I am now caught up to Week 9 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks!

Entry #9

Two days ago I posted about my great, great-grandfather John Schatz.  I made, what I considered to be, a huge discovery last night!  I have been speculating for a long time that my Johann “John” Schatz (b. abt 1818) may have been Johann Friedrich Heinrich Schatz, the son of Friedrich David Schatz and Friederica Catharina Diederica Ruwolt, b. 17 Jan 1818, in Gerdeshagen near Satow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin. I have found this Johann with his mother (the father is absent) in the 1819 census in Satow.  According to assistance I received from Fritz Kruse, who moderates the Mecklenburg Genealogy Facebook group, Diederica Ruwolt died on 10 Nov 1819.  After that, the family moved from the parish. Another source informed me that Friedrich David Schatz lived until 1833.

                     Satow Parish record

During my quest to identify Johann Schatz’ family, I have wondered if John could be related to Fred C. Schatz (b. 1821 in Mecklenburg).  Both men emigrated to Cincinnati, Ohio in the 1850’s, although not together.  Fred married Louise Seaman, widow of Friedrich Felix sometime before 1880.  They have a blended household of Schatz and Felix children in the 1880 Cincinnati census.  Fred Schatz was previously married to Sophia Seeman.  This surname came from Fred’s son Charles’ death certificate. I thought perhaps the informant was confused and had mixed up Charles’ birth mother with his step-mother, Louise Seaman.

What was my exciting find last night?  I located an LDS marriage record for Fred Schatz’s first marriage to Anna Sophia Louise Seemann.  So, Fred was married to two different women with the surname Seemann, although they had different parents and are not sisters.

Friedrich Christoph Schatz, “Germany Marriages, 1558-1929”

Name: Friedrich Christoph Schatz

Spouse’s Name:           Anna Sophia Louise Seeman

Event Date:     19 Aug 1851

Event Place:    Hagenow (Ag. Hagenow) , Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany

Father’s Name:            Friedrich David Schatz

Mother’s Name:

Spouse’s Father’s Name:         Georg  Wilh. Seemann

Spouse’s Mother’s Name:

Indexing Project (Batch) Number:     I04099-6

System Origin:            Germany-EASy

GS Film number:         69201

Reference ID:             205

Sources

“Deutschland, Heiraten 1558-1929,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NZD3-JV2 : accessed 06 Mar 2014), Friedrich Christoph Schatz and Anna Sophia Louise Seeman, 19 Aug 1851; citing Hagenow (Ag. Hagenow), Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany; FHL microfilm 69201.

The most exciting part is that it shows Friedrich David Schatz as Fred Schatz’s father.  This would make Johann his half-brother (assuming I have the correct Johann Schatz identified).  On the plus side, Schatz is not a very common surname in Mecklenburg and David is not a very common forename.

I looked at the Cincinnati German Cemetery (Walnut Hills) burial records and now clearly see that Loiuse Seemann was buried as Loiuse Felix with her first husband, and Fred Schatz was buried with his first wife, Sophia Seeman.  They are all in the same burial plot together!  This is the same cemetery where John and Friedrika Schatz are buried, as well.   Walnut Hill’s (German Protestant) Cemetery burials for Section1, Lot 651:

I still need to find the emigration records for Fred and Sophia.  I also wonder why the 1860 U.S. Federal Census shows them as being born in Mecklenburg-Strelitz.  This seems to contradict the marriage record.  I also need to see if I can find any record of Wilhelmine Schatz who was supposed to be a sister of John. Anyway, I now need to modify my research plan, order some films from the FHC, but I have a good feeling that I am about to have a major breakthrough on my Schatz family!

PS – If you have Mecklenburg family and do Facebook, I encourage you to join the Mecklenburg Germany Genealogy group.