As you probably guessed, I got one of the vital records I was waiting for in the mail today, Catherine Nehr Meinberg's marriage certificate to Georg(e) Hellmann, her second husband. It's all right there - that she was a widow, that this was her second marriage, that her last name was Meinberg but her real maiden name was Nehr. Lovely. I love vital records.
I'm still waiting for her death certificate, but since information on a death certificate is, for obvious reasons, not supplied by the person themselves, it's not always accurate, or the info you want isn't even there. For example, Catherine's children might not know her parents names, so that information might not even be there. But Catherine knew her parents names, and there they are - two new names and two new people to add to my family tree, Martin Nehr and Anna Maria Illegible-last-name. That part is frustrating, but I'm still excited. I always get excited when all the hard work pays off.
Anyway, it's possible Anna Maria's maiden name will be on Catherine's death certificate, if that ever comes. If not, I'm already planning a second course of action - from Catherine's obituary, I know she had a sister, Elizabeth Riders. If I can find a marriage certificate for Elizabeth, that same information should be there and maybe the person doing that record-keeping will have had better handwriting. Just an example of how valuable siblings of direct ancestors can be in genealogy research.
So far, I haven't been successful in that search for information on Elizabeth. It's only been three hours though. I'm still hopeful. :)
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