Maria Sybilla (Frizol) Linden (abt. 1728)

Born about 10 Oct 1728 in Neckar, Wuerttemberg

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Grimm, Saratov, Russia

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Biography

Sybilla (Frizol) Linden was a Volga German.

Sybilla (Frizol) Linden has German Roots.

Family #24 in the 1775 Grimm census.

Germany-Denmark-Russia

Family B-983 in The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766.

Family Rus14-28 in The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766.

Family #24 in the 1775 Grimm census.

Maria Sibilla Frizol was born 10 Oct 1728, from Neckar, Wuerttemberg. Her husband Heinrich Linden was born in 1734 in Staffort, Karlsruhe, Markgrafshaft Baden-Durlach. Those villages were about 25 miles apart in southwest Germany. They married about 1755, and had two children before 1760:

• Eva Margaretha, born in 1757
• Elisabeth, born in 1759

Much of the southern tier of Germany had been ravaged by war and famine. As a day laborer, Maria Sybilla's husband was not very skilled. He took on menial jobs a low daily wage. He was concerned about being able to provide for his family, as well as to find a way for his children to lead a better life than he had.

In 1759, Danish King Frederick V invited Germans from Hessen and the Palantinate to help settle the area of Schleswig-Holstein, at that time under the control of the Danes. The king was interested in converting the marsh lands to arable farm land. Germans were known for their good farming skills and for being hard workers, so it seemed like a win-win situation both both Danes and Germans. She and her husband decided the opportunity to immigrate to Denmark with their family was too attractive to pass up.

The couple and their family arrived in the city of Schleswig, Denmark on 09 May 1761 and took their oath of alliegence to Denmark on 24 July 1761. ^[1] In August of 1761 the lived at 19 Staffeldt in Colony G2 Friderichsfeld, in the district of Gottorf. While living in Denmark, a third child was born, Maria Barbara, in 1763.^[1]

The marshlands were very inhospitable to all farmers, especially an inexperienced one like Heinrich. Although Germans were good farmers with typical farm land, it was far more difficult to convert these former wetlands and grow crops. Most of the German immigrants barely reaped enough to feed their families, let alone to provide food for others in Denmark.

In 1764 Heinrich was relieved of his duties. Those like him who lost their jobs, and there were many of them, did so because of their inability to turn the inhospitable marshlands into fertile fields.

Around that same time, Catherine the Great invited Germans to immigrate to Russia. This offered Maria Sybilla and Heinrich an opportunity for a new, prosperous life.

It is unclear when the family left Denmark for Russia, but they are included on an immigration list of German Danish colonists who traveled to Grimm Russia. ^[2]

Note: There is a question about the spelling of her surname.

• Frizol
• Fritzl
• Fritzler
• Fritzle

In the 1775 Grimm census, her brother's surname is spelled Frizol, but that is almost certainly a spelling error. It was more likely spelled Fritzl or Fritzle. Most Grimm immigrants with that surname ended up spelling it Fritzler.

1775 Grimm Census ^[3]

Family # 24

Head of the Household Heinrich Linde, age 44

Wife Maria Sybilla Linde, age 44

Child #1 Maria Barbara Linde, age 12

Brother in Law Heinrich Frizol, age 20

Wife of Brother in Law Elizabeth Frizol, age 16

Research Notes

Maria Sybilla's daughter Elisabeth married a man named Heinrich Friesorger. This surname is oddly similar to Maria Sybilla's surname of Frizol, which was almost certainly misspelled. Maria Sybilla had a brother named Heinrich Frizol who was about the same age as Heinrich Friesorger. They are listed in the 1775 census in the same family. It's possible these two men were the same person.

Heinrich Friesorger does not appear in Grimm before the 1798 census. His descendants continue to use the Friesorger surname. Heinrich Frizol appears in the 1775 census, but not in the 1798 or 1834 census records. It could also be that the surname evolved to Friesorger from Frizol, instead of being a misspelling.

Because of the 20+ year gap between Maria Sybilla and younger brother Heinrich, it's also possible that Heinrich was her half brother, not a full brother. The same surname indicates that they at least at the same father but may have had different mothers.

If these two men are the same person, then it means that Maria Sybilla's daughter Elisabeth Linden/Linde married her maternal uncle, Heinrich Frizol/Friesorger. This union represents an avuncular marriage, a legitimate practice in historical Europe, as well as in modern-day Russia. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Eichhorn, Dr. Alexander, Dr. Jacob and Mary Eichhorn, The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766; Bonn, Germany and Midland Michigan, USA; Drukerei und Verlag Steinmeier GmbH & Co. Kg, Deiningen, Germany, 2012, family B-983.
2. ↑ Eichhorn, Dr. Alexander, Dr. Jacob and Mary Eichhorn, The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766; Bonn, Germany and Midland Michigan, USA; Drukerei und Verlag Steinmeier GmbH & Co. Kg, Deiningen, Germany, 2012, family Rus14-28.
3. ↑ The 1775 and 1798 Census of the German Colony on the Volga, Lesnoy Karamysh, also known as Grimm; Published by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Published date: 1995; family #24 in the 1775 census, Heinrich Linde family.
4. ↑ Wikipedia, online encyclopedia, Avunculate Marriage, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avunculate_marriage.

See also:

• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagel%C3%B6hner

• VolgaGermans.org online database, research from Concordia University Center for Volga German Studies, History, Journey Through Denmark, see https://www.volgagermans.org/history/journey-through-denmark.

• VolgaGermans.org online database, research from Concordia University Center for Volga German Studies, Who Are Volga Germans, Settlements, Original, Grimm, see https://www.volgagermans.org/who-are-volga-germans/settlements/original/grimm.