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Christoph Dulm
Presently, I am looking for the parents of Christopher Dillon, my great grandfather. Christopher has been a secretive guy and finally showed up on the 1910 Census in Arkansas living on Mountain Road outside of Acorn Township in Polk County. That in itself proves a couple of things and I will talk about that later.
Family legend has it Christopher left Germany quietly with his mother and dad, a brother, an aunt and an uncle. They spent three months on the water. All died on the voyage with the exception of Chris and his father. Chris was seven years old when they made the voyage. I offer a quote from a letter sent by a cousin back in 1968. She writes:
"I don't know much history of the Dillon family; Christopher S Dilm born Nov. 11, 1847 and died July 13, 1926 at Floydada, Texas. Born in Germany and crossed the Atlantic Ocean when he was 7 years old. When they started there was seven of them but when they landed just grandpa and his father were all that was left. Mother, father, aunt, uncle, brother and himself. They [were] three months on the water."
Other information states Christopher was a bright boy and
the clergy wanted him for the priesthood. The family did not want that and quietly left the country.
Since my name is Dillon, where did the Dilm come from? Christopher's daughter, Mary Luella was born in Cass County, Missouri. The local Historical Society was kind enough to supply me with her birth record. She is named Dilm! Mother is Francis Ellen Abbott and father is Christopher Dilm. My grandfather is born in Missouri as well as a grand uncle named Jesse.
Christopher later takes out a land patent in Arkansas under the name Dilm. Mentions his wife and four kids in the statement. Sure enough, his wife Frances and the kids show up in the 1900 Census. So where is Christopher? He shows up in the 1910 Census with the name Dillon. They later move to Texas and Chris moves between Floyd County and Hardeman County where he passes in 1926. He is buried in Floydada, Texas and his headstone reads Chris Dillon.
I don't remember what prompted looking for DULM but doing so prompted a hit from the Immigrant Transcriber's Guild Data Base. Following the hit, I located the Breman Ship Hermann arriving New Orleans November 6, 1854. 1854, wasn't Chris supposed to be seven years old in 1854? At least this was in the year range in which I had been looking. Looking up Dulm I found Christ Dulm, age 28 and Christ Dulm, age 6. Christopher would turn seven on November 11th. Interesting......
Immigrant Genealogical Society
They supplied me with the page showing Christoph Dulm listed below:
a) Christoph Dulm from Lutte ( township of Vossheide) , subtenant [landless farmer].
It appears Christopher traveled with his father, mother, grandmother, an uncle, and a brother. Darn close to what the family legend says.
Also, the ship manifest states 22 died on the voyage but only lists eight on the same manifest. There are a couple of questions raised about the ship manifest. The names Tigges and Muhlmeier are also mentioned in Vandenhalven's book, entries 1109 and 1110. Note the listing from the ship manifest below:
Those highlighted in green are noted by the transcriber as having died on the voyage. Fredrich Tigges has ten children by Vandenhalven's book. Only nine are listed. Johan Mulenmeyer has three children but only two are listed on the manifest. Another example is the Struck family. Entry 1116. No "head" is listed but the entry notes five children. The manifest only lists four children and no wife.
It appears from the ship manifest names have been omited of persons that are in Vandenhalven's book. Based on family legend and the 14 people not listed as died on the voyage, I would submit the missing Dulm family is part of the omited deaths on the manifest. I also find interesting the number of deaths from "Lippe".
I have not added these names to the family tree as of yet preferring to dig a little deeper for confirmation. It appears however, that this may be a legitimate match and would be very surprised if it does not pan out to be true.
Simon Friedrich Christoph Duelm, born 8 Dec 1847, son of Hermann Friedrich Christoph Duelm, born 20 March 1827 and Friederike Henriette Kracht, born 2 Jan 1827.
Other family members:
Anne Mathilde Henriette Duelm, born 2 Oct 1850, died 22 Apr 1851.
Simon Konrad Heinrich Duelm, born 1 Jul 1852.
Again the family legend states the mother (Friederike Henriette Kracht) and brother (Simon Konrad Heinrich Duelm) died at sea. From the �Die Auswanderer� we know that the mother-in-law was a Kracht and there were �two Kinder�. This certainly looks like the family. The only thing left to confirm is the mother of Christopher Dillon. The first attempt at obtaining a death certificate from the state of Texas was unsuccessful. A second attempt was made and have presently waited for three months. Another letter has been sent.
I recently made a pilgrimage to Christopher's homestead in Acorn, Arkansas. Toured the grounds so to speak. There are 2 houses and three trailers on the property and they are leased from the timber giant Weyerhauser. I spoke at length with a gentleman by the name of Fox who has been on the property since 1970. The orcherd planted by Grandma Ellen is gone now. The last tree was cut down in 1999 although there is a pear tree in Fox's front yard. There are no old buildings on the property to "snoop" in.
Fox also informed me there is three small graves on the property that he maintained until part of the land went to another party. The area is a pasture now. I did not see the grave site however Fox tells me an oak tree grew up at the head of the graves and branched into three branches. Interesting. Now could these graves be some of the children of Minnie Miller and Charlie Dillon or Mary Dillon and James Williamson? There is a gap in the children of both families in the early 1900.
By the way, I did check the local court house for criminal proceedings. None there.
Drop me a line if you have any further information or something to add.
Peter Johnson is the father of John Peter Johnson as listed on John Peter's death certificate. John died in New London, Minnesota which is in Kandiyohi County.
John was born in 1856, two years after Peter's immigration. Peter Johnson was instumental in setting up the Spring Garden Swedish Evangelical Luthern Church organized July 19, 1858 in Leon Township, Goodhue County, Minnesota.
From "Harvest of the Years In Spring Gardens First Century - 1858-1958" p. 8 obtained from the Goodhue County Historical Society.
I have checked death certificates on Peter Johnson for additional information. I am coming up with two Peter Johnsons of about the same age connected to Spring Gardens, Leon Township in Goodhue County.
I will be checking the Spring Garden Cemetery once the snow clears and additional information from the church.
Again, any leads a welcome�.
Taking this information a little further, I checked an immigration CD and found a Dulm listed in the Die Auswanderer aus dem Furstentum Lippe. There is an outfit in Burbank that supplies copies of immigration material from various books. Here's their website:
d) with wife
e) with two children
k) mother-in-law, widowed Kracht with son Conrad Kracht
o)Traveled summer of 1854
z) source page 467
As of May, 2006 I have discovered additional information from St Johns Church in Lemgo, Lippe, Germany. This is the county seat, so to speak, of Vosshiede, Germany.
Peter Johnson
I've uncovered some new data on Peter Johnson and wife Martha. They are in the 1860 Census for Goodhue County in Minnesota with a son John and a son Charlie. John is of the right age. I will be researching this farther with a trip to the Minnesota Historical Society to view the Census. I may also review the land records at the county as I am not to far from there. The BLM site lists 40 acres as a cash sale to Peter Johnson.
