Dawn's Family History Journey

  FLORENTINA CAROLINA FRIEDRIKE (FREITAG) BUDNICK was born on 18 July 1843 in Wollin, Kreis Stolp, Pommern, Prussia, to mother Henriette Freytag [ sic ] and an unknown father.   Her birth record specifically states that she was “illegitimate.” Her baptism was held on 23 July 1843, at the church in Stojentin parish, Koslin district, Prussia, and was witnessed by three people from Wollin, including “Carolina Freytag,” probably a close relative of her mother’s. [1] Stojentin Parish Church, Wolinia, Poland; photo taken by Dawn Vanderwolf in 2021 Within the next nine years, her mother Henriette had gotten married and had three more children, all of whom were identified on birth records as the children of Michael Panzer, Henriette’s husband. [2]   To date, there is no DNA evidence available to prove whether or not Michael Panzer was also the father of Florentina. On 11 August 1865, when she was just 22 years old, Florentina left her home in Wollin, traveled to Bremen, ...

  Signature from daughter Mary Beatrice Wylie’s Marriage License Application   ULYSSES GRANT WYLIE was born on 19 August 1868 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to parents Robert D. Wylie and Rosella (Schadel) Wylie. [1]   He married Laura Virginia Gibson in Camden, New Jersey,   on 27 November 1895, and died 19 July 1949 in Norwood, Pennsylvania. [2] Ulysses Grant went by a number of different combinations of his name – “U. Grant,” “Ulysses G.,” and “Grant” – depending on the document.   His father Robert had served on the Union side in the Civil War, and it is likely that he named his first son after the leader of the Union Army in that conflict. [3]   He grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, living in 1870 with his parents and Schadel grandparents, then by 1880 with just his mother, grandparents and two sisters after his father left the family. [4] This picture depicts Ulysses in ~1881 as a “roller skating champion” per the family.   Roller ska...