RaymerFamilies.com

I’ve been working on this Family Tree now for a solid year and some change, recently I’ve been contacting people directly to fill out the gaps of what I’m missing, and I’ve also been using previously unavailable information to gain insight on things it would seem that very few people knew.

I’ve made some discoveries that I never really quite understood. When I was young, I’d say 11 I found the “large bible” that my mom and dad had. In this bible was a family tree.. instantly I was fascinated.  It explained my weird long last name, my great great grandfather had immigrated from Germany.

I didn’t have any other info than what was on the pages of that bible, and when I started with this last year that was the first thing I copied.

Using sites like familysearch.org,  and distantcousin, I was able to build that tree to over 600 people, but I still haven’t been able to accurately find  Joseph Russell Wittenmeier Sr’s parents, or why he came to America.

I’ve not been able to account for the other (albeit small) amount of Wittenmeiers that dot Illinois, or California.

I did find out alot about the life they led.

In 1859 Joseph was born in Germany, and in 1882 I am told by dad’s bible, he immigrated, his port of entry isn’t documented.  By 1889 he was married at the age of 29 to Marrietta Henry.  Marrietta’s family I was able to locate moving about 3 times in the 30 years or so before she married Joe from Pennsylvania to Indiana to Ohio, then finally Nashville.

Joe Sr. and Marrietta had 3 kids, Joe Jr, William Wood, and Henry Albert.

They were all collected in a 1900 Census, Joe Sr and Marrietta could both read, and according to the census she had no still births or miscarriages which looking at the rest of the filled out handwritten census page was rare.

In 1902 Joe Sr died. I don’t have his cause of death or where he is buried, I’m currently inquiring with Mt. Olivet to see if he is buried there.  Marrietta never remarried and in 1925 she is in a “street directory” (which I imagine is the precursor to the phone book) as living on 1111 Crutcher with a now adult Joe Jr and Henry Albert.   Crutcher was renamed to Glenview, and that house was owned by one of Joe Jr’s sons until he died a few years ago.

Joe Jr is my great grandfather, my aunts remember him well, and I have a bed that was carved by hand by him. A picture of him is in my mother’s stairwell.  Joe Jr was not a farmer like his father, he was a Flue Welder.  He died in 1965 at the age of 68 which is way above the average.

William Wood, I’ve just learned, died very young, at 26, he is buried in Springhill Cemetery.   I found mention of a William Wittenmeier living in Michigan, and having a daughter, this is plausable, but no real evidence that it’s the same person.

Henry Alfred is the real mystery guy, he also died young, at 38, but I have a lead on him, and I’m working on that now. He and his wife, and a man I think may be his son are buried at Springhill Cemetery.

To think, all I had a year ago a few names, and a few dates.