Locating the Teske Villages

With the Teske families, the challenge again was to find the CORRECT small village in Prussia from 1850 - 1870. Again, we are very fortunate - we have original documents that place our ancestors in specific villages and counties (Kreis). Thanks to Mom and her ealier documentation, we know that Julius August Frederick Teske was born 18 Nov. 1831 in Alteheide, Germany or Prussia.

We have a Reise Pass or passport issued to Julius 23 Jul. 1862, listing a birthplace of Alteheide and current place of residence in Zachan. We also have a "Loosungs Schein" indicating Julius (same birthdate and place) appeared as required to register for military duty in 1851, 52, and 53. From these, we also get the county, Kreis Saatzig, Pommerania.

I experiment with the town names at http://www.kartenmeister.com/ and eventually find Alt Heide, Kreis Saatzig, Pommern. The current name is Sierakowo, Kreis Saatzig, Province Szczecinskie, located at East 15.26;North 53.18', population in 1905: 101.

At Kartenmeister, I can also search by proximity to those coordinates to find a list of locations within 15 - 30 miles. From other stories and documents, we believe that Julius had 10 siblings, some with different birthplaces listed, so now we are looking for Alteheide, Maszeow, Suckow, and Zachan.

I find 3 of these villages on the list of locations within 15 miles of the coordinates, all but Maszeow. BUT WAIT, as I peruse the list of TESKE related villages, what do I find but Doelitz, Kreis Pyritz - the birthplace of my WAHL ancestors!!! We had NO IDEA these two families were from anywhere near each other. This will make my plan to visit these villages much simpler.

Before I leave this search, I change the parameters to search for villages within 30 miles of the coordinates and yes, I also locate Maszeow, located in a neighboring county, Kreis Naugard, north of Stargard. I am a bit curious as to how/why the family moved from village to village between 1819 and 1840, the years during which the 11 siblings were born. It's funny how finding one piece of data just leads to more areas to research.

While I am on the net, I find a site http://www.polandpoland.com/ that includes a bit of commentary and also some current day photos. I am adding the links I have referenced here today to my Links list on the right side of this page for your convenience.

More research to follow!

Origin of "Visit the Villages" Idea

I was a language major in college and made my first trip to Germany and Austria in 1971, knowing that I was of German descent, but not knowing the regions. My Mom got into genealogy research in the 80's and 90's. We eventually met cousins from Switzerland who came here for a large Meyer reunion.



In the early 90's we visited those relatives in Switzerland and I may have become "hooked" then. Since then, I have helped Mom convert early genealogy manuscripts to current word processing versions and started to do additional research myself. I love maps and the stories of how/why our ancestors left their homes and how/why they landed in Kansas. I have often said that if I had lived in the 1850's - 60's, I would have been an easterner. I say that, but I do LOVE to explore, so maybe that statement is not so accurate.



In 2000, my husband and I spent a year in France, traveling on weekends in France and surrounding countries. So now we feel comfortable making our way around the European countryside, driving on country roads, taking public transportation when it gets us to our destination. As we spend more time in Europe, I began to realize that I want to see the places my ancestors left before moving to the U.S. all those years ago.



About four years ago, that became my goal. Now, opportunity is knocking. While attending an academic conference last May in France, we learned the 2010 conference is in Posen (Posnan), Poland. NO MORE EXCUSES! Let the planning begin!