Well I was looking for someone in New Zealand from long long ago, so i will see if i can help here. State of Illinois has good records available on web, so you might find marriage and birth and death records, and then onto local history by county.. Folks often migrated in groups and many Germans came from PA in this era. Irish were everywhere, it seems. 1909 Mpls City Directory - on web - has Snitka and Zeppenfields. Now Gertrude IIs death should lead to an obit, and her bros name might lead to somewhere. I did do an extended soundex search on names at Minnesota Historical Society records index and developed zip. And more census records and City Indexes might lead somewhere, and you could provide more info on occupations, where folks lived and name of Gertrude 2nd's husband, and there should be a draft card for him, perhaps, etc....... Do a time line and maybe it will help you focus. Happy Historical Trails, Robert P. Mosedale Bloodhound Research, P. A. rmosedale@juno.com