2024 Prompt - Language - Johann Nicholas Deck

 *Nancy Simmons

   *Paul Simmons

     **June Putman

       ***Cora Wilson

          ****Catherine Deck

             *****Jacob Deck

                ******Christian Deck

                   *******Johann Heinrich Deck

                      ********Johann Nicholas DECK 1725-1761

                                                      My 6^th great-grandfather

 

Several years ago, a very dear friend asked me to start a German special interest group (SIG) for our Louisville Genealogical Society. I hesitated for several reasons. I had not drilled that deep to discover where in Germany my ancestors hailed from, German surnames can be difficult to research because of the many spelling variations, and the big reason, I was not acquainted with the German language. Because I love a challenge and I just couldn’t say no to this friend, I decided I would be a co-leader with John Bondurant and start our German SIG.

The very first thing we did was to buy a German dictionary and then we started learning basic German research terms; birth, baptism, marriage, death, and burial. Then we had to learn how each set of records was organized, how to recognize your surname in German script, and then use those basic German words to help translate the record. My research skills were about to be challenged!

 

Translation of English terms to the German language

During my many years of research, I have discovered many ancestors with German surnames. My maiden name Simmons is German and both my father's paternal as well as his material lines are heavy German. Until recently, I had not drilled into Pennsylvania and German research. Researching before 1850 is difficult and many records of German ancestors in this period are church records written in German.

 

DECK Family Pedigree Chart
Catherine Deck 4 generations to Johann Nicholas Deck 

The first German surname I drilled into was Deck. My great-great-grandmother was Catherine Deck born in 1841 in Vermilion County, Illinois. She is my grandmother's grandmother. My research took Catherine’s family back four more generations to our immigrant ancestor Johann Nicholas Deck born about 1687 in Lachen-Speyerdorf, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Nicholas is my 6^th great-grandfather.

Speyerdorf-Lachen, Neustadt, Pfalz, Bayern, Germany
Birthplace of Johann Nicholas Deck in 1687
Map from Meyer Gazeteer: https://s.meyersgaz.org/search?search=Speyerdorf 

As I researched Catherine Deck, I found her father, Jacob Calvin Deck, born in 1800 in Rockingham County, Virginia, and he died in 1864 in Vermilion County, Illinois, and was buried in Rose Cemetery near his daughter. Jacob’s father was Christian Deck born 1763 in Augusta County, Virginia and he died in 1828 in Harrison County, Kentucky. His father was Johann Heinrich Deck born in 1725 in Germany and died in 1774 in Augusta County, Virginia.

 

Jacob Deck 1800-1864 Tombstone
Buried in Rose Cemetery, Bismarck, Vermilion, Illinois
Find A Grave Memorial # 23012611

Heinrich Deck immigrated to America and arrived in Philadelphia on September

12, 1734, on the St. Andrew galley. Heinrich traveled with his father, Nicholas Deck, his mother, Anna Barbara, his sister, Anne, and his brother, Johannes. The family probably lived a short time in Philadelphia and then moved to Berks County. Johann Heinrich Deck married Catarina Barbara Froelich in 1747.

Passenger list for St. Andrew 1743
Nicholas Deck (Dek) listed with the men on board
Others listed as women and children
Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Volume 1, pages 139 & 141

Nicholas Deck, my 6th great-grandfather, was born about 1687 in Lachen-Speyerdorf, Neustadt, Rhineland-Palatine. His baptismal record, written in German, states he was baptized on June 4, 1687, and his father was Veit Deck and his mother was Anna Margaretha Schuster. I also found Nicholas’ marriage record to Anna Barbara Laugen. They were married in Essingen, Landau, Bavaria on February 3, 1722.

 

Johann Nicholas Deck and Anna Barbara Marriage Record
"Deutschland, ausgewahlte evengelische Kirchenbucher 1500-1971, FamilySearch
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/LCZN-M52

Translation by Ulrich Neitzel
FamilySearch, Communities, Germany, Discussions

Nicholas and his family settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania where they joined Christ Church in Stouchsburg, Pennsylvania. He was one of the witnesses to the placing of the cornerstone of Christ Church, in 1743.

It is assumed that Nicholas and his wife, Anna Barbara, died and are buried in Berks County. Some of Nicholas and Barbara’s children married and stayed in Berks and the surrounding counties in Pennsylvania. Others like his son Heinrich moved to Virginia and then headed into the Northwest Territory where my great-great-grandmother Catherine Deck was born in 1841.

Catherine Ellen Deck Wilson
1841-1887
Rose Cemetery, Bismarck, Vermilion, Illinois
Find A Grave Memorial #23012611

Since 2021 when I started our German Special Interest group, I have learned so much about German research. Unfortunately, my co-leader, John Bondurant, passed away in January 2023. I am forever grateful for his gentle way of urging me to work with a new language so that I could discover many of my German ancestors.

2024 Prompt - Changing Names - Josephine Blanche Martin

 Josephine Blanche Martin – 1923-2006

 

*Nancy Ann Simmons

**Josephine Blanche Martin – my mother

                                       

Josephine Blanche Martin
picture taken about 1941

My mother's process of changing her name was not entirely a pleasant experience. She officially changed her name on December 27, 1946, at the parsonage of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Detroit when she married my father, Paul H. Simmons. It was on that day that Josephine Blanche Martin became Josephine Blanche Simmons for the next 53 years.

                                          

Josephine Blanche Martin
picture taken about 1924

Josephine was born in 1923 in the house her parents owned on Bostwick Street in Detroit, Michigan. The family story is that her great aunt, Teressa Wilcox, was the midwife at her birth. Josephine attended kindergarten at Beard Elementary and then attended All Saints Catholic school her next 12 years of schooling. For fifteen years Josephine lived on Bostwick Street until 1938 when her parents moved into a flat on Vinewood Avenue above her paternal grandparents.

                                

Paul's home had two rentals on the 2nd floor and one on the 3rd floor
Josephine lived on 2nd floor with her family and grandparents lived on 1st floor
There was a house in-between the two homes at one time
Picture on Google Maps taken about 2000

In 1934, my father, Paul Simmons, moved from Henning, Illinois to Vinewood Avenue in Detroit. Several years after his father died his mother remarried Jack Merritt and moved with Paul and his brother to Detroit. It was on Vinewood Street that Paul and his brother met Josephine and her older sister Nina. A year later Paul’s brother Wallace started dating Josephine’s sister Nina. On several occasions Paul and Josephine would tag along with their older brother and sister on a date.

                                         

Paul Simmons and Josephine Martin
picture taken about 1946

 

Paul was drafted into the U.S. Army two years after the United States entered WWII. In January 1943, shortly after turning eighteen and after just graduating from high school, Paul was given notice of his induction. Paul served from June 1943 until January 7, 1946. During the war Josephine wrote faithfully to Paul sending him a box of Saunders chocolates every week. When Paul returned home, he continued his relationship with Josephine while attending Wayne State University. Josephine had signed up for the United States Cadet Nursing Program at Providence Hospital in Detroit in 1944 and was in her second year.

                                          

Josephine Martin's U.S. Cadet Nursing Corps
Membership Card

Paul and Jo certainly enjoyed being together and sharing time with all their friends after the war was over. Unfortunately for Josephine, she realized in December 1946 that she was pregnant. Just before Christmas Paul and Josephine decided to get married and applied for a marriage license. This had to be a difficult time for both Jo and Paul. They were both going to school and Jo had been elected president of her senior cadet nursing class.

                                                              

Paul Simmons and Josephine Martin
Edward & Julie are Josephine's brother & sister in-law
Wally and Ruth are Paul's brother and future sister in-law
Bill and Nina are Josephine's sister and future brother in-law 
Tim is Josephine's nephew, son of Edward and Julie 
All the others are friends!
Picture taken about 1946

Paul was strongly advised by his family that he did not need to marry Josephine. But on Friday December 27, 1946, Paul knocked on Josephine's parent’s door and asked for Josephine. Together they went to get married. They walked to Immanuel Presbyterian Church two blocks away and were married by Reverend Albert J. Lindsey. The marriage was witnessed by Paul's brother, Wallace, and his future wife, Ruth Wheeler.

                                                              

Paul Herbert Simmons and Josephine B. Martin's
Church Marriage Certificate

Josephine changed her name that December day in 1946 and never looked back. She was married for fifty-three wonderful years. She and Paul were together through the best of times and the worst of times. They worked hard to raise a family and taught their children, through their example, the value of family and friends.

                                                             

Paul and Josephine (Martin) SIMMONS
picture taken about 1996