Family History Notes - Fiebiger

FIEBIGER, Ernst August (13/4/1808-27/11/1863) Born Freistadt, Kreis Freistadt, Silesia, Prussia. Died Flaxman Valley SA. Weaver from Freistadt. Weaver, farmer; Hahndorf, Moculta, Flaxman Valley. Lutheran. m (2) 3/7/1851 Lutheran Church Langmeil, Charlotte nee Schneider.

FIEBIGER, Mrs EA nee Anna Rosine ? (//c1807-14/4/1849) Died Hahndorf SA, of consumption.

FIEBIGER, Heinrich August (4/12/1837-7/2/1908) Born Freistadt, Kreis Freistadt, Silesia, Prussia. Died Keyneton SA. Farmer; Flaxman Valley then Farmer, Clerk, Commission Agent; North Rhine (Keyneton). Lutheran. m 21/8/1862 Lutheran Church Grünberg, Dorothea Elisabeth nee Rothe.

FIEBIGER, Ernst Adolf (13/6/1839-27/11/1863) Born Freistadt, Kreis Freistadt, Silesia, Prussia. Died Flaxman Valley SA (of near Truro), of dropsy. Shepherd; Moculta, Flaxman Valley, Truro. Lutheran. Never married.

Letter 14 February 2006

Dear Cheryl

At last, some free time to attend to my very tardy correspondence.

Despite my best endeavours, I cannot find any references to a Fiebiger emigration in my passenger lists, even by closely studying the multitude of mis-spelt surnames still waiting to be identified in the 1840s lists.

You are also quite out of luck in hopes to find references to either the Fiebiger or Paschke families at Hahndorf. No one received title to land in Hahndorf until 1853, a process which lasted several years, because the prospective owners were still paying off the considerable sums of money borrowed to make the initial purchases in 1839. Because the law did not require records of leases less than three years to be registered in the old Land Office, nothing has survived of any of these short-term arrangements in such an out-of-the way place as Hahndorf. Even the founding families which remained in the village swapped land around before 1853, and so it is very much a lottery to determine where people lived during this period.

I should think that the Fiebigers moved to Grünberg in 1854 to become foundation settlers in sympathy with other Hahndorf residents who were extremely angry when the Supreme Court judgement went against Pastor Kavel in regards to the ownership of Hahndorf’s Lutheran Manse. You should read the story of the foundation of Grünberg, found in so many publications – read as many references as possible to get the story clear, as it is so very complicated.

Because the Fiebigers were evidently Kavel supporters, you are out of luck again, because all of Pastor Kavel’s vital records are no longer in existence. However, you could look amongst Pastor Fritzsche’s Hahndorf records in the Lobethal books to see whether your family had him conduct a baptism etc – rather unlikely, I should say, but perhaps it is worth the effort to ease your mind about the possibility. Pastor Fritzsche’s Hahndorf supporters won the Manse court case.

You may be lucky to find the first Mrs Fiebiger’s maiden name. Through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, you can order microfilm of Silesian church records to be read in that Church’s research centres in Adelaide, and I believe now also at the SA Genealogy and Heraldry Society rooms on Unley Road. The surviving old church books for the 1830s would be available to you in this way. It also occurs to me that records of some of the trades guilds might have survived in some way as well. You would have to consult an index to the holdings to see what is there.

However, this brings you to another problem – does the Freistadt referred to as the place of origin for your Fiebigers refer to the Kreis or the Kreisstadt? It would be sensible to start with the city records first (especially as EA Fiebiger was a weaver), and failing any mention of Fiebigers there, then to use an atlas to go out in circles from Freistadt to search nearby towns systematically. Under the Third Reich, Freistadt was renamed Freystadt. The modern Polish name is Kozuchow. You must order microfilm under the Polish name and then also supply the former German name. I can see that you will have to arm yourself with good maps for this part of the world.

You could also search the appropriate archives in Saxony for the origins of Charlotte Schneider. Fortunately, Saxony is still part of Germany, which simplifies your task. My friend, Gilbert Materne, visited some of these places last year, and also went to archives in Leipzig. Perhaps he may be able to give you some addresses and information as to how this search could be conducted. Gilbert could also advise you about the possibility of ordering the Mormon microfilm from the Genealogy Society, as he is on the Society’s management committee. His address is 61 Davenport Tce, Wayville 5034 Phone 8272 0683.

I would think it a possibility that both the Fiebigers and Paschkes had relatives living in Hahndorf before these two families arrived. The majority of the foundation Hahndorf settlers came from Kreis Züllichau-Schwiebus, from where the Paschkes also originated. Beginning with the George Washington in 1844, a significant number of families also came from Kreis Freistadt in Silesia, during the 1840s, from where the Fiebiger family originated. You should study David Schubert’s translation of W Iwan’s book Because of their beliefs and Clifford Neal Smith’s Monograph No 7 entitled 19^th Century emigration of Old Lutherans from Eastern Germany, where the emigrants are listed according to their place of origin.

My apologies for having written a rather complicated letter, but the background to what you want to know is not at all a simple matter to understand. It was kind of you to provide a stamped envelope. Hopefully, I have provided a few ideas to take your research forward during 2006. Best of luck for the future.

Yours sincerely