Who was Grandmother Dahms?

 

Grandmother Dahms and Family, circa 1908 in Minnesota.  From left to right is Grandmother Dahms, her grandson Frederick, Jr., her son Fredrick Miller (he changed his name when he came to the U.S.), her granddaughter Wilhelmina "Minnie" Miller and her daughter-in-law Wilhelmina Puzhui Marie Miller (nee Jastram). 

Grandmother Dahms was born Caroline Dühmke on 6 July 1822 in Stettin, Prussia.  When she was young, she worked as a cook for a large landholder in a place called Furstenwalde, a small town near Berlin.

Letter from Bertha Miller to her brother Edwin, written July 14, 1939 in which she writes about their grandmothers cookbook and the place she worked.

 
Caroline first married Friedrich Christian Müller of Pommerania, Prussia. By 1853,  they had 3 children, Herman, Carl, and August.  On December 5, 1853, they boarded a ship called the "Hudson" in Bremen, Germany destined for West Canada.

Dahms and Müller families on the passenger list for the ship "Hudson" bound for West Canada.

Also aboard that ship was Caroline's sister, Albertine with her husband, Wilhelm Dahms and their children Auguste and Wilhelm.  Sadly each sister lost an infant child on that voyage, both August Müller and Wilhelm Dahms died during the trip.

Probably Albertine Dümke, the sister of Caroline. The back of the picture says "Grandmother Dahms Sister."

I don't know why, but the Müllers and Dahms did not stay in Canada.  They returned to Prussia sometime before 1857, where Caroline and Friedrich had a 4th child, my great, great grandfather Johann Friedrich Philipp Müller.

Birth Certificate for Johann Friedrich Philipp Müller, son of Friedrich and Caroline - Here's what it says: "Johnann Friedrich Phillipp legitimate son of the here deceased carpenter Friedrich Christian Müller and his wife, now married Dahms, nee Carolien? Maria Dühmke, was born here on the sixths of June Eighteen Hundred Fifty Seven/ June 6, 1857. This is officially certified herewith through the grace of the holy church record book, for the purpose of emigration to America. Loitz, September 29, 1868"   The signature at the end is not legible.

Here's where it gets interesting.  Sometime between 1857 and 1868, Caroline's husband Friedrich and her sister Albertine died.  It was then that Caroline married her brother-in-law, Wilhelm Dahms.  She returned to the United States in 1868 with Wilhelm and her son, Friedrich (who later changed the spelling of his name to Frederick). Her other children are not on the passenger list and I believe only two of them survived to adulthood, my grandfather Frederick and a step-brother (either Carl or Herman).

1868 passenger list for the ship "Borussia" bound for New York, New York - Wilhelm Dahms, Caroline Dahms and Friedrich Müller

Caroline, Wilhelm and Frederick settled in St. Louis, Missouri for a short time, but by 1880, Caroline was widowed again and she was living with her son and his family in Prior Lake, Scott County, Minnesota.

1880 U.S. Census, Minnesota, Scott County, Spring Lake, Village of Prior Lake - Frederick Miller, his wife Wilhelmina and his mother Caroline (Dahms).

 She died in Prior Lake June 25, 1912.  I haven't found exactly where she is buried, but she's probably in the small cemetery of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church at Fish Lake, in Prior Lake, Minnesota.

Death Certificate for Caroline Dahms

Her recipe book passed to her son Fredrick, who passed it to his son Edwin, who passed it to his daughter, Margaret, who passed it to her niece (my mother) Rosemary...and finally, about 160 years after it was written, it passed to me.