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Week 11 Prompt: Large Family

This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is “Large Family.”Coming from lines where the recent generations were small families, a “large family” to me is anything over three children! But I digress. When I saw this prompt, I immediately thought of one of my collateral families that I work with quite frequently. Since this is Week 11 of the challenge, the fact that this family consisted of 11 children is fitting.

Heinrich Schwartz (1854-1917) is the brother of my third great-grandfather Johann Schwartz (1856-1912). These brothers came from Echternach, Luxembourg, and settled in Aurora, Illinois, in the early 1880s. The brothers themselves come from a huge family of 17 children, but 10 of the children were Heinrich and Johann’s half siblings.

I work a lot on these brothers, as I am interested in my Luxembourg roots. So my research, while still a work in progress, paints a complete picture of the makeup of each of their families.

Heinrich Schwartz was born 18 March 1854 in Echternach, Echternach, Luxembourg.1 He arrived in the United States on 25 October 1881.2 Heinrich married Maria Magdalena Ludwig on 14 February 1882 in Aurora, Kane, Illinois.3 Maria was born 15 February 1861 in Consdorf, Echternach, Luxembourg.4 Together they had eleven children, all but two living beyond infancy.

  1. Magdalena Schwartz (1882-1882)5
  2. John Steven Schwartz (1883-1939)6
  3. John Henry Schwartz (1885-1977)7
  4. Lizzie Schwartz (1887-1899)8
  5. Mathias Ferdinand Schwartz (1889-1974)9
  6. Maria Angela Schwartz (1890-1892)10
  7. Peter Michael Schwartz (1893-1977)11
  8. Nicholas David Schwartz (1894-1973)12
  9. Theodore Valentine Schwartz (1897-1997)13
  10. Christine B. Schwartz ( 1899-1982)14
  11. Joseph N. Schwartz (1901-1924)15

Sources

  1. Echternach, Echternach, Luxembourg, “Naissances [Births] 1843-1855,” section 1854,  no. 40, Heinrich Schwartz; digital image, “Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923,” FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : 4 October 2011); citing FHL microfilm 1,793,434.
  2. Aurora, Illinois, City Court Declaration Book 38: 216, Henry Schwartz; FHL microfilm 1,481,631, item 2.
  3. Kane County, Illinois,  (Kane County Clerk, Geneva), marriage certificate no. 1710 (1882), Schwartz-Ludwig; FHL microfilm 1,480,744.
  4. Consdorf, Echternach, Luxembourg, “Naissances [Births] 1798-1880,” section 1861,  no. 7, Mary Magdalena Ludwig; digital image, “Luxembourg Civil Registration, 1793-1923,” FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : 17 March 2012).
  5. Kane County, Illinois, death certificate no. 2420 (file slip) (1882), Magdalena Schwarz; FHL microfilm 1,481,333.
  6. Kane County, Illinois, death certificate no. 563 (1939), John S Schwartz; Illinois Death Certificates 526, item 2.
  7. “J. Henry Schwartz,” (Aurora) Beacon News, 19 January 1977, p. 4, col. 7.
  8. “Died,” Aurora Daily Express, 24 August 1899, p. 1, col. 5; digital images, Google News (http://news.google.com/newspapers : accessed 23 September 2012), Archive.
  9. “Schwartz Services Friday,” (Aurora) Beacon News, 23 May 1974, p. 4, col. 6.
  10. Kane County, Illinois, death certificate no. 8771 (1892), Maria Angela Schwarz; FHL microfilm 1,481,341.
  11. “Peter M Schwartz,” (Aurora) Beacon News, 3 May 1977, p. 4, col. 7.
  12. “Nicholas D. Schwartz,” (Aurora) Beacon News, 17 May 1973, p. 4, col. 7.
  13. “Theodore V Schwartz,” (Aurora) Beacon News, 24 May 1997, p. C8; database, GenealogyBank (http://genealogybank.com : accessed September 8, 2010), Newspaper Obituaries.
  14. “Christine Buckley,” (Aurora) Beacon News, 26 July 1982, p. C4, col. 7.
  15. Kane County, Illinois, death certificate no. 55 (written), 5208 (stamped) (1924), Joseph N Schwartz; Illinois Death Certificates 165, item 4.