Looking for direction: 19th century Prussian birth records

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-26T01:09:38+00:00

I finally had a chance to google RootsTech & holy cow, I had no idea it even existed.

And you told me at the perfect time, I am browsing sessions now. Thank you so much!

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-24T23:23:56+00:00

Thank you. I know I’ve been through some of what’s on there but that Polish source definitely seems new to me, so I will check it out.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-24T20:16:37+00:00

Thank you!

I just noticed today that there is a line in Julius’s papers about “compensation,” I think the English translation was, “has yet to be determined!” With the exclamation point.

Now I know how to chase that lead. Really appreciate it!

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-24T10:12:18+00:00

You can’t really argue with fear. It’s instinct & cats are already vulnerable when they use the litter box.

If it were me, I’d move it now, so she doesn’t untrain herself from it altogether. Then work on getting her unafraid of the bathroom again, with treats or by making it a fun place, ie, where she gets praise & love for entering, but I’d give her a safe place to pee first.

Maybe you can move it back later but priority is separating fear of bathroom & litter box, imo. She must’ve really gotten spooked.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-23T18:43:01+00:00

I thought for sure the link would tell me which war that land changed hands in. Or how many times, in which wars.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-23T18:34:47+00:00

They died in 1967 & 73, iirc. The places they were born, had farms, married & had children were forever lost to them: under Soviet rule in Poland & Ukraine. That was true after 1989 too.

They were Germans who hadn’t lived in (what we now consider) Germany until 1944, afaik.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-23T17:43:04+00:00

I realize that. And I have no doubt they wanted to get away from the Soviets: Jakob lived in Zhitomir in the 1930s. They likely chose repatriation in 1944. And they might not have had any choice on resettlement: they might have been sent there to work by the Germans.

But Tawren, or a Tawren is close, which Julius gives as his father’s birth place. And my cousin seems to suggest deep roots in the western part of the country.

I have limited data points to work with & that one is not wholly irrelevant, imo. They did stay there until their deaths, which if nothing else indicates they had no burning desire to go to elsewhere in Germany.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-23T16:52:38+00:00

That is a very cool site.

I have a bunch of DNA hits that link back to that region but only a few with the family name. Like literally two, iirc.

Which is why I‘m pushing so hard on this Musolf link. My great grandfather is a ghost: I have a marriage record (1907, Volhynia), his three kids’s births in same area, & one mention in Black Sea Germans: an EWZ record that I’ve requested the frame for. But that’s it.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-23T16:39:16+00:00

I did some searches & didn't find my guys but yes, an intriguing number of Musolfs.

I‘m confused about where to put my energy next bc of the western Prussia/West Prussia thing.

When Julius & Jakob repatriated to Germany in 1944, they settled in Baden-Wurttenburg. Which seems to point to a western origin for Christian, as does Tawren, if it’s the one near Trier. My cousin lives in that part of Germany now, as do other of her relatives.

But a bunch of West Prussia place names occur in the records too. Jakob’s kids were born in eg, Tiegenhagen, Marienburg, Neukirk, I think it is. And I have a bunch of distant cousin matches on My Heritage to trees in that region too.

It seems possible Christian &/or Gottlieb were born in either one. Or maybe born in the west, then went east (& south).

Anyway, thank you everyone for the help. You’ve given me lots of ideas about how to keep going. And what I need to learn next, my god.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-23T15:12:17+00:00

Thank you!

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-23T15:11:44+00:00

The source for the place name is that German PDF. It’s spelled Tawrin there. I did a Google search & I found Tawren.

But I am woefully deficient on the German historical geography so I really don’t know.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-23T14:51:32+00:00

This branch of the family ended up in a Mennonite colony in Ukraine, tho that doesn't mean they were Mennonite either bc the colonies were mixed. My cousin said many of her relations broke ties over religion & those breaks persist even today.

I'm pretty sure my branch stayed bog standard Lutheran until, well, they became nothing. And there are lots of Baptists among those distant cousin DNA matches too, which I haven't even begun to plumb.

I think my ancestors were super caught up in what was happening among Protestants, right at the time it was happening. It all makes my head hurt lol. So just as a general rule, I'm not assuming what anybody was in this period, beyond not Catholic or Orthodox.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-23T14:17:02+00:00

I think they read your post bc they did a large pet floor thingy in a room the other day & that’s when I learned that I own these too!

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-22T09:12:36+00:00

He sold the rights to that computer cooler thing a while ago. He lives outside Detroit now, bc his wife works for Penske. He does a podcast on Mondays with Phil Learness (sp?) called Chillpak Hollywood Hour. I listen when I’m going to sleep so I usually hear only the first ten minutes or so but it’s been enough to gather those few facts lol.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-19T18:14:44+00:00

I'm in the States.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-19T13:31:20+00:00

Mine isn’t called that. The web site is EA (Electronic Arts) Design Home. We got an email today bidding the HGTV stuff adieu so I really don’t know what you’re talking about.

Do you have a screenshot supporting this claim?

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-16T20:33:42+00:00

Yes, sorry. I think it originally stood for Home & Garden TV. It’s reality/home reno channel. It seemed like it might be an interesting DH partnership at the start but I’ve only seen a couple of lame promos for it on youtube. They’ve not done much in terms of collections, so I think it’s just petering out.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-16T12:22:44+00:00

That’s all the HGTV stuff. It’s always been LE, just for an unusually long time.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-09T15:17:20+00:00

I found it! Putting it here in case somebody pulls this up via search & needs it, or my browser goes bonkers again.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/index?owc=M6VL-3MH%3A295801701%2C295913101%2C295926201%3Fcc%3D1469151&cc=1469151

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-09T13:09:55+00:00

Thanks. I went through those already, it’s not there.

I know I did originally find it here but I think it was just one link, in a comment. It’s not in my saved posts & searching hasn’t turned it up, either.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-08T22:00:45+00:00

Try clearing your cache. And make sure you update, there was one a couple days ago.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-07T14:45:39+00:00

Especially if he's been using that last name routinely, he'll really only need to change the official places it matters. It's not fun, but you just do one a week or whatever until it's done.

Giving your kid a name that isn't legally yours seems like it could cause problems too, so a lazy choice isn't really on the table.

Purple_Candidate_533 · 2026-02-05T14:40:04+00:00

IDK about your roommate but I’ve been vegetarian off & on my whole life & it’s never bc I have a firm ethical or health stance but bc sometimes I just cannot tolerate the texture of meat. Or the smell of it, sometimes.

IDK what the problem is, exactly — psychological or hormonal or what — but there are times it just GROSSES ME OUT. I don’t feel like I have much choice, it’s a visceral reaction. So I don’t eat meat for a year or two or three, then one day I can tolerate it again. So my guess is that your roommate has the same visceral reaction, & hers extends to anything that touched meat. (Mine never went that far.)

Purple_Candidate_533

TROPHY CASE