Moin!

Moin is the Ostfriesland word for Hello. I recently traveled to Ostfriesland, Germany, the homeland of my mother's maternal ancestors.

Ostfriesland is located in the northwestern part of Germany.  It lies along the North Sea coast and is bordered on the west by the Netherlands.

Norden and the North Sea

The Friesian's were people of the sea; fishing was their livelihood and they lived with the constant fear of catastrophic flooding from the North Sea and the river Ems.  They reclaimed land at low tides and built farmland.  They built dikes to control the waters and to help to prevent flooding. The land was fertile but soggy.  They had to dig canals and waterways to carry the water back to the sea.

There is a church on the highest ground in the every village, also a safe haven for the people during flooding.  Many of the churches were originally Catholic churches but after the Reformation they became Lutheran or Lutheran Reformed.

Backemoor

Windmills can be seen throughout Ostfriesland.

Nendorf

 The buildings and homes are built of characteristic red brick and red tiled roofs for shelter from the weather and floods.

Neuburg

It was a harsh life for our ancestors, but they were strong, determined and hard workers.  Their religion sustained them and they were persistent to survive.

Great Aunt Jennie

I just received a document in the mail from IRAD (Illinois Regional Archives Depository) at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.

I requested the birth record of my grandmother Matilda Albertus (10 May 1876).  She was born into a large German family living on a farm on the outskirts of Freeport, Illinois.  It is very possible that all the children were born at home and there may not be any record of their births at that time.  I had requested the birth documents of both Matilda and her younger sister, Jennie Albertus (12 Jul 1878).

The answer I received was that Matilda's birth record could not be found and a certificate with the name Jennie Albertus, also could not be found.

 However, they did find this record.

The parents names are correct, the birth date is correct, but there is no name for the child.  This is, however, the record for Jennie Albertus because she was, in fact, the 13th child born into this family.  She is also probably the first of the children to have a recorded birth record.  Even though this is not a record for my grandmother, I am thrilled to have it.  A wonderful find!

Other items noticed on this form are the parents places of birth.  I had already done considerable research on their origins and know that Peter Albertus was born in Veenhusen, Ostfriesland, Germany and Taalke was born in Petkum, Ostfriesland, Germany.  The dates were exact to my research so I can only guess that the written village names on this form are spelled as the person recording this information heard them.

So!  A surprise birth record with validating information from the State Board of Health, Stephenson County, Illinois.

Thank you IRAD!

A New Land

One of my immigrant ancestors is Gepke Janssen Smit Wessels. She is my 2^nd Great Grandmother. She was a woman whose husband, Heije Renken Wessels¹, had died in Germany in 1854. Two of her sons had also died at a young age in Germany. She left her homeland, memories, and life as she knew it in Neermoor, Ostfriesland, Germany and came to America in 1860 at the age of 56. She traveled on the ship Bremen with her four youngest children. As indicated on the Passenger list, she traveled under the name of her husband, Heye Wessels and her children are enumerated: Jantjen, 18, m, farmer; Jana, 16, female; Gretje 13, female; and Gerd 13, male.²

When she arrived in Illinois, Gepke was able to live on farmland with her family in German Valley, Winnebago Co. Her four older children had come separately to the area earlier. She lived in Illinois for about three years before moving to Timbercreek Township, Marshall Co., Iowa. In her lifetime, she was able to see her children marry and begin their families in a new land.

Laurel Methodist Cemetery is a small cemetery amid the cornfields in Laurel, Marshall Co., Iowa. Here lies the grave of Gepke Janssen Smit Wessels, 1803-1872.

It is so humbling to stand before an old tombstone of an ancestor and reflect. Thinking about who might have come to gather around there for the burial. Who has visited since? How many descendants have come from that one person? How many have made the pilgrimage to the site to pay their respects?

Well done, Gepke, well done.

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¹ Thorsten Harms, editor,  (Die Familien der evangelisch-reformeirten Gemeinde Neermoor (1669-1900), Emden, Germany. T. Harms 2007), p1280, #4965.

² "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957" (Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.), Year: 1860; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237; Microfilm Roll: 206; Line: 12; List Number: 1086.