WITTE BACKGROUND QUESTIONS

Who was this Ernst Phillipp Witte?

Where did he come from?

Who were his parents?

Where was he born?

Did he have any brothers or sisters?

Who did he marry?

 *** 

Let us begin with what I have been able to glean from my meager attempt at research. First, his parents were Wilhelm and Amalie Witte from Lippe-Detmold in Prussia. See below:

 Wilhelm Witte

Born:   1808         Died:  ____?_____

He joined Zion Presbyterian Church, Fosterburg, Illinois on March 28, 1861

Married:  Amalie (Amelia) Witte on        __?__   in  ____?____

                Born:  1809          Died:  ____?_____

                Wilhelm and Amalie came to America on the ship “New Orleans” from the port of Bremen in Germany.  They landed in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 25, 1860 with their three grown children.

Witte, Wilhelm  Age : 52

        Country of Origin : Germany

        Arrival Date : May 23, 1860

        Final Destination : United States

        Port of Embarkation : Bremen

        Ship's Name : New Orleans

        Occupation : Farmer

        Gender : Male

        Captain's Name : H. Sanders

        Purpose for Travel : Staying in the USA

        Mode of Travel : Steerage

        Manifest ID Number : 00018565

The above information (along with the same for their three children) was found through Ancestry.com. Strangely, I wasn’t able to find the same information about Wilhelm’s wife. Perhaps it was there and I missed it. But none-the-less, the following information verified the family’s presence in Illinois in 1880:

Ship: New Orleans
From: Bremen
To: New Orleans
Arrived: 25 May 1860

Witte
Wilhelm 52 M Farmer Germany USA
Amalie 51 F Germany USA
Amalie 27 F Germany USA
Wilhelm 24 M Germany USA
Philipp 23 M Germany USA

The 1880 census of Fosterburg, Madison County, Illinois shows that the family came from the Lippe region of Prussia. Some of their neighbors in the census also specify the city of Detmold. And Detmold is the city our family always knew as their home city in Germany.

On March 24, 2005, we (my husband and I) drove through Fosterburg, Illinois on our way to Dubuque, Iowa to find information about the elder Wittes in the churches and cemeteries located there. But, again, we were foiled in our quest due to a huge tornado that took many buildings there in 1948. No records or evidence of their graves were found in any cemeteries in or around Fosterburg. Wilhelm (the son) and his wife, Henrietta have a very nice stone in the Woodburn cemetery (an open country cemetery), but no other Witte names are present there.

So, we are left with many unanswered questions:

·         What happened between 1860 when they arrived and 1861 when they joined the Fosterburg church?

·         Did the parents die in Illinois?

·         Did they leave Fosterburg?

·         Since Wilhelm (Jr.) and his wife are buried in Fosterburg, are the parents there, too?

·         Where are their stones?

·         Who did Amalie (Amelia) Witte marry? Where is she buried? What about her family?

·         Did Wilhelm (Jr.) and his wife have any children?

·         Where are their stones?

 We may never find the answers to these and other questions. However, if anyone reading this posting has information on this family, I would be very happy to get it. You can leave a message at this site.

Found in the Woodburn Cemetery near Fosterburg, Illinois.