WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT MY OFFINGER ANCESTORS

As I posted here, James Tanner's post over at Genealogy's Star about
the Family Search sites led me to investigating the Record Search
function there with great results. The most important of these dealt with
my Mom's paternal ancestors. Her parents divorced when Mom was
seven or eight years old and there was no contact with her father
afterward and while Mom knew somethings about her White or
Offinger cousins, she seldom mentioned them to any of us. I had
found some information online about her grandfather Edward J
White's family but very little about her grandmother, Pauline "Lena"
Offinger. Awhile back I found a record of a Charles Offinger living in
Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma in the mid-nineteenth century and thought
he might be Pauline's father but had no proof to confirm that idea. So
I entered Pauline's name in Record Search and one brick wall came
tumbling down. I spent a good portion of the day going back and forth
between Record Search and Ancestry.com and ended up with quite
a bit of new information.

First I found the record of Pauline's marriage to Edward J . White on
27Nov 1895 in the Massachusetts Marriages 1695-1910 collection.
From this I learned that Pauline was born in Cambridge, that her father
was indeed a Charles Offinger and her mother was "Johanna C.". I also
learned that Edward's father was Patrick G. White and his mother was
"Mary". A search for Patrick and Mary led to numerous possibilities but
no concrete evidence. However, a search for Charles was very productive!

From the Massachusetts Marriages  1695-1910 I learned Charles was
Charles J. Offinger, born in Wurtemburg, Germany in 1848 to Jacob
Offinger and his wife Christiana. Johanna was Johanna C. Luick,
daughter of Christian Luick and his wife Christina. She also was born in
Wurtemburg but four years earlier than Charles. I found records of the
births of their children in the Massachusetts Births and Christenings 
1639-1915 collection, and records of their deaths and two of their sons,
Frederick and William, in the Massachusetts Deaths and Burials 
1695-1910. Three children married : Albert, Julia, and great grandmother
Pauline.

Next I went over to Ancestry.com.On the New York Passenger Lists 
1820-1957 I found the image of the passenger list for the ship  
Deutschland showing that Charles and Johanna arrived in New York
City from Bremen on 13Jun 1870. I found the census records for 1870,
1880 and 1900 for them and also the census records for their children
Julia and Albert. Then I found  entries for them in the City Directories.

So, what does this all tell me? Quite a bit, and it also adds a few questions
to the mix.

First, here's the family of Charles and Johanna:
Charles (Carl) J.Offinger( b1848 Wurtemburg, Germany, d17Jul 1881
Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma.), m. Johanna C Luick (b.1844 Wurtemburg,
Germany, d 14Aug 1908, Boston, Suffolk, Ma.)11Sep 1870 Cambridge,
Middlesex, Ma.
Children: 
Emelia (?) b. 1868 Wurtemburg Germany

Charles(?)

Albert C. Offinger, (b 1871 Cambridge Middlesex Ma,   d.?), m. Hattie
Heckman 6Jun1905, Boston, Suffolk, Ma.

Frederic H. Offinger (b. 14Apr 1872 Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma, d.26Jul
1895, Boston, Suffolk, Ma)

Pauline Marie Offinger (b 17Dec 1873 Cambridge,Middlesex, Ma, d.?)
m. Edward J.White  27Nov 1895 Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma

William Offinger (b10Feb 1876 Cambridgeport, Middlesex, Ma d24Aug
1898 Boston, Suffolk, Ma)

Julia Offinger (b.29Oct 1877 Cambridge, Middlesex, Ma d?) m. John
McCarthy 25Feb 1906 Boston,Suffolk,Ma .


I bet you can tell from that list what my new mysteries are!

To be continued next post.