{"id":3937,"date":"2011-10-01T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2011-10-01T14:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jessicagreen.com\/wordpress\/?p=3937"},"modified":"2011-09-03T01:03:09","modified_gmt":"2011-09-03T08:03:09","slug":"surname-saturday-dreffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jessicagreen.com\/wordpress\/2011\/10\/01\/surname-saturday-dreffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Surname Saturday – Dreffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week we take a look at the lineage of the Dreffs surname as it pertains to my family’s history.\u00c2\u00a0 The Dreffs name has come to be synonymous with BRICK WALL for me.<\/p>\n

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\"Wedding<\/a>

Wedding Portrait for Mary and Walter Dreffs (November 1951)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Earliest Known Ancestor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My great-grandfather Joseph Dreffs was born in March 1866 in Pozna\u00c5\u201e (Posen), Poland when it was under German occupation.\u00c2\u00a0 According to Joseph’s death certificate, his mother’s maiden name was Grayeski<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 Joseph married his wife Anna Kozminska in Poland in 1866.\u00c2\u00a0 He came to the United States and filed his Declaration of Intent on July 6, 1891.\u00c2\u00a0 (I’m still looking for his actual passenger record – it’s my biggest genealogical brick wall!)<\/p>\n

Joseph and Anna spent several years in Gaylord, Michigan which is where their eighth child, my grandfather Walter Anthony Dreffs, was born in 1900.\u00c2\u00a0 He moved the family to Saginaw around 1910 and lived there until the 1930’s when the family moved to Gilford in Tuscola County.\u00c2\u00a0 Joseph Dreffs died 20 Dec 1941 and is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Saginaw.<\/p>\n

Joseph and Anna had eleven children: Martin Dreffs (1887 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 1976), Hattie (Ida) Dreffs (1888 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 1960), the elusive Vincent Joseph Dreffs<\/strong><\/a> (1892 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c ?), Jennie Dreffs (1892 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c ?), Veronica (Vera) Dreffs (1894 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 1946), Mary C. Dreffs (1896 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 1973), Francis Stanley Dreffs (1898 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 1959), my grandfather Walter Anthony Dreffs (1900 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 1958), Paul Anthony Dreffs (1902 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 1980), Andrew S. Dreffs (1903 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 1961) and Carl Casimier Dreffs (1906 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 1969).<\/p>\n

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\"Lineage<\/a>

Lineage for the Dreffs Surname<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lineage<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jessica Marie Cole > Diane Marie Dreffs > Walter Anthony Dreffs (1900 – 1958) > Joseph Dreffs (1866 – 1941)<\/p>\n

If this tiny lineage isn’t indicative of a solid brick wall, I don’t know what else is.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve been heavily researching this line for more than a decade.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately, my grandfather Walter died when my mother was only six years old.\u00c2\u00a0 He was somewhat of a drifter, a gambler and an alcoholic<\/a><\/strong>; he left no trace of his family history except what little bits I’ve been able to unearth that were documented in his vital records.<\/p>\n

Items of Interest<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n