Leonard Reist and Magdelena Spiegel's Family

Leonard Reist, son of Leonard Reist and Marie Madelaine Arnold, was born on December 29, 1826 at Illhaeusern, Haut-Rhin, France. His date and place of death are presently unknown. However, one could reasonably assume that Leonard died in Chicago, Cook, Illinois. Leonard was a domestic while living in France. In the 1860 United States census return for the ninth ward of Chicago, Leonard's occupation is given as a laborer.

Leonard and Magdelena arrived in the United States of America at the Port of New York on July 18, 1853. They left Le Havré, France aboard the ship The Florida, James G. Mills, Captain, which carried 512 passengers. At the time of their departure from France, Leonard was twenty-six years of age and Magdelena was twenty-four years of age. Magdelena's sister, Josephine Speigel, accompanied them to America.

Leonard married at Guemar, Haut-Rhin, France on October 2, 1850 to Marie Magdelena Spiegel, daughter of François Antoine Spiegel and Marie Magdelena Stockel. Marie Magdelena was born on October 10, 1827 at Guemar. The exact date of her death and the place of her death are presently unknown. Carrie Hall Gruss, in her notes on the Gruss family, gave May 2, 1892 as the date of Magdelena’s death. Her tombstone indicates that the date of her death was about May of 1895. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery at Benton Harbor, Berrien, Michigan.

Leonard and Marie Magdelena had two children, both of whom were born at Guemar.

1. Leonard Reist who was born on 6 July 1851. He died on 21 April 1903 at Benton Harbor.
2. Magdelena Reist was born on February 10, 1853 at Guémar. She died at Chicago during childbirth. Magdelena married Nicholas Schneider at Chicago on April 14, 1880. According to the marriage license, Nicholas was twenty-four years of age and Magdelena was twenty-seven years of age at the time of its issuance.

Sources

1. Birth Records at Illhaeusern, France for the year 1826.
2. Birth Records at Guemar, France for the years 1827, 1851 and 1853.
3. Marriage Records at Guemar, France for the year 1850.
4. United States census return for Berrien County, Michigan for the years 1870 and 1880.
5. 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Chicago, Ward 9, Cook, Illinois, Page 289, Dwelling 758, Family 949.
6. Copy of the passenger list for the Steamship The Florida.
7. Copy of the marriage registration for Nicholas Schneider and Marie Reist obtained from the IRAD program of the State of Illinois.
8. Copy of Carrie Hall Gruss' private family notes.
9. Research by Mike Schlitz, the results of which was sent to the author in an e-mail dated May 10, 2004.

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