Monday, September 24, 2012

Chasing the Mystery Woman – Elizabeth Cecilia Knecht

Lately I have become interested in my Great Grandaunt Elizabeth Cecilia Knecht. Louisiana birth records indicate that she was born on 14 January 1855 to Vincent Knecht and Therese Seiler Knecht in New Orleans, LA. She is listed as a 5 year old child in the 1860 census of her parents in New Orleans and then again in the 1870 census. Her father died in 1861 and her mother, along with children Vincent (age 17), Cecelia (age 15) and George (age 13), was living with her daughter Louisa and her husband Vendeline Figenschue in New Orleans in 1870. There exists a Louisiana marriage record of a Henry Jacobs marrying Celia Knecht in 1897 in Jefferson Parrish. The trail ran cold until I found a 1900 census of the House of the Good Shepherd in Chicago, Illinois. There is a Cecelia Knecht listed with the correct birthdate and correct birthplaces of her and her parents. And then the last piece of possible information is the Illinois death index entry in 1937 for Sister Magdalen of Therresa Knecht. The birth year is five years off, but the date, place, and father's name are correct. This is enough to keep me searching for her story. If anyone has any information about Cecilia, it would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by Ron Setzer

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