52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - 2025; Week 4 "Overlooked"

 OVERLOOKED:

Great-grandpa - where were you born?  

Despite over 40 years of genealogical research, I have been unable to find proof of the birthplace of my paternal great-grandfather, Rudolph Myer Schulte.  I have researched and discovered more documents and information on him than most of my other ancestors but none of the records confirm his birthplace.  This is definitely a mystery.

This is what I have been able to confirm:

Rudolph Myer Schulte was born 24 October 1869 in Germany.  His father was Joseph Meyer Schulte, who was born in Beckum, Westfalen, Preußen, Germany in 1843 and his mother was Alvina (Alwina) Tobian (Tobien) who was born in 1848 in Pommern, Preußen, Germany.

On the 10th of April, 1872, Joseph, Alvina and Rudolph immigrated from Hamburg, Germany to America, settling in Detroit, Michigan.  The Hamburg passenger list indicated that their place of residence at the time of departure was Goldikow, Pommern.  Recent in-depth research has shown that there is not, nor has there ever been, a village named Goldikow in Pommern.  With assistance from a cousin in Poland, whose help has been overwhelming, it is believed the name of the village was actually Zoldekow which now, in Polish, is Sulikowo.  This has proven to be undoubtedly accurate with recent research I have been undertaking on the Tobian family (which will be discussed in another blog post).

At the time of arrival in America, Alvina gave birth to their second child, a daughter Elizabeth on 28 June 1872.  A third child, Ida, was born on 23 November 1874.

Here is a photo of the Joseph and Alvina Schulte family in approximately 1875-1876 in Detroit:

Joseph and Alvina Schulte with Rudolph standing, Ida sitting on mother's lap and Elizabeth standing by father:

The 1880 United States census for Detroit, Michigan showed the Joseph Schulte family with Rudolph listed as having been born in "Germany" as was also listed for his parents.  This gave me no new information.

On 7 October 1891 Rudolph married Julie Feucht.  Again the marriage record(s) indicated Rudolph was born in Germany:

Marriage certificate for Rudolph Schulte and Julie Feucht:

In 1892 Rudolph joined the Detroit Fire Department, a career that would see him joining the US Navy to serve in the Spanish American War in 1898 where he served on the USS Yosemite.

Rudolph Schulte as a Detroit City Fireman:

Rudolph in the US Navy during the Spanish American War (he is with his younger brother, Theodore, in this photo):

I decided to contact the National Archives in hopes of obtaining Rudolph's Spanish American War military records.  Some months later a thick package arrived in the mail for me.  In his own handwriting Rudolph had written "I was born in Germany and came to America with my parents when I was 2 years old".  

Why, oh why, couldn't he have been more specific as to where he was born - did he even know?  He was only 2 when he immigrated with  his parents and did they ever discuss where in Germany he had been born?  It was impossible to know.  Another roadblock!

The 1900 US census for Detroit, Michigan was even more confusing as it showed Rudolph being born in Michigan which, of course, was incorrect.  Did the census taker get this information from his wife, Julie?  She certainly knew her husband was born in Germany.  It would be impossible to know.  Another roadblock!

The 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940 US censuses for Detroit, Michigan all showed Rudolph Schulte as having been born in "Germany".

On January 14, 1907, Rudolph's wife, Julie, passed away.  Just 5 weeks later, Rudolph married her sister, Elizabeth Feucht, who had been widowed twice previously and had 4 children.  Again, their marriage record indicated Rudolph had been born in "Germany".

Elizabeth passed away on 17 February 1937 and on 5 March 1938 Rudolph married for the 3rd time to Mary Bender.  Their marriage certificate didn't shed any new light on Rudolph's birth place.

Marriage record of Rudolph Schulte and Mary Bender:

Rudolph passed away on 1 April, 1940 in Detroit, Michigan and was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit in the Bender Family Plot - the cemetery plot of his 3rd wife's family.  His death certificate had a bit more information regarding his place of birth listing Westphalia, Germany and his obituary stated the same.  Beckum, Westphalia, Germany was the birthplace of Rudolph's parents, grandparents, great grandparents and several earlier generations all leading to my belief that Rudolph himself had been born there.

Rudolph Schulte's death certificate and obituary:

With all my research, and the amount of documentation I had, I still had no idea and no positive proof of where my great-grandfather had been born.  I was very close to my grandfather, Rudolph's only child, and yet my grandfather told me he only knew his father had been from Germany.  Obviously families never discussed these things.  My grandfather shared with me all the military medals of his father and all the photos that my grandparents had.  In with the photos were a few of Rudolph in the Masonic fraternal organization clothing.

Rudolph Schulte as a member of the Masonic fraternal organization:

 Armed with this information I wrote to the headquarters of the Masons in Detroit.  After many back and forth letters (this was before computers), I received copies of Rudolph's application and other paperwork from his time as a member of the Masons.  In that application was, in Rudolph's own handwriting, his place of birth as Beckum, Westphalia, Germany!

At last I had confirmation that Rudolph was indeed born in the place of his Schulte ancestors.  I was ecstatic...

Until I began searching for absolute proof of this,  hopefully, with documentation from Beckum.

That has not happened despite many years of research.  While the Catholic church records of Saint Stephan Katholische Kirche are microfilmed by the LDS and Family Search, and while myself and another Schulte cousin, have thoroughly gone through the records, giving us information on our Schulte line back to the 1600's, no record of the birth of Rudolph Schulte has been found nor a marriage record of his parents.

I even hired a professional German researcher in 2021 who visited the church and viewed the vital records for Beckum and other nearby villages that were all part of the Saint Stephan Catholic Church parish.  The professional genealogist informed me there was no record of either Rudolph's birth or the marriage of his parents.  Using the assumption that Rudolph's mother could have been Evangelical (Lutheran), as the family was when they arrived in America, the professional genealogist checked the Evangelical records as well and nothing was found.

Now in 2025, I am back to square 1.  While my Schulte ancestors - from my 2nd great grandfather, Joseph Schulte, back to the 1600's were all members of the Catholic Church in Beckum, Westphalia, it is still a mystery where Rudolph was born and where his parents were married.

I love a good mystery but 40 plus years of research has frustrated me.  I'm not giving up; there is always something new to investigate and I am turning my research to Rudolph's mother, Alvina Tobian, to see if that will open up some avenues.

Despite the topic of this post being "overlooked", I feel that I have not overlooked any available records or information that has been available to me - up to this point!

copyright 2025, Cheryl J. Schulte