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From the time that I was a curious child asking about the grandparents that I didn't remember, I heard that Grandpa Ahrens was German and that he came to the states with his mom, Bertha Precht, when he was just a toddler. So when I decided to find out about his "real" family, I naturally started searching for them in Germany. To my surprise, a distant cousin Anna-Grethe,contacted me from Denmark. I had been looking in the wrong country for Bertha! Anna-Grethe had also found another distant cousin Knud and had been working on the family trees of their Precht ancestor, so thank you to Anna-Grethe and Knud Precht. We have a third distant cousin in Denmark that has also given me new information on the Precht family that lived in Russia so an additional thanks goes out to distant cousin and friend Soren. Bertha must have moved back to the Holstein area of Germany where her older brothers and sisters were born and lived because Grandpa Otto was born in Oldenburg, Germany and they immigrated from Germany. I am still learning about our Precht side so facts may change or may be incorrect in some cases as we find more documentation.
2. Johan Christoph b.11/1713, Hamburg, Tyksland; m. .Maria Elizabeth Eggers in 1748; b.1719, d. aft 1766
3. Albert Freidrich b. 10/6/1754, Bremen,Tyksland,d.1August 02, 1813 Estate" Elmeloh", Hude, near Oldenburg(Bremen area), Tyksland; m.Sophia Catharina Elisabeth Veltmann 8/3/1780 in Elmeloh.
4. Christoph Ernst Precht b. 5/6/1787 in Estate "Elmeloh" near Oldenburg; m. Margaretha Catherina Friederica LaFrenz July 27,1810 in Lebrade County near Plon.
5. Luder Ferdinand Precht 1/10/1813 Delmenhorst, Bemen, Tyksland; m. Dorothea Marie Magdalene Bruning (Lavette) 12/27/1834.
Children of Luder and Dorothea Precht:
6.Bertha Marie Margrethe Precht b. 4/28/1844, "Aakjaer", Falling Sogn, Odder, Denmark; d.8/9/1921 Chebanse, Illinois; m..Fred "Fritz" Ahrens 1/9/1873 in Kankakee County, Illinois.
7. Otto Precht Ahrens b. 3/16/1869 , Oldenburg, Germany, d. 3/25/1950 Chebanse, Illinois; m. .Thersa Schulte b. 4/23/1892 Chicago, Illinois.
In the 1880 census from Texas in the same city as Amanda Precht was living, I found there was an L.F. Precht living with his son-in-law John Meyer -just down the street from Amanda and her family. Could this be our GGgrandfather Luder? Then I found a death entry for a Ferdinand Precht in the same city in Michigan where Amanda later died. On death certificates for some of the girls their father is listed as Ferdinand so could our Luder have immigrated to the USA to be closer to his daughters Bertha, Marie, Charlotte, and Amanda who came to the states between 1868-1872? 2012 and I have found record of citizenship for Luder F. Precht in Kankakee county, Illinois. It is dated Nov.3,1884 and states he was born in Germany. His witness was M. C.Abildguard who was the father-in-law of Tena Lynge ,a granddaughter of Luder Precht.