52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 17 “In Worship”

St Anthony Church, Oberselters, Hesse, Germany
photo credit Volker Thies (Asdrubal)

Our family has long and deep connections with the Roman Catholic Church. Three of my four grandparents come from generations of Catholics. The fourth, a Norwegian, came from a country with a state mandated religion. Most of these churches kept very detailed records of their parishioners. I use the word most because the Irish records record only minimal information.

Most of my family research has been done with Church Records since in many instances they pre-date state or town vital records.

My paternal grandfather, Adolph Hansen was born in Oslo, Norway. His father was a music instructor in the Norwegian Army, so Adolph and his siblings were christened in the military parish of the Akershus Garrison of the Akershus Fortress in Oslo, Using these records I have been able to trace this family’s roots back to 1800 in spite of the use of partonomic naming system. Norwegian church records for a christening include the name, age, and birthplace of the parents of the child in addition to the sponsors. Marriage records include name, age, and birthplace of both the bride and groom and their parents.  In Norway, Confirmation was required before marriage, thus adding another record of a person’s life. After he immigrated, it does not appear that my grandfather practiced his Lutheran faith since he married a Roman Catholic and his children were raised Catholic.

My paternal grandmother, Henrietta Burbach was raised in the Catholic religion by her German parents and grandparents. Her grandfather Georg Burbach had grown-up in Oberselters, Hesse Nassau, Prussia. His family had lived there since 1732 as recorded in the Church Records of St Anthony Parish in Oberselters. German church records included the names, ages, and birthplaces of all the individuals named in a record and also included the father’s occupation. As with other Catholic parish records, the sponsors of a child’s baptism were often a sibling or other relative of the parents. About 1848, Georg Burbach left Oberselters and journeyed to Villmar, a farming village about 15 kilometers from Oberselters. There he met and married Catharina Caspari. They were married in Sts. Peter and Paul Church, where they would bury their first-born son, Adam, just before they left for America with their two remaining sons, Hermann and Johann. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they settled, they became members of St Joseph Parish. That is where their children and grandchildren grew-up. St Joseph Church would see Burbach Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, and Burials from the 1860s through the 1930s and perhaps later.

Meanwhile in Limerick, Ireland Michael Connery and Alice Fleming would grow up in adjacent villages. Alice, the baby of her family, was baptized in Ballylanders but would need to travel to Michigan for her marriage. Alice received her sacraments at the Church of the Assumption in Ballylanders before traveling to America in 1892. Michael Connery attended St Andrew’s parish while he lived in Kilfinane, Limerick. Both Irish parish churches were established in the 1700s. Irish church records usually only tell the name of the child, parents, and sponsors. Only occasionally will they name the place people were from, What to include seemed to be at the discretion of the priest.

The Catholic Church has played an important role in my family history and is still practiced by many branches of the family both descendants of my German ancestors and Irish ancestors.