I could not resist telling this story today, but I must confess right away that a Trinity Lutheran Church death record may have led me astray. There is certainly a debate about the date of birth for today’s main character, Beate Lindane Mengel.
When I did a search in our Germany Family Tree for any event that took place on January 1, 1826 (200 years ago), I got a result for Beate Lindane Mengel which says she was born on that day. The church record that is cited is her death record. However, upon further research on Ancestry.com, I found evidence that she more likely was born on January 2, 1825. If that is the case, Beate Lindane would be celebrating a 201st birthday tomorrow. The document that displays a January 2nd birthday is a baptism record from Germany that is pictured here. The translation says she was born on January 2, 1825 and baptized on January 9th.
Below is an enlargement of the section of the above baptism record that gives the names of her parents. Our German Family Tree gives evidence that her father’s name was Michael, and the father’s name on this image is Johann Michael. I believe the mother’s name is Maria Christiane, but I cannot decipher the maiden name. Perhaps our friend in Germany, Timm Yamnitz, can help with this.
In a Dietrich Family Book, we find the following information about Beate Lindane Mengel. This is another place where we find the birth date of January 2, 1825.
I was not able to determine when Beate Lindane came to America, but it certainly was before her marriage which took place in 1853. Now, let’s take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was William Friedrich Dietrich, who was born on October 27, 1827 in Vaihingen, Germany. Friedrich was the son of Johann Gottlieb and Dorothea (Musse) Dietrich. An image of his German baptism record is displayed here.
The Dietrich family traveled to America in 1840 aboard the ship, Talma. We can see the Dietrich’s on this passenger list for that ship. Friedrich, called Wilhelm on this list, was 14 years old at the time.
We find Friedrich in the 1850 census at the age of 23. His father had died in 1844, so his mother is the head of this Dietrich household. Friedrich is called a laborer.
Friedrich Dietrich married Beate Lindane Mengel on April 23, 1853 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can view the church marriage record for this couple below.
I am also able to display a civil marriage record for this pair. It was Rev. Georg Schieferdecker who performed this marriage. That was a few years before he established Immanual Lutheran Church in Altenburg in 1857.
Our German Family Tree lists 9 children born to Friedrich and Beate Lindane, including 2 sets of twins. All of their children were baptized at Trinity, Altenburg. When the 1860 census was taken, the Dietrich’s had 3 children, all sons. Friedrich was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.
Next, we find the Dietrich’s in the 1870 census with 6 sons. Friedrich is called Fritz in this entry.
A photo can be found in the Dietrich Family binder of the Friedrich William Dietrich home, which was located on what is now called Y Road and near The Ridge.
The last census in which we find Friedrich and Beate Lindane was the one taken in 1880. Four children, all sons, were still living with their parents.
Beate Lindane Dietrich died in 1881 at the age of 55 (or 56 if she was born in 1825). We can take a look at her death record from the books of Trinity, Altenburg. This is the document that shows her birthday as January 1, 1826.
Beate Lindane was likely buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, but Findagrave.com does not have an entry for her.
Several Dietrich sons moved to Jacob, Illinois during the later 1880’s. Friedrich also moved there. There is a record in the Christ Lutheran Church books saying that Friedrich became a voting member there in 1888. Then, in 1894, Friedrich Dietrich died at the age of 66. A death record in the Christ, Jacob books says that he died of pneumonia. Friedrich is buried in the Christ Lutheran Cemetery in Jacob, but Findagrave.com has no gravestone photo for him.
I happen to think that today is not the bicentennial birthday of Beate Lindane Mengel. I think a baptism record in a church book for the year 1825 in Germany is more reliable than a death record in a church book in America. However, regardless of the date of birth, you got to read the story of Friedrich and Beate Lindane today.
Nice work, that appears to be the correct baptism record for Beate Lindane Mengel. It gives her mother’s maiden name as Kleinvogel. Looking at other records from Burgheßler, it seems that her father died 9 Aug1844, followed by her mother on 11 June 1852. I found a New Orleans passenger arrival record for “Lindane Mengel” aboard the Heinrich Von Gagern on 6 Oct 1852, so her mother’s death probably played a key role in the timing of her immigration.
Several of the passengers listed directly above and below her also have connections to Perry County. Friedrich August Newpert [Neupert] and his family were headed to “New Wirtenberg” [Wittenberg], while teacher Ernst August Roemer and his family had been part of the initial Saxon Lutheran migration in 1839, but returned to Germany for several years around 1845, and were making their way back to St. Louis.
Although Beate was the first one from her family known to immigrate to the US, she was joined over the next few years by the families of her older sisters, Wilhelmine (Mengel) Schade and Friedericke (Mengel) Seise.