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My elusive 2x Great Grandfather led me on quite the chase through history, but with patience, persistence, and a solid strategy, I finally managed to trace his roots deep into Eastern Europe. Let me introduce you to him: Friedrich Georg Peschel—here he is, alongside his wife, Therese OberHinninghofen.

Family lore was all I had to start with. The story goes that Friedrich Georg was a pharmacist in Düsseldorf. One day, he found an advertisement for a job in Kastellaun, printed on the newspaper wrapping his lunch. Determined, he walked all the way from Prussia (and Prussia was huge!) to Kastellaun and got the job. He fell in love with the youngest daughter of a local family, Therese, but tradition required him to marry the eldest daughter, Emma. Tragically, Emma passed away from tuberculosis and in childbirth, and Friedrich later married Therese.

That was it—the entirety of my knowledge. Prussia’s vast size made the search seem daunting, and with little more than this story to go on, I focused my search in Germany. It never crossed my mind that I’d be tracing him all the way into Eastern Europe.

The journey began with FamilySearch. I quickly found the birth registration for my great-grandfather, Friedrich Hermann Peschel, born in Düsseldorf to Friedrich Georg Peschel and Therese Hinninghofen. The record was indexed beautifully, but no image was attached. I searched further and found birth records for Friedrich’s other children—Emma, Friedrich Hermann, August Max, and Therese—but still, no images. Frustrated, I turned to other platforms.

Ancestry? Nothing. Brick wall #1.
MyHeritage? Still nothing. Brick wall #2.
Google? Not a trace. Brick wall #3.

It was clear I needed a new approach. I latched onto the one hard fact I had: Friedrich Georg Peschel was a pharmacist in Düsseldorf, and he owned a pharmacy. So, I redirected my search to investigate pharmacies, hoping they might hold some clues. That’s when I struck gold—a photograph of his pharmacy!

Urgroßvater Peschels Apotheke
The pharmacy, located at Düsseldorf am Schwanenmarkt, became my next lead. I began digging into historical pharmacy records and stumbled upon a newspaper archive via Google Books. Excited, I opened the file and began scrolling through, scanning every line. And there it was: “Information about the Exhibition is provided by the Chairman of the Exhibition Commission, Pharmacist F. G. Peschel, Schwanenmarkt.” I’d found him!

The newspapers revealed even more treasures—articles Friedrich had written, job advertisements he’d placed, and a note about his sale of a pharmacy in Kastellaun, complete with its gardens (now a restaurant). These snippets gave me a deeper insight into his life as a pharmacist. I relished every word of this backstory, but there was still no clear indication of where he had come from.

A Breakthrough in Kastellaun
Friedrich’s father-in-law, Johann OberHinninghofen, was also a pharmacist, and his eldest daughter, Emma, was born in 1869. These details led me to Archion.de, a database of Lutheran/Protestant church records. I searched for Kastellaun, scanning the available documents. When I opened the marriage records for 1843–1877 and scrolled back to 1869, I struck gold: the marriage record of Friedrich Georg Peschel!

The record revealed that Friedrich, 30 years old and a pharmacist living in Düsseldorf, was born to Gottfried Peschel, who resided in Ragnit. Suddenly, my search shifted to Ragnit—a place that, since 1946, is known as Neman and is located in Russia. The first brick wall was smashed!

Tracing Roots in Ragnit
With a new burst of energy, I dove into Archion once more, this time searching for records from Ragnit. I calculated that Friedrich must have been born around 1838, so I focused on that year. Holding my breath, I scrolled through the files. The anticipation grew as I sifted through records from different suburbs. Then, finally, in the town of Ragnit, I found him—Friedrich Georg Peschel, born on April 23, 1838, to the very parents listed in the marriage record I’d found earlier. Success!

The Full Circle
I’d uncovered my 2x Great Grandfather Friedrich Georg Peschel, who had walked an incredible distance for a job opportunity that would change his life forever. My journey into history didn’t stop there. A few months later, I received an unexpected email from one of my late mother’s cousins, Peter. He shared that his mother had written a family history of the Peschels before she passed away. Would I like a copy? Absolutely! Soon after, I received scanned copies of eight handwritten pages, filled with stories that both confirmed and enriched my findings.

The chase was over, and the puzzle pieces fit perfectly together. Friedrich Georg Peschel’s life, once a mystery, now felt vivid and alive.