L'inconvenient de ser historiador familiar

Sometimes when you are researching the family history, you get an unpleasant shock. I was researching my stepdad Ernest C. Diaz’s family history in the Library of Congress database. Dad did not know much about the Moellenburgs, so I have been trying to find more information on them. While the discovery was significant, it was also a bit depressing. Dad’s aunt Annie Moellenburg died at 6 months old during August 1903.

I do not know the exact date of Annie’s birth or death. Annie would have been born in January or February 1903. She died in August prior to August 13, 1903. Annie’s burial notice was printed in the Thursday, Agost 13, 1903, of the St. Louis República. Annie died from infant cholera. Tràgicament, her mother Adele Moellenburg nee Barman would die in 1904.

The Moellenburgs lived at 7825 Pennsylvania Avenue at the time of Annie’s death. The Moellenburg family emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1895. Dad’s mother Marie Moellenburg would be born in 1896 to John and Adele Moellenburg. Annie was Marie’s younger sister.

While Annie died long before Dad or I were ever born, it was sad to see such a young life lost. John Moellenburg would suffer two significant losses in a brief time. You cannot help but empathize with what he went through. It is easier to write about family members that you did not know. Però, when you discover that a child died so young and what it meant to the family, it is tragic.

I have discovered children who died young and were not originally in the family records. Genealogy and history face the same challenges. If someone does not record it, we lose the history within a generation or two. Rest in peace, little Annie.

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