This chapter reports an error in the prior search for the ancestors of Peter Meÿer and how the problem was resolved.
Birth and Baptism Record
From the birth and baptism record of Margaretha Meÿer/Meier[1] (See Chapter: Generation 2: Heinrich Cordes and Margaretha Meier), Margaretha’s father’s name was Peter Meÿer and her mother’s name was Anna Gerken.
A research genealogist in Germany[2] searched the Scheeßel Church records for Peter Meÿer and found a Peter Meÿer who was born 31 Oct 1809 to Johann Diedrich Meÿer and Margrethe nee Dreyer from Lauenbrück:
The genealogist then located and sent copies of church records for the ancestors of these two parents. The ancestry of Peter Meÿer that Norma (Kirmse) Rauh put together was based on these church records.
The Problem
There were two reasons to believe that this is not the correct Peter Meÿer birth record – the date of birth and the location where the parents lived.
Birth Date
The above Peter Meÿer is about 5 years older than the records I have for my Peter Meÿer (Meier):
- In the S.S. Frankfurt, New Orleans, 1869 passenger manifest, Peter was 55 years old when he immigrated to the US – so he was born about 1814. (See chapter: Peter Meÿer Family Arrived in New Orleans)
- Peter Meÿer was born about 1814 according to the 1870 US Census.
- The Salem Lutheran Church – Farrar, Missouri burial records has that Peter Meier was born 14 Jun 1814 and he died 30 Jun 1894. This death date corresponds with my Peter Meier’s will that was probated in 1894.
Location
According to the Scheeßel Church marriage record for Peter Meÿer and Anna Gerken,
Peter is the son of Johann Meÿer living in Wenkeloh (not Lauenbrück).
Conclusion
Johann Diedrich Meÿer and Margrethe nee Dreyer from Lauenbrück are not the correct names of the parents of my Peter Meÿer[1] and hence the ancestry that had been developed for Peter Meÿer is in error.
How could this mistake have been made? Very easily. The Scheeßel Church records are voluminous and the old German scripts are difficult to transcribe and translate (e.g. See above church records)
How to Resolve The Problem?
I believed that the Peter Meÿer that I was looking for was born about 4 Jun 1814 in probably Wenkeloh, Germany and Peter’s father’s first name was Johann. There were several possible sources to try to find the correct birth records for my Peter Meÿer.
Genealogy Database byWilhelm Kranz
I checked the Peter Meÿer entries (and there are a lot of them – over 60 Peter Meÿers and hundreds of Meÿers) in the database by Wilhelm Kranz[3] but with no luck. The database is not comprehensive – there are no Peter Meÿer entries that match either the 1809 or 1814 birth dates.
Scheeßel Church Microfilm Records
An option was to order the Scheeßel microfilm records from Familysearch.org. Since the birth date of Peter Meÿer is likely about 4 Jun 1814 and he was probably born in Wenkeloh, this should help narrow the search.[2]
Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum
There is a Scheeßel birth records project at the Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum in Altenburg, Missouri. An email requesting help was sent.
Emigration Permission Records
The birth/baptism record extract for Margaretha Meÿer (See Chapter: Generation 2: Heinrich Cordes and Margaretha Meier) was prepared a few months before the Peter Meÿer family departed from Bremerhaven. This suggests that the Peter Meÿer family went through the process of obtaining permission to emigrate. The certification of having met the emigration requirements was typically done by local governments or other civil authorities. In some instances these documents were recorded in an emigration register or other local records.
How The Problem Was Resolved
Many thanks to Daniel Oetjen who emailed on 25 Apr 2016 that “the church records say Peter Meÿer was born on July 14th, 1814 to Johann Meÿer and Margretha Tambcke in Wenkeloh. His baptism was on July 17th 1814″. The godfathers and mothers of Peter Meÿer were:
Johann Hollmann, Häusling in Bartelsdorf
Hans Hinrich Hoyns, Köthner in Lauenbrück
Johann Meÿer, Baumann in Helvesiek
Maria, daughter of Johann Brockmann, Häusling in Bartelsdorf
Engel, daughter of Johann Hinrich Baden, Neubauer in Wenkeloh”
Daniel also noted that records other than church records and passenger lists probably do not exist. Too bad, but if anyone should know, Daniel is the one.
Also, many thanks to Fred Eggers who emailed on 26 Apr 2016 a copy of the Scheeßel church record of Peter Meÿer’s baptism and birth:
Fred Eggers also sent the Scheeßel church baptism and birth record of Peter Meÿer’s brother, Heinrich Meÿer.
On 27 Apr 2016, Daniel Oetjen emailed “Johann Meÿer and Margaretha Tambcke married on October 9th 1809 in Scheeßel. Father of Johann Meÿer was Jochen Meÿer of Wenkeloh, father of Margaretha Tambcke was Hinrich Tambcke of Scheeßel.”
This provided the information to correct the broken link and was a great start on researching the ancestry of Peter Meÿer. Thanks to everyone for all the help.
Notes
- Initial confusion was caused by Peter Meÿer and his family changing the spelling of their last name to Meier after they arrived in Missouri.
- The Scheeßel church records were being microfilmed about the time that Norma was doing her family research. So at that time, the choice was to travel to Germany and try to read the old German scripts or hire someone to do so for you.
- Wilhelm Kranz. Genealogy database. Searched http://www.genpluswin-database.de/nofb/ofb/sittensen/index.php?id=perslist1&ia=Meÿer on 20 April 2016.
