Surname Saturday: DIENES

Frederick Dienes (1828-1896) was my great-great-grandfather. He is from Hesse, Germany, but so far I have not been able to trace his surname there (due more to concentrating on other lines at the moment). He arrived in New York City on the Splendid via Le Havre, France, on August 11, 1849. By 1854, he was in Springfield, Illinois. He was naturalized in 1856 and married Regina Matheis (1837-1916) in January, 1858.


Frederick and Regina had ten children:

• Katherine "Kate" (1858-1924), who never married;
• Philomina "Minnie" (1861-1935), who married John Rink;
• Frederick J. (1863-1927), who married Minnie Schul;
• Paulina "Lena" (1865-1935), who married John H. Gauer;
• Amelia (1867-1885); who died at age 18;
• Laurence G. (1869-1935), who married Elizabeth Wallenborn;
• Henry Valentine (1872-1891), who died at age 19 of typhoid dysentery;
• Marie Clara (1874-1916), who died of "organic heart disease;"
• Elizabeth Camilla (1877-1946); my great-grandmother, who married Frederick Henry Massmann; and
• Joseph, who was born and died in May 1880.

The photo above was probably taken in the Chicago area between 1896, when Fred Sr. died, and 1916, when Clara and Regina died. Regina is the short woman in the front. The siblings are, from left to right, Fred Jr., Clara, Kate, Elizabeth, Pauline, Minnie, and Laurence.

© Amanda Pape - 2010