Week 17 Document

Document in genealogy has many levels to the definition. There are the actual paper documents that we all love to collect, but document is also a verb. Merriam Webster defines document as

“: to furnish documentary evidence of –documenting their claims

: to provide with factual or substantial support for statements made or a hypothesis proposed “

Documenting our claims of who our ancestors were is why we collect, birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, photos etc. It is much like finding a missing puzzle piece and finally being able to see the full picture. It is very satisfying to find the proof that great great grandmother really was the person you suspected she was.

This document I acquired recently helped me to solidify my husband’s ancestors. It ties in with my previous post about Hein and Rebecka Hartje. I knew that Rebecka remarried after Hein passed away in 1879. It was known they lived in southern Minnesota. I have had experience getting marriage certificates in Minnesota. Many of my husbands family who lived in North Dakota traveled to Minnesota or Canada to marry. Still looking into why that happened, was it the laws, cost, location? That sounds like a post for another day.

MOMS or Minnesota Official Marriage System lets you look up by county, name, and date to find the certificate and it is simple to order. There is a small fee. Through this system I was able to get a copy of the marriage of Rebecka and Andrew Henke.

This is one more piece in the puzzle for the life of my husband’s second great grandmother. Learning about the lives of family members who lived before us brings each of them into focus as a human being who had a rich and full life instead of only thinking of them as an ancestor. Hein Hartje died 24 June 1879. Rebecka remarried 1 April 1880. Rebecka and her nine children made it through a Minnesota winter. I know what a Minnesota winter can be, add to that grief from losing her husband and trying to keep nine children clothed and fed, it doesn’t sound easy. A little less than a year later and Rebecka married Andrew. She now had help and hope for the future.

This document is just one more piece for the Hartje family puzzle. I have worked a little over the past few years trying to build the Hartje family tree. Mostly I have worked on my own family because I find it easier to work with familiar names and stories. My husband knows a bare minimum about his family, so he is not a source of help. I have recently found a tie to where in Germany they are from and hope to add that in a future post.

Have fun researching your family history and finding all the documents you need.