Finding Lenertz Genealogy Gold in City Directories

Have I told you how much I love city directories? Yes. Have I done so lately? No. This is a friendly reminder how much I love city directories.

Here is an example of why:

These Lenertz folk in this city directory clipping are my ancestors in 1908 Mankato, Minnesota. Alexander, Henry, Michael and William are the brothers of my great-great grandfather, John Benjamin Lenertz (Robert is Michael's son). John left Minnesota for greener pastures in Oklahoma. Everyone else stayed in Mankato. I've been using city directories to track their lives, occupations and locations.

Check out this city directory. Not only does it tell where everyone lived and worked, it also lists a death date for Henry Lenertz. I used this date to order an obituary. He died of typhoid fever.

But wait...look what it says about William Lenertz. He moved! And it tells me where he moved to. This makes me very happy, because I was having trouble tracking William. I now know he eventually died in Wisconsin, but this city directory he helping me fill in the events of his life.

No shocking revelations here, just happy to be building strong timelines for my Lenertz ancestors...and city directories are helping me do so.

Cousin Bait: Francis W. Schoffman and Mary Lenertz

I am looking for information on Francis W. Schoffman and Mary Lenertz as well as their children. My genealogical connection is to Mary Lenertz. She was an older sister of my great-great grandfather, John Benjamin Lenertz.

John moved away from Minnesota and his siblings. He died in 1919 and I don't have a lot of information on the other Lenertz brothers and sisters. I do have vital statistics, but I would like to learn more about their lives which is why I wrote this post.

Here's what I do know:

Mary Lenertz
born 12 August 1859 in Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa
died 9 March 1940 in Mankato, Blue Earth, Minnesota

married in January 1875 in Mankato to:

Francis W. "Frank" Schoffman
born November 1847 in Wisconsin
died 13 July 1936 in Watonwan County, Minnesota

Mary and Frank had the following children:

William Francis Schoffman (17 October 1875-21 November 1918)

George Ambrose Schoffman (15 June 1879-8 January 1924)

John Roland "Rollie" Schoffman (12 February 1882- ?)

Sadie May Schoffman Movius (16 December 1890-15 May 1897)

Rose Katherine Schoffman Heiertz (31 March 1893-17 June 1986)

Like I said, these folks are cousins to me and my connection is through the Lenertz line. I would like to know more about their lives and maybe see a photo or two.

I am hoping someone somewhere does an Internet search for their Schoffman ancestors and lands on this blog post. I am hoping after reading this that they reach out and connect with me.

I do have some information on the other Lenertz siblings, as well as Mary's parents, that I am happy to share.

Thank you for reading this far. Hopefully casting this line will help me reel in some cousins. I'm not a crazy online stalker person, I promise. I'm just trying to bolster this Lenertz / Schoffman branch on my family tree.


October 8, 2012 UPDATE! Blog reader Eric Henderson commented below regarding a video about the Schoffman family. In the video, Eric plays George Schoffman, who is listed above. Very cool!

The Cousins We Will Never Know

I use Google Alerts to track a few of my less common surnames. Any time one of these names is mentioned online, I get an email notice and a link to the piece.

Today I received a Lenertz alert in my mailbox. On top of the list was an obituary from Minnesota, where my Lenertz came from and left 100 years ago. I didn't have to check my database to know there was a connection because I recognized some of the names in the obituary.

The person in question was my third cousin, once removed. I'm not going to put his name here out respect for the family, as well as to keep the search engines away. I do not know this person or his family. I just know how we are connected.

Our common ancestor was Alexander Lenertz (1826-1879) who had many children including sons Michael and John. Michael spent his entire life in Mankato, Minnesota while John left for Oklahoma.

I read this obituary and compared our different paths in life. The subject of the obit descends from Michael, who stayed in Minnesota and worked in the quarry. I descend from John, who took his geological knowledge to Oklahoma and built a life there.

The deceased in the obituary and I experienced completely different lives in different parts of the country because of the decisions of two brothers over 100 years ago. Our paths never crossed (or did they?) but we have these people in common.

Where am I going with this? I have no idea, but I'm just fascinated with all the connections we have to people we will never know. 

One fact I did find interesting from the obituary was that the subject loved to make homemade beef jerky. My dad (his third cousin) does, too. Must be a Lenertz thing.

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Alex Lenertz in the 1880 Mortality Schedule

Mortality schedules were included in the federal censuses for 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Questions were asked regarding people who died in the last 12 months prior to enumeration. Information on these schedules includes a person's name, age, sex, color, marital status, place of birth of subject/father/mother, profession, month of death and cause of death.

My great-great-great grandfather, Alex Lenertz (indexed as Alexr Lenertz), is listed in the 1880 mortality schedule for Mankato, Minnesota:




Here is his name (Lenertz, Alex), age (56), sex (M) and color (W). Place of birth for Alex and his parents is blank. He was actually born in Luxembourg.

His occupation is listed as "stone mason." The quotes indicate he died in the same month as the person above him on the list, which was August (meaning August 1879). Cause of death is "gangrene."

At the time of Alex's death, six of his nine children were minors, ranging in age from about 17 to 3 years of age. John Lenertz, my great-great grandfather, is listed as 19 in the 1880 census, likely assuming the role of man of the house for his widowed mother.

I accessed this mortality schedule page via Ancestry.com. If you have a subscription go to the search page and follow the path: Search > Census > U.S. Census > U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880 > Minnesota > Blue Earth > Mankato Ward 3 and 4.

(Cliff's notes for my family readers who need help keeping all these people straight: Alex Lenertz > John B. > John A. > Buster)

Christmas in March

I received a package in the mail last week. It contained two notebooks full of Lenertz genealogy information. I cannot even describe how much this bolsters my Lenertz research. Mine is a small branch, with a very uncommon name, removed from the rest of the group when my ancestor went to Oklahoma. To have these details, two notebooks full...it's better than presents.

But wait, it gets better. My great-great grandfather had 9 siblings. There was one elusive sister about which I knew next to nothing. She was in a couple of censuses as a child and then she was gone. These notebooks came from someone married to a descendant of that mystery sister. She's not a mystery anymore! She went on to get married and have many children.

And...it gets even better! These notebooks include articles and obituaries of Lenertz ancestors from Minnesota newspapers. They are about my great-great grandfather's siblings and offspring. There are even some newspaper photos.

Thanks to the generosity of Dan in Minnesota, the pieces of my Lenertz puzzle are starting to fit together and reveal the picture of a family history about which I used to know nothing.

Share and Share Alike: The Will of Alexander Lenertz

Below is the will of Alexander Lenertz (d. 1879). It can be accessed or copied from the Blue Earth County Historical Society, file #588.

In the name of God, amen. Alexander Lenertz, of the city of Mankato, in the County of Blue Earth, + State of Minnesota, of the age 51 years, being of sound mind + memory + considering the uncertainty of this frail + transitory life, do therefore make, ordain, publish + declare, this to be my last will + testament: That is to say, first, after all my lawful debts are paid + discharged, the residue of my estate, real + personal, I give, bequeath, devise + dispose of as follows, to wit:

First, to my daughter Catharine I give + bequeath five dollars.

Second, to my beloved wife Margaret Lenertz, I give, bequeath + devise all the residue of my estate, both real + personal, to have to her use during the time of her natural life, + after her death the same to be divided between my children, John, Michael, Joseph, Alexander, William, Henry, Frank, Mary + Margaret equally, share + share alike; provided however, if my said wife shall marry after my decease, then + in that case, she shall have only such share of my said estate as is or shall at the time of my death be allowed to her by the laws of this State, + the balance shall then, at the time of her marriage, be divided between my said children, John, Michael, Joseph, Alexander, William, Henry, Frank, Mary + Margaret, share + share alike.

Likewise I make, constitute and appoint my wife Margaret Lenertz sole executrix of this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me made.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name + affixed my seal the 23d day of September in the year of our lord, one thousand eight hundred + seventy eight –

Alexander Lenertz (seal)

The above written instrument was subscribed by the said Alexander Lenertz in our presence + acknowledged by him to each of us: and he at the same time published + declared the above instrument so subscribed to be his last will + testament; and we at the testators request, + in his presence, have signed our names as witnesses hereto, and written opposite our names our respective places of residence.

Qui-inus [Quivinus? Or Quirinus?] Leonard, of the city of Mankato
County of Blue Earth, State of Minnesota
Henry Willesheim, of the city of Mankato
County of Blue Earth, State of
Minnesota

Filed Sept 9th 1879
J. E. Porter
Probate Judge

Adequate Will Hunting

Did you see what I did there? (Points to the title)

I ventured to the web site for the Blue Earth County Historical Society the other day. In their search box, I entered the name "Lenertz," like I do with every search box on every genealogy/records web site. Normally, I get a "no results found" during this practice.

However, at BECHS, I got results! This is a good thing because my Lenertz line was all over Blue Earth County once upon a time.

One of the search items was a will for Alexander Lenertz. Hmmm...could that be my great-great-great grandfather? The 1879 date on the will sounds promising because that's the year he died.

I emailed the society and got a quote for the cost of recieving a copy of document. $13.00 and a request are on their way to Blue Earth County Historical Society this very day.

My Lenertz line is so difficult. I've yet to find anyone searching the same line as vigorously as I am. I feel like to lone U.S. Lenertz historian. I don't want to put any hopes on this record, but I could really use a breakthrough here.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Lenertz Record Shopping

Today I contacted the Blue Earth County Historical Society in Mankato, Minnesota. They have a copy of a will for Alexander Lenertz that was filed October 4, 1879. My ggg grandfather Alexander Lenertz died in August of 1879. I'm hoping this is his will.

I also ordered 6 death certificates from the Minnesota Historical Society. The web site is set up like Amazon: just put the records in your shopping cart and go. I wish all out-of-state repositories were this easy.

These death certificates are (hopefully) for six of Alexander Lenertz's 10 children. If I'm lucky, one or more of these records will give a hint to where the family came from in Luxembourg.

John Benjamin Lenertz was Alexander's third child and eldest son. He was my great-great grandfather. He's buried in Oklahoma, but the state can find no death certificate for him. John left Minnesota and raised two kids in Oklahoma. The family got smaller with the next generation and moved father away. Now there is no current connection to Minnesota and I've been trying to piece the Lenertz puzzle blindfolded. That's why I'm hanging my hopes on these coming Minnesota death certificates.