November 9
Today in Family History ~
In 1700 – my 6th great grandparents Jakob Johann Wenceslaus Leyies-Trauden and Anna Ottilia Schwartz were married in the Reformed Church of Contwig, Southwestern Germany, near the border with Lorraine. These were ancestors of my grandmother Leies. In this time period, the Leies surname was Trauden Leyies/Layies Trauden and recorded in church records as Lais, Leis, Loys, Trauden, Trauten, Traudi, Trauti, Traut, Leys, etc. Genealogists have speculated that Trauden was a mother’s surname at one point. But nobody really knows. Jakob was the son of Wenceslaus (Wentz) Trauden Leyies and a woman whose name is unknown.
After the Thirty Years War, Wenceslaus Trauden Leyies and his family were among the first 5 immigrant families to settle in the district of Oberhausen. Wenceslaus came in 1686 and purchased 1 and 1/2 lots of land in 1706. Each lot consisted of 14 acres of meadows, 3 acres of gardens, and 30 acres of manure fields. The primary source of livelihood for the inhabitants of Oberhausen was agriculture. (The information on their land was received from the Leyes family with whom we share ancestry. Their ancestor Michael moved to another village and the surname was spelled Leyes. Our ancestors moved to Nuenschweiler and it began to be spelled Leies.)
The only clue about their origin is the fact that Wenceslaus’s son Anton went by the nickname Donges and Donges is used in the High German language – one can look to see where that language was spoken at that time period. Lorraine spoke a German dialect, by the way.
Anna Ottilia Schwartz was born in the area of Oberhausen and her father Hans Adam was the local Gerichtsschoffe which is like a sheriff. We only know that her mother’s name was Magdalena. They too were members of the Reformed Church.
In 1717 – My 7th great grandparents Anna Apollonia Ziehl and Jean Michel Conrad were married in the Catholic Church of Hornbach, Germany, also near the border with Lorraine. Anna Apollonia was the daughter of farmers Johann Christian Ziehl, a farm manager, and a lady named Anna Maria Barbara from Dietrichingen.
Jean Michel was Hans Michael Conrad in the records at this time, but next to his name was the word Schweyen. I discovered that it was a village in Moselle, France. He was the first ancestor I found in my tree from France. He was baptized Jean Michel Conrad on December 3, 1697 in Loutzviller, just over the border with Germany. He was the son of Jean Gregor Conrad and Elisabetha Stauder. Jean Michel’s grandfather was named Jean Stauder dit le Suisse. “Dit le Suisse” means “known as” Jean the Swiss. Jean Stauder was born in Volmunster, France though. It was actually Jean dit le Suisse’s father who was born in Switzerland. What was he doing in France? I do not know. Jean Michel’s baptism is one of the photos attached. He too was a farmer. They were all ancestors of my grandmother too.
Finally, in 1881, also among these family members of my grandmother Leies, from this same area of Germany, there was a story printed in the Chicago Tribune newspaper involving her father’s immigrant uncle Ferdinand Bold, who had luckily survived the Grand Street Tenement Disaster in New York City. His mother-in-law and brother-in-law did not survive, while his wife was severely injured. His infant son was unscathed.
Are we related? Do you have a question about my sources or have an addition? Please email me – cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net.
Cinziarosa's Descendants (c) 