ROSINA'S BROTHER

Despite researching for about thirty years, I was never able to track my paternal great-great-grandmother, Rosina Kramer Ritterhouse VanDorn back to her native country of Germany, until my parents and I completed AncestryDNA kits. When our results were available, I eagerly began to search through our cousin matches. It was thrilling to come across a Kramer in Tazewell County, Illinois to whom my dad and I were cousins.  He turned out to be Rosina's brother.  And, through his great-grandson, Jim Stewart, became our gateway through the brick wall that was Rosina's origins and heritage.



Haueda, Germany

Johannes Cramme was born in Haueda, Germany, on July 30 1837, to Friedrich and Katherina
(Ackermann) Cramme.  His 2 1/2 year old sister, "Rosine Sophie" was waiting for him to arrive. About three years later, Johannes' world was altered when a baby brother, Philipp August, was born in March 1840. The Cramme family lived together in the small village in south central Germany. Then, around 1852, Rosina immigrated to the United States. (She was definitely in America by 1857.)  According to Rosina's grand-daughter, my Great Aunt Edna Ritterhouse, Rosina was 20 when she journeyed to New York City where she worked as a maid before continuing her journey west to Tazewell County, Illinois where she resided in 1857. Brother Johannes followed his sister to America ten to fifteen years later, apparently in 1865 or 1866. He, too, settled in Tazewell County, Illinois.

508 Charlotte St., Pekin, Illinois

Reportedly, Johannes, who became known as John Kramer, married Anna Kleen in 1865 or 1866 (as stated in his obituaries which disagree on the year).  With Anna, John raised two children, a son John, Jr. and a daughter, Emma. The Kramers were members of the local Lutheran Church.  He was employed as a cement worker by trade. At least from 1887 through 1903, he worked for Jansen & Zoeller, local mason contractors. For the last few years of

John Kramer gravestone

his life, he was employed by Jost & Schmidgall, who were also local mason contractors.  Anna and John lived in a 1024 sq. ft. home built in 1877, located at 508 Charlotte Street, Pekin, Illinois.  In fact, John, described as "an old resident of the city," died in this house on September 30, 1915, at the age of 78. "His death was sudden, following an illness of only a day."  He had lived in Pekin for 49 years. Not surprisingly, he was buried there, in Lakeside Cemetery.

It is interesting to speculate how close brother and sister were. For several years, they both lived in the same county in Illinois, thousands of miles from their homeland. John lived in the town of Pekin while Rosina lived on farms outside of town, but probably only five or ten miles away. Rosina's husband, John William Ritterhouse, died in June of 1876, about 10 years after her brother John moved to Tazewell County. She then remarried the next year and lost that husband a few years later. Around 1890, Rosina moved west to Kansas, apparently following some of her children, and leaving her brother behind. While Rosina continued to move westward during the remainder of her life, her brother remained in Pekin, Illinois until he died in 1915. My guess is they never saw each other again once she left Tazewell County.