Banner Image
Possibly you may have wondered about the image seen on the banner of each page of this website. The image is a composite that I created. The backdrop is a copy of a print of a steel engraving which first appeared in Meyer's Universum, published in 1857 of the Genesee Falls at Rochester, New York. The volumes were published by Joseph Meyer of Hildburghausen, Germany. As I understand it, there were three volumes and each includes highly detailed steel engravings of several (volume I contains 48 plates) of the wonders of the world with descriptive and historical information about each location.
The people you see in my composite are my ancestors. Beginning from the left they are:
Augustine Miller: Augustine Miller was born in Hofbieber, Germany and was the son of John Casper Anthony Miller and Maria Anna Plappert. He married Catherine Wattel in Rochester, New York approximately 4 years after he immigrated to Rochester.
Maria Anna Engert: Maria Anna Engert was the wife of Jean Thiebaud Wadel (aka John Theobold Wattel) and the mother of Catherine Wattel. Maria was born in Germany, possibly in the Tauber-Bischofheim area of the Rheinland Pfalz.
Catherine Wattel Miller: Taken of her wedding day, Catherine Wattel Miller, daughter of Jean Thiebaud Wadel and Maria Anna Engert, was the wife of Augustine Miller. Catherine was the first child of Maria and Jean and she was born in Rochester.
Karl Hahn: Karl Hahn was born in Villingen, Germany and was the son of Fidelis Hahn and Agatha Ummenhofer. He met his bride, Franziska Stephany, after he left Germany; they married in St. Joseph's Church in Rochester.
Franziska Stephany Hahn: Franziska Stephany married Charles Hahn in 1855. Franziska was the daughter of Johann Jacob Stephany and Elisabeth Feldman. She was born in Pfortz, Germany during the time that it was part of Bavaria, Germany. Two of her brothers, Josef and Franz also immigrated to Rochester.
Anthony John Miller: Anthony John Miller was the first born son of Anthony Joseph Miller and Christina Helen Heisel and the grandson of Jean Thiebaud Wadel and Maria Anna Engert. He married Agnes Catherine (aka Mary) Brayer.
Norbert and Elmer Wattel: Norbert Wattel (center) was the oldest son of Charles William Wattel and Mary Louise Horn. Elmer Wattel was their youngest son. Their second son, Carl Francis Wattel is seen partially on the far left of the photo.
Judith Marie Wattel: The youngest daughter of Carl Francis Wattel and Margaret Ann Gertner, Judith Marie Wattel lived all her life in the Rochester area. She attended Nazareth College of Rochester for both her bachelors and masters degrees.
Carl Francis Wattel and Margaret Ann Gertner: Pictured here on their wedding day, 8 October 1923, Carl Francis Wattel and Margaret Ann Gertner had two children and lived in the Rochester area all of their lives. Carl was the son of Charles William Wattel and Mary Louise Horn and Margaret was the daughter of Henry Gertner and Anna Katherine Schnell.
Unidentified Woman: I found this photo and 3 others with my mother's photos that she had inherited from her mother. Unfortunately no one seems to know who this woman was. I believe that possibly she may have been related to either the Wattel or Horn families. Hopefully someone will one day be able to identify her and solve the mystery.