LEER Families Listed in the Reformed Church Index 1796 - 1873 This is an index of families (1796-1873) found in the records of the Evangelische - Reformierte Kirchengemeind, Leer, Ostfriesland, Germany. This index was compiled and transcribed by Jeanee Thompson. Additional information about these families is found in the Ortsippenbuch for this church. For more information, please contact us at www.ogsa.us or via e- mail at [email protected]. There are two additional OSBs for Leer - Lutheran and Catholic. A COMPILATION OF REFORMED CHURCH INDEXES FROM THE TOWN OF LEER, OSTFRIESLAND COVERING THE YEARS OF 1796-1873 COMPILED AND TRANSCRIBED BY · JEANEE THOMPSON Assisted by ZELLA MIRICK copyright 2001 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced for sale; however, brief sections can be copied for personal research use. FORWARD: The following alphabetical listing is a compilation of the index found in the Family History Library (FHL) microfilm #1475953: Marriages 1796-1852; Births 1796-1852/ 1852-1873; Deaths1815-1852. (Marriages 1803-1818 are actually not included) This film is very confusing, because of the two separate time periods, each indexed separately, and the left-side pages and the right-side pages being filmed separately. In order to search for a specific surname you would have to look in a) deaths [2 places]; b) births [4 places]; and c) marriages [2 places]. The marriage index included on this film did not cover all of the years encompassed in the births section. Films #1475951 (1796-1818) and #1810458 (1852-1873) were used to cover these time frames. The original index of births contains the parents, identified by initials and surname. [See example "JELDERKS, N.A. ..." on page 61] This index was matched to the marriage index, to get the given names of most of the couples and their marriage year. Ifthey were not included in the marriage index, the birth records of the children were checked to get the parent's names. In cases where parent's names were spelled differently on each child, the most commom spelling was used. For problem penmanship, efforts were made to look in the film of the original record to see if it was any more legible. Ifnames were spelled differently on each succesive record, the one used most frequently was used. Death records were only used to get given names, and sometimes to add death dates when children received a duplicate given name of a sibling. Inthe cases where the couple did not have children baptized in this church they are entered as a couple. They may have been entered as 'proclamations', and were married elsewhere. They could be from a neighboring town, or one spouse could have been a member of this church, while the other was from the Leer Lutheran congregation, and the actual marriage is recorded elsewhere. In any event, this will serve as a surname index for persons in the Leer area during and after the Napoleonic Surname edict and also, during the major period of emigration to the United States. This book is intended to be an aid in finding the records that you need to search, it is not a primary source. Ifyou find a family in the book, check out the actual records on microfilm. There is a listing of the microfilms available from the LDS on page iv of this book. We know there are errors in this book, just as errors were found in the original index. To I verify each entry from the index to the original record would have been an impossibility, therefore, differences may occur. Ifyou find any additional data that has been verified or something that should be changed, please let me know, so it can be changed in any future publications. We hope you find this book to be generally helpful. Thanks to: the FHL for having the microfilm available to us, Zella for deciphering some of the names, and Lin Strong of O.G.S.A. for final proof-reading and being a cheering section: of one. Jeanee i ABOUT THIS INDEX: These surnames are in as close to alphabetical order as possible, except where surnames would be spelled in more than one way. Names that begin with the letter V, for instance, may be found in with the Fs, Ks in the Cs, Ws with Vs, Ts with Ds, Bs with Ps, and even Gs with Ks. For instance, Coob could possibly be found among the Koob families, or Frauke could be Vrouwke. Also, in a case where the spelling is a judgement call, such as Hinderks, Hendriks, Heinrichs, and Hinderik; they will all be found in one area as if all spelled the same. Remember, there was no proper way to spell these names, it was up to the person who was writing it down at the time, and they generally used a personal phonetic system. Following the family groups, you will find a separate alphabetical listing of couples whose banns were 'proclaimed' in the years from 1796 to 1818. Their banns were read, at this church, on three Sundays before they were married, but did not have a marriage date included in the register because they were married in another church. These are included to give you a clue for further research. These proclamations are not indexed. After that, you will find the death records index which was included in the original index, covering the years 1815-1852. This index has some names that are not included elsewhere. Following that is a cross-reference section, listing the surname of the wife first, followed by the surname of her husband. If you are looking for Maria Jelder and are not sure who she married, look in the cross-reference section under Jelder and check all of the couples listed. )> Check under all possible starting letters: C/K; T/D; W/V; F/V; B/P; G/K )> Look under all possible spellings and pronunciations )> Use the cross-reference index )> Abbreviations used: * [born] oo [married] ool [first marriage listed] ooll I ooIII [subsequent marriages] t [died] s. [son] d. [daughter] N.N. [unnamed or unbaptised] geb. [follows a widow's late husband's surname, (equivalent of nee, born) ahead of her birth family name: i.e. Antje Buss geb. MEYER; meaning: Antje, widow of Buss, birth name Meyer] ii WHAT TO DO IF YOU FIND YOUR FAMILY LISTED .... Order the proper films to verify names, dates and family groups. Look at the birth record to get the parent's names; look at their marriage record to get their age and parent's names. Do not skip a generation, because the surname may not be the same, especially in the 1800-1815 time frame. Most of these records have not been verified. Once you know the parents, and if the residence is listed as Leer, you could order the film containing the family register (FHL#l810455). It is set up just like this index, in alphabetical family groups, with marriage dates and birthdates, and the penmanship is very readable, the microfilm photography excellent. Repeat the above steps to verify dates, names, and parents. Check church records and Ortssippenbücher for nearby v i l l a g e s . There are three sets of Ortssippenbücher for the Reformed, Lutheran and Catholic churches. These are available at specific libraries – contact [email protected] for a listing. WHAT TO DO IF YOU DON'T FIND YOUR FAMILY LISTED .... Try every possible spelling of the name. [Example: van der TUIN I van der DUIN]. Occasionally, the indexer would index a family with their "Napoleonic" surname and the patronymic form, also. [Example: REINDERS, Jan and KOK, Jan]. Some of the children could be with the patronymical name, and the remainder with the permanent surname. If found, this information is included. Perhaps the wife was married more than once, but not always in this church, the cross reference will help you determine a different spouse, and the record to look at to get a former spouse's name. [Example: NERJES, Friedrich]. In the cases where the man is listed more than once in a reasonable time frame, with two or more spouses, and the original record was not checked or the index did not reflect it to be the same man, they were treated as two separate entries. [Example: SNOEK, Jacob]. Most marriage records will say widow or widower, then list the name of the former spouse, unless it is a first marriage, where the parents' names are f recorded after the bride's and groom's names. Il _ iii Church of LDS, Salt Lake City Films available from the FHL for GERMANY, LEER, Evangelical-Reformed Church INDEX: Marriages: 1796-1803, 1811-1852 1475953 Births/Baptisms:1796-1873 Deaths: 1815-1852 Marriages: 1601-1633 1475957 Marriages: 1636-1681; 1633-1681 1810455 Family Book A-Z 1700-1795 B M & D: 1714-1758 1810474 B M & D: 1759-1803 (right-side only) 1475959 B M & D: 1759-1803 (left-side only) 1475960 B M & D: 1804-1811 (both sides) 1475955 Births/Baptisms: 1812-1852 1475954 BIB: 1853-1873; M: 1853-1873 1810458 Marriages: 1736-1796; Deaths: 1724-1727 1475958 Marriages: 1796-1817 1475951 Marriages: 1818-1852 1810456 Deaths: 1805-1821 1475956 Deaths: 1809-1853 1475952 Deaths: 1853-1874 1810457 iv Listing of families ......................................... 1-136 Proclamations 1796-1818 ......................... 137-139 Listing of death records ............................. 140-158 Cross-reference of maiden names ........... 159-187 \ _ i ! 'L -- · v A PAGE FROM THE ORIGINAL INDEX A AALDERS, Eltjen Uden (of Canhusen) oo 1812 AHLERS I ALERS I van AHLERS Geesche Peters UKENA s. Aalrich Dirks *1819 AHLERS, Ferdinand Karel oo 1803 (Lutheran) Lena EHLER AALDERS, Jacob Janssen and Hamrnina HEEREN d.