*Nancy Simmons
*Paul Simmons
**June Putman
***Cora Wilson
****Catherine Deck
*****Jacob Deck
******Christian Deck
*******Johann Heinrich Deck
********Johann
Nicholas DECK 1725-1761
My 6th
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
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
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 |
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.
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