US Navy Rear Admiral Henry Joseph Ziegemeier, shows up in my geneology research quite often. Since Ziegemeier is an uncommon name, and we do have a Henry Joseph Ziegemeier in our family tree, it makes sense that the Admiral is a relative. However, I cannot find a link to him in our tree. Here is what I have found in my research and a comparison to the two Henry Joseph Ziegemeiers.
My great-grandfather, Franz (Frank) X. Ziegemeier had a twin brother, Henry Joseph. The twins were born January 25, 1857 in St. Peters, MO to James Ziegemeier and Margaretha (Gertrude) Naff. Franz married Philomena Schuette, and they made their home in St. Charles, MO. Henry Joseph married Annie Wolke in 1882 and they moved to Morgan Co., MO where they show up on the 1900 census with the spelling of their last name as Ziegenmier. Annie passed away on July 27, 1904 and is buried in the Smithton Cemetery in Pettis Co., MO. Henry then married Ellen M. Potter. Henry was buried in the Smithton Cemetery, presumably with Annie although the tombstone does not have his name inscribed in it, but Henry's death certificate states that he was buried there. Ellen was buried Otterville, MO. Their last name is spelled Ziegenmier on the tombstone. However I believe this to be our relative due to matching birthdates and family lore telling of a relative who "moved west" to Sedalia.
Now Admiral Henry Ziegemeier has a lot on-line about his military career, but nothing about his parents. What I have found is as follows:
Henry Joseph Ziegemeier (the Admiral) was born March 27, 1867 in Alleghany, PA. He died on October 15, 1930 in Washington state and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA. He died at the Naval Hospital on Puget Sound, WA while serving as Commandant of the 13th Naval District and Commandant of the Navy Yard, Puget Sound, WA. At the time of his death, he was married to Jewell.
From my research I came across Bill Fickinger's website. Here I found that Henry was married to Ida Wernet in 1895. The 1930 census taken at Washington State, Kitsap Co. Navy Yard, Puget Sound shows Henry married to Jewel H. who is 20 years younger than Henry. The census also shows Jewel was 32 y/o at the time of her first marriage and Henry was 26 y/o at the time of his first marriage, showing that Jewel was Henry's second. Wife. Henry and Jewel had a 6 year-old daughter named Rosemary who was born in DC. Henry's mother-in-law, Rose V. Riding, 76 y/o was also living with them.
In trying to find the names of Henry's parents, I found a 1920 census record. This shows the following:
Joseph Ziegemeier age 75 born 1845 in Germany. Lived in Canton Ward 1, Stark, OH on 8th Street NW, House #828. He immigrated in 1866. Joseph was married to Frederica. They were both naturalized. Living with Joseph and Frederica was Robert H. Fickinger 24 y/o - hence the connection to the Bill Fickinger's website. Frederica was 75 y/o born in 1845 in Germany.
I was not able to find a census record showing Henry living with Joseph and Frederica, but may come across something with time.
However, there are no links to our Ziegemeier line that I have found so far. Since Admiral Henry Joseph was born in PA and our Ziegemeier family were born in Missouri, it is unlikely that there is a link, unless our immigrant ancestor, James (Joachim) Ziegemeier and Adm. Henry's parents are related back in Germany.
I am not definately certain of the date of immigration of James, but I believe it to be around 1845, and Joseph was born in 1845 in Germany. If these 2 are related, they never met.
To determine a link would require some international research, and I haven't gotten to that yet.
I hope you have found this story interesting. The story of our Henry Joseph Ziegemeier is rather interesting in itself, and still needs some in-depth research to get hard records verifying dates and names.
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