In a reference to Anton Mohelnitzky's two sisters, in a May 2, 1953 letter written by Frances Mohelnitzky Kussmann, she wrote, "Both sisters have died since - Julia Klein & Mary Schmidt."

I'm wondering if there may be old letters or postcards written to the Anton Mohelnitzky and Mary Ruskauff family from Anton's sisters, Julia and Mary. The letters would have addresses on them and other interesting facts, and the address could be traced by looking at old city directories, to see who lived there.

Another clue is a little vague, that Mary Mohelnitzky Schmidt's descendants lived at 52nd and Layton in Milwaukee. According to a current map, 52nd Street is no longer there (it's a park), and I don't know how I could find out what the address would be at the house on the corner (sometime before 1965). If I knew the address, I could look in a city directory for the name of the resident.

I searched and searched for Mary Mohelnitzky Schmidt's marriage record and so far found nothing. No Mohelnitzky is listed in the pre-1907 records, but lots of Schmidt/Schmitt names. And we don't even know if Mary was adopted after living in the orphanage, and maybe took another last name. If we are lucky, Mary's marriage record may list the birth town in Bohemia for her father and mother. (Julia's marriage record did not list the town).

I haven't found out what orphanage Julia and Mary were placed in. I'm thinking it may have been St. Rose Orphan Asylum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their brother, Anton, lived at St. Aemilian Orphan Asylum in St. Francis (now Milwaukee) from March 1858 to May 1, 1859.

And what really happened to Anton, Julia and Mary's parents? There is no record of death for them that I've found. Did they really come to the USA, or both die on the ship to America? Did the mother remarry? I haven't found a record for that either, not in Wisconsin anyway. And I have not found the family listed on a ship list; I think they may have immigrated about 1854.

~Debbie
http://violetblue20.googlepages.com/home

I received an email today with the good news that Julia and Mary's names are listed on index cards at St. Rose Orphan Asylum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (now called St. Rose Youth & Family Center, Inc.).

The sisters' last name was listed as "Mowhometichkie" -- birth dates and parent's names were not listed. I'm assuming the spelling of the last name is phonetic because the name is usually spelled "Mohelnitzky."

Both girls entered the orphanage on March 14th, 1858.
Julia was discharged on April 5th, 1861.
Mary was discharged on June 4th, 1862.

No record was found of their baptism or confirmation.

There was a reference to Book #1 on the index cards. It's possible the book is still in existence in the archives at the orphanage. If it's found, it may list the town where the girls were born in Bohemia.

When I receive the copies of the index cards, I'll post it here: http://violetblue20.googlepages.com/juliamohelnitzky%2Canton...

I have a new URL for my website:

http://sites.google.com/site/auswanderer20/