Weddings & Anniversaries
Repinski-Dietz Family Tree
Dietz-Pope Family Line
November 16th
110th Wedding Anniversary
Henry Chester Dietz & Grace Elizabeth Pope
Maternal Great Grandparents
Henry and Grace were married on this day 110 years ago on November 16th, 1908 in Dayton Township, Waupaca County, Wisconsin.
My maternal great grandparents are descended from families that until a few years ago I knew hardly anything about.
As I was growing up I only knew that my Dietz family line had German origins through Henry and that the Pope family line was of English origins through Grace. This information was given to me by my mother, Marlene Dietz Repinski, who was the granddaughter of these two people....
Read on for the story of Henry and Grace who were both descended from Anglo European stock and who would give me and my siblings and their children an amazing pedigree that stretches back in history to the colonial America of the Mayflower Pilgrims and the first settlers of the country that we now call the United States of America and to the noble and royal families of Europe and Russia.
Introduction
About two years ago I discovered a family tree online that showed Grace's ancestral line back to Colonial New England.
One of Henry's family branches, I would discover a year later, would also give me at least two more sets of 11th great grandparents, George and Susannah Buckett Soule and John Howland & Elizabeth Tilley Howland and a set of 12th great grandparents, John Tilley & Joan Hurst Tilley who were also passengers of the Mayflower.
Through both of the above lines from Henry and Grace, I would discover even more ancestors from the Mayflower and from other ships that followed shortly after. Some of these discoveries:
- Peter Browne, Mayflower passenger, would be a step 11th great grandfather, marrying my 11th great grandmother, Martha Ford as his second wife through one of Grace's lines.
- Degory Priest, Mayflower passenger, would be an 11th great uncle, married to my 11th great aunt, Sarah Allerton, who was the sister of my 11th great grandfather, Isaac Allerton through one of Grace's lines.
- Edward and Gilbert Winslow, Mayflower passengers, would be 11th Great uncles, being the brothers of my 11th great grandfather, Josiah Winslow, who came over a few years later through one of Grace's lines.
- Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island, would be a 10th great grandfather through one of Henry's lines.
- Thomas Faunce, the man who is responsible for saving "Plymouth Rock" from oblivion, was my 10th great grandfather through one of Grace's family lines.
- John Jenney, who erected the first Mill in Colonial America was a 10th great grandfather through one of Graces lines.
By digging further into these histories I then discovered that both Henry and Grace's family lines through through their ancestral grandparents branched out to other early settlers and to numerous families of European origin and that both of their lines eventually would go back to some of the grandest noble and royal families of that continent with lines and branches in England, France, Germany, Spain, Norway, Sweeden, Denmark, Russia and beyond with lineages that go back to before the year 1000 AD......
A Brief History of Henry's Origins
Henry Chester Dietz was born on Jan 2nd, 1885 in Rice Lake, Barron County, Wisconsin.
Henry was the son of Henry Dietz and Eleanor Brown.
Henry Senior was the son of John Dietz and Almira Swart.
At first I only knew that Henry was the son of Henry Dietz Senior and Eleanor Brown.....but I soon found a bit more.
Henry grew up in Northern Wisconsin and as a young man moved to central Wisconsin. It is there that he met Grace.
They married on November 16, 1908 and lived for a short time on the homestead of Grace's family in Waupaca before moving to Amherst Junction and settling there to raise their family.
Henry worked for the railroad and in later years was in the roofing business with his son, Ray, my grandfather.
Henry and Grace would go on to have four children. In order of their birth they were:
Eleanore E Deitz
1910
Raymond H Deitz
1912
Marion F Deitz
1915
Henry C Deitz
1917
Russell Deitz
1921
Henry died on May 4, 1954 and is buried in St. James Cemetery in Amherst Wisconsin.
Henry grew up in Northern Wisconsin and as a young man moved to central Wisconsin. It is there that he met Grace.
They married on November 16, 1908 and lived for a short time on the homestead of Grace's family in Waupaca before moving to Amherst Junction and settling there to raise their family.
Henry worked for the railroad and in later years was in the roofing business with his son, Ray, my grandfather.
Henry and Grace would go on to have four children. In order of their birth they were:
Eleanore E Deitz
1910
Raymond H Deitz
1912
Marion F Deitz
1915
Henry C Deitz
1917
Russell Deitz
1921
Henry died on May 4, 1954 and is buried in St. James Cemetery in Amherst Wisconsin.
Henry's "Dietz" Line
I have only been able to follow Henry's "Dietz" paternal line back to his father Henry Senior who was born in Wisconsin and then to the Scholarie Valley of New York of the 1700s to his father John Dietz and his mother Almira Swart.
From there I do know that John's line goes back to Germany but I have not been able to trace that branch any further.
I did discover that John's Dietz family branch helped to settle that area of New York and intermarried with the dutch settlers of the area through my ancestral great grandmother, Almira Swart.
There is much written history on Almira's family that I have just begun to learn about and research.
Henry's ancestors would eventually migrate from the New York area to Wisconsin and be the progenitors of a vary large line of Dietz families that now inhabit that state.
Henry's "Brown" Line
On the other hand, it is Henry's "Brown" line through his mother Eleanor that I have been able to trace back a bit further with some pretty exciting discoveries.
Eleanor Brown Dietz' family line goes back from her father Chester Brown & mother Mary E. Smith to lines that are documented back to colonial New England to to England and Europe. While doing research about a year or so ago on this line I came across a bible entry that had a family tree line detailing Mary's descent from the Reverend Roger Williams, the Founder of Rhode Island. What a neat find that was.
I then discovered that from England of the 1600s, Eleanor's lines branch back to quite a few noble families of England and from there to most of the royal families of Europe.
The luck of being connected to these family lines is that most if not all of them are documented very well and thus it is fairly easy to trace the origins and the connections to other lines with increased accuracy.
Eleanor's ancestry gives my family quite an interesting history to say the least.
I have written about some of these in prior stories and continue to discover and research more family lines and people from these lines on a daily basis. I am now in the process of creating biographies and "life sketches" on a lot of these ancestors.
A Brief History of Grace's Origins
Grace Elizabeth Pope was born on Feb 2nd, 1891 in Dayton, Waupaca County, Wisconsin.
She was the daughter of Henry Allen Pope and Isadora Smith.
Henry Allen was the son of Thomas P. Pope and Elizabeth Gove.
Isadora was the daughter of Edward Smith and Elizabeth Moyes.
As noted above, Grace and Henry married on November 16, 1908 and settled first in Dayton and then in Amherst Junction. They would have four children of which the second oldest was my grandfather, Raymond Dietz.
Grace died on April 16, 1963 and is buried at St. James Cemetery in Amherst Wisconsin.
She was the daughter of Henry Allen Pope and Isadora Smith.
Henry Allen was the son of Thomas P. Pope and Elizabeth Gove.
Isadora was the daughter of Edward Smith and Elizabeth Moyes.
As noted above, Grace and Henry married on November 16, 1908 and settled first in Dayton and then in Amherst Junction. They would have four children of which the second oldest was my grandfather, Raymond Dietz.
Grace died on April 16, 1963 and is buried at St. James Cemetery in Amherst Wisconsin.
Grace's "Pope" Line
As I learned more about her branch of my family tree I came upon the amazing discovery of a man by the name of Thomas Pope from Plymouth Mass. who had arrived in America a few years after the arrival of the Mayflower ship that brought the famous Pilgrims to our shores and that he was one of the original settlers of that town.
Thomas would marry twice.
His first wife was Anne Fallowell and his second wife was Sarah Jenney.
Sarah's parents were John Jenney and Sarah Carey who immigrated from Holland/England and arrived in Colonial America (Plymouth) and helped to settle that town and were the progenitors of a long family line.
I and my siblings would be descended from three of Thomas Pope's children in three different lines, one child from his first marriage to Anne (Hannah) and two children from his second marriage to Sarah (Isaac and Susannah).
To say that Thomas was a very important ancestor would be a vast understatement considering the above three lines that we descend from.
Grace's "Smith" Line
I only recently have been able to find information about Grace's Smith family line.
With a name as common as Smith, I didnt think I would ever be able to find anything that connected her mother to any other Smith.
But I was wrong!!
Through Grace's mother I discovered my Scottish ancestry that I never knew I had.
Grace's mother, Isadora Smith was the daughter of Edward Smith and Elizabeth Moyes.
My great grandfather, Edward Y. Smith was a farmer of some note who was born on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Mass. and who's family helped settle that island back in the 1600s.
I have been able to trace all of my ancestral great grandparents in his line back to that time and beyond and his pedigree is very interesting. The lines of his family connect to so many other New England lines that I will be researching those branches for years to come.
Edward settled in Central Wisconsin in the middle 1800s and married Elizabeth Moyes in 1853.
My great grandmother, Elizabeth Moyes was a hearty woman who persevered and flourished in the era of the middle to late 1800s. She was a teacher of children, a successful land owner after Edward died and is my first Scottish grandma that I would find.
She immigrated with her parents and siblings from Perthsire, Scotland in the middle 1800s.
I have amazingly also been able to trace her ancestry back to about 1600's Scotland.
So on this day 110 years later, I would like to wish my maternal great grandparents a very happy anniversary!
Thank you for making me and my family possible.
You are not forgotten!!
Sources for this story:
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/lite/person/L4HX-FCB
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/lite/person/9F6G-DBK
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/104130526/person/280036809820/facts
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/104130526/person/280036809902/facts
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