Most of my relatives who came from Luxembourg and ended up in Aurora, Kane, Illinois, remained there (many to this day). There is one, however, who left Aurora and moved to Portland, Oregon. I have no idea why he moved there, and so far, just have some crumbs of information on him and his family. Here’s what I “know” so far.
Johann H KREMER was born 6 August 1865 in Nommern, Mersch, Luxembourg, to Pierre “Peter” KREMER (1831-1910) and Madelaine Magdalena WELTER (1841-1927). I believe that sometime in 1868, Pierre, Magdalena, and their two children, Johann and Mary, left Luxembourg and settled in Aurora, Kane, Illinois. After arriving in the US, Pierre and Magdalena had six more children.
On 30 October 1888, Johann married Mary SCHILTZ in Aurora. Shortly after their marriage, they had a daughter, Lillian. They are found in Aurora in the 1900 census, and then they mysteriously disappear. It wasn’t until I started pulling obituaries for his parents and siblings that I learned he had moved to Portland, Oregon, sometime between the 1900 census and January 1910 when his father died. Based on this new information, I was able to pick up Johann’s trail in Oregon.
Using the Portland city directories, I was able to narrow down his arrival in Portland to between 1900 and 1905. Johann’s daughter, Lillian, is consistently in the directory with him from 1906 to 1909. She does not appear in the 1910 directory, nor in Johann’s household in the 1910 census, so I surmise she married around that time.
There is a marriage index entry for a Lillian M Kramer, who married on 29 September 1909 in Multnomah County, but it does not list the husband’s name. It seems likely, given the timeline, that this is her. So, to figure out who she married, I did a search of the 1910 census for all Lillians, living in Portland, born about 1889 (+/- two years) in Illinois. Based on parents’ places of birth, it was down to three possible candidates: William Eggert, Earl Ruhl, and Thomas J Webb. Back to the marriage index, there was no Thomas Webb married in 1909. A William Eggert was married on 26 June 1909, so this probably is not the right person.
That left Earl Ruhl, with a marriage date of 29 October 1909. Hmm…same day, same year, but the month is off by one. Could this have been an indexing error? Without pulling the actual record, I don’t know for sure. But there two main clues that lead me to believe that Lillian married Earl Ruhl. First, on his WWI Draft Card, he lists his wife’s first and middle name as Lillian Madaline. Lillian’s grandmother’s name was Madelaine (although she commonly went by Magdalena or Lena).
Of course this doesn’t prove anything, but it’s a hunch. Second, the birth date etched in Lillian Ruhl’s gravestone is 11 September 1889. Lillian Kramer’s birth month and year, according to the 1900 census, are September 1889. The evidence is pointing to Lillian Kramer marrying Earl Ruhl. Ideally, the marriage record should confirm my suspicion.
Although the first two clues were lending to my theory, I went searching for a family tree for Earl and found one tree that had Lillian Kramer as his wife (although there is no source information for the marriage or Lillian’s maiden name; the other trees had “Lillian Ruhl”). So someone else out there thinks the same thing.
As for the fate of Johann, I believe he died on 7 October 1943 in Multnomah County, again, an actual record will be needed to confirm. Although I am not able to locate him in the 1920 census, I do follow him in the city directories. He is listed with wife Mary until the 1925 directory (he is not listed at all in 1926, and in 1927, no wife is listed), and in the 1930 and 1940 censuses he is listed as a widow. I therefore believe that Mary died on 1 September 1925 (the only Mary in the Oregon death index to fit the timeline). There is a Find A Grave memorial for the John who died in 1943, attached to a wife Mary who died in 1925; the year of birth for each is consistent with what I have for both of them. Without the actual death records, solely based on the minimal information I have accumulated thus far, I believe this is the John and Mary, who originated from Aurora, Illinois.
Sources available upon request.
Genealogy By the States is a theme created by Jim Sanders over at the Hidden Genealogy Nuggets blog.
Hello! You are correct that Lillian Kramer married Earl Albert Ruhl in Portland, Ore. Here- the date is 9/29/1909: http://genealogy.state.or.us/detail.php?id=438080
Earl and Lillian are my great-grandparents – they had two children, Earline and Clayton. Hope this helps!
Thanks, Ericka! And, nice to meet you, cousin! Sounds like we are fourth cousins, with our common ancestral couple being Franz Kremer and Catharina Muller. I descend from their son Johann (b. 1824) and his wife Catharina Terres.