Friedrich and Catherine (Springmeyer) Düwel are 3rd great grandparents on my father’s side. They are one of several genealogical “cold cases” I am currently working. Some branches of the family tree are more difficult to research than others.

Essentially, I know the middle of their story but not the beginning or ending.

I’ve been able to determine from German church records that they married October 4, 1840 in Bockhorst, Westfalen, Prussia. A daughter was born to them in 1842 according to baptismal records from the same church. Her story ends there. Friedrich and Catherine immigrated to the U.S. after she was born and made their way to Hickory Grove, Missouri which is near modern-day Warrenton in Warren County. He became a United States citizen in 1854. Three years earlier he’d applied for citizenship at age 41. His 3rd daughter, Friedericka, would become my 2nd great grandmother. It is from her 1915 death certificate that I first learned of her parent’s names – “Fritz” and Catherine.

Fritz and Catherine appear in the Warren County census records of 1850, 1860 and 1870 and then vanish along with the three youngest children: Fred, Samuel and Anna. The oldest surviving daughter “Mina” married Gottlieb Koelling with whom she raised ten children until her untimely death in 1889. Friedericka, or “Reka”, married Henry Simon Düsenberg in 1870. Their granddaughter, Mildred, is my paternal grandmother.

The surname Düwel has many spelling variations which adds to the challenge. One variation is “Teufel” which translates to “devil”. That’s fitting because I had a “Teufel” of a time locating them in the census. After weeks of not finding a single shred of evidence of their existence beyond the death certificate, I decided to scan the entire 1850 census of Warren County, Missouri and review every male named “Fritz” or “Fred” and every female named “Catherine”, “Cathy” etc. How hard could that be?

I eventually found them listed as Fred and Catherine “Devil”. In retrospect, the lesson I learned here was to research the last name first. That might have led me to them faster had I known I had a little devil in me which my mother always suspected.

In September, I am making a trip back to Missouri. On the agenda is a stop at the Warren County courthouse to see if I can figure out what happened to the Düwels after 1870.

More to come. (I hope.)

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: Paternal 3rd great grandparents
Common ancestors: Many