G2G: Are there records available for Breslau Prussia (1810-1840}} {Now Wroclaw Poland}

Question

My paternal line was WEITZ who listed their place of birth as Breslau, Silesia, Prussia, but is now Wroclaw Polalnd. Gustav Weitz and Wife, Mathida (?Fellers/Sellers) arrived in NYC from Bremen   . He was listed as a watchmaker. I believe they soon moved to Buffalo NY where 4 eons were Baptized. They returned to NYC by 1860 where he was listed as a jeweler. He siddapears between 1850 and 1870 when I find her remarried to William Stoudt, another immigrant, and by 1870, she has another child, along with the Weitz children, living in Cantebury, CT.  By 1880, they are in Boston MS where she died 2 Jun 1885, having 2 more Stoudt children. He  was apparently a vet as he is in the Old Soldiers Home in 1900 in Suffolk NY. I need to find her maiden name and  their parents and marriage, but so far, I have had no luck finding any German Records in Poland. I had a friend from Berlin to go Wroclaw, but he came up empty as well. Oddly, Gus may be the Gus White, who died on a Union ship on the way to the Gulv of Mexico in 1864, when the ship was hit by a rogue wave. Why a jeweler would join the Navy is a huge question unless his business was not doing well. He was also an opera singer in Buffalo, where there are other Weitz families, though their relationship is unknow. Given the sons baptismal Certificates were in Latin, I think they were Catholic, since I think the Lutheran records are not in Latin, though they could have been in the 1850=1860  range. I have been stuck for 30 years. Brought up to think I was of German heritage, they are the only two who state the were Prussian and sailed from Bremenhaven. My DNA markers link me more often to living Swedes. so I do not know for certain, except for their immigration papers, that they wee from Breslaau. Her death certificate says the same, but I have found no death for him in NY, only the list on a Naval list of deaths. Weitz would have translated to White, so the Gustav White listed could be him as the Ship had left NYC for the Gulf of Mexico to blockade aide to the Confederacy coming in from Mexico. A watchmaker/jeweler would not seem to be the ideal person to put on a ship. Any ideas greatly appreciated. I looked at the Germany project but could not find help there.  Thanks in Advance. Karen Weitz {Wood-140}.

Answer 1

Have you looked in FamilySearch? The catalogs shows a lot of resources for Breslau.

Breslau was a large city, and had numerous parishes. According to Meyers Gazetteer Breslau had 24 Catholic parishes, 18 Evangelical Parrish’s, 10 synagogues, and 2 church of another, unspecified, denomination. Meyers Gazetteer also indicates many other parishes (all kinds) within a few miles of Breslau.

It is possible they weren’t actually from Breslau, but from a town/village very near Breslau. Without a definitive place, your chances of success diminish.

Comments

Thank you. I'll check again. They may have been added since I last looked. Good idea!

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Hello,

you find a very detailed site (in German) about research in Breslau here: https://www.christoph-www.de/breslau%201.html

Your first should search the family in an Adress book, then you need to find out to which parish the place belonged, and if you are very very lucky you find church books of that time.

Best regards

Bettina

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I had a look in 1848: https://digital.martin-opitz-bibliothek.de/detailseite/id/1810/page/215?tx_dlf%5Bdouble%5D=0&cHash=84a892a3aaa4961a20aa832de07eaafc

Even for a rare profession like watchmaker/Uhrmacher I find one entry for Weiß and one for Weitz. Just initials are given, and you also need to consider that in his 30s, he still could be living in his fathers household. (Who might have had a different occupation of course.)

A needle in a haystack...

Best regards

Bettina

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THANK you. I am pretty sure the name was unaltered as he was literate. Can you tell me where you found such a record for a Weitz. The only other way I've seen it spelled in print is Weiss, which in script would be Weitz. Maybe, if I can find that record, it will lead somewhere. He gave his age on the ship manifest as being born around 1817, but he did not give a date and since there is no definite death ceretificate, unless the Union Navy, which was unofficial then, has one for a drowned sailor, the age in the Naval Archives lined up with about 1817. Do you know the date  you found a Weitz? His employment in NYC as he entered was watch maker, and in Buffalo, watchmaker/Opera singer, but back in NYC, jeweler. I'd love to search areas near there for a marriage certificate for Mathilda or Matilda ____ (sons gave her name as either Sellers or Fellers, neither of which seem to fit the area, but perhaps I can track her down b y one day or the other. Thank you as that is the first listing of any Weitz near or in Breslau. All the rest seem to come from Russia, later in time.  Given the Baptism, I'm guessing he was either Lutheran or Catholic and I know one generation down,, there was a rift in the family, when my grandfather was born in Boston, though his parents were living in Providence RI. A pparently the Boston part of the family wanted him baptized in the Catholic church but his mother, coming from Scotland and not a Jacobite, refused, so he was kidnapped by his uncle and baptized in Boston, which may have been the last time he went to Church. She had just come from England, having left Edinburgh, and married him not long after the family settled in Providence.

 I'd like to look for records of Baptism for the oldest son, George, who gave his year of birth as 1846, Germany. His older sister, Clara, seems to have died young, being born in 1845. So likely marriage record might be in the 1840's Mathilda age on immigration was 23 and in 1870, she was 43 and still having children.Gus gave his age on immigraton as 33, but in the last found Census in 1860, he's only 40, so his birth year is uncertain. They arrived on the ship Gaston into NYC from Bremanhaven on Aug 21 1850. Her children with here were Clara, 3, George, 2, and Anna, b. 1849. George and Anna both married, so their ages are correct. Anna was born Dec 1849, so she was not yet i when she arrived with her parents. I've looked on Family Search but have not found any records for Breslau.   I did find the immigration records on a film at FHL.

Thanks for anywhere you can tell me to look.  This is a long standing brick wall!

Karen

Answer 2

Records for Breslau can be a problem.  My mother was born there and her birth record was among the many at Breslau destroyed during World War II.

Apparently, that happened to a lot of older records there.

Comments

My Berliner friend who was actually born in Breslau during WWII, says there are records but often Polish officials don't really seem to look very hard, which I understand on some level. He had difficulty  getting a birth certificate but his mother returned to Berlin, to the home he lives in now, in Tegel, and registered his birth in Berlin as well, stating he was born in Breslaw.     Could that be the case for your Mom?