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| 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.
