by Wesley Johnston
Multiple marriages of multiple spouses ended with Caroline (nee SIMON) married to Frederick GELIS, who had been married and widowed and had no children surviving from his first marriage. Caroline had married twice before and had children from her first marriage (to Ferdinand KNACK) and step-children from her second marriage (to Albert DUPKE / DUBCKE) who came with her into the household of Frederick GELIS and all appeared with the surname GELIS in many records, although some of them sometimes appeared with their birth surname, even after the marriage of Frederick and Caroline.
This document captures the conflicting information about the first child of Caroline SIMON and Ferdinand KNACK.
Probate Inquest of Frederick GELIS estate 19 August 1930
Ferdinand and Caroline's daughter Helen (married PROCHNOW) KNACK GELIS was the administatrix of the estate. In her deposition, she state that she had a sister named Emma who had died prior to the death in 1930 of Frederick GELIS. She stated that Emma had married John LANG and had no children.
Marriage of John J. LANG and Emma GALES 23 Feb 1910
Minister J. M. Bailey of 6046 Chicago Avenue in Oak Park, Illinois, married the couple in Chicago. John was 28 (thus born about 1882). Emma was 22 (thus born about 1888).
1900 Census: Emma separate from the family
The Family
In the 1900 Census, Frederick and Caroline lived in Chicago Ward 15, Enumeration District 489, page 44. Their address was 122 Coblenz Street. There were two other families living in the building: (1) Albert & Bertha DEPEW with children Albert & Grace, (2) Joseph & Annie KOEHLER and her brothers John & Albert PROCHNOW (future husband of Helen KNACK GELIS).
Frederick (shown as Albert F) and Carolina GELIS, who had been married 2 years (thus 1898), appear with their five children: Helene (born Apr 1886 per the census), Alma (July 1889), Willie (Dec 1887), Henry (Jan 1890), and Charles (Dec 1899). Clearly, only Charles was the child of the 1898 marriage of Frederick & Caroline. The other four children were from Caroline's prior marriages. Helene & Alma were from her marriage to Ferdinand KNACK, and birth records have been found for them with the surname KNACK. Willie (William) & Henry were children of Caroline's second husband Albert DUBCKE and his first wife Caroline MUCH.
The census shows Caroline as having given birth to six children, of whom 4 were then living. We know from the birth record of Helen (10 Apr 1887 - female with no given name) that Helen was the third child of Caroline. I have also found the births of Edward (26 Mar 1885 died 1897) and Alma (6 Jul 1889). And Caroline and Frederick's son Charles GELIS was born 2 Nov 1899. Thus in 1900, Caroline had living children Helen, Alma, and Charles in the home with her. She had lost son Edward, and she had a child born prior to Helen and probably prior to Edward (thus about 1883). This accounts for five of her six children. The missing child was apparently Emma, who her marriage record puts at a birth about 1888 -- thus between Helen and Alma. Thus the first child, born about 1883, must have been the other child that died. I have found no suitable birth or death records for this first child, who may have died at or near birth.
Emma
Emma appears as a boarder, attending school, in the home of William & Hannah WITT (25 & 22, both born Illinois to German-born parents) and his grandmother Mary MEYER (78, widow, born Germany). Emma is shown as born in Illinois to German-born parents, which is consistent with Ferdinand and Caroline. She is shown as age 12, with her birth Oct 1887. The 1900 Census birth years were often off by 1 year, so that it is more likely that her birth was Oct 1888, based on her 1910 marriage record and the birthdates of her sisters Helen (10 Apr 1887) and Alma (6 Jul 1889). I have not been able to find a birth record for her, including stepping through every single Oct 1888 birthwith surname K in the images on FamilySearch.org.
Conclusions
I do not believe that Emma was the first child of Ferdinand and Caroline. Both records that give her age point to an 1887-1888 birth, but the first child was born about 1883.
I believe that the first child died at or near birth and was never recorded as a birth or death record. I believe that the evidence supports Emma as being Emma KNACK, the fourth child born to Ferdinand KNACK and Caroline SIMON.
I can find no birth nor death record for Emma. She was apparently born 1888 and died 1913.