Finding Information About the Tietjes in Germany

Kerstin continued her story about how she conducted her research on the Tietje family and some places where she found information:

"The Local Heritage Books of the Parishes in this Area-
The local family heritage books I found from the area of Verdenermoor, where nearly all my ancestors from my mother's line came from, do not only register essential family (father, mother, children), but also are created to show a connection for the family to their genealogy.  This means there is a link from father and mother to their respective parents, and a link from the children to their marriages and so on. (See links below.)  If you click on a link to the name of a person, there are often new links to other local family heritage books of neighboring villages which contain the same or resembling names so you can compare dates of birth and other personal facts.

The name "Tietje" is often written in different ways, sometimes Tiedge, Tietgen, Tietken and even other variations.  In former times, people didn't use standardized spellings; sometimes they wrote how they pronounced it or how they thought it should be written.

1. Before 1900, Verdenermoor belonged to the Parish Kirchlinteln.  This is a place immediately to the east of Verden and was previously called "Lintelohe."  The church is named St. Peter's.  Towards the end of 1758, the old church books were destroyed in a fire at the parish house, but from 1759 on, they are complete.  There are duplicates of the lost church books in the State Archive at Stade for the years 1715-1726, 1746, 1751, 1752. 
There is an online databank, Local Heritage Books of Kirchlinteln, where you can find birth, death and marriage dates about persons living in that parish.  Sometimes there is more information about the employment of a person, the place of residence or other personal, historical or religious facts.  Other neighboring parishes from Kirchlinteln are Wittlohe, Kirchwahlingen, Rethem, St. Andreas in Verden, Visselhoevede, Kirchboitzen, and Walsrode.

2. You can also get information in the Local Heritage Books of Wittlohe.  The church is named St. Jacobi.  These books contain all dates from the church books from 1715 - 1875 and dates of the civil registrar's office.  There are also duplicates in the State Archive in Stade.  The church books of Wittlohe burned because of a fire in the village in 1742.  From 1743, they are kept complete.  Since the Reformation in 1567, ministers lived in the parish Wittlohe.  In 1859, the village Neddenaverbergen, which is a small village next to Verdenermoor, was integreted to the parish Wittlohe.

3. I made a find in the Local Heritage Books of Verden because Neddenaverbergen, in the next neighborhood to Verdenermoor, belonged to this parish up to the middle of the 19th century.  The church of Verden was named St. Andreas.  These books are not yet completed and are in the beginning of their examination.

4. I made a find in the Church Books of Kirchwalsede.  Here you can find a list of the names of my family Tietje who had immigrated.  This is because the descendents of the family Schwiebert made a list of a great number of names and dates for several generations about the family.  My immigrated ggg-grandmother was born a Schwiebert.  A large number of Schwiebert ancestors immigrated to Ohio.

5. Of great interest is a book about the old farms and their former inhabitants written by Otto Voigt in 1993.  The title is Bauernreihen in den Dorfern der Kirchspiele des alten Amtes Verden."  Translation: Rows of Farms in the Villages of the Parishes from the Old Area of Verden.

6. The index of all names of persons from Neddenaverbergen, a collection from genealogists of the area.

Stay tuned for more on the family Tietje from Kerstin!

(This post originally appeared on my other blog in 2011.)

Herman Hinrich Tietje, Immigrant

To continue the story of the Tietje immigrants, from Kerstin:

Herman Hinrich Johann Tietje,
"Henry"
Born: March 7, 1835 in Neddenaverbergen (earlier name for Verdenermoor), son of Margarethe Tidge. (Source: Register of Births, Kirchwalsede, Nr. 335141

Employment: Farmer in Neddenaverbergen
In 1858, he is listed in a very old list of inhabitants and residents as a 'soldier.'
Residence: He lived together with his mother and his aunt Marie in Verdenermoor.  The place of the farm included a house and a barn.
Farm (Hof) Nr. 84 in Neddenaverbergen.  The same place was called later, since 1860, Verdenermoor, Nr. 15

Marriage: He married in the church of Wittlohe, St. Jacobi, May 20, 1859, near Verden. (Sources: Document Nr. 1859/04.  The marriage document is available in the archive of Verden.  Church Books of Wittlohe Marriages 1853-1875)

Immigration: To the U.S. in 1888.  (Some sources say 1884.)
Sale Before Immigration:  "In 1874, Hermann Hinrich Tietje has taken off all loads from his farm.  In 1881 he sold the farm and immigrated with his family in 1884 to America.  A man named Christian Kruse, who lived in Verdenermoor Nr. 1 (Krusenshof) bought this farm and paid 750 Marks for it because the farms lay close to each other. "
(Source:Wittlohe records)
Henry's farm was pulled down in 1890 and from that time, the place all belonged to Verdenermoor Nr. 1.

Henry had no brothers or sisters.
His Father: Johann Hinrich Kohler, born about 1805, came from Leeste near Kirchweyhe.  He was registered to be a soldier.  Henry's name is often put together with the name Kohler in brackets.  But Henry kept the name Tietje from his mother.  I could find no more information about Henry's father.

His Mother: Margaretha Tietjen, born December 16, 1802 in Verdenermoor. (Source: Wittlohe records, "Born in house Nr. 84, close to Verdenermoor.")
In the church book of Kirchlinteln, baptisms in 1802, Lutheran:
"Johann Tietje, new farmer in Verdenermoor, and his wife Margretha, nee Bockelman, had born a daughter on 16th, called Margretha."  Witnesses for the baptism were Anna Engel Bockelmann, Sophia Bockelmann from Linteloh, and Catharina Margretha Tietje, Verdenermoor.
Margarethe had seven brothers and sisters:

1. Johann Hinrich Dietrich Tiedge, born 1790, Verdenermoor
2. Anne Marie Catherine Engel Tiedge, born 1791
3. Johann Christian Georg Tiedge, born 1794
4. Jurgen Hinrich Tiedge, born 1795, farmer
5. Johann (Dietrich) Tietje, born 1796.  He was a joiner and a farmer.  He took over Hof Nr. 64 in 1852.  In the records is this note: 'The man was found dead in his workshop without injury.  He was buried on September 20, 1865 in Neddenavebergen.'
6. Catharina Sophia Tietje, born 1800 Verdenermoor, died 1860 in Wittlohe
7. Trine Lieschen Marie Sophie Tiedge, born 1805 in Verdenermoo

The Wittlohe records state that "Margarethe und Johann Hinrich Kohler lived together and there is a marriage-contract.  Margarethe's father is Johann Tietje, born about 1760, a new farmer, also called Tiedje."

Kerstin writes that Henry grew up with his mother, Margrethe and his aunt Marie Tietje (See #2 sibling above-Anne Marie Catherine Engel)
An article in Verdener Anzeigenblatt, September 29, 1942, written by Heinrich Ludemann, tells this story of Aunt Marie Tietje:
"The Countrywoman and the Captain
This is the story of Marie Tietje, who was the owner of the farm, Nr. 84. This farm was next to the today's farm, Bokeloh (Krusenhof), Verdenermoor Nr. 1 and seemed to be something of the kind of a poorhouse for a time. 
It happened in the time of the last king of Hannover, George V. A countrywoman from Verdenermoor had built a new barn without the agreement of the other farmers.  So they protested against it, and the captain of the civil office, Mr. Oehlrich, came on horseback from Verden to Neddenaverbergen and they all walked together to the barn.  They had decided that the barn must be pulled down.
At that moment, Marie Tietje appeared and gave a sealed message to the captain, saying, "Dor stick man de Nas' mal rin!" (This is Plattdutsch meaning, "There you have it and put it in your nose!")
It was a message from Hannover in which King George had given his personal permission that Marie could keep the barn. 
 Loathingly, the captain said to her, "Woman, how did the devil guide you to the king?"
Marie answered, "It wasn't the devil; it was God."
The other farmers and the captain had to go home unsuccessfully.  Later the captain learned that the countrywoman had asked the King for an audience, and that she arrived in Hannover wearing wooden shoes."

King George V of Hannover

Marie inherited the farm about 1869.  She was married twice.  She lived together with her sister, Margarethe and her nephew, Hermann Hinrich Johann Tietje.
In the Index of All Names of People from Neddenaverbergen/ Verdenermoor, Kerstin found a notice that an ancestor of the buyer of Henry's farm in 1887, who was also called Christian Kruse, had bought the farm next to Henry's farm, Verdenermoor Nr. 1, many years before in 1816 because of bankruptcy.  The former owner was a man named Johann Tiegen.  So maybe it could have been Henry's grandfather who first owned what is now Krusenhof.  His wife died in 1811 and they left 8 children, some very young.  It is a possibility to be explored.
Today the old farm house is still preserved and is a very beautiful holiday farm with some new houses for guests.  It is next to the house where Marie and Margarethe lived and where Henry and later his children were born.

Henry's mother, Margarethe Tietje, died on November 12, 1876 in Neddenaverbergen, Nr. 84 and was buried there on the 16th.  In the Wittlohe records, we can read, "...she died because of weakness of old age on 12 November 1876.  By request of the son and acceptance of the minister Ohnesorg of Wittlohe, the body was buried at Neddenaverbergen."

(This post originally appeared on my other blog in 2011. I am deleting the blog, A Face to the Sun.)