Second Generation
9.
 Lübbe Janssen (Louis) THEESFELD was born on 30 Apr 1896
in Aurich-Schirum, Ost Friesia, Germany.10,11
This appears to be a CERTIFIED COPY of the birth certificate, the certification
having been issued preparatory to emigration. Notice that the original document
was filed by the midwife two days after the birth, but that THIS document is
dated 17 Jan 1913, just a few days before the date of the Permission to Emigrate
documents.
A translation of the copy of the original document:
Osterander on May 1, 1896 before the undersigned official, appears today, personally
known to me, the midwife Nanke Magrethe Saathoff living in Schirum of Lutheran
religion atteste that from Etje Janssen Theesfeld born Heeren, wife of the landusers
Jann Janssen Theesfeld both Lutheran religion living with her husband at Schirum
in Schirum in the home of her husband on the 30th April of the year 1896 in the
morning at 4:00 a.m. a child of male gender was born who received the first name
Lübbe. The signer declared that she was present at the birth given my Mrs.
Theesfeld born Heeren.
Read, approved and undersigned.
(sig) Nanke Magrethe Saathoff
Registrar
(sig) (we have been unable to read this signature)
Osterander that the formal paper (chief statement) of the registered birth is
at the court house in Weene and is with this identical will with this confirm.
Signed on 17th January 1913
The registrar
(sig) unable to read
He died in Dec 1958 in Buckley, Iroquois County, Illinois.12
NOTE: This obituary is full of errors, but is the only one I have a copy of at
the moment:
Louis Theesfeldt Dies At Buckley; Rites Wednesday
Louis Theesfeldt, (1) 60, was found dead Monday morning in his bed at the home
of a son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Luehrsen, (2)(3), at Buckley
where he had been residing the last several months. Mr. Theesfeldt, who had suffered
from a heart condition for several years, died during the night.
Born April 30, 1898 (4) at Schirum, East Frieseland, Germany, he was a son of
John and Etta Theesfeldt and came to the United States when he was 17 years old.
He was engaged in farming and since his health failed he had been living in the
homes of his children.
Surviving are six daughters, [Mrs.] George (Etta) Krumwiede of Ft. Wayne, Ind.,
Mrs. Delmar (Dorothy) Janssen and Mrs. Wilbur (Louise) Luehrsen of Buckley, Mrs.
Bud (Emma) Rush and Mrs. Larry (Elsie) Parsons of Detroit, Mich., (5) and Mrs.
Lucille Erhart (6) of Pontiac; a son Lloyd of Buckley; 19 grandchildren; a brother,
Bruno of St. Anne; a sister, Mrs. George Rosenbloom (7) of Crescent City, and
relatives in Germany.
The body was taken to the Kelley Memorial home at Buckley and will be returned
Tuesday to the Luehrsen home where friends may call. Funeral services will be
conducted Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Luehrsen home and at 2 p.m. at the St.
John Lutheran Church, The Rev. Walther A. Eissfeldt, pastor, will officiate and
burial will be in St. John cemetery, Buckley.
(1) The spelling as given was never used by the family; the correct spelling
is Theesfeld, as further evidenced by his trip log from his days as a worker
on the fishing fleets sailing from Emden when he was as young as 13; the cover
of the log has the spelling Theesfeld.
(2) He died at the home of Dorothy and Delmar Janssen.
(3) The spelling as given has never been used by the family; the correct spelling
is Luhrsen.
(4) He was born 30 April 1896 and was age 62 at death; certified copy of birth
certificate in my possession
(5) Neither Emma nor Elsie lived in Detroit at the time of their father's death;
Emma lived at Walled Lake, Michigan, and Elsie lived in Dearborn, Michigan.
(6) Lucille's last name was Eheart.
(7) The correct surname for his sister is Rosenboom.
He was buried in Dec 1958 in St. John's Lutheran Cemetery, Buckley, Illinois.13,14
Section C, Row 29, Plot 85C
Lübbe went to sea at a very young age, as a cabin boy, on a ship sailing
out of Emden, to fish for herring. His ship's log is in the hands of his daughter
Dorothy Aline Theesfeld Janssen. A copy is on file at The Iroquois County Genealogical
Society.
His father sent him to live with Trienje and Bruno (Lübe's brother and sister)
in Gilman, Illinois, in order to prevent his being conscripted into the German
army.
Americans could not pronounce his name properly, so he became known as Louis
J. Theesfeld.
Some sources indicate that Louis worked at some point as an ironworker, hanging
iron for many of the skyscrapers built in Chicago - an easy task for someone
accustomed to climing ropes on a sailing ship.
Family lore has it that he wanted to marry, but his sister did not approve of
the young woman he had chosen because she was not Lutheran, so he left his sister's
home and moved to St. Louis, telling his sister that he would not return until
he had married. There, he was hospitalized with an illness; in the hospital he
met Vallie Lorraine Vaughn. They were married just 3 weeks later.
Lübbe Janssen (Louis) THEESFELD and Vallie "Lourine" VAUGHN were married
before 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Vallie "Lourine"
VAUGHN (daughter of Thomas N VAUGHN and Florida Mae WEST) was born on 13
May 1902 in Paragould, Arkansas. It is likely that the family lived
in either Union Twp., or Clay Twp., Dunklin County, Missouri at the time of her
birth. Paragould, Arkansas would have had the nearest medical facilities, and
grandmother often told of being a very small, premature baby. If great-grandma
went into premature labor, it would be likely she would be taken to Paragould
for treatment rather than to a facility farther away in Dunklin County. However,
the courthouse in Greene County, Arkansas, has burned twice since her birth,
so there is little that can be done to verify any of these facts. She died on
10 Jul 1972 in Walled Lake, Michigan.
The Oakland Press, Pontiac, Michigan, July 11, 1972
DRAIN, VALLIE LORRAINE; July 10, 1972; 1532 Lakeview, Walled Lake; age 70; wife
of Frank; mother of Mrs. Etta Krumwiede of Ft. Wayne, Ind., Mrs. Louise Luhrsen
of Buckley, Ill., Mrs. Dorothy Janssen of Loda, Ill., Mrs. Lucille Eheart of
Auburn, Ill., Mrs. Emma Rush or Walled Lake, Mrs. Elsie Parsons of Dearborn,
and Mr. Lloyd Theesfeld of Bradley, Ill.; 24 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren,
aunt of Clarence Ehlen of Detroit. Mrs. Drain was a member of St. Matthews Lutheran
Church. Funeral arrangements are pending at the Richardson-Bird Funeral Home,
Walled Lake.
She was buried in Detroit, Michigan. Though her second husband
always called her Lorraine and gave her name as such in her obituary, her daughters
agree that her middle name, by which she was known, was Lourine. Lübbe
Janssen (Louis) THEESFELD and Vallie "Lourine" VAUGHN had the following
children:
Lübbe Janssen
(Louis) THEESFELD and Angeline POST ROSENBOOM were married in 1946.1,6,15
According to Mary Rosenboom Carter, this marriage was not looked upon kindly,
as the family was well aware that with Angeline came Angeline's mother, and this
was seen as a poor circumstance for the Theesfeld children who were still at
home.
According to George August Henry Krumwiede, husband of Etta Theesfeld, the couple
stayed together only a "couple of weeks." Mary concurs it was a very
short period of time, after which Angeline and Alma were moved to a house in
Watseka.
However, Lübbe and Angeline never divorced. They simply ceased to have any
relationship of any kind aside from those of the family ties caused by his sister's
marriage to her brother.
Angeline POST ROSENBOOM16 (daughter of Lübbe "John" ROSENBOOM and Alma POST)
was born on 23 Mar 1899 in Aurich-Schirum, Ost Friesia, Germany.1 She died on 28 Nov 1989 in Watseka, Iroquois County,
Illinois.6,17
Angeline M. Theesfeld, 90, Watseka, died at 10:04 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, 1989,
at Iroquois Memorial Hospital.
She was born March 23, 1899, in Shirum, Germany, to Lubbe G. and Alma Post Rosenboom.
She married Jerry Gelmers March 31, 1917, in Charlotte. He died in 1942. She
then married Louis Theesfeld in 1946. He also preceded her in death.
Survivors include several nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Theesfeld was a housemaid at Iroquois Memorial Hospital for 20 years. She
was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Watseka.
Graveside services are at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Chatsworth Cemetery with the
Rev. John Muir officiating.
There will be no visitation.
Arrangements were completed by the Segur-Knapp Funeral Home, Watseka.
According to my source, Alma Post gave birth to Angeline before she was married.
Though Lübbe Rosenboom raised her as his daughter, he never gave her his
name.
After Lübbe's death, Alma wanted to join her son George in America. Angeline,
who had not yet married, accompanied her mother. She took the name Rosenboom
for emigration purposes since it was her mother's name and the name of the brother
she would be joining.
Angeline married Jerry Gelmers, a farmer from Onarga. After his death, she
was not able to keep the farm. Lübbe and Vallie Lorraine Theesfeld had
divorced, and Lübbe and Angeline were married some time after January, 1940.
Lübbe moved his new wife and his mother-in-law into his home with six remaining
children. After a very short period of time (George Krumwiede reports it was
only a matter of weeks), they agreed to separate and Lübbe moved Angeline
and her mother into a house in Watseka, but they never divorced.
She was still living at the time Lübbe died, but did not attend his funeral
and is not mentioned as a survivor in any documents.
The truly amazing thing is that in a family known for its talkativeness, I did
not hear of this until a visit with Mary Rosenboom Carter in 1997. None of this
has been verified as of the date I write these notes. Marriage documents need
to be found in Iroquois County, Illinois.
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