Heinrich August Fink is my husband’s maternal grandfather. He was known throughout his life as Henry August Fink.
This discovery came today when I did a search on Ancestry, from my tree, for Henry August Fink. This is something I do on a regular basis. I’ve made lots of great finds this way and today was no exception.
I discovered the record collection U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940. This collection is new to me and I wonder if I’ll find other records contained in it?
What I found was this indexed record:
Name: Heinrich August Fink
Event Type: Baptism
Birth Date: 14 Jan 1893
Baptism Date: 24 Jun 1893
Baptism Place: Buffalo, New York
Father: Geo Fink
Mother: Barbara Ludwig
Church Name: Grace
Church Location: Buffalo, New York
I did a little genealogy happy dance and then proceeded to download the image, save it to my computer and then source & enter it into Legacy.
I had already located, some time ago, a birth record for “Baby Fink” born 14 Jan 1893 to George & Barbara Fink. I was fairly certain this was our Henry, but not 100% sure.
If you look at the baptismal record you will see that the birth date is exactly the same, 14 Jan 1893, as that of the Baby Fink birth record. The parents must have waited until the baptism to name the baby. The baptism took place 6 months later.
Here is a close up of the entry on the baptismal record
Combining the birth record, baptismal record and death certificate (which lists Henry’s birthdate), I have the 3 records I always like to have to conclude that the date is correct.
Heinrich “Henry” August Fink was born in Buffalo, Erie, New York to George August Fink and Barbara Ludwig. He grew up in Buffalo and I have him enumerated in the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 census records. Note to me: find him in the 1940 census.
On 8 Oct 1911 Henry married Freada Emma Meta Doller in Fort Erie, Welland, Ontario, Canada. To this couple were born two sons and two daughters: Elwood Reynolds (1912-1997), Dorothy Beatrice (1913-1993), Willard Henry A. (1916-2008 and Delphine Irene “Honey” (1919-2011.
Here are the four Fink siblings in 1936.
Willard & Elwood are standing in the back and Dorothy and Delphine are kneeling |
I had the pleasure of knowing all four of those children, as adults. They were my husband’s mother and her siblings.
In 1935, Henry moved his wife and children to San Diego, California. They all went to work at General Dynamics/Consolidated Aircraft, becoming the largest family group to work there. An article was written in the San Diego Union about this family group. A photo was included in the newspaper article. I don’t have the article, but I do have the photo (below).
Left to right are: Floyd “Ted” Brown (first husband of Dorothy Fink), George Brown (brother of Floyd), Willard A. Fink, Elwood R. Fink, Dorothy Fink Brown, Delphine Fink Long and Henry Fink.
Henry Fink died on January 17, 1954, at the age of 61. He left a loving family to grieve his loss.
Henry is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in San Diego, California. You may visit his memorial on findagrave #31820256. (The FindAGrave website is down right now and I cannot create a link to his memorial).
If you think you might be related to anyone mentioned in this blog post, please contact me.
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Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl
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Do you know George's parents? I have a George Fink, born 26 May 1865 to Gottlieb and Barbara (Fleeman) Fink. I haven't traced him further, but I'll look into that.
ReplyDeleteAmanda,
DeleteI don't have definitive proof about George's parents. It's been a family mystery for years. Some speculation from cousins, but nothing solid. Email me if you want to exchange further info. michiganfamilytrails(at)yahoo.com
Thanks for your comment.