I’ve been researching my Duer line lately with the idea that I’ll write a Kinship Determination from where my line begins, with Maria Duer, my great great grandmother, to my gateway ancestor, Thomas Stone Duer.
I’ve blogged previously about the serendipitous events and detailed how history repeats itself (see Circular Migration Patterns-How History RepeatsItself, 30 May 2015). After discovering the connection, I’ve become more determined to learn about the Duer Family.
Maria left some wonderful records, however, they initially led me to a wrong conclusion. Years ago, I had found her obituary through the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center Obituary Index[1] but I couldn’t decipher it as it was in German and used Gothic script. Her daughter Emma’s death certificate stated Maria was born in Germany.[2] The obit and the daughter’s death certificate led me to believe that Maria was of German descent. By just looking at the surface, those two records reinforced what I already knew about my father’s long line of German ancestry; I had Leininger, Bollenbacher, Kuhn, Kable, and Kettering surnames sprinkled everywhere in my tree and all of them were German immigrants. No surprise that Maria Duer would have also been German. How wrong I was!
Maria was born in Mahoning, Ohio on 2 September 1833.[3] Adam Kuhn, Maria’s son with whom she resided at the time of her death and who was the neighbor of his sister, Emma, had served as Emma’s death certificate informant. It is understandable that Adam most likely identified himself with his father Henry Kuhn’s German heritage. German born Henry Kuhn was a prosperous citizen in Mercer County, Ohio and maintained a close connection with others who had immigrated from Germany. Henry and Maria had been married for 55 years so she, too, would have been known in the German community so her obituary in a German newspaper makes sense. After having the obituary translated, I learned that it never stated she was German but it did mention her German born husband. Daughter Emma died at age 50 after suffering long term physical abuse from her ex-husband of 25 years. Adam likely recalled his father’s birth place instead of his mother’s when he provided Emma’s death certificate information. In grief, he probably just made an error.
Census records, a second obituary in English, and a mug sheet entry all confirm Maria was born in Ohio and connect her to her parents, John and Mary Jane (Morrison) Duer. Maria Duer was once a brickwall ancestor but no longer! What a great lesson in making sure a reasonably exhaustive search was performed AND analysis of all the found records was done.
[1] “Maria Duer Kuhn,” obituary, Die Minter [Ohio] Post, 1 August 1913, page 1, col. 3.
[2] Ohio, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate, “Emma Landfair,” number 12296 (stamped, 21 February 1914.
[3] 1850 U.S. census, Killbuck, Holmes County, Ohio, population schedule, page 245 (handwritten) dwelling 557, family 572, Maria Duer; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing NARA microfilm publications M432_696.
1860 U.S. census, Liberty, Mercer County, Ohio, population schedule, page 141 (handwritten), dwelling 1008, family 1013, Henry and Maria Coon Jr.; Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing NARA microfilm publications M653_1009.
1870 U.S. census, Liberty, Mercer County, Ohio, population schedule, page 15 (handwritten) dwelling 55, family 58, Maria Kuhn; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing NARA microfilm publications M593.
1880 U.S. census, Liberty, Mercer County, Ohio, population schedule, page 7 (handwritten) dwelling 55, family 58, Maria Kuhn; Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing FHL microfilm 1255048; citing NARA microfilm publications T9_1048.
1900 U.S. census, Liberty, Mercer, Ohio, population schedule, sheet 9 (handwritten) dwelling141, family176, Meriah Kuhn; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing NARA with no further information provided.
1910 U.S. census, Liberty, Mercer County, Ohio, population schedule, sheet 9 (handwritten) dwelling 320, family 278, Miria Kuhn; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 October 2016); citing NARA microfilm publication T624_1214.
Ohio, Department of Health Division of Vital Statistics, death certificate, “Maria Kuhn,” state file number 41826, 22 July 1913.
“Marie Kuhn,” The Grim Reaper, The Celina [Ohio] Democrat, 25 July 1913, page 1, col. 4.
Compilers, A Portrait and Biographical Record of Mercer and Van Wert Counties, Ohio (Chicago,IL: A. W. Bowen & Co., 1896) 400-401; digital image, Google Books (https://books.google.com: accessed 16 October 2016).