The Three-Generation Journey of the Bayer and Devalley Women

When we begin the journey of tracing our ancestors, we often expect to find a straight line of names and dates. But as I’ve learned, genealogy is more like sifting through soil; you have to shake away the layers of confusion and conflicting records to find the solid stones of truth. In our family, that truth is anchored by three remarkable women whose lives spanned an ocean and a continent.

The Matriarch: Anna Margerite Bayer (1830–1916)

The story begins in the German heartland. Anna Margerite Bayer was born on July 21, 1830. To look at that date is to realize she was a child of a different world—a world before the American Civil War, before the steamship became the master of the Atlantic, and before the Midwest was fully carved into the states we know today.

Anna Margerite was the original anchor. While her early years in Germany remain shrouded in the quiet of European archives, her arrival in the United States marked a turning point for our family. She eventually settled in Red Bud, Illinois—a community that would become the home base for generations of our kin. When she passed away on January 4, 1916, at the age of eighty-five, she had lived to see her family spread across the frontier. She was the matriarch who held the earliest threads of our history.

The Bridge: Mary Devalley and the Meeting in the Middle

The second generation brings us to Anna’s daughter, the first Mary Devalley (born Mary Bayer). In the mid-19th century, migration was the pulse of the country. Mary’s path was destined to cross with Bion Devalley, a man whose story began on June 27, 1847, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Bion’s journey was unique; while his parents, John and Nancy, pushed all the way to Salt Lake City, Utah, Bion eventually struck out on his own. By the time he married Mary in 1881, he had navigated the distance between the East Coast port of his birth and the Illinois borderlands. Together, they became a “migration couple,” bridging two very different family journeys in the fertile soil of the Mississippi River valley.

The Keeper of the Name: Mary Devalley and the Burgdorf Connection

It was this Mary Devalley who carried our lineage into its next chapter. While the full details of her life with Oscar Burgdorf remain a subject of ongoing research, the records we have tell a story of family loyalty. In the census records, we see Mary and her son, Wilbert, living under the roof of her father, Bion, while carrying the Burgdorf name. Whether Oscar was away due to the military service suggested by his later records, or simply living a life the census didn’t capture, Mary ensured that Wilbert was raised with a clear identity, bridging the Devalley and Burgdorf names for the generations to come.

Wilbert Burgdorf: The Result of the Journey

When we see Wilbert listed on those pages, we see a family that stood together. He was raised with the knowledge of a heritage that spanned from the German borders to the Baltimore docks, and from the pioneer trails of the West back to the quiet streets of Randolph County.

Why We Sift the Soil

Researching these names—Bayer, Devalley, and Burgdorf—is about more than just filling out a tree on a website. It is about honoring the resilience of the women who came before us.

• It is about Anna Margerite, who left Germany to build a life that would last 85 years.
• It is about the first Mary, who built a home alongside Bion as they settled the Midwest.
• It is about the second Mary, who maintained her family’s identity through years of change.

We sift through the soil of these records because their names deserve to be spoken. Even when the records are old and the ink is faded, the biological truth remains. We are the descendants of travelers, pioneers, and survivors.