Sandy,
Yes, the death certificate is at the secretary of state website but he is
listed as "Gottliev Sievers". I erred though - the info on his birthdate may
have been provided by Mahala or children but she did not sign the death
certificate as the informant.
When I said in my last e-mail "write to them in English and German", I meant
the historical society and not necessarily the Sievers families living in
the area - although I guess you could do that but personally I would wait
until your ancestor's baptismal record was found along with the accompanying
information in order to help them identify your branch of the family.
I found the following info at the Illinois SOS on-line marriage:
Randolph Co May 22, 1859 [Blank], John C. and Loscher, Mina
His first wife was probably Wilhel(Mine) Amalia. In the 1860 census she is
listed as Mina as I recall.
Regarding the marriage records, I just want to make sure you understand the
distinction between the civil (state) marriage license/certificate and the church record
(sacremental record) - the church records are typically much more informative.
Since there are so many marriages, there is a good chance of finding their
parents listed there which will help further substantiate the connection when
they look for the baptismal record.
If you follow the notes in my previous e-mail, you should be able to find the
passenger list record on ancestry. In fact, I will e-mail you a copy directly.
Sorry to hear about your experience with the Hamburg Passenger Lists. They
are a bit tricky to understand how they organized them and even harder to read.
Okay, now that you are headed in the right direction - enjoy!
Bob Behnen
Kirksville, MO