Fred Holtz

My research into the Holtz line (Arthur's mother Lena Holtz's ancestry) began with a family tree prepared by Myrtle Schoenwetter, the youngest daughter of Lena's oldest sister, Sophia Mary. She began with her mother's grandfather, Joachim Heinrich Holtz, who was born in Mecklenberg-Schwerin in 1797 and died in Wisconsin in 1856. I recently found his headstone in a small cemetery outside of Madison, along with his wife's, Elizabeth Radelof, who died in 1877.

Headstone of Joachim "George" Holtz (1797-1857). Okeag Cemetery in Elba township, Dodge WI

Headstone of Elisabeth Radelof Holtz (1804-1877). Okeag Cemetery in Elba township, Dodge WI

In her family tree, Myrtle lists George and Elizabeth's six children who survived into adulthood. She provides details for each, their dates and places of birth and death, who they married, when and where, and all of their descendants. The one exception is Fred Holtz, who's listed at the bottom, with only the following information:

Fred (a cripple)

Died

I assumed Fred had died in infancy, and was surprised when I found him listed along with the others on the passenger manifest when the family arrived in New York on May 22 1854. His name appears as "Fritz Holz" and his age is 27. Not only is he alive and well, but he's the oldest sibling. The purser has written something in the column used for his occupation. I can't make it out. If anyone else can decipher it, please let me know.

From the passenger manifest of the George Canning, arriving NY May 22 1854, showing, from the top: our great x3 granddfather, Johan Holtz (55); our great x2 grandparents, Anna (25) and Johann Holtz (25); our great x3 grandmother Elise Holtz (46); their other children: Fritz (27), Sophie (19), Elisabeth (12), Joachim (12) and Maria (22) who married Christopher Greutzmacher (29).

Fred appears in only one census, in 1870. He's living with our great x2 grandparents, John and Anna Holtz, who now have a sizable estate valued at nearly $5000. Fred is 42 and apparently not working. Our great grandmother, Lena Holtz, is nine years old, and her sister Rieka, who'll die in another eight years, is seven. Reika and Fred's deaths might very well be related. I found Reika buried in the cemetery beside the Elba German Methodist Church, along with her sister Sophia Wendt and a few nieces and nephews. I expected to find Fred there as well. But he's neither there nor in any of the other cemeteries his siblings were found in.

But beside the recently discovered headstones of his parents, I found this one, which is nearly as illegible as his "occupation" on the passenger manifest.

Headstone for Fred Holtz

The headstone reads: F. Holtz, died Jan 13, 187?, aged 47 yrs & 6 mos. German baptismal records put Fred's christening on July 11, 1826. If he died forty seven and a half years later, then Jan 13, 1874 is close enough. I'm confident I've found Fred, and hopefully given him a little more dignity than Myrtle's summation of his life provided. And I'd like to learn more about the "cripple who died".