HelPeR - BYU Idaho Special Collections and Family History

Germanic Research
Figure 4—Facing Page—From FHL Film, 1185778, Stukenbrok Parish, Heiraten “Marriages,”
Tote “Deaths” 1817-1874; Taufen “Baptisms” 1847-1874 , Stukenbrok Parish, p. 80b.
and a note under that has 11/12/1840. This was
Christina Siweke’s birth date. This is not normally
included in the marriage record. From the handwriting,
it looks like this date was added later. The next
columns that start with “Ob” simply show whether
the parents were “einwillig” consenting, to the marriage.
Witnesses in the last column were Ferdinand
Lienen and Christian Ernst. At first, I wondered what
relative Christian Ernst was, and then noted that his
name was in all the columns, so he was either the
priest or the clerk for the church.
Because Friedrich was so much older than Christina,
I checked an earlier marriage record for a Joh.
Fried. Lienen I saw in the index, and confirmed that he
had a prior marriage to an Elizabeth Reineke. How do
I know it was the same man Remember the column
for the parents’ names. Again, the parents were Ferd.
Lienen and Ang. Brockschmid of Stukenbrock.
Notice that in one record he was Friedrich, and in
the other, Johann Friedrich. It is extremely common
for Germans to go by their middle names. This is
an important point to remember when combing the
indexes for possible records.
I used these parish records in the same way to
trace this family back to a Johann Cord Lienen born
about 1700, who married Elizabeth or Ilsabein Brechman
7 Sept 1721 in Stuckenbrock. You will find that
the earlier records are more difficult to read and don’t
always include the breadth of information given in
the above example.
A Cautionary Tale or What’s in a Name
I used the Lienen example because that family was
relatively easy and straightforward. The Lienen name
carried back unchanged, although with the variant
spelling of Linen.
On another line, I did the same thing, happily hopscotching
back generation to generation until I hit a
huge wall. It was as if the Blankenaufulland family
had dropped off the face of the earth in that area. I
had successfully documented the family back to a
Heinrich Blankenaufulland. By researching further
about genealogy in Westphalia, I found my answer.
Sometimes, the last names of the children followed
the mother’s birth name, if she brought a farm to the
marriage. Thus, it’s the name that goes with the farm
is more important. I’m told that in German there’s an
expression he “married the farm.”
I found the right christening record in the Verl parish
by looking at the females of that surname. The
record I found said that Heinrich Blankenaufulland
was Joannes Henrikus, son of Christophorus Blankenau
fulland also known as Christoph Joann Vor der
Bruggen and Anna Catharina Blankenau fulland.
The Godparent was Joannes Henrikus Joann Vor der
Bruggen. Thus, the paternal line’s last name changed to
Blankenaufulland from Joan Vor Der Brueggen in that
generation. My husband’s surname is that of a female
ancestor. 1
To ensure I had the right person, I then checked
Heinrich Blankenaufulland’s marriage record to
Catharina Pollmeier, and his parents were listed as
Christoph Joann Vor Bruggen, Colon (Farmer) Blankenau
fulland, and Catharina Blankenau fulland. 2
I then located the marriage record for Christopher
Joann Vor Der Brueggen and Anna Catharina Blankenauffulland,
which took place in 1809. It showed
that he was a widower of Elizabeth Sonneborn, and
that Anna Catherina Blankenaufulland was a widow
of Heinrich Hansmeyer. She was a Kolona (a person
with a hereditary right to the leasehold from the
Count). 3
Christopher must not have had a lot of property
of his own, because when his wife Catharina Blankenauffulland
died, he married again to an Oelgeschlager
and became Colon (Farmer) Oelgeschlager.
I found Christopher’s death record under Christoph
Joan vor der Bruggen, Kolon Oelgeschlager. 4
This has repercussions for those interested in Y-
DNA studies using German surnames, as male descendants
of the surname Blankenaufulland would
match some Blankenaufullands, but not all of them,
and Joann vor der Brueggens, but not all of them.
If Christoph had children with his last wife, males
might also match some Oelgeschlagers. A further
complication is we don’t know if the Joan Vor Der
Brueggen surname was that of Christoph’s father or
if it was his mother’s birth name. It depends who
brought the farm to the marriage.
Protestant Records
So far, the records I’ve discussed have been Catholic
(Katholisch) records. The Protestant or Evangelisch
or Lutheran records are also good. However, at least
in the Westphalian parishes I investigated, they were
not as complete as the Catholic ones.
44 © Ev e r t o n’s Ge n e a l o g i c a l He l p e r Ja n ua ry/Fe b r u a r y 2009