The Mystery of Edward Arthur Teutschman

It took a while, but as promised, here is the information I currently have on my great-grandfather, Edward Arthur Teutschman:

Edward Arthur (nicknamed Teck, for some unknown reason) was born on the 8th of January, 1885, somewhere in Canada. I know nothing about his early life, his parents, or his exact birthplace. The earliest bit of information I have on him comes from a copy of the 1910 Census:(sorry, this will probably be impossible to read - contact me if you would like a copy emailed to you).

The census states the following:

Name: Edward A Teutschmann
Age: 25
Birthplace: Canada
Relation to Head of House: Head
Father's Birth Place: Germany
Mother's Birth Place: Germany
Spouse's name: Bertha W
Home in 1910: Los Angeles Assembly District 70, Los Angeles,
Marital Status:
Race: White
Gender: Male
Year of Immigration: 1887

Members of Household listed:
Wife - Bertha W. Approx birth year 1885. Birthplace, California
Daughter - Doris M, age 2. Birthplace, Nebraska Approx birth year - 1908

So I know that in 1910, Edward Arthur was married to a woman named Bertha, and had one daughter, and that he had been living in the United States since he was approximately 2 years old.

The next document I have on Edward Arthur is his military draft card, dated September 17, 1918. This document confirms his exact birthdate and his country of birth. It states that he is living in Portland, Oregon, at the Broadway Hotel with his wife "Mrs. Edward Arthur Teutschman."

I cannot 100% confirm who this "Mrs. Edward Arthur" is, but it is most likely my great-grandmother, Helena Hazel Haggett, who married Edward Arthur sometime prior to 1917. I can only assume he divorced Bertha, or was widowed. No mention of her or their daughter Doris has been found among my family history.

Edward Arthur and Helena Hazel Haggett had 5 children together:

Polly, born about 1917
Edward Chester, born 31 May 1918 (my grandfather)
June, born about 1919
Dorothy, born about 1921
Billie Teck, born 12 July 1922

What happened next in Edward Arthur's life is a mystery. I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete. This is where I'm hoping to get some help from someone in blogland, who might know something. Here is my best guess, based on information from my grandmother, and information I've been piecing together off the 'net.

Edward Arthur divorced Helena Hazel Haggett sometime after the birth of Billie Teck in 1922. He married a woman named Clara Bedouin, although I have yet to find a marriage record indicating this. All information I have found on Clara Teutschman (married name, obviously) indicates that she died in 1997 in Bexar, Texas. I also found the following death index that is most likely for Edward Arthur (second from the top):

His place of death is listed as Bexar, Texas, although his name is listed as Edward T Teutschman (possibly "T" for "Teck.") The date of death is 23 May, 1962.

I have yet to find any children for Edward Arthur and Clara.

Next steps:

Search for information on Edward Arthur's other children besides my grandfather. Looks like I might have some luck with Billie Teck, as I have seen the name "Billie Teutschman" pop up every now and then.

Try to find marriage record for Edward Arthur and Clara Bedouin.

Try to find anything that will get me more information on Edward Arthur - SSN, exact birth location, etc. I am most interested in finding his parent's names, as all I know is that their birthplace was Germany. Germany is a big place, and Teutschman might not even be the exact spelling of their name.

If anyone out there has any information, please contact me by leaving a comment on this site or emailing me at fearfam (at) sbcglobal (dot) net. Thank you!

I guess an introduction is in order, right?

My name is Amy, and I am a Teutschman by birth. I have always loved my maiden name, even when I was a child and it was difficult to spell. When I married, I inherited a much shorter and easier last name - even the person performing the marriage made note of it. But then he said something that I will never forget. He looked at me with an unmistakable seriousness in his eyes and said, "Always honor and respect your maiden name." Tears welled up in my eyes as I nodded in agreement. It may sound sappy, but at that moment I truly felt my ancestors looking down on me. I had an immediate, unmistakable desire to seek them out.

As the years have passed, my focus on genealogy work has shifted in and out of my life. At times I have great motivation and desire to do my family history research, and at other times I get lazy and let it slide for months (years...) at a time.

It was during a recent burst of motivation that I decided I needed to do something about the biggest hole in my genealogy: the Teutschman line. On my mother's side, I several family lines that reach back 12 generations. On my father's side, I go back only 4, including me. Here is what I have thus far (displaying names only):

Ignore the non-Teutschman lines, for now. I am Amy, my father is Michael Teutschman, my grandfather is Edward Chester Teutschman, and my great-grandfather is Edward Arthur Teutschman. I do not have names beyond that, although I have a few clues. My plan is to post the information I do have about Edward Arthur Teutschman shortly, in the hope that I will connect with someone who has more information.

In the meantime, if you have questions about the Teutschman's or family history in general, leave a comment below or shoot me an email at fearfam (at) sbcglobal (dot) net. Of course, it will work better if you remove the parenthesis and spaces first. :) Thanks so much, and I hope to hear from many of you soon.