My Most Wanted Ancestor
That would be my great grandmother on my father's side. It seems fairly certain from several sources that she was born in Ohio, of German parents, maybe about 1847. There is even a birthdate from one family source, but I can find no record of her birth, nor of her parentage. One source suggests that she was an orphan; another suggests that her father was named "John" and that he carried her surname
Her surname is spelled "Bradameyer" in one family tree, and it is also reported that she had two previous husbands, or partners, before she married my great grandfather. Her first husband may have had the surname "Geib".
Research & Records
I have searched for records on Ancestry.com and have also used a family tree provided by a cousin. On Ancestry, I find records of her marriage to my great grandfather, Gustav Bratsch or Bretch. I also found records of the children that she bore with him, including my grandfather. When she appears in these records, she is simply known by her given name, Elizabeth or Eliza, followed by my great grandfather's surname of Bratsch or Bretch. One cousin reported that her full maiden name was Elizabeth Sophia Christina Bradameyer. Four names would be consistent with the German naming system, where some of the names might be the same as her grandmothers' on both sides of her family.
Her date of death in Lockwood (Dade) Missouri is fairly well-documented in a newspaper obit.
Advice
- A valid record of birth
- Valid records of parentage
- Records of the names of her previous husbands, or partners.
- Records of previous children she may have borne with previous husbands, partners.
Additional Details
The facts of her death in Missouri seem mysterious. A newspaper obit simply states that "...she fell downstairs."
My great grandfather, Gustav Bratsch (Bretch) was born in Germany, and I believe his marriage with Eliza was a first marriage for him--but not for her. Lived in MN, (Sibley) Kelso.
