PHILLIP WITTE'S SECOND FAMILY

Phillip Witte's second wife was Henrietta (Harriet) Voss. She was born on September 8, 1858 and died on March 19, 1935 (according to a "descendants' chart" put out by Joe & Judy Adamski - in 1989). Apparently, the Adamskis are descendants of one of the children of Phillip and Henrietta. They shared the survey with my cousin, Eleanor Poppens of whom I have spoken elsewhere in these blogs.

 

I haven't been able to find a marriage date for either of Phillip's wives and the dates of births, deaths or marriages of other members of the Witte family are also suspect. However, with that in mind, I shall continue...      

 

        

Children of Phillip & Henrietta: 

            Infant son                                         No birth date            (The obituary notes five children, but family records show only four, with birthdates available for only the two girls.)
 

            Anna Witte Tellinghuisen     Born: April 22, 1884.     Died: April 16, 1910

            Lena Witte Hippen                 Born:  2/7/1890              Died:  7/27/1984

                                       Lena had nine children and many descendants.           

            Carl Fredrick William (Bill) Witte     No birth date             Died:  1955    

                        Married 2/22/1910  to: Mary Johanna Handwerk  Born:  5/10/1894   Died:  3/1/1985

                        Children of Bill & Mary:

            Ernest Witte – No birth date.     Died in 1955.

            Elma Witte – No birth date.      Married Lee Mabee.  She died 9/29/99.

            Ellory Witte - Born in 1914. Died in 1961. – Married Mercedes (no last name)

 

            Eunice Witte – married Raymond Ries who died on  1/14/2000

                         Eunice and Ray lived in Marian, SD many years but after his                                        death she moved to Sioux Falls, SD.

Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary with their grandchildren.
Circa 1950.

NOTE from Jean Straatmeyer:  Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary (my father’s aunt & uncle) lived in Marion, South Dakota and when I was young, we would visit there quite often.  Eunice, although older than me, would pay a lot of attention to me.  They had a lovely home and a beautiful garden with a fish pond in the back yard. 

Evelyn Witkop, age 84, of Sioux Falls, SD, on Thursday, March 16, 2000, tells that “no one ever talked of Henrietta’s beginnings.”  She said her mother - Lena Rosina Witte Hippen - nor her grandmother ever discussed Henrietta’s family, how she met Phillip or how she got from Louisiana to Illinois. Evelyn Witkop said she was 16 or 18 years old when her Grandma, Henrietta Witte, died.

 

[As a grandmother, I am determined not to be close-mouthed about my ancestors to my grandchildren! It will be here for them to peruse or continue to research whenever they wish.] 

The Witte grave marker.

See tombstone information below.

On Phillip’s tombstone in Germantown Cemetery, there is a loose square of cement with the word, “Anna” on it.  According to Mrs. Witkop, this is the name of his daughter, Anne Tellinghuisen, who died when she was young, although already married and had a child. Anne married Andrew Tellinghuisen and bore him a daughter, Ethel T. Tellinghuisen on March 31, 1909. Ethel died on September 17, 1935. 

Mrs. Witkop said that both of Philip Witte’s wives and his daughter are buried with him at Germantown.  (We believe that is not true since his first wife's (Anna) grave marker was found in Fosterburg on March 24, 2005.) However, Henrietta Voss Witte may be buried at Germantown since we could not find her obituary due to a fire at the courthouse in Marian, SD.

Evelyn Witkop on 3/16/2000 said she remembers John & Christina Plucker very well and that they would often come to visit. She said Grandma was (in her estimation) “The best example of a real lady.” She would always be wrapped in a blanket. She would get out of the old Marquette, bring her blanket along with her and wrap herself up in it (her legs) during the visit. Mrs. Witkop said that Christina Plucker had such a “kindly face.”

 

*** 

Henrietta Voss was 76 years old when she died.  She married two more times after Phillip Witte. She was Mrs. Van Gerpen and Mrs. Ben Cornelius – in that order, but nothing is known of those unions.  She is said to be buried in the Germantown cemetery with Phillip Witte and that Bill Witte was put in charge of getting her name on the tombstone.  He never did.  In March of 2000 it was still a “sore subject” with Evelyn Witkop, his niece.

It is obvious here that Phillip's information was put on the right side and the left side is empty.
Was Henrietta's name to be put there?
The tablet with the word "Anna" is loose between the pedestals.

It is interesting to note that I seem to have more information about Phillip Witte's second family than his first. However, the closer proximity in time has made the information more accessible. Most of the information above came from research done since the year 2000.

The next posting will show what I know about Phillip Witte's beginnings as a Presbyterian minister.