“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” ~ Alexander Graham Bell
I had planned on researching and writing about the other half of my maternal fifth great-grandparents, these being from locations in present-day Germany, then a part of a greater Luxembourg.
The Ancestors: My mother’s paternal fourth great-grandparents
(448 & 449) Michel WILTINGER and Margaretha DIESBURG (450 & 451) Michael WELTER and Katharian KLEIN (452 & 453) Matthias SCHRAMEN and Anna Barbara LEIBRICH (BURG) (454 & 455) Sebastian SCHMITT and Maria LORANG
(456 & 457) Nikolaus WEYMAN and Maria Katharina HUSS
(458 & 459) Gerard MALAMBRÉ and Barbara BIESDORF
(460 & 461) Johann Bernard WELTER and Maria BRIMERS (462 & 463) Johann HENNES and Magdalena MÜLLER
(464 & 465) Peter BUBELREITER and Gertrud LAMBERTI or BOSEN
(466 & 467) Johann BOMMES and Anna Maria Luzia THIELEN (468 & 469) Peter MERTSCHERT and Susanna “Anna”SCHNEIDER (470 & 471) Theodor MERGEN and Gertrud THELEN (472 & 473) Johann Nicolaus WAGNER and Anna Maria KLEIWER (474 & 475) Johann HARTERT and Elisabeth HEINZ
(476 & 477) Peter KERSCHT and Eva SCHMIDS (478 & 479) Gerhard EWEN and Barbara THEILEN
I have marriage records for the couples marked in red as they married in the parish of Echternach, Luxembourg. Dates of marriage are known for the couples in blue but records are not accessible online (some possibly only due to my European residence). For the remaining couples, I have no dates of marriage. Their marriages are assumed to have occurred before the birth/baptism of legitimate children.
Missing or non-accessible documentation
My mother’s paternal ancestors lived in villages that became a part of Germany at the time of the Second Partition of Luxembourg in 1815. I have access to the family books of the German villages the 16 sets of 5th great-grandparents lived in. These finding aids are reliable but not error-free. They include dates and places of birth, baptism, marriage, death, and burial. Some have the register, page, and entry number to aid in finding the record.
I’ve used the information in family books to grow my family tree adding the documents to support the dates and places of events when accessible. For this group of ancestors, the records I’ve been able to obtain have been those that were recorded in catholic church registers that remained in Luxembourg mainly in the parish of Echternach. However, many of the events were recorded in the church registers archived in the Bistumsarchiv Trier and the civil registers archived in the Kreisarchiv Bitburg.
Although the church records were filmed by FamilySearch, access in Europe is limited to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of these are available stateside to the public but I don’t plan to request help from family or friends to do lookups for me.
Bistumarchiv and Kreisarchiv
The church records can be consulted at the Diocese Archive (Bistumarchiv) in Trier, Germany, and the civil records at the District Archive Bitburg-Prüm (Kreisarchiv) in Bitburg, Germany. These are less than an hour’s drive from my residence but impractical due to Covid restrictions.
Records found in these archives were used by the compilers of the family books of the German towns. Although primary sources were used, the publications are secondary sources. I’ve used them as sources in earlier posts but I don’t think they will be of benefit for the stories of this generation.
Our family schedule doesn’t leave much time for trips to either archive at this time. The past two years have not been easy for any of us. As with many of my other genealogy friends in my age group, we are caring for the older and the younger generations in our family. Keeping them safe during this pandemic.
Moving on to US research
I long to get back to US research as many records have been added to FamilySearch‘s online collections. I’ve stolen minutes here and there, working on finding my American ancestors in the personal property tax lists, land tax lists, court records, land deeds, etc. This is a time-consuming project as the records are not indexed and have to be browsed, cited, and evaluated. With each record, events are added to the ancestor’s timeline, adding detail to the yet unwritten story.
Another reason for fixing my focus on US research is the coming release of the 1950 US census in April 2022.
December will be quiet here at Opening Doors in Brick Walls as I take a break from writing.
My warmest thoughts for a wonderful holiday and a happy New Year. May peace, love, and prosperity follow you always. May the world become a safer place for all.
Father’s Day in Luxembourg and Four Catholic Priests
Research on the featured couple brought to light more than I expected. What I learned fits in nicely, I think, with the holiday we are celebrating in Luxembourg today: Father’s Day.
The Marriage Record
1754 Marriage Record courtesy of FamilySearch
On Sunday, 3 February 1754, a Catholic priest named Nicolas KNEIP married my 5th great-grandparents in Ettelbrück. The 24-year-old groom was Joseph SCHLOESSER of Wiltz and his 23-year-old bride was Catherine ARENT of Warken. Joseph was the son of Nicolas SCHLOESSER and Johanna GASPERSCH (also seen as CASPER). Catherine was the daughter of Michel ARENT, deceased, and Anna Margaretha KNEIP.1
The Wark River near Warken, Luxembourg, in the winter.
Before I tell you about the rabbit hole the priest took me down, here is a list of the children of this set of 5th great-grandparents.
The children of Catherine and Joseph
Catherine and Joseph made their home in Wiltz where their 10 known children were born and baptized. Unless noted otherwise all events took place in Wiltz or Wooltz as it is known in Luxembourgish.
Anna Margareta was baptized on 30 December 1754.2 She died on 25 December 1755, days before her first birthday.3
Laurent was baptized on 12 June 1756.4 He married(1) Marie-Elisabeth DUHR (1744-1789) on 28 December 1778.5 They had 4 children. He married(2) Anne-Marguerite SCHAUL (1774-1817) on 4 August 1794.6 They had 10 children. He died on 17 September 1823 at the age of 67.7
Maria Catharina was baptized on 31 May 1759.8 She married Jean-Baptiste Jean BARNICH (1756-1811) on 19 May 1791.9 They were the parents of 5 children. She died on 22 December 1821 at the age of 62.10
Nicolas was baptized on 29 December 1760.11 He married Marie SCHMAL (1752-aft. 1824) on 20 June 1779.12 They had 9 children. He died on 22 January 1805 at the age of 44.13
Valentin was baptized on 1 August 1762.14 He married(1) Elisabeth THIES (1765-1802) on 15 April 1787.15 They had 8 children. He married(2) Marie Elisabeth DECKER (1775-1837) on 17 August 1804.16 They had 9 children. He died on 27 March 1832 in Lutremange, Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, Province de Luxembourg, Belgium at the age of 69.17
Jean-Népomucène was baptized on 18 March 1764.18 He married(1) Margaretha TRAUDT (1766-1809) on 26 Apr 1790 in Vianden.19 They were the parents of a dozen children. He married(2) Elisabeth HAMELING (1779-1838) on 24 Dec 1810 in Vianden.20 They had two sons, one of whom died before the age of two months. He died on 29 July 1833 in Vianden at the age of 69.21Jean-Népomucène and his first wife Margaretha were my 4th great-grandparents.
Nicolas Joseph was baptized on 18 November 1766.22 He married(1) Elisabeth METZ (1766-1816) on 3 June 1787.23 They were the parents of 13 children. He married(2) the widow Marie-Catherine SCHNEIDER (1769-?) on 30 December 1818.24 He died on 29 January 1839 in Eschweiler at the age of 72.25
Elisabeth was baptized on 15 September 1770.26 She married André SPEDENER (1768-1828) on 6 May 1791.27 They had 7 children. She died on 11 July 1844 at the age of 73.28
Marie was baptized on 11 March 177329 and died two days later.30
Jean was baptized on 30 November 1775.31 He died a little over seven months later, on 16 July 1776.32
The deaths of Catherine and Joseph
Catherine ARENT did not live to see the 19th century but she saw the seven children who lived to adulthood marry. She died at the age of 65 years on 21 Apr 1796.33 Her husband Joseph SCHLOESSER died on 31 March 1800 at the age of 71 at the home of his daughter. His son Valentin and a neighbor reported the death. Which of his daughters it was, the oldest or the youngest was not mentioned.34
Research Manager(1)
Catherine and Joseph had 79 grandchildren per research done by my 6th cousin once removed, Joseph SCHLOESSER, a descendant of my Joseph’s oldest brother Jean SCHLOESSER (1719-1789). I’ve documented 14 grandchildren by their son Jean-Népomucène who is my direct ancestor. The remaining 65 still need to be looked into.
DNA Match adds a couple of generations to the tree
Anna Margaretha KNEIP, my 6th great-grandmother and the mother of Catherine ARENT of this post, showed up in the tree of one of my mother’s DNA matches. That’s seven generations back in Mom’s tree. The match shares only 14 cMs on one segment with Mom. Seven of the match’s eight great-grandparents were born in Luxembourg making researching and finding the MRCA time-consuming. Ancestry, however, found Anna Margaretha KNEIP to be a common ancestor of the match and my Mom. ThruLines suggested the match came through a descendant of Anna Margaretha and her second husband. At the time I didn’t have a second marriage for Anna Margaretha. In fact, I didn’t even have other children.
Instead of working out the match’s line, I looked into Anna Margaretha KNEIP. Searching for the ARENT children, the death of her husband Michel ARENT, the second marriage to Bernard AUDRIT, and the AUDRIT children took me further back. These gave me the names of her parents and I was able to locate baptismal records for 14 KNEIP siblings of Anna Margaretha KNEIP, all born in Bissen. Although many children had been born to André KNEIP and his wife Catherine FABER vulgo GOEDERT, I found no marriages in that town. That’s where I left off the research.
Rabbit Hole
Coming back to the marriage entry for Joseph SCHLOESSER and Catherine ARENT, I asked myself if the mother of the bride, Anna Margaretha KNEIP, and the priest Nicolas KNEIP might have been related. This sent me down a rabbit hole where I made several discoveries.
An online search for the reverend father Nicolas KNEIP who was a priest in Ettelbück turned up a hit for the genealogy research of Charles THIELEN last updated 18 December 2004.
Mr. Thielen is a descendant of the most distant known KNEIP ancestor through the daughter Susanne, sister of my André KNEIP. He lists 17 children for André KNEIP. I had missed one child in the baptismal records. Another child, a son, was included although only mentioned in a publication by a catholic priest.
Mr. Theilen’s work traced the ARENT and KNEIP lines a further generation than I had. He cited notary records he used to make the connections in the families.
The most amazing information in his database was the fact that six of the nine sons of André KNEIP and Catherine FABER vulgo GOEDERT studied theology and that four of them became Catholic priests. Nicolas KNEIP (1697-1768) of the parish of Ettelbrück was their oldest son and the priest who performed the marriage ceremony between his niece Catherine ARENT and Joseph SCHLOESSER.
No wonder I couldn’t find marriages for the KNEIP children when six of the sons never married. Several of the children who did marry didn’t produce entries in the church marriage records. This seems unusual when four of the siblings were priests – persons responsible for keeping the church records. Mr. Theilen used the notary records to work around these missing records. I was able to locate some of the records he cited. I even found some that he didn’t cite including two marriage contracts. One proved a second marriage for Marie Josephine, a sister of the four priests. The religious marriage record did not include her widower’s name or her parents’ names.
Research Manager(2)
Before finding these records, with the help of Mr. Thielen’s citation, I had only seen one notary record produced by an ancestor – again a record that had been referenced by another researcher. Now that I have figured out how to use these records and where to look for the notary’s index to the records, I will be checking the Luxembourg Notarial Records, 1621-1821 more often.
The handwriting from the 1700s is very hard to read and it will take some time to decipher the records. I am especially interested in the four-page record I found dated 7 February 1734, the day Anna Marguerite KNEIP married her second husband Bernard AUDRIT. Signed by several of her clergy brothers as well as a priest with the surname ARENT (her deceased husband’s surname), it appears to be a marriage contract between the two.
I still cannot believe that my 7th great-grandparents André and Catherine had so many sons who became priests but am pleased to see all the records this particular family left.
Genealogy Sketch
Name: Joseph SCHLOESSER Occupation: Labourer or farmer Parents: Nicolas SCHLOESSER and Johanna GASPERSCH Spouse: Catherine ARENT Parents of spouse: Michel ARENT and Anna Margaretha KNEIP Whereabouts: Wiltz, Luxembourg Relationship to Cathy Meder-Dempsey: 5th great-grandparents
My 5th great-grandparents Johann CONSBRÜCK (1749-1796) of Echternach and Barbara SCHMIDT (1747-1829) of Koedange celebrated their marriage in the hometown of the groom.1
One of several roads leading into Echternach.
In this direct line from myself to Johann’s parents, only two of the nine couples did not marry in Echternach. My great-grandparents married in Mamer in 1900 and my 3rd great-grandparents married in Metz, France, in 1835. My husband and I were married in Echternach in 1978, my parents in 1957, my grandparents in 1935, my 2nd great-grandparents in 1867, 4th in 1805, 5th in 1773, and 6th in 1735. My 7th great-grandparents likely married in Echternach or Mersch about 1705. After the death of my 7th great-grandfather, his widow, my 7th great-grandmother married again, in Echternach.
1773 Marriage Record
1773 Marriage Record
On Monday, 22 February 1773, in the presence of Johann HINCKES and Martin HERCKES, citizens of Echternach, Father LUCIUS solemnized the marriage between the respectable young Johann, the legitimate son of Johann Wilhelm CONSBRÜCK of Echternach, and Barbara, the legitimate daughter of Peter SCHMIDT of Koedingen, after prior review of the dismissal by the priest of the parish of Waldbillig.2
Barbara Schmidt’s hometown Koedange – Kéidéng in Luxembourgish.A view of the few houses in Koedange.
The parish priest provided a dimissionis, a dismissal or nuptial certificate for the party (bride or groom) marrying in a different parish. In this document, the parish priest certified to his colleague who was to celebrate the marriage that the person in question was single (or widower/widower) and that the prescribed bans (public announcement of the marriage) had been correctly made.
Waldbillig
Barbara’s nuptial certificate came from Waldbillig as the hamlet of Koedingen (Kéidéng in Luxembourgish) was at the time attached to the parish of Waldbillig.
Riding our bikes through the ancestral villages in Luxembourg.
The CONSBRÜCK Children
Johann CONSBRÜCK (1749-1796) and Barbara SCHMIDT (1747-1829) made their home in Echternach. They were the parents of three known children born between 1775 and 1782.
Henri CONSBRÜCK was born on 5 April 1775 in Echternach.3 He died at the age of 75 years on 22 May 1850 in Echternach.4 He married Eva LANSER, daughter of Sébastian LANSER and Maria Catharina HASTERT, on 10 February 1805 in Echternach.5Henri and Eva were my 4th great-grandparents. They were the parents of eight children, four of whom died between the ages of one and seven months. Three of the four surviving daughters never married but lived long lives working as seamstresses. Only one daughter, Anna Maria (1810-1897), my 3rd great-grandmother, married and continued this line.
Anna Maria CONSBRÜCK was born on 29 October 1779 in Echternach.6 She died on 10 September 1788 in Echternach at the age of 8.7
Matthias CONSBRÜCK was born on 3 June 1782 in Echternach.8 He died at the age of 54 years on 30 October 1836 in Trier, Germany.9 He was married twice. He married Katharina BASTIAN (1797-1831) on 9 January 1810 in St. Laurentius Church in Trier.10 They had four known children. After her death, he married Elisabetha RAMMES (1791-1861) on 8 June 1832 in Trier.11 Their marriage lasted only four years, ending with Matthias’ death. They had no children.
Twenty-three years of marriage
Johann CONSBRÜCK died on 21 July 1796 in Echternach at the age of 47.12 His wife of 23 years outlived him by 33 years. Barbara SCHMIDT died in Echternach in the rue de Luxembourg on 10 May 1829 at the age of 81 years.13
Research Manager
In May 2018, a photo was posted in a Facebook group taken during WWI. The text included two of my surnames associated with the CONSBRÜCK-SCHMIDT line. I commented on the post and received a private message from the lady who posted the photo. During our conversation, I learned she is my third cousin once removed, a descendant of Henri CONSBRÜCK’s daughter Anna Maria, the only child to marry and have children.
In 1894 Anna Maria CONSBRÜCK at the age of 84 years divided six pieces of land she owned between her two living daughters and their husbands by selling the land to them. The daughters were Odile Lucie SCHLOESSER, my 2nd great-grandmother, and Maria SCHLOESSER, my newfound cousin’s great-grandmother. My cousin had the original notary record of the sale and sent photos of the four pages. The plots were likely once owned by Anna Maria’s father Henri CONSBRÜCK and his parents before him.
On my to-do list is the transcription and analysis of the 1894 deed of sale for land owned by Anna Maria CONSBRÜCK, granddaughter of the CONSBRÜCK-SCHMIDT couple. It may help to determine the present-day address of the home of Johann CONSBRÜCK and Barbara SCHMIDT.
Genealogy Sketch
Name: Johann CONSBRÜCK Occupation: Parents: Johann Wilhelm CONSBRÜCK and Maria Magdalene KLEIN Spouse: Barbara SCHMIDT Parents of spouse: Peter SCHMIDT sive CASPARS and Catharina CASPARS Whereabouts: Echternach and Koedange Relationship to Cathy Meder-Dempsey: 5th great-grandparents
Luxembourg, registres paroissiaux, 1601-1948 (images), FamilySearch (original records at Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit, Luxembourg), Echternach > Tables des mariages 1706-1797 A-Lahr (index organisée par l’époux) > image 407 of 1598. 1773 Marriage Card. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-32468-29388-23?cc=2037955 : accessed 19 November 2015). ↩
Luxembourg, Registres d’état civil, 1662-1941 (images), FamilySearch (original records at Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit, Luxembourg), Echternach > Mariages 1887-1890 Décès 1796-1853 > image 1347 of 1463. 1850 Death Record No. 39. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-12662-58715-84?cc=1709358 : accessed 18 November 2015). ↩
“Trier, Germany, Deaths, 1798-1950,” (index and images), Ancestry.com, citing “Zivil- und Personenstandsregister Sterberegister”, Stadtverwaltung Trier, Stadtarchiv, Trier, Germany. 1836 Death Record No. 540. (https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 28 May 2021). ↩
“Trier, Germany, Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1600-1798,” (index and images), Ancestry.com, citing Genealogische dokumentation des Dechanten Heinrich Wurringent anhand der Trierer Kirchenbücher vor 1798, Bestand 60. Stadtverwaltung Trier, Trier, Deutschland. 1810 Marriage Record. (https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 27 May 2021). ↩
My fifth great-grandparents, Sébastian LANSER of Echternach and Maria Catharina HASTERT of Steinheim were married on 10 September 1760 in Steinheim. Sébastian’s father Jean LANSER was deceased. Maria Catharina’s father Jean Adam HASTERT was still living. The information was found on the card index in a collection that includes all church marriages in Luxembourg before 1767.1
Not noted on the index card are the names of the mothers of the bride and groom. Both were still living. Maria Catharina’s mother was Odilia FUNCK (1718-1778); Sébastian’s mother was Johanna FASS (1692-1774).
Card Index of the Marriage Record
At the bottom of the card index, the name of the parish, the volume number of the church register, and the page number are found. These help find the original entry.
Marriage Record
On FamilySearch in the church records for Echternach, I searched for the collection that would include marriages in 1760 and found Mariages, décès 1706-1778, that is to say, marriages and deaths for the years 1706-1778. The first image of the collection gives the volume number as well as a short table of content with page numbers.
The marriage record was found on page 248 of register 4. Two marriages took place on 10 September 1760 with the LANSER-HASTERT marriage being noted second.
The marriage entry in the register is in Latin.
On the same day (referring to the previous entry for the 10th) in the presence of Jean FUNCK of Bech and Jean Adam HASTERT of Steinheim, Father Constantine in Steinheim solemnized the marriage between the respectable young Sébastian, the legitimate son of the deceased Jean LANSER of Echternach, and Maria Catharina, the legitimate daughter of Jean Adam HASTERT of Steinheim.
The second man present at the marriage was Maria Catharina’s maternal grandfather Jean FUNCK (1688-1773) of Bech.2
The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Steinheim, Luxembourg.
The couple, in all likelihood, said their vows in Steinheim in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in front of the 17th-century Baroque sandstone altar.
The LANSER children
Sébastian, a draper, and his wife Maria Catharina lived in Echternach where they raised their family of ten children.
Johann Adam was baptized on 25 March 17623 and died before 1766. This child was not enumerated on the census of 1766 with his parents, brother Heinrich, and his paternal grandmother Johanna FASS (1692-1774).4
Heinrich was baptized on 13 March 17645 and died on 19 November 1827 at the age of 63.6 He married Anne-Marie HERR on 20 September 1791.7
Anna Maria was baptized on 20 May 17678 and died on 7 July 1803 at the age of 36.9 She was never married.
Odilia was baptized on 10 January 177010 and died on 24 December 1828 at the age of 58.11 She was never married.
Catharina was baptized on 11 November 177212 and died on 15 January 1833 at the age of 60.13 She married Johann HERR on 20 September 1791.14
Catharina was baptized was 2 February 1774.15 No record of marriage or death has been found. [See Research Manager at the end of this post.]
Eva was baptized on 13 May 177716 and died on 19 March 1862 at the age of 84.17 She married Henri CONSBRÜCK, son of Johann CONSBRÜCK and Barbara SCHMIDT, on 10 February 1805.18 Eva and Henri were my 4th great-grandparents.
Margaretha was baptized on 24 March 178019 and died on 9 March 1852 at the age of 71.20 She married Johann SELM on 9 June 1811.21
Nicolas was baptized on 18 November 178222 and died on 23 October 1828 at the age of 45.23 He married Catharina Magdalena JOERG between 7 and 20 September 1813. The date was omitted from the marriage record. The record was found between a marriage on the 7th and on the 20th.24
Peter was baptized on 5 June 178525 and died on 3 February 1815 at the age of 29.26 He was never married. Per military records found for Peter, he was presumed to be a prisoner of war in Russia on 11 October 1812. He was in the same military unit as his 1C1R Sébastian LANSER and other men from the Echternach area.27 He came home to Echternach where he died a little over two years later.
Forty-four years of marriage
Sébastian died at the age of 72 on 13 June 180428, a few months before his 44th marriage anniversary. His widow Maria Catharina died on 10 March 1808 at the age of 65.29
DNA Matches
Two very low DNA matches for my mother lead me on a virtual trip to Danzig, England, and Australia. Nicolas, the middle child of Sébastian and Maria Catharina’s son Heinrich, went to Danzig, then a part of Prussia, where he married and raised a family of at least eleven children. One of these children, a son, went to Kent, England, where he raised a family of five sons with an English lady. Four of these sons eventually went to Australia. The matches, a 5th cousin (7 cMs > unweighted 10 cMs) and a 5th cousin once removed (10 cMs > unweighted 16 cMs), are descendants of two of the four Australian immigrants.
Research Manager
I see nothing wrong with sharing the things you are still uncertain about.
~ Amy Cohen of Brotmanblog: A Family Journey
Update: A comment/question left by Amy yesterday on this post brought about a small change in the way I’ll be doing these posts. I’ve added one more section heading to the post: Research Manager, a place to add the things I’m not certain about and will be looking into in the future.
The LANSER-HASTERT couple had two daughters named Catharina. It is not unusual in Luxembourg families for children to have the same names. Others who’ve researched this line (including the compilers of both family books for Echternach) show the first daughter to be the one who married. I suspect this to be incorrect. I think it is possible that Catharina b. 1772 died before the birth of Catharina b. 1774. I searched for a death/burial entry in the church records from 1772-1778 without results. Records that would show the age of Catharina who married in 1791 need to be checked to prove/disprove when she was born, in 1772 or 1774.
Thanks to Amy’s question about the two daughters with the same name, this new section will include things I am planning to research. Hopefully, this will lead to answers from readers who may have already looked into the points in question.
Genealogy Sketch
Name: Sébastian LANSER Occupation: Draper, a person who sells cloth, clothing, etc. Parents: Johann Peter LANSER and Johanna FASS Spouse: Maria Catharina HASTERT Parents of spouse: Jean Adam HASTERT and Odilia FUNCK Whereabouts: Echternach and Steinheim Relationship to Cathy Meder-Dempsey: 5th great-grandparents
Luxembourg, registres paroissiaux, 1601-1948 (images), FamilySearch (original records at Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit, Luxembourg), Echternach > Tables des mariages 1706-1797 Lahr-Westmon (index organisée par l’époux) > image 29 of 1627. 1760 Marriage Index Card. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9WS-HHFD?cc=2037955&wc=STHD-T36%3A1500937901%2C1501202802 : accessed 17 December 2017). ↩
Luxembourg, 1766 Dénombrement (census), (images), FamilySearch (Digitial copy of the microfilm of originals in the Archives Générales du Royaume, Bruxelles, includes localities now in Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium), Film/DGS 1781975 > Film # 008198977 > Decanat de Bittbourg v. 1 A-K: > Echternach > Image 222 of 753. Lanser and Metzdorf families. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLL-M7DK-L?i=221&cat=1184675 : accessed 17 December 2017). ↩
Matricules Napoléoniens 1802-1815 (index and images), Mémoire des hommes, Registres de matricules de l’armée Napoléonienne (garde impériale et de l’infanterie de ligne) pour la période 1802-1815. (Entry point for database https://fr.geneawiki.com/index.php/Matricules_Napol%C3%A9oniens_1802-1815/Mode_op%C3%A9ratoire), Number/Source: SHD/GR 21 YC 783, 108e régiment d’infanterie de ligne, 3 frimaire an XIV [24 novembre 1805]-25 novembre 1808 (matricules 3 001 à 6 000), Matricule: 3279, image 48 of 557. Matricule: 3279; Nom: LANSER; Prénoms: Pierre; Prénoms père: Sébastien; Prénoms mère: Marie Catherine; Nom mère: HASTERT; Lieu de naissance: Echternach; Département de naissance: Les Forêts, Luxembourg; Date de naissance: 05 juin 1785. (https://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/ark:/40699/e0052a8c4b390c4b/52a8c4b45cad3 : accessed 11 May 2021). ↩
The Ancestors series is taking on a new look and perspective.
I finished writing about all of my children’s 5th great-grandparents in January of 2018. Those posts were part of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. I’d planned to continue with the next generation, their 6th great-grandparents, with my series The Ancestors but dropped the ball several times.
Family history research will never be finished or ready to publish. Share what you have, make corrections and additions, write about your ancestors. Yes, it probably will remain a work in progress or a draft of a family book. By sharing what you think is incomplete, you may reach someone who has the missing information or the key to open the door in your brick wall.
The Ancestors – 9th Generation
6th Great-grandparents
The list of 6th great-grandparents is LONG. I’ve spent a lot of time researching a few of them, as seen in the number of posts I’ve written for the maternal ancestors (my side of our children’s tree) at the end of the list. Ancestor numbers in bold indicate those that have been featured on this blog.
(256 & 257) Adami MEDER and Elisabetha ESCH
(258 & 259) Joannes REINERS and wife Maria (parents of Susanna REINERS aka LAMBERT)
(260 & 261) Michaelis WILMES and Barbara JACQUEMIN
(262 & 263) Mr. SCHEID (SCHOOD) and Anna Maria FETH
(264 & 265) BRICK WALL (paternal grandparents of Théodore REIFFER)
(266 & 267) BRICK WALL (maternal grandparents of Théodore REIFFER)
(268 & 269) Joannes CLOOS and Anne Marie KLAREN
(270 & 271) Nikolaus THEWES and Gertrud LESSEN
(272 & 273) Joannis ADAM and Margaritha (first married to THOMMES)
(274 & 275) Jacobi WOLTER and Marie Elisabeth MEYERS
(276 & 277) Joannes SCHENTEN x KOECHER and Catharina KOSTERS
(278 & 279) Parents of Cathérine OBERECKEN
(280 & 281) Mathias LORENS and Eva FRENTZ
(282 & 283) Petri STENGENFORT and unknown wife
(284 & 285) Joannis PREISER and Anna Maria FETH
(286 & 286) Petrus SCHRANTZ and Anne Marie HAMEN
(288 & 289) Jean “Joannis” SCHWARTZ and Maria HEINZ
(290 & 291) Mathia HALER and Angela ALENTS
(292 & 293) Johann Gerard TRIERWEILER and Elisabeth KERSCH
(294 & 295) Carl HOFFMANN and Angela ROSPORT
(296 & 297) Philippi SCHMITT and Apollonia MATTES
(298 & 299) Matthias PLEIN and Margaretha VALERIUS
(300 & 301) Johann WOLLSCHEID and Anna Maria WILLWERT
(302 & 303) Johann BARTHELMES and Eva BARZEN
(304 & 305) Johann Peter GORGES and Anna Maria HORSCH
(306 & 307) Nikolaus RODENS and Anna SCHUE
(308 & 309) BRICK WALL (parents of Caspar BOTZ)
(310 & 311) BRICK WALL (parents of Magdalena MASEN)
(312 & 313) Nicolaus SCHERFF and Helena OTTO
(314 & 315) Dominique STEIMETZ and Helena “Magdalena” KOCH
(316 & 317) Daniel and Elisabetha CLEMENS
(318 & 319) Matthias WEBER and Anna Margaretha FEILEN
(320 & 321) Henri and Magdalena CREMERS
(322 & 323) Joannes VENANDI and Maria HOSINGER
(324 & 325) Johann THIVELS alias FRIEDERICH and Catharina FEDERSPIEL
(326 & 327) Martin HUNTGES and Marguerite MAY
(328 & 329) Johann Heinrich “Henri” MERKES and Anna ROSS
(330 & 331) Anton WAGENER and Catharina PIRSCH
(332 & 333) Mathias HASTERT and Anne NIEDERKORN
(334 & 335) Jean SCHMIDT and Maria LENTZ
(336 & 337) Leonard GRITIUS and Marie NEIEN
(338 & 339) Jean SCHETTERT and Anna Catharina SCHAACK
(340 & 341) Jean Baptiste SCHAEFFER and Catherine SCHAACK
(342 & 343) Nicolas GREISCH and Susanne ROLLINGER
(344 & 345) Michel WECKERING and Anna Maria DALEYDEN
(346 & 347) BRICK WALL (parents of Marguerite LASCHEID)
(348 & 349) Jacob BERNARD and Jeanne CAPPUS
(350 & 351) Valentin GREBER and Christina STEFFEN
(352 & 353) Dominique PEFFER and Marguerite SINTGEN
(354 & 355) Nicolas PIERRET and Anna Maria ROBINET
(356 & 357) Nicolas GRASSER vulgo REUTERS and Elisabetha WINANDY
(358 & 359) Léonard HOSCHEID and Marie Catharina REULAND
(360 & 361) Pierre ZWANG and Anne Marie HUSCHET
(362 & 363) Johann WELTER and Anna Maria FELTES
(364 & 365) Jean DHAM and Marie WELTER
(366 & 367) Nicolas KIMES and Anna Maria STRENG
(368 & 369) Peter MERTES and Marguerite BIVER
(370 & 371) Johann DONNEN and Barbara CHRITOPHORY
(372 & 373) Casparus ERPELDING and Gertrudes JEHNEN
(374 & 375) Peter CONRADT and Anna Catharina ROEDER
(376 & 377) Petrus RUCKERT and Anna Catharina SPEYER
(378 & 379) Petrus MICHELS and Susanna MARTIN aka MERTES
(380 & 381) Peter SCHMIT and Rosa CLEMENS
(382 & 383) Nicolas WEICKER and Anne Margarethe HARTMANN
(384 & 385) BRICK WALL (great-grandparents of William A. W. DEMPSEY)
(386 & 387) BRICK WALL (great-grandparents of William A. W. DEMPSEY)
(388 & 389) BRICK WALL (great-grandparents of William A. W. DEMPSEY)
(390 & 391) BRICK WALL (great-grandparents of William A. W. DEMPSEY) (392 & 393)Bailey WOOD and Nancy, his wife (8 January 2020) (394 & 395)Martin McGRAW and Margaret “Polly”, his wife (22 January 2020) (396 & 397) Hans Jacob HONEGGER and Maria GOETZ: The Ancestors: Hans Jacob HONEGGER and Maria GOETZ (396+397) (29 January 2020) The Ancestors: Hans Jacob HONEGGER and Maria GOETZ (Part II) (6 February 2020) (398 & 399) Isaac WISEMAN and Elizabeth DAVIS: The Ancestors: Isaac WISEMAN (1738-1818) and Elizabeth DAVIS (1738-1807) (10 March 2020)
(400 & 401) Ester INGRAM – an assumption
(402 & 403) John KINCAID and Elizabeth Hannah GILLESPIE (404 & 405) William JOHNSON Sr. and Amy NELSON The 1806 Administrator Bond for the Estate of William Johnson Sr. (1755-1805) (13 September 2019) (406 & 407) James SIMS and Phebe (see the link to the page with all posts for James SIMS) (April to September 2018) James SIMS (1754-1845) Pioneer of Nicholas County, West Virginia (biography written in 2002)
(408 & 409) Susannah (maiden name unknown) DEMPSEY and her BRICK WALL husband
(410 & 411) James LANDRUM and his unknown wife
(412 & 413) Phillip GOING and Judith POTTER
(414 & 415) William CRISP and his wife Lucy (416 & 417) Henry RUPE and Catherine Barbara NOLL Henry RUPE and Catherine Barbara NOLL ~ The Early Years in Maryland (1765-1793) (19 March 2016) Henry RUPE and Catherine Barbara NOLL ~ The Years in Rockbridge (1793-1801) (26 March 2016) Henry RUPE and Catherine Barbara NOLL ~ At Home on the Old Henry Roop Place (3 April 2016) Henry RUPE and Catherine Barbara NOLL ~ Family Life in Montgomery County, Virginia (9 April 2016) The Last Will and Testament of Henry RUPE 1765-1845 (16 April 2016) Henry RUPE’s Estate and his Widow Catherine’s Last Days (23 April 2016) A Date of Death for Catherine Barbara NOLL (1768-1859) (1 March 2017)
(418 & 419) Robert CARROLL and his wife Anne
(420 & 421) John LESTER II and Mary Ann TERRY
(422 & 423) Owen SUMNER and Sarah NEWTON
(424 & 425) John PETERS and wife – Can this be proven with DNA?
(426 & 427) Joseph LIVELY and Mary L. CASH
(428 & 429) Augustin PROFFITT and Elizabeth “Betsy” ROBERTSON
(430 & 431) Edward COCKRAM and his wife Mary
(432 & 433) Jeremiah CLAUNCH and his wife
(434 & 435) BRICK WALL (parents of Nancy BEASLEY)
(436 & 437) BRICK WALL (paternal grandparents of Mary E. DOSS)
(438 & 439) James DOSS Jr. and Elizabeth LESTER
(440 & 441) BRICK WALL (paternal grandparents of John COOLEY)
(442 & 443) BRICK WALL (maternal grandparents of John COOLEY
(444 & 445) Edward TREDWAY and Nancy MAGNESS
(446 & 447) BRICK WALL (maternal grandparents of Sarah Ann TREADWAY)
(448 & 449) Michel WILTINGER and Margaretha DIESBURG
(450 & 451) Michael WELTER and Katharian KLEIN
(452 & 453) Matthias SCHRAMEN and Anna Barbara LEIBRICH (BURG)
(454 & 455) Sebastian SCHMITT and Maria LORANG
(456 & 457) Nikolaus WEYMAN and Maria Katharina HUSS
(458 & 459) Gerard MALAMBRÉ and Barbara BIESDORF
(460 & 461) Johann Bernard WELTER and Maria BRIMERS
(462 & 463) Johann HENNES and Magdalena MÜLLER
(464 & 465) Peter BUBELREITER and Gertrud LAMBERTI or BOSEN
(466 & 467) Johann BOMMES and Anna Maria Luzia THIELEN
(468 & 469) Peter MERTSCHERT and Susanna “Anna”SCHNEIDER
(470 & 471) Theodor MERGEN and Gertrud THELEN
(472 & 473) Johann Nicolaus WAGNER and Anna Maria KLEIWER
(474 & 475) Johann HARTERT and Elisabeth HEINZ
(476 & 477) Peter KERSCHT and Eva SCHMIDS
(478 & 479) Gerhard EWEN and Barbara THEILEN
(480 & 481) Pierre FOURNELLE and Jeanne NEU
(482 & 483) Jean SCHMIT and Eve DUCKER
(484 & 485) Jacques PHILIPPART and Catherine SINGER aka KETTER
(486 & 487) Henri MEUNIER and Margaretha KILBOUR
(488 & 489) Joseph SCHLOESSER and Catherine ARENDT
(490 & 491) Nicolas TRAUDT and Barbe BILL
(492 & 493) Johann CONSBRÜCK and Barbara SCHMIDT
(494 & 495) Sébastian LANSER and Maria Catharina HASTERT (496 & 497)Nicolas Frantz and Angélique Bartel of Semming, Rodemack, France (10 May 2021) UPDATE to The Ancestors: Nicolas Frantz and Angélique Bartel of Semming, Rodemack, France (18 May 2021) (498 & 499)Nicolaus Küffer and Susanna Schiltz of Mamer, Luxembourg (3 May 2021) (500 & 501)Joannes FRISCH (1713-1759) and Margaretha ZEIMES (1727-1792) of Huncherange (25 April 2021) (502 & 503)Peter HUBERTY (1718-1794) of Mamer and Anna BERNARD (1742-ca1763) of Nospelt (14 April 2021) (504 & 505) Jean MAJERUS and Margretha BREGER A Hidden Index for Luxembourg City’s Parishes and Garrison (24 May 2019) How the Jean MAJERUS Brick Wall Crumbled – The Keys and Doors Which Made It Happen! (2 June 2019) The Farm Where the Majerus Family Lived in the 1700s (11 June 2019) Jean MAJERUS and Margretha BREGER from Gronn to Strassen (21 June 2019) Proving the True Identity of Jean Baptiste BREGER 1738-1805 (28 June 2019) (506 & 507) Hubert CORNELY and Margaretha EVEN Hubert CORNELY and Margaretha EVEN of Wickrange, Luxembourg (4 May 2019) The Key that Opened the Door in the Schintgen Brick Wall (4 May 2019) Luxracines’ Marriage Database Helps Solve the Confusion of John Monner’s Marriage(s) (19 May 2019) (508 & 509) Remacle TRAUSCH and Theresia BRAUN (COLLING) Part I: Remacle Trausch (1761-1804) and Theresia Braun (1766-1798) of Colmar (26 July 2019) Part II: Why was Theresia BRAUN also seen as Theresia COLLING? (2 Ausgut 2019) Part III: “Maison dite” Leads to Parents and Grandparents of Magdalena SCHMIDT (1743-1782) (9 August 2019) Part IV: The Parents and Siblings of Remacle TRAUSCH (1761-1804) (16 August 2019) Part V: A Horrific Crime in the Fortress City of Luxembourg (23 August 2019) Part VI: Tying up the loose ends (30 August 2019) Was the Verdict in the 1816 Murder Case a Miscarriage of Justice? (6 September 2019) (510 & 511) Johannes HAMES and Agnes BOUR alias HEITZ (8 July 2019)
128 sets of 6th great-grandparents
Fourteen couples are brick walls, i.e. names are not known, and fifteen couples have already been featured. That leaves 99 known couples who have been looked into (some research done) who still need to be written up.
Blogging has helped me to improve my research skills. As I worked on the posts, I found that I was doing deeper and more thorough research into all couples’ children, siblings, and parents. This was taking up a lot of time as I documented each new piece of evidence. New research questions came up as the records were analyzed. Interesting facts were found and asked to be researched further – taking me down some very interesting rabbit holes.
At a rate of one post a week, it would take two years to get this generation of ancestors done. Researching, analyzing documentation, citing sources, and putting everything together to write the post (as I have been doing them) now takes much longer than a week.
The length of my posts has also become an issue. I need to choose between too much information in one post, writing multiple posts, or trying a new concept.
I’ve decided that for the 3/4 of my children’s tree that is Luxembourgish, I will be featuring the marriage record of each couple and a list of known children. The records will be more easily located for their maternal side as they are from the mid-1700s to about 1800. For their paternal side, these will be records from the early to mid-1700s. If they are non-existent, I will have to use substitutes to “prove” the marriage. The Genealogy Sketch box will be included at the end of each post, bringing together all articles written for the direct line of the ancestral couple to my children.
I’m thinking of working my way up the list from the bottom to the top, starting with ancestors 494 & 495: Sébastian LANSER and Maria Catharina HASTERT. Hopefully, this will get me back to blogging and give me a little more time for the other important things in my life.
The following are examples of Regina’s family groups:1, 2
Family Register of Mamer with the entry for the Frisch-Huberty family group.Family Register of Mamer with the entry for the Kalmes-Huberty family group.
The church records for the years 1790-1804 are missing at FamilySearch for the parish of Mamer and affiliated villages. The collection Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1790-1804 is only a handwritten index to church records for the given years. The Luxembourg diocese has since added church records to Matricula Online including this missing register for Mamer. With the records available for the time Regina lived, I set out to open the door in her brick wall.
Reviewing Records and Research
I still have many 5th great-grandparents who have not been written about on my blog. The parents of my 4th great-grandmother Regina HUBERTY are one of these couples. Only their names were known. In the case of her mother, there were conflicting names.
Regina was married twice. Both marriages and all of her children are noted in the Mamer register entries above. Few records were found in 2018 to confirm the information and I could only reference the register for the children. Regina’s children from both of her marriages were born between 1792 and 1808. Church records are available for 1779 to 1793 and civil records from 1796 to 1923 on FamilySearch. Therefore, baptismal records were not available for seven of her eight children.
Regina’s marriage records had been found and as much information as possible was gleaned from them.
On 3 March 1789, there being no impediment to the marriage, the priest of Mamer and two witnesses were present when Jacob FRISCH, son of the deceased Joannis FRISCH and Margaretha ZEIMET of Huncherange, was united with Regina HUBERTY, daughter of Petri HUBERTY and the deceased Anna BENNERT.3
1789 Marriage Record for Jacobus FRISCH and Regina HUBERTY
The names of the parents matched those in the family register except for Regina’s mother’s name. Her maiden name was recorded as LENNERT in the family register but after a closer perusal of the marriage record, I found the name was written BENNERT. The capital L and B are often confused in the old script as they are similar to the lower case l and b when written in cursive.
Regina HUBERTY married Peter KALMES on 21 December 1801 in Mamer.4
1801 Marriage Record of Peter KALMES and Regina HUBERTY.
Her parents were listed as Peter HUBERTY and Johannata BEREND. Which of the two marriage records for Regina give the correct name for her mother? Were Anna BENNERT and Johannata BEREND the same person? What other sources could I check to solve this question?
Family Relationships and Godparents
As I reviewed the information I had for Regina’s parents, husbands, and children, I made a list of the records to check on Matricula that might help to answer the question of her parentage. I began with the names Peter HUBERTY and Johannata BEREND aka Anna BENNERT. I had no information on them. No known siblings for Regina who might lead to the shared parents.
Normally when children are baptized the godparents are chosen from both sides of the family. Regina’s children’s godparents could lead to siblings of both parents. Although I knew the names of the godparents from the family register, there was no information on where they were from or if they were married. Both of these could be indicators of the relationship between the godparent and the child and his/her parents.
For Regina’s children, in the family register, it was noted that her daughter Susanna FRISCH’s godmother was Susanna HUBERTY and her son Franciscus FRISCH’s godmother was Catharina HUBERTY.
I hadn’t seen Franciscus’ baptismal record until I searched for it last week on Matricula. His godmother was listed as Catharina HUBERTY uxor Nicolai OLINGER figols Nospelt = Catharina wife of Nicolas, a potter from Nospelt.
A search for Catherine’s marriage in an index of the Luxembourg marriages before 1797 turned up this information:5
Nicolas OLINGER and Catherine HUBERTI
Married: 07 Jan 1790 in Schoenberg
Parents: Jean OLINGER (+) – Anne KREMER (+)
Parents: Pierre HUBERTI – Anne BERNARD (+)
Susanna’s baptismal record from 1792 had originally been found on FamilySearch as the years 1779-1793 are available. However, I had missed an important detail in the record. The godmother was listed as Susanna HUBERTI amita. She was an aunt (Latin: amita) of the child and therefore Regina’s sister. No husband is mentioned suggesting she may not have been married at the time. A search for a possible marriage for Susanna turned up this information:6
Nicolas BREISDORF and Susanne HUBERTI
Married: 16 Nov 1795 in Luxembourg-St Jean
Parents: Nicolas BREISDORF (+) – Susanne VELTER (+)
Parents: Pierre HUBERTI (+) – Jeannette MALLES (+)
The (+) indicates the person was deceased at the time of the noted marriage. Regina’s father was living in 1789 when she married and her mother was deceased. This matches up with Pierre HUBERTI living in 1790 when Catherine married. Regina’s father died on 4 June 17947 and therefore deceased by 1795 when Susanna married. The date of death for Pierre HUBERTI was proven by elimination and will be discussed in another post.
It is possible that Regina, Catherine, and Susanna had the same father. The mother of Regina and Catherine appear to be the same person.
In the family register of Mamer, there are 10 pages of information on HUBERTY families beginning with the earliest two families recorded in the missing church records. In the second generation, there is a Peter (Joannes) HUBERTY and Johanna MALESS who had three children: Catharina in 1766, Susanna in 1767, and Petrus in 1771.8 Church records for these births/baptisms are not available on Matricula or FamilySearch.
A marriage record for the HUBERTY-MALESS couple was not found. MALESS and MALLES could be different spellings for the same name. As the baptismal records for the children are not available, I put this aside for later reference, keeping in mind that the daughters Catharina and Susanna might be the godmothers of Regina’s children.
More pieces to the puzzle
If Catherine HUBERTY, wife of Nicolas OLINGER, and Regina were sisters then the baptismal records of the children of the OLINGER-HUBERTY couple might include godparents proving the siblingship.
Records for the first two children of the couple were quickly accessed as an index was found for baptisms in Schoenberg up to 1797 that included the year, entry number, and page number of the register. Their first child was a daughter named Regina and her godmother was Regina HUBERTY of Capellen.9
As Regina was the godmother of Catherine’s first child, can it be assumed that Pierre HUBERTI and Anne BERNARD listed Catherine’s parents on her marriage record are the parents of both Catharine and Regina?
I search for and located a marriage for Pierre HUBERTI and Anne BERNARD in the Luxembourg marriage index:10
Pierre HUBERTI and Anne BERNARD
Married: 16 Jun 1761 in Schoenberg
Parents: N. HUBERTI – N. N.
Parents: N. BERNARD – N. N.
Note: N. indicates unknown
The marriage record is a short two lines without information on the parents of either the bride or groom. Petrus HUBERTI was from Mamer and Anne BERNARD was from Nospelt.11
1761 Marriage Record for Petrus HUBERTI and Anna BERNARD
As the marriage took place in 1761, I searched the Schoenberg register for children of this marriage baptized between 1760 and 1770.
To my surprise, the first record I found confirmed my theory that Peter HUBERTI and Anne BERNARD were Regina’s parents and my 5th great-grandparents.
1761 Baptismal Record No. 10 for Regina HUBERTI
Regina was baptized on 3 March 1761, the daughter of Joanna BERENT of Nospelt and Petri HUBERTI of Mamer. The word illegitimate is crossed out. She was legitimized with the subsequent marriage of her parents three months later. Her godparents were Joannes BETTENDORFF and Regina KRANTZ both of Nospelt.12 At least one of these godparents would lead to the grandparents.
A sister Catherine was born/baptized on 20 May 1762 in Nospelt. Her parents’ names on the record were Petri HUBERTI and Anna BERNARD, the names seen on the marriage record.13 Born a year after Regina, she might be the same Catherine who married Nicolas OLINGER a year after Regina married.
No further baptisms were found in Nospelt suggesting the family moved to Mamer after May of 1762.
In the Family Register of Mamer, Regina is listed as the wife of Jacob FRISCH and of Peter KALMES in the respectively family group listings as they were married in Mamer and children were born in Capellen, a part of Mamer. Regina’s parents were from Capellen per both of her marriage records but Regina isn’t listed in any of the HUBERTY family groups. This is an indication that her parents did not marry in the Mamer parish and Regina was not born in Capellen or Mamer as was confirmed by the records found in Nospelt. Regina was not born in Capellen as indicated in her 1801 marriage record.
Admitting to a mistake
While reviewing and doing new research, I failed to read over Regina’s marriage records until I began to write this post. I found I’d misread Regina’s year of birth given on her second marriage record. This was my only source for her birth/baptism in 2018. I’d transcribed tausend sieben hundert sechzig vier (1764) instead of tausend sieben hundert sechzig eins (1761).
I should have realized the error as the marriage took place in 1801 and Regina was forty years old, i.e. born in 1761. However, I had allowed myself to be influenced by a date (13 March 1764) seen in a family tree. I’d noticed the date was the 3rd and not the 13th but I failed to see the word for the last digit in the year of birth was eins and not vier. Corrections have been made to the FamilySearch Family Tree and my online GEDCOM files on Luxracines, Ancestry (private/searchable), and Geneanet (ancestors-only for DNA).
Connecting the loose ends
While browsing the death records in the parish register of Mamer on Matricula, I found Joannetha MALES, wife of Peter HUBERTY, who died on 23 May 1793 in Capellen.14 Peter died the following year on 4 June 1794. Both were deceased in 1795 and the names match the names of the parents found on Susanna HUBERTY’s marriage record. Susanna was listed as the aunt of Susanna FRISCH, the oldest daughter of Regina HUBERTY, indicating Susanna and Regina were siblings. Regina’s mother was deceased in 1789 therefore they shared only a father, Peter HUBERTY, and were half-sisters.
The names found for Regina’s mother were: Joanna BERENT on the 1761 baptismal record, Anna BENNERT on the 1789 marriage record, and Johannata BEREND on the 1801 marriage records. In records for Regina’s sister Catherine, her mother was Anna BERNARD. Regina and Catherine were full sisters.
Regina’s godfather Joannes BETTENDORFF was the husband of Elisabeth BERNARD, daughter of Mathias BERNARD and Margaretha BIREN of Nospelt. It is my belief that Regina’s mother Anna/Joanna was a younger sister of Elisabeth.
Going through all baptismal records of the Kehlen parish to which Nospelt belonged, I found only one couple named BERENS with the first names Mathias and Margaretha. They had children from 1728 to 1745 including a daughter baptized on 24 May 1742 named Joanna BERENS.15 A baptismal record for Elisabeth who was born about 1720-1723 (married in December 1741) has not been found. The family name evolved from BERENS to BERENT to BERNARD.
It’s often hard to see the big picture. Hopefully, I have not confused my readers and you will agree with me that Regina HUBERTY’s mother was a lady named Anna (Joanna) BERNARD of Nospelt. Regina’s mother is no longer just a name but a person who has records that lead to her parents, siblings, and perhaps even grandparents.
Amy Cohen of Brotmanblog: A Family Journey writes about her Jewish ancestors documenting their descendants’ lines to the present time. By reading her blog for the past several years, I’ve learned about Jewish families, customs, and traditions.
During the Thanksgiving weekend, Amy reached out to me for help. She’d been researching her relative Falk Goldschmidt using the Ancestry collection Mannheim, Germany, Family Registers, 1760-1900 (available in the World subscription). The original source is digital images of Polizeipräsidium Mannheim Familienbögen, 1800-1900 at the Mannheim State Archive.
From the description of the collection on Ancestry: When a family moved into their home, they registered at the local police station. Anytime a child was born or a household member married, died, or moved out, it was recorded on the family register with the civil authorities.
While looking into Falk, she came across two entries in the family registers for his marriage on the same date, 18 October 1868, to Clara “Babetta” Carlebach, the daughter of David, and to Pauline “Babetta” Carlebach, the daughter of Julius.
Amy posted both images on the GerSIG: German Jewish Genealogy Special Interest Group on Facebook. Michael, a member of the group, amazingly (to her) almost immediately found both a birth and marriage record on FamilySearch for Clara/Babetta/Pauline.
Amy wrote, “I can’t read either, and I tried to retrace his steps to find them myself, but couldn’t begin to do so because (1) I can’t read the script and (2) I have no idea how he narrowed down the search to find the right pages or even the right matrikel.”
In reaching out to me, Amy had three questions:
First, can you translate all of these for me? I know that’s a lot, and Michael gave me the essentials, but I want to be sure I haven’t missed anything.
How do you explain the conflict in the Family Registers? A clerical error? It sure seems that Babetta was the daughter of Julius/Juda, not David.
And finally—how in the world did Michael locate the birth and marriage records so quickly? I know being able to read the script is a huge step, but how did he narrow down which matrikel and then locate the page?
She also wrote, “I figured I would ask the third question. I’d much rather be able to do this myself at some point—assuming I can also put in the time and effort to learn how to read that awful script.”
Locating Records on FamilySearch
After this lengthy introduction, I’ll now come to the point of this post. How the birth and marriage records were found so quickly by Michael.
If the geographical location (in this case, Mannheim) and the time period (in this case, 1844-1845) can be narrowed down then FamilySearch‘s catalog is the key to finding records. It is important to read through the description of the collection found in the catalog as well as any further information included under NOTES.
These are the steps I shared with Amy for finding the birth records of the young women associated with the marriage of Falk Goldschmidt.
Go to the Catalog on FamilySearch. The catalog is in the dropdown menu Search. I’ve bookmarked it as it is the first place I go to search. https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog
Type Mannheim in the search box for Place. For this search, it automatically brought up Germany, Baden, Mannheim at the top of the list. I usually leave the Availability selection on Any so that I can see all collections available. Click Search.
On the list of Mannheim collections that comes up, you can open each category. I chose Germany, Baden, Mannheim – Jewish records ( 6 ) as your research is for Jewish families. My second choice would have been Civil Registrations which contains Familienstandsbogen, 1807-1900. This is the collection that you found to be indexed on Ancestry. [A collection on Ancestry that requires a World subscription but is FREE on FamilySearch.]
Open up the Jewish Records to view the 6 collections. The first two are for Matrikel, 1805-1870 for Mannheim. The next two are for Feudenheim. The last two are for records outside of the period you wanted to search. We are only interested in the first two.
Open the first two in new windows. [I use The Genealogy Girl, Amberly Beck’s tip: Ctrl+left mouse click.] This brings up the catalog information for each.
While trying to figure out the easiest way to explain to you how I found the records on FamilySearch, I discovered that the two collections were actually the same but filmed at different times. This is where reading the notes on a collection comes in handy. [There is an advantage to having duplicates as images were filmed or digitized under different conditions and may be easier to decipher in one collection than in the other.]
Note: The collections appear to be duplicated from the Mannheim birth register. I cannot be sure but it looks like they extracted all Jewish records from the main register of births to make this Jewish collection.
One of the collections was filmed by the Reichssippenamt, Berlin, in 1937. The left-side pages were filmed separately from right-side pages and sometimes in reverse order. The other collection is of microfilm recordings of duplicates in the Badisches Generallandesarchiv, Karlsruhe. The images are the same only that in the second the left and right pages are on one image – making them much easier to search through.
Before we go into browsing, you need to be able to recognize title pages in the collections so that you can navigate (browse) them. For each year, the records are arranged by births, marriages, and deaths (normally, in this order). If they are out of order, it is helpful to know how the German words are written in the old script.
Browsing the FamilySearch collection
In the Matrikel, 1805-1870 for Mannheim we want to find the 1844 birth record of Clara and the 1845 birth record of Pauline.
You will want to use the “3 microfilms collection” and the film for the years up to 1859. The 3rd microfilm in this collection is restricted. You can use the search feature but the images aren’t available online. You can, however, view them in the “9 microfilms collection” in the 8th and 9th microfilm (not restricted).
Click on the camera of the microfilm for Geburten, Heiraten, Tote 1815-1859. This is where browsing comes into play. It isn’t as difficult or time-consuming as you might think. The records are in chronological order. For each year you will find a title page for births, marriages, and deaths. There are 44 years of records. The years 1844-1845 are about 2/3 of the way timewise but there are usually more records in later years than in early years so I would suggest jumping in at the middle with image 400.
The first title page with the type of record following image 400 is on image 403 and is for the year 1841 Trauungs-Register (marriages).
Click on Browse Multiple Images (tile button) to see the small images. Notice that microfilm item 3 ends and item 4 starts in the row of images after image 403. This is where the year 1842 begins. Count over three title pages per year to get to the year 1844.
If you check the title pages for 1844 you will find two for births. For some reason, the births for this year were extracted twice. As you know from the image of Clara’s birth record you received from your help angel, her entry was the last for 1844 and followed by the index.
The index gives you the page number but not the date of birth. The indexes for births for 1844 are on images 451 and 458. The script used in this collection can be difficult to decipher. To help you find the Carlebach child’s name in the index, you need to become familiar with the letters.
As you can see the capital B and L are very similar. Since this is in alphabetical order, it is a good example to use for comparison. The capital C is similar to our E which is confusing until you get used to the script. In the list, the surnames beginning with C are for Cohn Ferdinand, Carlebach Heinrich, and Carlebach Clara (später Babetta). I only figured out the word später (later) after I did the screenshot annotations. [This indicates a later change in name.]
Clara’s record of birth is on page 8, the left page on this image. It is the last birth to be recorded. Labeled 35 in the margin at the bottom of page 8, it continues on page 9 at the top. Hirsch Traub, the scribe who made the entries, used the # sign to indicate missing words that he added in the margin. He made quite a few corrections including some on both records found for Clara (1844).
The Carlebach child born in 1845 was named Paulina. In Browse Multiple Images view, skip past the title page for 1844 marriages and 1844 deaths to 1845 births. Go to the last birth image with the index. Carlebach Paulina is on page 6. Go back to page 6. Her record is #26.
Rabbit holes
There were a lot of emails flying back and forth between Amy and me. She had many questions and quickly learned to browse the images even though her biggest handicap was not being able to read the script. We both went down rabbit holes trying to find answers to the questions we had concerning the fact that the two young girls were born close together to parents who shared the same surname – not only the fathers’ surname but also the mothers’ maiden name – and they both had their birth name changed to Babetta. Amy amazed me (and herself) by finding a death record which put much in perspective.
Is it Kurrent or Sutterlin?
Amy had one remaining question she asked me early on in our email exchange about the script. Is it Kurrent or Sutterlin?
I really don’t bother thinking about which script it is. It’s like being multi-lingual. You switch between languages without thinking about the language you are using.
I had to actually look up what the difference is between the two. Kurrent was used from about 1865 and Sutterlin earlier. I’d say these records are in Sutterlin. I find Kurrent harder to read than Sutterlin. Kurrent looks to me like half the letters are m’s.
My father-in-law helped me in my early days and I learned to recognize letters that usually go together. When I’m really stuck on a word, I try to trace over the lines so that the letters will stand out for me. The more you work with the records the easier (yeah) it gets. After taking a break, it takes me a while to get back to my reading level. [Transcripts of the German text and translations of the records found were sent to Amy.]
Was Babetta the daughter of David or Julius?
Amy learned how to find the records on FamilySearch. Did they help her resolve her research question concerning the two ladies named Babetta? Her post for Falk Goldschmidt with the answer to this question and this post will be published simultaneously. To read about Falk and the two women associated with his marriage date, please visit her article The Mystery of Falk Goldschmidt’s Wife: A Lesson in German Vital Records on her blog Brotmanblog: A Family Journey.
As I mentioned at the end of the post, J. had a follow-up question.
Another question, how do you proceed if you don’t have the date of birth or place? For instance, the father Johann Peter Garnich. How would I look for his father?
I hadn’t put her off with my lengthy answer and she appeared interested in learning. So once again I sent off a detailed reply.
Finding the date of marriage in the ten-year index
I was expecting your next question. That’s the reason I mentioned the tables décennales (TD) in my previous email.
BTW, the ten-year indexes (tables décennales) are very helpful when you know the name and place but not the date of birth, marriage, or death (BMD). For each 10-year period, you will find 3 lists (BMD) that include the name of the person and the date of the event. With the date of the event, you can follow the previous directions to find the record.
If a couple was having children in a commune, it was often also the place they married. By searching the tables décennales of Bettembourg where the child was born, you should be able to find a date of marriage for the parents in turn aiding you in finding the marriage record.
Details in marriage records
Marriage records are amazing due to the details they contain. They include the following information for the groom and the bride: name, occupation, age, place of residence, date and place of birth, names of the parents. This is followed by information for the parents: names, occupation, age, and place of residence. If any of the parents are deceased, the date and place of death are given. Four witnesses (name, age, occupation, residence) are also given and their relationship to the bride or groom is usually mentioned.
In my early days of research, I quickly learned marriage records had enough information to take me back a generation at a time.
As an aside, Luxracines has a very large database of civil marriages in Luxembourg (complete). It includes marriages of Luxembourgers in the bordering areas of Belgium (a work in progress) and Germany as well as several large cities (Paris, for example) known to have had workers from Luxembourg. Luxracinces is now accepting subscriptions for the year 2021 giving members access to the website and databases until January 2022. See the section on Becoming a Member on the Luxracines website. [I included this as she had initiated contact on the website.]
The entry in the tables décennales
Your couple of interest is in the above-mentioned marriage database with a date of marriage in Bettembourg in 1883. Without this information, you could have looked at the tables décennales to find their names and date of marriage. This is the page they are on in the TD on FamilySearch:
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (1).Close-up of the entry for Jean Pierre GARNICH and Elisabeth SCHELTGEN (seen here as Elise SCHALTGEN). Screenshot of FamilySearch website (2).
Click on the tiles button to view the small images. You can see the difference between the lists for births and deaths and the list for marriages. The marriage list always has two names and therefore looks different from the birth and death lists making it easy to navigate the images and each batch of 10 years.
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (3).
Now that you have the date of marriage, I’ll let you search for the record. When you find the marriage record, let me know and I’ll try to help you decipher the handwriting and point out the information from the record.
Locating the marriage record
Less than two hours later, J. sent me three links. The first was for a marriage record from 1884 instead of 1883. I had failed to be more precise about the index’s location in the marriage register. The second link she sent was the index to the 1883 marriages and included the names of the couple. The third link she sent was the link to the actual 1883 marriage record. Good work!
A detail I failed to pass on to J. is that the index is normally at the end of the year. She needed to go back through the images to find the record instead of forward from the index (i.e. the reason she found the 1884 marriage record first).
Before I went into the details concerning the marriage record, I gave J. some advice on citing the source of the marriage record.
Cite your Source
If you click on the Information tab at the bottom of the screen and scroll down in the small window, you will find the citation. Click on Copy Citation to save it. This will be extremely helpful when you want to point someone else to the marriage record. If the link is ever changed the waypoints > will help you or them to find the record again.
I always replace the date following the link with “accessed [the date accessed]” for later reference.
Annotations and translation of the marriage record
The marriage record of Johann Peter GARNICH and Elisabeth SCHELTGEN is in German, the official language used at this time in Luxembourg.
1883 Marriage Record No. 5 for Johann Peter GARNICH and Elisabeth SCHELTGEN in Bettembourg. Image courtesy of FamilySearch (see citation above)
This is the first part of the marriage record which deals with the groom.
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (5)
In the year 1883, the 22nd of May at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, (followed by the name of the civil servant of the commune of Bettembourg in Luxembourg) came before us Johann Peter Garnich (occupation), 28 years old, born in Bettembourg the 8 November 1854, a resident of Bettembourg, of age son of the here present and consenting parents Peter Garnich and Katharina Wind, a married couple, farmers living in Bettembourg. The civil birth record of the groom was found in the register of this commune.
Part two with the information on the bride:
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (6)
And Elisabeth Scheltgen, without an occupation, 25 years old, born in Bergem in the commune of Monnerich (Mondercange)the 11 January 1858, a resident of Bergem, of age daughter of the here present and consenting parents Michel Scheltgen, an innkeeper, and Helena Nicola, without an occupation, residents of Bergem. An abstract of the birth record of the bride was furnished.
Part three concerning the banns, records read at the marriage, etc.
Who have asked us to proceed to the consummation of their marriage as agreed between them, and their proclamations, [place and date of the first reading of the banns, place and date of the second reading of the banns] were read the Sundays 6th and 13th of this month of May in this commune in the commune of Monnerich (Mondercange).
Since no objection to the intended marriage has been announced to us, we give justice to their request; and after we have read out all the above-mentioned acts (birth records) and the sixth chapter of the civil code, entitled Marriage, we have asked the bridegroom and the bride whether they will take each other as husband and wife; since both replied, each specially and in the affirmative, we declare in the name of the law that Johann Peter Garnich and ElisabethScheltgen are united by marriage.
This is the last part of the marriage record.
Of all this, we have established this act in the presence of: Nikolaus Mootz, without occupation, 88 years resident of Bettembourg, not related to bride and groom Jakob Hoscheit, (occupation) 29 years old, resident of Bettembourg, not related Bernard Klinsch, day laborer, 37 years old, resident of Bettembourg, not related Johann Kunsch, day laborer, 21 years old, resident of Bettembourg, not related Who, after reading all to them, signed with us. The mother of the bride declared not being able to write.
[Followed by signatures of the bride, groom, parents, 4 witnesses, and the civil servant]
The bride Elisabeth must have gone by Lisa as she signed Scheltgen Lisa. I thought this was an interesting detail and makes it more personal.
Occupation of the groom and the 2nd witness
Now it’s your turn to help J. I was not able to decipher the occupation of the groom on this marriage record. The second witness appears to have had the same occupation. If anyone can help out, I’ll pass the information on to J.
As a member of the board of my Luxembourgish genealogy society Luxracines, I receive copies of the emails from visitors to our website. Often they are in French or German and answered by other members of the board. When they are in English, I help out with replies.
Recently the following message was received from J.:
Re: birth records
Looking for parents names for Peter (Pierre) John Garnich Born: Bettembourg, Canton d’Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, 29 Oct 1889. Any assistance would be appreciated.
I could have sent a quick one-liner with the names of the parents to the person making the inquiry. It would have been quick and easy but I don’t think it would have benefitted the person asking the question.
Any assistance would be appreciated…
J. wanted assistance in finding the parents of a person born in Luxembourg in 1889. I wanted my answer to also help her with FUTURE queries she may have on her ancestors in Luxembourg. The screenshots were not included in the email as I wanted J. to follow the instructions and have the wowser moment of finding the record on her own.
You have his date of birth and his place of birth which will aid in your search. As Bettembourg is not one of the communes that have been indexed by FamilySearch, you will have to browse the collection instead of using their search engine. This is the case for most communes as indexing is ongoing and as far as I know, they have only finished Esch and Luxembourg City. Browsing the collection is not as hard as it sounds.
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (1)
Click on Browse through 767,518 images to see the list of communes.
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (2)
Click on Bettembourg to see the records available for the town your person of interest was born in.
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (3)
Choose the record collection that includes births (naissances) for 1889. The collection you want to look into is Tables décennales 1803-1892 Naissances 1796-1890.
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (4)
There are 1468 images in this collection. Don’t let this stop you. The collection has two parts. Tables décennales (ten-year index) and Naissances (births) – in most cases the names of the database reflect the order of the records in the microfilm. The births go to 1890, a year after the birth you are looking for. Therefore the register for 1889 will be nearly at the end. Choose image number 1468 and click on the tiles icon at the upper left of the images.
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (5)
This will give you a view of the images at the end of the collection. The last two images on the microfilm look like lists. Click on the left one. At the top, it shows this is the index for the year 1890.
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (6)
Click on the tile icon again to view the images. Going backward, look for the image with an index for the previous year. (see screenshot 5, green box in the first row of images)
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (7)
The index is in alphabetical order. Your GARNICH person of interest is on the first page, Johann Peter Joseph born on 29 October with record #54. Since this is close to the end of the year, you can use the back button on the image numbers to go back two images to record #54.
If it had been #10, you would click the tile icon again, look for the beginning of the records for 1889, then go to the 4th image for record #10 (as #1 is always on the first page followed by 4 records per image).
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (8)
Now comes the hardest part: reading the record. The records are filled in as opposed to completely written in longhand which makes it easy to pick out the names.
Screenshot of FamilySearch website (9): Father, mother, and child’s names
The informant of the birth (line 5) was his father Johann Peter GARNICH. In the middle of the record (line 12) you will see the child was named Johann Peter Joseph. In the two handwritten lines above his name is the information on the mother. Her name was Elisabeth SCHELTGEN and she was 34 years old, without an occupation, and residing with the informant.
BTW, the ten-year indexes (tables décennales) are very helpful when you know the name and place but not the date of birth, marriage, or death (BMD). For each 10-year period, you will find 3 lists (BMD) that include the name of the person and the date of the event. With the date of the event, you can follow the above directions to find the record.
Although your question was simple and could have been answered with the names: Johann Peter GARNICH and his wife Elisabeth SCHELTGEN, I felt it more helpful to you to know how I found the answer. This will aid you in your future research of your Luxembourg ancestors.
Permission to use the question in this blog post was obtained from J. She had a follow-up question which will be shared in my next post.
While researching my families who lived in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) I found the following record which names two enslaved persons.
This indenture names female slave Mary & her child Esther, together with all and singular the natural increase of both said slaves.1
1846 Hix to J. B. Cobbs Indenture
In the margin:
Hix to J.D. Cobbs final
Tax paid J.A.N.
Delivered to Jno. Clowes for ____ his mother.
This Indenture made and entered into this 22nd day of September 1845 by and between William Hicks of Amherst County of the first part. Emma Clowes the wife of Sidney B. Clowes and James M. Cobbs of the Town of Lynchburg of the second and third parts. Witnesseth: that whereas the said William Hicks is desirous to settle upon and secure to the sole & separate use of the said Emma Clowes,one female slave named Mary and her child Esther, together with the increase of both said slaves, to be held and enjoyed by the said Emma for and during her natural life, and at her death to go to & belong to the child or children of said Emma, share & share alike or the survivors of them by the present or any future husband, and the descendants of any who may die before the mother, such descendants taking such share or shares as their parents or parents would have taken, had he she or they survived the said Emma. Now therefore in considerations of the premises, and the further consideration of the sum of one dollar in hand paid to the said William Hicks, at & before the enscaling and delivery of these presents, the receipts of which is hereby fully acknowledged, he the said Hicks hath bargained & sold & delivered and by these presents do bargain sell and deliver unto the said James M. Cobbs, the saidfemale slave Mary & her child Esther, together with all and singular the natural increase of both said slaves.To have & to hold the said slaves together with their increase, the said William Hicks for himself his Exors & admins doth hereby warrant & defend a good lawful and sufficient right & titles as against himself his executors & admrs. & as against all & every person or persons, claiming by through or under him and not otherwise. In trust nevertheless that it shall be the duty of the said James M. Cobbs to permit the said Emma Clowes to have take & enjoy the hires use & profits of the said slaves & their increase for and during her natural life as a sole and separate estate free from the actual contracts or liabilities of her said husband or of any future husband. And at her death shall cause the said slaves together with all & singular their future increase to be equally divided amongst the children or child of said Emma who may survive her, and amongst the descendants of any child who may have died before her, giving to such descendant or descendants only such share as their parent or parents would have taken had he or she survived her or her mother. In testimony of all which the parties hereto have signed their names sealed with their seals the day & year above written. Witness
J. J. Watson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Hix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emma Clowes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James M. Cobbs In the Clerks Office of the Lynchburg Hustings? Court, March 10th 1846. . . . . . . This deed from William Hix to James M. Cobbs for the benefit of Emma Clowes, which was acknowledged by all the parties before the clerk on the 15th January 1846, was this day admitted to record, the tax thereon being paid. . . . . . . . Teste . . . . . . . . . James Benagh clk
Clerks Office of Greenbrier County Court October 13th 1847 . . . . . . . . This deed was this day presented in the office and with the above certificates of the acknowledgments, is admitted to record. . . . . . . . Teste . . . . . . . . . John A. North D.C
About the persons in the indenture
William Hicks was found in Amherst County in 1840 as William Hix with 12 slaves.2
Emma Clowes was born Emma Handley, daughter of Alexander Handley. She married Sydney Bailey Clowes in Botetourt County, Virginia, in 1833.3 Both of her parents were deceased when the indenture was drawn up.
In 1850 S. B. Clowes was on the Slave Schedule of Greenbrier County, Virginia, with one 25 years old female black and one 7 years old female black.4
By 1860 the Clowes family had moved to Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia. S. B. Clowes was on the Slave Schedule with four black females ages: 35, 18, 9, and 6.5 Could they be Mary and her daughter Esther as well as two daughters born to Mary after 1850?
Sydney B. Clowes was listed on the 18506, 18607, and 18708 census as a Stage Agent.
As the slave schedule does not give names of the enslaved persons it is a guess on my part that Mary may have been born about 1825 and Esther may have been born about 1843 and seen on the 1850 schedule. Mary was the mother of Esther per the indenture. Mary may have also been the mother of the two younger girls born about 1851 and 1854 and seen on the 1860 schedule.
It has been a while since I’ve been able to release the names found in records as I am only now getting back to doing US research. In hopes that Mary and Esther will be recognized by descendants and this will help them to break through their brick wall.
Following my three-part series on the slaves of my 5th great grandfather James Sims during Black History Month in February 2015 I made a commitment to write a post every month until I’ve RELEASED all of the names of slaves owned by my ancestors or owned by persons I’ve researched who were relatives or neighbors of my ancestors.
Greenbrier County (West Virginia) County Clerk, “Deeds (Greenbrier County, West Virginia), 1780-1901” (non-indexed images), FamilySearch (Microfilm of original records at the Greenbrier County Courthouse in Lewisburg, West Virginia), Film 593555, DGS #8152881, Deeds, v. 17-18 1843-1851, image 174+175 of 612, page 333-334. Hix to J. D. Cobb Indenture. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKV-J7MX-8?i=173&cat=98577 : accessed 2 January 2020). ↩
1840 U.S. Federal Census, (index and images), Ancestry, citing Sixth Census of the United States, 1840 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls, Roll: 550, Family History Library Film: 0029683, Virginia, Amherst, Page: 209, line 3, William Hix. (https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 2 January 2020). ↩
“Virginia, Marriages, 1785-1940” (index), Ancestry, citing FamilySearch, Index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City., FHL Film Number: 30734, page 366. (https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 2 January 2020). ↩
1850 U.S. Federal Census (index and images), Ancestry, citing Seventh Census of the United States, 1850 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M432, 1009 rolls, Slave Schedule, Virginia, Greenbrier, image 2 of 7, line 1-2, S. B. Clews. (https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 2 January 2020). ↩
1860 U.S. Federal Census, (index and images), Ancestry, citing Eighth Census of the United States, 1860 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls, Slave Schedule, Virginia, Rockbridge, Lexington, page 6, line 14-17, S. B. Clowes. (https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 2 January 2020). ↩
1850 U.S. Federal Census, Virginia, Greenbrier, District 18, image 252, page 283A, S. B. Clows household. (https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 2 January 2020). ↩
1860 U.S. Federal Census, Virginia, Rockbridge, Lexington, page 24, Sidney B. Clowes household. (https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 2 January 2020). ↩
1870 U.S. Federal Census, (index and images), Ancestry, citing Ninth Census of the United States, 1870 population schedule, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls, Roll: M593_1675, Family History Library Film: 553174, Virginia, Rockbridge, Lexington, page 477B, Sydnor Clows household. (https://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 2 January 2020). ↩
Opening Doors in Brick Walls 