Johannes Sebastian Fieg

On my last trip to Salt Lake City, I was able to spend a great deal of time in the German records  microfilm area of the Family History Library.  It was exciting to find church records for many Fieg ancestors.

This is the christening record of my husband's 3rd great grandfather, Johannes Sebastian Fieg in Helmsheim, Baden, Germany.¹  He is the child of Johannus Fieg and Katharina Bresthoefer and he was christened on May 25, 1799.

Although the film is of poor quality and is written in Latin script, the names, dates and key words are distinguishable.  One interesting notation on this record is the death date that was added later to the left margin - 2 November 1865.

My best translation/transcription:

Anno Domini Millesimo Septingentesimo nonagesimo nono die

Year of our Lord one thousandth seven hundredth ninetieth ninth day

vigesimo quinta Maii? R. D. Andreas Happel Parochi ?infra?

twentieth fifth of May  R.D. Andreas Happel priest ?under?

?scripti? Vicarius baptizavit infantem eadem die circa horam

?written? vicar baptized infant this day about hour

undecimam mat??tinam natum et(est?) Joanne Fieg cive hujate

eleventh ??? born and(is) Joanne Fieg citizen of this town

et Catharina nata Broesthoefer Conjugibus legitimis hujies

and Catharina nee Broesthoefer wedded legitimate of this town

Parochia ?ui impositum est nomen Joannes Sebastianus,

parish ??? given is name Joannes Sebastianus,

Patrinus fuit Sebastianus Gre??er civis et ?scatrinus? hujas

godfather was Sebastianus Gre??er citizen and ??? of this town

ita testamur? proprea manu subscripti ego Josephus

thus witnessed? own hand written? I Josephus

Antonius Grossi? decanus et Parochus in Helmsheim.

Antonius Grossi? decon and Priest in Helmsheim.

baptizans Andreas Happel parochi vicarius.

baptized Andreas Happel of parish vicar

Pater: Johannus Fieg

Father: Johannus Fieg

Patrinus: ??? ???

Godfather: Sebastianus? Gre??er?

_______________________________________________________________________________

¹ “Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898," FHL microfilm 1,051,463.

Jamboree 2015

I am home from spending a weekend at the Southern California Genealogical Society's annual Jamboree in Burbank. I really enjoy the Jamboree, there is so much energy in the air. The sessions are always great. I was able to attend excellent talks given by Jill Morelli, Thomas W. Jones, Dr. Michael D. Lacopo, Rev. David McDonald, Paula Stuart-Warren, Cyndi Ingle,  Michael Brophy, and Geoff Rasmussen. There were so many other sessions given by such excellent speakers as Lisa Alzo, Blaine Bettinger, Lisa Louise Cooke, Thomas MacEntee, George Morgan, Stephen Morse, Judy Russell, Craig R. Scott and Drew Smith, just to name a few.  Of course, there are always conflicting schedules and tough decisions to be made in choosing each session. They were all so terrific. My head is filled with many new ideas and research techniques to try.

At the Saturday night banquet Dr. Michael Lacopo was the speaker. He gave us his insights and some background information about his blog Hoosier Daddy at  http://roots4u.blogspot.com.  He then left us hanging with the words, “Stay tuned for more to come.” If you follow his blog, you know it is a narrative that has to be read from the very beginning and it lays out the many twists and turns in his genealogy research process to find his grandfather.

Although I was unable to attend the DNA day on Thursday,  I have heard from others that it was a terrific success also. 

One of my best impressions about Jamboree is the excitement, yet there is also an air of casualness. It is important to set aside some time to socialize. Everyone seems relaxed and just enjoys talking about genealogy and being together. Of course, it is always fun to catch up with old friends and meet new people.

I highly recommend going to the Jamboree. Thank you to the organizers and volunteers who put in a lot of work and hours for this event! Everyone leaves looking forward to returning the next year.

Naturalization Research

Recently I have been researching my husband's German lines. I sent to Ohio for Naturalization records. The Cuyahoga County Archives Department (http://publicworks.cuyahogacounty.us/en-US/archives-research-form.aspx) has an online form to fill out requesting copies of records. They have many categories of interest to genealogists such as marriage license applications, birth, death and estate case files. I am just starting with naturalizations.

I received two records, one of my husband's great grandfather Joseph and the other, Joseph's brother, Sebastian :

Joseph Feig:

Transcription:

In the Probate Court, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Oct 13^th 1873

This day came Joseph Feig an alien, and a native of Germany, a free white person, and proved to the satisfaction of the Court, that he made in The Probate Court of Cuyahoga County, Ohio more that two years ago, the requisite Declaration of Intention to become a Citizen of the United States; and also, at the same time, came Philip Hickey and being duly sworn, did depose and say, that the said Feig has resided in the United States for five years last past, that he has resided one year last past in the State of Ohio, and that during all that time he has behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same.

And thereupon the said Feig made solemn oath that he will support the Constitution of the United States, and that he doth absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every Foreign Prince, Potentate, State of Sovereignty whatsoever, and particularly all allegiance and fidelity to William II Emperor whose subject he was.

Whereupon it was ordered by the Court, that a Certificate of Citizenship be issued to him on payment of the costs of this application.

Sebastian Feig:

Transcription:

In the Probate Court, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Nov. 7 1864

This day came Sebastian Feig an alien, and a native of Baden, a free white person, and proved to the satisfaction of the Court, that he made in the Dist. Court of the United States for the Northern Dist of Ohio more that two years ago, the requisite Declaration of this Intention to become a Citizen of the United States; and also, at the same time, came George Finley and being duly sworn, did depose and say, that the said Sebastian Feig has resided in the United States for five years last past, that he has resided one year, last past, in the State of Ohio, and that during all that time he has behaved as a man of good moral character attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same.,

And thereupon the said Sebastian Feig made solemn oath that he will support the Constitution of the United States, and that he doth absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every Foreign Prince, Potentate, State or Sovereignty whatsoever, and particularly all allegiance and fidelity to the Grand Duke of Baden whose subject he was.

Whereupon it was ordered by the Court, that a Certificate of Citizenship be issued to him on payment of the costs of this application.

As a genealogist, it is of note that the names on the certificates are consistently spelled Feig, whereas the current surname spelling is Fieg.  These different spellings are indicative of a common problem for genealogists and raises some doubt as to the actual original surname.

Even though these are basic certificate forms, it is interesting to see who was in power in Germany at the time. It is also fun to think about how each of these men might have felt receiving their certificates. It is exciting for me to see this glimpse of family history.