7602/records/981541

The records from 1906 and 1910 are in agreement with the records from 1900 as to Johanna's age, and thus support the suggestion that she was the Johanna born 1874 in Hasserode.

Regards

--Carl-Henry

Hi Carl Henry,

Thank you for outlining the censuses. I have also not been able to locate them in the census for 1920. I have the following addresses registered for Leo:

- On 12 Sep 1918: 36 Way Ave, Corona, Queens, New York City, New York, USA (see attached WWI draft card)
- On 2 May 1926: Black Oak Ridge Road, Wayne (Passaic), New Jersey, USA (see attached excerpt from a newspaper from 29 Apr 1926, where they host the wedding of their daughter and son-in-law.

When they moved and whether they have been elsewhere in between, I currently do not know.

With regards to the date of birth of Johanne, it seems to be clear that different information has been provided over the years. My initial working assumption was that she was born 1 Mar 1875, but where I had that from, I do not remember anymore. Seemingly, it is not clear.

Something interesting is his presence in La Salle, IL. Living, direct descendants of Elsa Marie von Dühren, who also knew her, never heard that she was born in La Salle and I cannot find anything to sustain this. However, when I look online, it is all that I find albeit there is no documentation. I will reach out to authorities in La Salle to see, if I can get any information about Elsa Marie, Leo, and Johanne. In the record, which you shared, there is also no mention of Johanne, and I do not anticipate that a boarding house would be the place for her to be.

The chronological walkthrough was very good. Thank you for that.

Best,

Thomas

[Brinch1984]

Hi Thomas,

There are three things I would still be interested in finding out:

(1) Was Anita, the second von Dühren/Hecht child (or any von Dühren/Hecht child) possibly born at Hasserode or Wernigerode in the years 1902-1906?

(2) Can Johanne Hecht or Leo von Dühren be found in the "Einwohnermelderegister" (residents' register) of Berlin in the years 1895-1900?

(3) Can Johanne Hecht or Leo von Dühren be found in the "Einwohnermelderegister" of Frankfurt in the years 1895-1900?


I tried to check the address books of Berlin for those years but many first names are abbreviated and I could not find out anything definite for Johanne Hecht. Leo von Dühren is not in there at all as far as I could see. And he is not mentioned at "Lindenstrasse 111", the address he reported for his marriage to Francisca Kowaczek.
If you ever want to go down that path, you might have to be quite specific in the information you give them so they can look for the right person. For example, there was a Johanne Wilhelmine Marie Hecht, born 1860 at Wernigerode, who got married at Berlin in 1898 and she might get muddled up with our Johanne easily.

Hopefully at least the question about von Dühren children at Hasserode or Wernigerode can be found out pretty easily.

All the best,
Christine


PS: Do we know yet whether this Adolph is part of the family?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27BG-5B7?lang=en

https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/view/1620092

Hi Christine,

Thank you for the questions. I will start to look into them immediately; specifically:

1) The information, I have been provided, is simply that she was born in Germany, but I have no further detail and no documentation to sustain it. I will reach out to the Wernigerode City Archives immediately and let you know.

2) Werner has provided some information on this and I am certain that he knows more about availability of records in Germany than I do.

3) Werner once again provided some information. I will happily take a look myself, but I am afraid that I need some guidance on where to look. I can get as far as to here: https://arcinsys.hessen.de/arcinsys/...41&reload=true. I would appreciate, if you can guide me from here (assuming that I got to the right place).

You provide an interesting notion about the whereabouts of Leo. Is there any way, in which I can seek information about residents on Lindenstrasse 111, Berlin around 1900?

Another thought; albeit I do have documentation about his return to the U.S. in 1904, without the family, I just took another look and noticed that his final destination appears to be Philadelphia, PA. I never noticed this before. I have no records or history of him being there.

Once again, thank you very much.

Best,

Thomas

[Brinch1984]

Once last thing for tonight; I would like to share the alleged photos of our two (2) subjects. I have received these photos from living members of the family, who claim and separately confirm that this is Leo and Johanne.

I hope, it adds to your interest.

Thank you all.

Best,

Thomas

[Brinch1984]

Hi Thomas,

There are three things I would still be interested in finding out:

(1) Was Anita, the second von Dühren/Hecht child (or any von Dühren/Hecht child) possibly born at Hasserode or Wernigerode in the years 1902-1906?

(2) Can Johanne Hecht or Leo von Dühren be found in the "Einwohnermelderegister" (residents' register) of Berlin in the years 1895-1900?

(3) Can Johanne Hecht or Leo von Dühren be found in the "Einwohnermelderegister" of Frankfurt in the years 1895-1900?


I tried to check the address books of Berlin for those years but many first names are abbreviated and I could not find out anything definite for Johanne Hecht. Leo von Dühren is not in there at all as far as I could see. And he is not mentioned at "Lindenstrasse 111", the address he reported for his marriage to Francisca Kowaczek.
If you ever want to go down that path, you might have to be quite specific in the information you give them so they can look for the right person. For example, there was a Johanne Wilhelmine Marie Hecht, born 1860 at Wernigerode, who got married at Berlin in 1898 and she might get muddled up with our Johanne easily.

Hopefully at least the question about von Dühren children at Hasserode or Wernigerode can be found out pretty easily.

All the best,
Christine


PS: Do we know yet whether this Adolph is part of the family?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27BG-5B7?lang=en

https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/view/1620092

Hi Christine,

I have received a reply from the Wernigerode City Archives on item #1. For full transparency, please see my inquiry as well as the response below.

Inquiry

"Dear Wernigerode City Archives,

Can you help me identify, whether an Anita von Dühren (potentially Anita Hecht) was born in Wernigerode or Hasserode on 22 August 1902?

If not on the date, please let me know if there are any records between 1902-1906 matching this name.

I am aware of your fee of EUR 15/half hour and EUR 0.40 per copy and hereby confirm acceptance of this.

Thank you very much.

Best,

Thomas"

Response

"Dear Mr. [Last name],

Unfortunately, we have to inform you that we did not find any records matching the name Anita von Dühren or Anita Hecht. We assume that she was not born in Wernigerode or in an area incorporated into Wernigerode.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

Kind regards,
[Anonymized]"

Best,

Thomas