Deep Roots Family Tree Blog

Brick wall struggle

Genealogy, family history, research… all of those things make my brain happy. I enjoy doing it and it’s one of the few things that can solely keep my attention for many hours. I’ve always loved it. But the thing that got me interested in my family history was my dad’s dad, my grandpa, Arthur Perry Misemer. Why? Because I wanted to know where my last name comes from.

Germany. We’ve always thought Germany because it sounds German. My dad’s maternal side of the family is almost entirely Norwegian, but there is some England/Wales in there too. If you look at my Ancestry DNA analysis, I have 0 German ancestry from my dad’s side of the family…so it’s back to the drawing board.

I have theories. I have Arthur’s death certificate, his dad’s death certificate, and parents marriage record. None of the documents fully match.

Arthur passed away in 1987 due to lung cancer and issues with his heart. His death certificate lists Peter Misemer and Betsey (most often spelled Betsy) Jones. Betsey had married a man with the last name Jones after Peter passed away unexpectedly. After confirming who Arthur’s parents were, I moved on to Peter Misemer – the next Misemer in line.

Peter Charles Misemer is the enigma. Any time I would ask my dad about his grandpa, he would get a bit defensive, always asking why I wanted to know. I have always felt that there was something weird or sinister about it.

I was able to request his death certificate from the North Dakota Department of Health (which was surprisingly easy) and find that Peter died at the age of 43 from a c cerebral hemorrhage. He was born on July 3rd, 1891 allegedly to Henry M. Misemer and Mary Smith.

Mary Smith. Really? You have to give me one of the most common names….

Anyway. I was also able to find on Ancestry Peter and Betsy’s marriage record that list Peter’s parents as M. M. Misemer and Mary Smith. If you look at it, there is an “H” crossed out in front of M. M. Misemer, which leads me to believe that his parents are Henry Marshall Misemer and Mary Rebecca Smith. The other issue is that Peter’s death certificate stated that he was born in Missouri but the marriage license states that he was born in Granite City, Illinois.

I’ve built out the trees for both Henry and Mary but I don’t consider it to be accurate and won’t until I can fully confirm that they are his parents. If I am correct, the Misemer’s are from German and my DNA test is wrong.

I hope to break down this wall someday.