Neien – Opening Doors in Brick Walls

Mathias GRISIUS married Magdalena SCHAETTER on the 23rd day of the month Pluviôse in the 6th year of the French Republic in Alscheid in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.[1] This date from the French Republican calendar converts to 11 February 1798 on the Gregorian calendar. An easy to use converter can be found on the Pas-de-Calais Archives website.

The French Republican Calendar Months

The Republican calendar begins with the autumn months, the first being Vendémiaire (starting around 22 September) with the name coming from the French word vendange or grape harvest. The next two fall months were Brumaire (brume or mist) and Frimaire (frimas or frost). The winter months were Nivôse (Latin nivosus or snowy), Pluviôse (pluvieux or rainy), and Ventôse (venteux or windy). The spring months were Germinal (germination), Floréal (fleur or flower) and Prairial (prairie or meadow). The summer months were Messidor (Latin messis or harvest), Thermidor (Greek thermon or summer heat), and Fructidor (Latin fructus or fruit).

This little French Republican calendar diversion was not meant to distract attention from my children’s fifth great-grandparents, Mathias and Magdalena.

Mathias GRISIUS

Mathias, the son of Leonard GRITIUS (1743-1813) and Marie NEIEN (d. bef. 11 February 1798), was born on 10 May 1776 in Ouren, Province de Liege, Belgium. His birth record has not been found. [I’m looking for tips on how to research church records for this period in Belgium.] When he married the marriage record[1] included his date of birth and indicated he was born in the canton of Wiltz. When he died his death record[2] listed Ouren in Luxembourg. Today, if you look on a map, Ouren is located in Belgium at the border triangle of Belgium-Germany-Luxembourg. All of the borders are tangent in the middle of the Our River.

His parents’ names came from his marriage record. At this time, his siblings are unknown.

Magdalena SCHAETTER

Magdalena, the daughter of Jean SCHETTERT and Anna Catharina SCHAACK, was born on 26 April 1775 in Grümelscheid,[3] also called Grummelscheid in French and Grëmmelescht in Luxembourgish. The town is today part of the Winseler commune in the canton of Wiltz. Her birth record was found in the Oberwampach church records.

When Things Don’t Want to Fall in Place

While searching for more information on the parents and siblings of Magdalena SCHAETTER, I found a table of baptisms for Oberwampach for 1716 to 1797. It helped to find many baptisms for children with these surname variations: Schutter, Schoettert, Shetter, Schettert and Schaettert. The church records for the entire period for the Oberwampach area will have to be carefully viewed and followed up on as there is some confusion as to the name of Jean SCHETTERT’s wife as seen in several online GEDCOM files. I will have to check the birth, marriage, and death/burial of each person found in the GEDCOM files to determine where and if there is an error.

I became so frustrated with the research on this family that I laid it aside for several weeks, taking a break from research and blogging.

Life After the Wedding

When they married in Alscheid, Mathias was living in Merkholtz, less than 2 km away, and Magdalena and her parents were from the Eschweiler area, about a dozen kilometers from Alscheid.

They spent their married life moving around the northern tip of Luxembourg (the tip of the shoe). On 15 November 1799, they were in Bavigne (Böwen in German and Béiwen in Luxembourgish) when their first child, a son named Wilhelm was born. I have not found this birth record, the information came from his 1824 marriage record.[4]

By the time the next child, a daughter named Elisabeth, joined the family on 11 February 1802 they were living in Goesdorf.[5] As you can see below, the handwriting on this birth record was a challenge. The surname was spelled GREISCH instead of GRISIUS and the record was in German.

1802 Birth Record of Elisabetha GREISCH [5]

They returned to the area of Alscheid for the births of the next three children. Frederich, my children’s 4th great-grandfather, was born on 9 March 1805[6] and his brother Jean was born on 16 November 1807.[7] Baby Jean died at nearly six months of age on 1 May 1808.[8] Another son, Pierre was born on 5 January 1810.[9] All three of these birth records were written completely by hand and in French. This example of Pierre’s birth was the first in the register for the year 1810.

The family was residing in Schlindermanderscheid when the last three children were born. Margaretha was born on 22 September 1811.[10] Mathias’ father, Leonard GRITIUS, may have been living in Schlindermanderscheid before Mathias and Magdalena brought their family there as this is where his death took place on 30 December 1813.[11] Less than three weeks later another daughter, Catherine was born on 17 January 1814.[12] Anne Marie, the baby of the family, was born on 7 April 1816.[13]

Of the eight children Magdalena gave birth to, seven were living in 1816. Six-year-old Pierre died on 30 September 1816[14] and Anne Marie died on 21 January 1817[15] at the age of nine months. This left two sons and three daughters between the ages of three and eighteen.

The oldest son Wilhelm GRISIUS, who was living in Bavigne, married Catherine SCHNEIDER on 28 April 1824 in Mecher.[4] Mathias and Magdalena were living in Heffingen at the time (if I deciphered the place name correctly on the marriage record).

Mathias and Magdalena Settle in Hoscheid

Map Hoscheid — Map of Luxembourg with Hoscheid highlighted in orange, and the Diekirch canton in dark red. As of 2012, it is part of the Clervaux canton (the section at the tip), in the district of Diekirch.

By around 1830 the commune of Hoscheid had become the family’s residence. At first they were living in Hoscheid in the cowherd’s or Kühhirt‘s house where Mathias’ wife Magdalena SCHAETTER died on 1 December 1831.[16] She left Mathias with three daughters and son Frederich still at home. The oldest daughter Elisabetha was two months short of 30 years and still single. She most likely shared household duties with her younger sisters Margaretha (20) and Catherine (17).

At some point, after Magdalena died, the family went to live in der Dickt or in Houschterdéckt, also known in German as Hoscheiderdickt. This was likely between 1833 and 1836 when Mathias’ occupation changed from being a cowherd to working as a day laborer. By 1836 he was 60 years old and probably too old to be working as a cowherd.

The four remaining children were seen marrying in the commune of Hoscheid from 1833 to 1845.

Frederich GRISIUS married Catherina SCHAEFFER (1815-1898) on 3 July 1833 in Hoscheid. He and his father were living in Hoscheid.[17]
Cathérine Grisius married Michel MILLANG (1811-1875) on 7 September 1836 in Hoscheid. She and her father were living in der Dickt.[12]
Elisabetha Grisius married Adam KLEESEN (1799-1858) on 18 January 1843 in Hoscheid. She and her father were living in der Dickt.[18]
Margaretha Grisius married Jean PEIFFER (1818-1880) on 12 June 1845 in Heffingen. She and her father were living in der Dickt.[19]

Almost six months after the last of the GRISIUS children married they lost their oldest brother Wilhelm who died on 7 December 1845 in Bavigne.[20]

Eleven months later Mathias GRISIUS died at eight in the evening of 27 October 1846 in Hoscheiderdickt at the age of 70. His son-in-law Adam KLEESEN, who had been living in the GRISIUS household in 1843, reported his death.[2]

Elisabetha, the oldest daughter, had only been married four years when she died on 17 March 1847 in Hoscheiderdickt at the age of 45. Like her father, she died in a house called Theis.[21]

Five years later, Frederich GRISIUS, 47 years old and the oldest living child, died on 16 December 1852 in Hoscheiderdickt.[22] He left a wife, seven children, and two sisters, Margaretha and Catherine.

Margaretha died on 11 November 1875 in Heffingen.[23] By this time Catherine was living in Belgium, where her husband died three months earlier on 16 August 1875 in Seraing.[24] Catherine remained in Belgium and died in Flémalle (Wallonie) on 21 September 1887 at the age of 73.[25]

It’s good to be back to researching and blogging but I am even more happy to finally get this family put to bed. Some are not as easy as others. The GRISIUS-SCHAETTER family who lived in the tip of the Luxembourg shoe was one of these.