genealogy

The Mystery of Aunt Kathryn Part 7
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The Mystery of Aunt Kathryn Part 7

Luxembourg to America – 1855

Mary had been christened Marie Josephine Heuertz when she was born on April 3, 1842, to Johann M. and Stephania Marie Josephine (nee DeViche) Heuertz in Holzem, Luxembourg, a small farming community, seven miles due west from Luxembourg City.

By 1855, Luxemburg experienced a series of poor harvests while progress meant people were living longer. More people meant the precious resources they had were stretched too thin across the country that had once been part of the German Confederation. Since all of Europe was going through hard times, moving to another German-speaking country wasn’t feasible.

So, the Heuertz family joined the thousands of other Luxembourgers, including Stephania’s brother Constantine DeViche, who had already emigrated to America looking for a better life.

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The Mystery of Aunt Kathryn Part 6
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The Mystery of Aunt Kathryn Part 6

Who is Henry Gaus?

During my initial search on his name, nothing came up except for the 1880 US Census record so I knew there was probably another spelling of his last name. I went back to the actual image of the record and saw that the writing could be interpreted as Gaus or Gans. Since nothing came up for Gaus before, I searched for Henry Gans and bingo!

There is a 1900 Census record for Henry Gans, still living in Bloomington, WI. And who is still living with him? Angeline Heuertz, 34 years, and Kate Lorenz, 23 years. His wife, Stephania, had died in 1897 so it’s just the three of them now.

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The Mystery of Aunt Kathryn Part 5

The Heuertz and DeViche Connections

The last name Heuertz provided a possible clue. Opening the census record, I see that Angeline Heuertz is Stephania’s daughter by her first husband.

When I was searching for who Kathryn might have been living with in Remsen, I found that John DeViche’s parents were Catharine Heuertz and Constantine DeViche so this must be where the connection is. I just need to do some more digging to find it. It may not be a blood connection, but I felt like I was closer to solving the mystery of who Aunt Kathryn was!

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The Mystery of Aunt Kathryn Part 4

Finding the Link

I searched for Kathryn Lorenz on Ancestry.com where I have all of my family trees. The only information I found was that she was living in Remsen, Iowa in the 1915 and 1920 US Censuses. In both, she was living with John DeViche. So I now had John’s actual last name.

The answer to whether they were married or not, came in the 1920 Census where Kathryn was listed as his cousin. I was excited to have another last name to track that might bring me closer to who Kathryn was.

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