Main.\u00a0 <\/em>For some unknown reason, she is listed separately on the ship passenger list as Maria Koehnke.\u00a0 The couple brought a simple wooden chest containing all of their belongings and measuring only 29 inches long, 15 inches wide and 14 inches deep. Today, this chest is in my possession; one side of the chest still retains a partial label that says \u201cBremerhaven\u201d which was their departure port. [see photo of chest above]\nNow the two newlyweds were finally able to begin their new life together. Initially they lived in Flatrock Township and then moved to Bartlow Township where they rented a farm for 10 years.\u00a0 Finally after a decade, they had the resources to purchase their own farm in 1899 on County Road F between State Route 65 and County Road 3. They worked the fields and raised their family; Anna Maria, Christ, Sophia, William, Mary and Henry. \u00a0Today, Seedorf descendants still reside on this farm. From a single wooden to chest to their own farm, Henry and Maria were able to build a home and life for their family for generations to come.<\/p>\n
For family history researchers in the United States, the U.S. federal census is the principal record type for research because it puts people in a certain place at a certain time. Enumerations were mandated by the Constitution and have taken place in all states and territories since 1790.\u00a0 With the exception of the loss of the 1890 records in a tragic 1921 fire, the collection of original pages is virtually complete.<\/p>\n
Therefore, the 1900 census is the first census we have of Henry and Mary [these were their names as given to the census enumerator.] who were both 43 years old at the time.\u00a0 Other family members recorded were Christopher, age 10; Sophia, age 8; William, age 6; Mary M, age 3; and Henry, age 1.\u00a0 Additional information in the census stated Mary was the mother of 6 children with 5 still living.\u00a0 Previously, the eldest child, Anna, died at the age of 8 months and 6 days due to unknown causes. Unfortunately they lost another child when Henry, the youngest child died 11 weeks after this census was taken.<\/p>\n
In the loose papers and files of my mother, Amanda Ludeman Rabe, she had written that Henry died when he was 2 years of summer complaint.\u00a0 Merriam Webster defines summer complaint as diarrhea most common in children that is prevalent in hot weather; it is usually caused by ingestion of food contaminated with various microorganisms responsible for gastrointestinal infections. The culprit very likely could have been spoiled milk. In addition, the 1900 census stated that the children, Christopher and Sophia, were in school.\u00a0 Henry gave his occupation as a farmer and said he owned the farm with a mortgage. Although Henry and Mary were well on their way to building a new life and fulfilling the American dream, life did not come without its challenges. Life would have been lonely at times and the heavy burden of grief from losing two children as infants was a weight the family would always bear.<\/p>\n
On the 1920 census, both Henry and Mary stated they were naturalized back in 1889.\u00a0 At this time a woman could not file for naturalization. \u00a0Citizenship was granted under a husband\u2019s petition.\u00a0 There are three steps to the naturalization process:\u00a0 declaration of intent, petition for naturalization, and the final papers granting citizenship.\u00a0 Henry appeared on 30 May 1887 before the probate court in Henry County and declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States.\u00a0 About six months later on 5 Nov 1889, he again appeared before the court and became a citizen.\u00a0 Two individuals appeared with Henry in front of the judge to vouch for him\u2014Fred Brinkmann and August Hinseland.\u00a0 They swore they had been acquainted with Henry for five years and that \u201cduring the time of their acquaintance with Henry Seedorf he has behaved as a man of good moral character attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States of America and well-disposed to the good order and happiness of the same\u201d. Henry forever renounced allegiance to William, Emperor of Germany and was admitted to be a citizen of the United States. Five years after he first stepped foot on American soil in Maryland, Henry became an American citizen. [see photo of naturalization papers above]\n
Following a number of different illnesses, Heinrich [name recorded on his obituary] died at the age of 64 years, 10 months and 10 days on 4 Mar 1922.\u00a0 The translation of his German obituary states \u201cThe deceased was a faithful member of the Lutheran church and a committed Christian.\u00a0 Since he knew that he was saved by his Redeemer, he went to his death without fear and had prepared himself through prayer and sacrament.\u00a0 Along with his bereaved widow, mourning at his coffin are his 2 married sons and 2 married daughters, 2 sons-in-law and 2 daughters-in-law as well as 11 grandchildren.\u00a0 Also surviving him are 6 siblings, of who 1 brother and 1 sister are here in America and 4 brothers in Germany.\u00a0 May he rest in Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Heinrich died, Amanda Ludeman Rabe, her 10 year old granddaughter, stayed with Maria [name used by my mother, also recorded in the 1930 census and name on her obituary] for a year, and then Maria lived with her grown children.\u00a0 At the time of the 1930 census, Maria, age 73 was living with her son Christ, age 40 , along with his wife Margaret, age 43, and children Walter, age 13, and Emma, age 11. Other answers given on the census give us a snapshot of their life at that time: they lived in a rented house on a farm; Maria indicated she could speak English but could not read or write English and Christ was a farmer and was not a veteran.<\/p>\n
Following her husband 11 years later, Maria died on 18 May 1933 at the age of 76.\u00a0 Her German obituary states she suffered a stroke six years earlier. It also states \u201cSeveral weeks before her death she had a ruptured blood vessel which led to internal bleeding and hemorrhaging and the strength quickly ebbed.\u00a0 She was fully conscious up until about 7 hours before her death.\u00a0 She prepared herself for her death through the Word of God, prayer and the sacraments; just as in the days of her health she attended divine worship in God\u2019s house\u2026May she rest in peace and the perpetual light shine upon her!\u201d<\/p>\n
After all of their struggles to build a new life and raise a family in a new country, both Heinrich and Maria were able to die peacefully in their new homeland. In addition, their children were faithful and blessed with children of their own. From their small villages and all the way to Henry County with a single wooden chest, Heinrich and Maria built a life for their children but also paved the way for generations to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Lori Rabe Esch (This is an abbreviated version of this family history. You can view the full version HERE.) The following is a story about my great grandparents, Heinrich Nicolaus Wilhelm \u201cHenry N.W\u201d Seedorf and his wife Maria Koehnke who were born in Germany and immigrated to the U.S. and eventually settled in Bartlow … Continue reading “Heinrich and Maria Koehnke Seedorf”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-history"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":false,"total_views":0,"today_views":0},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7nGKa-qZ","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1673"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1715,"href":"https:\/\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1673\/revisions\/1715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Strassburg.jpg?fit=492%2C435&ssl=1\" "\\"Strassburg,")
<\/a><\/div><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Heinrich-Seedorf-and-Maria-Koenhke-Seedorf-wedding.jpg?fit=840%2C575&ssl=1\" "\\"Heinrich")
<\/a><\/div><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Seedorf-chest-2.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1\" "\\"Seedorf")
<\/a><\/div><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/H-Seedorf-Petition-for-Nat-1889.jpg?fit=840%2C650&ssl=1\" "\\"Heinrich")
<\/a><\/div><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrycountyfamilies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Seedorf-house-in-Germany-2014.jpg?fit=840%2C471&ssl=1\" "\\"Seedorf")
<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>