Research Report Boelter 3 July 2013

Transcription

1 Research Report Boelter 3 July 2013 The primary goal was to continue the search for the origins of Ernest Boelter, with the specific research objective to examine the church records of Petznick and Zachan for the Boelter family. Previous research had revealed that Ernest Boelter was born in Petznick in Zachhan Germany, which is now known as Piasecznik, Pyrzyce, Poland, near Suchań, Pyrzyce, Poland. Research was continued in the church records for this area, for Ernest and his likely brother William Boelter, since it would not only confirm their origins from these villages, but also likely lead to the discovery of the names of their parents. General Methodology The focus of this session was to examine the church records of Petznick and Zachan to find the baptism record of Ernest Boelter. This record was the key to determining the right location had been identified and to learning the names of his parents. Once found research could continue with the baptism records of his siblings as well as the marriage of his parents. Boelter Searches were conducted for the birth of Ernest Boelter in the Petznick church records. It took a little while, but the birth of Ernst [sic] Boelter was finally discovered to have taken place in the small town of Schönwerder. The town of Schönwerder was part of Petznick parish but seems to have had its own small chapel and set of church records. It should be noted that Schönwerder was the German name of the town, and Ziemomysl was the Polish name of the town. Pictures of the Schönwerder church follow.

2 July 2013 ProGenealogists Official Ancestry.com research firm 2 A 1932 photograph of the church in Schönwerder. 1 1 Schönwerder, The Pommern Regional Group of Minnesota (Online: Rootsweb, 2013), < accessed July Document 3.

3 July 2013 ProGenealogists Official Ancestry.com research firm 3 A 2007 photo of the Schönwerder church ruins. 2 2 Schönwerder, The Pommern Regional Group of Minnesota (Online: Rootsweb, 2013), < accessed July Document 4.

4 July 2013 ProGenealogists Official Ancestry.com research firm 4 Ernst [sic] Boelter was born 14 September 1835 and baptized 27 September 1835 at the in Schönwerder church. 3 His father was listed as Friedrich Boelter, Tagelöhner [day-laborer] and his mother as Christina Graper. The sponsors were Chr. Krüger of Brallentin, Ernst Graper, and Caroline Graase. Since the names of Ernest s parents were provided on his baptism record, it was possible to search for the marriage record of his parents, Friedrich Boelter and Christina Graper. It was discovered that their marriage also took place in Schönwerder on 26 April Friedr. (Friedrich) Boelter, Herrschaftliche Knecht [servant of the lordship], was married to Christina Graper, the only daughter of the deceased local cow-herd, Ernst Graper, in the local church. The marriage record did not provide ages. Previous research had indicated that Ernest Boelter may have had a brother named William who was born around A quick search for other children of Friedrich and Christina, between Ernest s birth and the marriage date of his parents turned up no matches. A more thorough search was conducted for any other children born to this couple in Schönwerder to confirm or deny that William was the brother of Ernest, but the search of the Schönwerder records from 1833 until 1845 did not uncover any other children of Friedrich Boelter and Christina Grape. Because census records indicated that William Boelter was born about 1833, and because it is unlikely that Friedrich and Christina left Schönwerder between their marriage in 1832 and Ernest's birth in 1835, the likelihood that William was Ernest's brother is low. This search did, however, uncover a birth record for a child named Christian Drath, who was born to Friedrich Drath and Christine Graper on 19 May This record was very intriguing for several reasons. First, this birth occurred only one month after Christian Graper married Friedrich Boelter on 26 April Secondly, Friedrich Drath s mother s name was 3 Evangelische Kirche Petznick (Kr. Pyritz), Kirchenbuchduplikat, , Schönwerder: Taufen, Heiraten, Tote (A & B) Taufen, Heiraten, Tote (A) (Greifswald: Staatsarchiv, 1982), 1835, birth no. 9, Ernst Boelter, FHL Microfilm Item 3. Document 1. 4 Evangelische Kirche Petznick (Kr. Pyritz), Kirchenbuchduplikat, , Schönwerder: Taufen, Heiraten, Tote (A & B) Taufen, Heiraten, Tote (A) (Greifswald: Staatsarchiv, 1982), 1832 marriage no. 2, Friedrich Boelter and Christina Graper, FHL Microfilm Item 3. Document 2. 5 Evangelische Kirche Petznick (Kr. Pyritz), Kirchenbuchduplikat, , Schönwerder: Taufen, Heiraten, Tote (A & B) Taufen, Heiraten, Tote (A) (Greifswald: Staatsarchiv, 1982), 1832, birth no. 6, Christian Drath, FHL Microfilm Item 3. Document 5.

5 July 2013 ProGenealogists Official Ancestry.com research firm 5 given as Christina Drath widowed Boelter and a note was written under Friedrich s name that His mother was earlier called Boelter in [the place name was illegible]. The information from this birth record, compared to that from Christina Graper s marriage to Friedrich Boelter and Ernest Boelter s birth record, points to the idea that Friedrich Drath and Friedrich Boelter may, in fact, be the same person. The similarity in birth years makes it also possible that this Christian Drath could be a match for William Boelter. Although he was born with the surname Drath it is likely that he would have taken the surname Boelter, even if Friedrich Boelter and Friedrich Drath were two different people. In order to prove this, further vital information for the Boelter and Graper family will need to be found. It was anticipated that a general search of the Schönwerder birth records around might reveal the birth records for Friedrich Boelter and Christina Graper, but, unfortunately, the records for Schönwerder and Petznik at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City only covered the time period from 1820 to Considering that they were married in 1832, their births were certainly before The parish was small enough to perform a scan of all birth and death records from Ernest s birth in 1835 to the end of the records in Interestingly, apart from records already found, the surname Boelter never showed up again in the records of both Schönwerder and its parish center, Petznick. This demonstrates that the surname Boelter is foreign to the parish and that Friedrich Boelter was born elsewhere. As of yet, the only clues to his origin are the note in his marriage record that he is a servant of the lordship and the possibility that he may be the same person as Friedrich Drath, who was noted as being from Bärwalde bei Hammerstein in Christian Drath s birth record. The village was apparently actually spelled Bärenwalde, a hamlet of about 400 people, just a few kilometers east of Hammerstein, both of which were across the provincial boundary in West Prussia. Today the village is known as Bincze, Zachodnio-Pomorskie, Poland. 6 The parish was in the nearby town of Elsenau. Of some interest to future research is the indication that a researcher named Neal 6 Uwe-Karsten Krickhahn, German City Name/Ortsname, Kartenmeister (Online: Uwe-Karsten Krickhahn, 2013), < accessed July 2013.

6 July 2013 ProGenealogists Official Ancestry.com research firm 6 Zondlo, at Yale University, is researching the Draht family of this parish. 7 The below map illustrates where Bärenwalde/Bincze is in relation to Schönwerder/Ziemomysl. 8 7 Kreis Schlochau Surnames Familiennamen, Pommernkontakte (Online: Gunthard Stübs, 2013), < accessed June Google Maps (Online: Google, 2013), < accessed July Document 6.

7 July 2013 ProGenealogists Official Ancestry.com research firm 7 Summary Although the research into the German origins of Ernest Boelter ultimately revealed his birth location and the names of his parents, it also raised several intriguing new questions. Going forward, the most interesting objective would be to determine if Friedrich Boelter and Friedrich Drath was the same person. The Family History Library has records for Friedrich Drath s village of origin, Bärwalde bei Hammerstein, but only for the Catholic and Mennonite churches. The Boelters in Schönewerder were Lutherans, but it is possible that Friedrich was originally a Catholic or Mennonite and later converted. Finding Friedrich Drath s birth record would likely clarify his Boelter connection, and whether he was indeed Ernest Boelter s father, Friedrich Boelter. Research into the Boelter family could then continue back with the Bärwalde records which extend to the early 1700s. Krysten Baca Brian Schellenberg Professional Genealogists