Appendices to "The WEDEMEYERs of Eastern Australia."
  … section 1.

The "WEDEMEYERs of Eastern Australia" section of this site is divided into 10 chapters and 5 sections containing appendices. Please read in sequence by following the links at the bottom of each page or use the "Quick Nav" at top right. If you wish to select individual chapters, please click on the top left link to the Sitemap page.

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The appendices are as follows:

… note that this page contains section 1, and that there is a separate page for each section of the appendix.

  1. Appendices Section 1: Early Origins of WEDEMEYER families.
    1. At Moringen and Fredelsloh, Germany. Our family’s links to General A.C. WEDEMEYER’s family ?
    2. Have we found Friedrich? Possible ancestors for General A.C. WEDEMEYER?
    3. Unrelated(?) WEDEMEYER names near Goslar.
  2. Appendices Section 2: Court Cases
    1. Stabbing at the lodging house, 1862.
    2. Larceny, 1862
  3. Appendices Section 2: Rates
    1. Mt Perry Rate Books; 1880 – 1904.
  4. Appendices Section 3: Inquiry into Hotel Fire, 1885.
    1. Statement by George WEDEMEYER
    2. Statements by Elizabeth WEDEMEYER
    3. Statement by Minnie WEDEMEYER
  5. Appendices Section 3: JWH (Harry) WEDEMEYER’s Documents
    1. Report on Selection; 1889.
    2. Correspondence concerning Selection; 1889.
    3. Obituaries
  6. Appendices Section 4: DAVIS documents
    1. Obituary of Elizabeth PAAP (late WEDEMEYER, née DAVIS)
    2. William DAVIS of Gayndah.
  7. Appendices Section 5: WEDEMEYER name
    1. Variants of WEDEMEYER name and DNA.
    2. Pronunciation of WEDEMEYER name.
    3. Origin of WEDEMEYER name.
  8. Appendices Section 5: Descendancy Report of German born WEDEMEYERs
    1. Complete Report.

Section 1: Early Origins of WEDEMEYER families.

i) At Moringen and Fredelsloh, Germany.

A transcript of the Sep 30 1805 marriage of my g-g grandfather in the Markt parish, Goslar, gave these details:

This directed our research to Moringen, with the problem that its church records generally only go back as far as 1794. There was a fire and earlier records were destroyed. Fortunately, thanks to the reconstruction and collation of records by local Moringen historians such as Wilfried Hartje, it was possible to detail earlier Moringen information relevant to my family in Chapter 1 as well as in Appendix Section 5.

While focussing on Moringen, even more possibilities opened up for further WEDEMEYER relatives, when Nicole WEDEMEYER MILLER published this e-mail:

"I am searching for information about Friedrich Wilhelm WEDEMEYER who was born in Fredelsloh or Moringen around 1825. He then emigrated to New York in 1852 with his wife Franciska Bauer, b. Hildescheim, and his infant daughter Adolphine. I would like to confirm his birthdate and discover his parents, etc. He was the grandfather of General A.C. WEDEMEYER (ACW), a famous American soldier who attended the Berlin Kriegsakademie and then became one of our (USA) lead strategists for the World War in the 1940's.

Source: Wedemeyer-Miller N. Wedemeyer in Fredelsloh. HANNOVER-L Mailing List for the former Kingdom of Hannover. May 15, 2007.
Note: Fredelsloh & Moringen are only 3.5km apart. In present times Fredelsloh- Moringen is used to describe one’s address in that area.

General WedemeyerGeneral Albert Coady WEDEMEYER

General WEDEMEYER's photo is on the left, & is reproduced courtesy of the Hoover Institution. The original is held in the "Wedemeyer Collection" in the Hoover Institution Archives.

Bingo!! My grandmother, Minnie, had said that one of our WEDEMEYERs emigrated to the USA from Germany. She had also said that a cousin, Colonel WEDEMEYER, was stationed in Queensland during the war. Minnie’s information, added to the Moringen origins of our family and of the General’s family, gives us reason for conjecture! Note that no conclusion is possible yet.

Minnie was wrong in one area… the General was not stationed in Australia. On the other hand, he did make at least two visits during WWII. Following the Casablanca conference and early in 1943, ACW became President Roosevelt’s high level courier with a 2 month round-the-world mission to explain the significance of the Casablanca decisions to the various key war theatre commanders. His Australian itinerary took him to the Northwest coast of Australia, south to Perth, across Australia to Sydney, then to Brisbane (Headquarters of the Pacific Command and General Douglas MacArthur), then a journey from Australia to New Guinea, Port Moresby, then to the recently fought Buna battlefield, and back to Brisbane. ACW’s description does not mention any contact with the Australians or refer to the relevance of Australia to the war effort, either in Australia or in Buna, New Guinea. I wonder what ACW said privately about Buna? Paul Ham described the Buna campaign as an initial US debacle, later rescued by experienced Australian troops and commanders.

Sources: Wedemeyer AC. Wedemeyer Reports! New York: Henry Holt, 1958: 194, 205-208.
     Ham P. Kokoda. Sydney: HarperCollins, 2004:441-479.

In 1945, ACW was the USA Commander in Chief in China. He "passed through" Australia in Feb 22-24, 1945, when he discussed the military situation in China with Australian military commanders in Perth, flew on to Darwin for a dinner hosted by the local US Commander, & then left Australia, flying north to to the island of Biak. The Australians seemed disappointed that ACW gave no hints on the "grand strategy" of the war against Japan, and that he confined himself chiefly to discussions of his own problem of air supply to the China campaign. ACW’s party apologised for not going to Canberra to see the Prime Minister. It would appear the General was considered a very important man by the Australians!

Source: The Shedden Collection: Records collected by Sir Frederick Shedden during his career with the Department of Defence. National Australian Archives control symbol 436/11.

The General must have captured the imagination of our family! Perhaps my grandmother had only read the Sydney NSW newspapers about the General, or perhaps there was knowledge of a family relationship? Perhaps stories of a relationship with the General were just wishful thinking… hoping for a connection to a famous figure… much like a mythic relationship to William the Conqueror!

Up the other end of Australia in Queensland, John Desmond WEDEMEYER (1932-1984, son of Ivan WEDEMEYER), made notes about General A.C. WEDEMEYER (ACW), which have been passed on to me. John had made a serious effort to research our family history, and had even visited Germany in his efforts. Unfortunately, John's research notes cannot be located.

General WEDEMEYER gives some details about his family history in his book:

"My father's parents were born in the vicinity of Hanover, Germany. His mother was of French Huguenot descent. After their marriage in Germany they came to this country in 1830 and settled in Atlanta, Georgia. Although Grandfather Wedemeyer left Germany to avoid compulsory military service, he fought throughout the Civil War on the Confederate side."

Source: Wedemeyer AC. Wedemeyer Reports! New York: Henry Holt, 1958: 30.

At the end of WWII ACW was famous and public interest had generated research into his history. "Current Biography", the standard biographical reference source in USA libraries, now gives us a more accurate picture of ACW's grandfather in its 1945 publication. It says:

"Albert Coady Wedemeyer was born in Omaha, Nebraska on July 9, 1897, the son of Albert Anthony and Margaret Elizabeth (Coady) Wedemeyer. His grandfather had emigrated from Germany, organized a band for the Union Army, and marched it through Georgia; his father was a bandmaster in the Spanish-American War."

Source: Wedemeyer, Albert C(oady). Current Biography 1945: 663-665.

Nicole WEDEMEYER MILLER, graduate librarian from Illinois USA, became interested in this story. Nicole's family (originally from near Bremen) thought they might be related to ACW …as did my family (originally from Moringen)! She has sourced information which tells us that ACW's grandparents, Friedrich WEDEMEYER, his wife Franciska BAUER, with their baby daughter Adolphine (later known as Josephine Emelia), emigrated in 1852 (not 1830) to New York, They initially settled at West Point at the military academy, where Friedrich was in the military band. When the American Civil War began, Friedrich served in the Union army (not the Confederate), marched through Georgia leading a band, and settled in Atlanta after the war. Her crucial information for my search is from Friedrich's enlistment papers, which say that he was born in either Moringen or nearby Fredelsloh. Similarly important was confirmation of Friedrich's DOB about 1825, from USA Census records.

ACW’s vagueness about his family history highlights a common problem in researching many German emigrant families. Assimilation was the imperative. Germany was left behind, and the family wished to be patriotic citizens of their new country. Their descendants may find a lack of oral tradition and documentation, which might have been preserved within other families. If they try explore their "family roots", they must mainly rely on public documents. The General says:

"I explained that my father, like many Americans of German descent, had no sentimental ties with Germany.... his parents did not even speak German at home and apparently had cut ties completely with the old country and adopted their new country with pride and patriotic fervor".

Source: Wedemeyer AC. Wedemeyer Reports! New York: Henry Holt, 1958: 31.

See the following section for the search for ACW’s grandfather Friedrich in both Moringen and in Fredelsloh.

ii) Have we found Friedrich? Probable?

A significant family tree was posted in 2005 by Julie Kilde in Rootsweb for a "Federick Wilhelm WEDEMEYER" born at Fredesloh on 5 Feb 1825! The GEDCOM file associated with this posting shows that this research has originated from the descendants of our Friedrich WEDEMEYER’s daughter Josephine Emelia WEDEMEYER… that is her SHELTON family in Highland Park Illinois, USA. This was the right year of 1825, though the second name Wilhelm was different to the initial "G" given by Friedrich in the USA 1890 Special Veteran’s Census List.

On my behalf, Dr Sylvia Möhle from Goettingen researched the Moringen and Fredelsloh records for the birth or baptism of General A.C. WEDEMEYER’s (ACW's) grandfather from 1824 to 1826 inclusive. The only WEDEMEYER records found at all were:

Could ACW's grandfather Friedrich be the same as Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER, son of Wilhelm WEDEMEIER? Julie Kilde’s source had a matching date of 5 Feb 1825, but was this source also correct about the second name Wilhelm? Sylvia Möhle discounted the possibility that Ernst used Friedrich as his first name and then the second name Wilhelm to show he was one of the Wilhelm WEDEMEIER family. She said: "From my experience it was not common to use a father’s christian name in addition to one’s own given names". I re-contacted Julie, and she told me that the details of her source were lost in a computer crash, thus the second name Wilhelm cannot be substantiated.

At this stage, the 1890 Special Veteran’s Census List name of Friedrich G. seems more likely. It is much more feasible that Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER might later call himself Friedrich Georg (Friedrich G.)! The name Friedrich G. WEDEMEYER now has further confirmation.

Friedrich G’s son, Frederich Charles Wedemeyer, gave details of his father in a letter dated Sept 2, 1934. He described his father as Frederich G. Wedemeyer, and one of seven sons. He said his father was a graduate of the Conservatory of Music at Leipzig, Germany. He married in Germany and came to America in 1851. He was a member of the Military Academy Band at West Point, New York, from 1851 until the beginning of the Civil War; was then appointed leader of the Fifth Artillery Band until 1866. The Fifth Artillery Band was then converted into a Post Band and sent to Atlanta, Georgia, at the headquarters of the "Department of the South" under General Pope. All Post bands were mustered out in 1869. Then Friedrich G. became leader of the Second Infantry Band.

Source: E-mail from Susan Shelton Knapple, g-grand daughter of Friedrich G. WEDEMEYER

When we accept that Friedrich G. WEDEMEYER and Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER are the same person, then his Fredlesloh baptismal data is now of significance: Birth date: 5 Feb 1825. Father: Wilhelm WEDEMEIER, linen weaver. Mother: Engel Christine HENKELMANN. Godparents: Hans Heinrich WEDEMEIER, farmer; Eleonore Friederike HENKELMANN (née DETERDING), widow. This information reveals inconsistencies with earlier data. Ernst’s father was not a soldier to match with General WEDEMEYER’s story… though ACW's knowledge of his own family history was shaky on other facts. A discrepancy is noted in the fact that Ernst’s parents’ names were not used in Friedrich’s children’s names of Adolphine (Josephine), Albert, Frances (girl’s name), Frederick Charles & Lewis. On the other hand, we do not know the full baptismal names of these children.

Perhaps the only way to finally establish the origins of ACW's grandfather Friedrich G., is to track down his marriage register entry which might be in Hildesheim, Hannover, since his wife Franciska BAUER & their daughter Adolphine (Josephine) were born there.

We can say at the moment, that both my WEDEMEYERs and General WEDEMEYER’s family came from Fredelsloh-Moringen (3.5km apart), and also guess that all the local WEDEMEYERs were related due to the small population in this area. My grandmother would have said: "I told you so!"

iii) Unrelated(?) WEDEMEYER names near Goslar

Just north of Goslar is the the former Duchy of Braunschweig (Brunswick). We are fortunate that Thomas Erbe has prepared an Index for Fritz Gruhner’s emigrant list which relates to this area. I am grateful to Thomas, both for the Index, and also his assistance in obtaining copies of the following pages which are relevant to the WEDEMEYERs. Extracts are translated below:

  • Page 78. Location: Gandersheim. WEDEMEIER Ernst Wilhelm, journeyman weaver, b. 6.1.1836, son of the journeyman thatcher / roofer Joh. Ernst WEDEMEIER and of Ernestine Friederike Christiane LERCKE.   Reference: Brunswick Announcements (Brg. Anz.) 1860/164.   Emigrated to America.
  • Page 78. Location: Gandersheim. WEDEMEYER Friederike Caroline Henriette Elise, b.14.9.1838, Parents dead? Son: Heinrich Friedrich Carl , b. 28.5.1860.   Ref: (Brg. Anz.) 1868/216.   Emigrated to America.
  • Page 110. Location: Herrhausen. WEDEMEYER Andreas Christoph, master tailor, son of the ††Großköter and master tailor Andreas Christoph WEDEMEYER and of Sophie Henriette REUMERMANN, m. on 15.12.1839 to KAHLE, Joh. Dorothee Louise, daughter of the ††Großköter Heinrich Andreas KAHLE and of Dorothee Christine SPECHT. With one unmarried child, b. 1831.   Ref: (Brg. Anz.) 1849/172.   Emigrated to North America.
  • Page 186. Location: Salder. WEDEMEIER Joh. Heinrich August Wedemeier **Häusling and shoemaker journeyman, b. 23.3.1821, son of the saddler and clerk Joh. Heinrich Rudolph Wedemeier and Caroline Dorothee Henriette Schimmler; m. Henriette Dorothee Elizabeth Schuppmann, b. 27.12.1819. Children: 1. August Heinrich b. 14.5.46 Burgdorf (near Salder). 2. Joh. Henriette Caroline b. 5.8.1848 Burgdorf. 3. Caroline Wilhelmine Henriette b. 11.5.1852 Salder. 4. Carl Christian Julius b. 5.3.1855 Salder. 5.?   Ref: (Brg. Anz.) 1858 / 209.   Emigrated to Australia.
  • Page 186. Location: Salder. WEDEMEIER Joh. Marie Conradine, b. 21.6.1829, parents are dead.   Ref: (Brg. Anz.) 1854 / 72.   Emigrated to America.

Source: Gruhne, Fritz. "Auswandererlisten des ehemaligen Herzogtums Braunschweig ohne Stadt Braunschweig und Landkreis Holzminden 1846-1871" (Emigration lists for the former duchy of Braunschweig, Germany, exclusive of the city of Braunschweig and district of Holzminden), pp 78, 110, 186. LDS Film [ 1045468 Item 10 ].
Note: (i) ** Häusling: A servant who lived in the house of his feudal Lord and received free board and lodgings, but no annual salary. Sometimes he could be given a lease on a small portion of land within his Lord's domain.
(ii) †† Großköter: A Köter was an outdoor feudal version of the Häusling, and presumably the title Großköter reflected seniority or favour, distinct from a mere Köter. The English feudal equivalent was the cotter / cottar / cottager. The cottar spent all of his time working the Lord’s fields. In return, he was given his hut, gardens, and a small portion of the Lord’s harvest. This was a small step up from the bottom rung of serfdom, the slave. The modern usage of Köter includes "cur" or unfavoured dog, which may have been derived from Köter’s original feudal status.

 

The Story Continues