GERMAN RECORDS FOR ROMAN DERRA
I am researching ROMAN DERRA who immigrated to America in Nov 1894. His occupation was FARMER. When leaving Germany, Roman ported out of BREMEN and came to America through Ellis Island. The ships passenger list from Bremen were destroyed during WWII and the ships manifest at Ellis Island were destroyed by fire in 1912. I have found a lot of information on Roman in America, but am having a problem in finding information on him in Bavaria. Roman’s future wife ANNA MARIA DEISSENBERGER came from a village in Bavaria called STETTEN. She immigrated to America in the early part of 1893. She and Roman married in a Catholic Church in America on Jan 1894. In an article announcing their fiftieth wedding anniversary, it stated they were childhood sweethearts while in Germany. I found a lot of Catholic Church records in Germany on Anna’s family, but the church archivist could not find anything in the church records on Roman. I do not know if Roman was Catholic or Lutheran.
I did find Roman had a sister BARBARA who married in Germany in 1881 to JOHN OECHSNER, who was Lutheran. John and Barbara had two children FRANK AND PETER who were born in Germany. John and Barbara and their two sons immigrated to America in 1890. Found Frank and Peter’s naturalization papers and they stated they were born at FRITZENDORF. I googled Fritzendorf which said this was a farming community and there was no church there. That the people went to church at ROSENBERG. This is where I have a brick wall. Cannot find any further information on Roman. Would like to find out who his parent where, where did he come from, and did he have any other siblings besides Barbara. Was there a German census for the 1870 or 1880’s. I am thinking Roman’s name may have been misspelled or changed, and that is the reason I cannot find more information on him. Any help will be appreciated.
Comentarios
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According to Meyers Gazetteer, the Catholic Parish for both Fritzendorf and Rosenberg is Insterburg. But the Protestant Parish for Fritzendorf is Molthainen (3 miles away) and for Rosenberg the Protestant Parish is Friedenberg which is 9 miles from Fritzendorf.
So if Roman was a Lutheran you may want to investigate the Molthainen parish records if they can be found. It is very possible that Roman "Americanized" his name so that could be a problem. If you could find the 1881 marriage record for Johann Oeschner and Barbara or birth records for their sons Franz and Peter Oeschner that may help.
If you know where and when Roman died it can be very productive to find his death announcement in the local German language newspaper.
Edit:
The ships passenger log is still available, 02 Nov 1893, ship Spree. He went by Roman Derra at the time.
Edit 2:
I see Roman and Anna married in La Salle, Illinois on 9 Jan 1893. Have you requested a copy of their church marriage record from the Catholic Diocese for La Salle. These will often have parents names. Also, have you requested a copy of the civil marriage records from La Salle County? And copies of their death certificates?
Edit 3: Are you sure Anna was from Bavaria? That is very far from the East Prussian villages given for Roman's sister Barbara. That makes it unlikely that Anna and Roman were childhood sweethearts. Perhaps she was from Stettin? (now Szczecin Poland) which is much closer but still quite some distance.
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I did contact the Catholic Church in LaSalle Co. IL. They are a fussy group and did not want to take the time to check the church records. I did contact them several time and did get in contact with someone who was a little more cooperative. She said that in the marriage records and well as the death record, their was no mention of name of parents or place in Bavaria where he came from. She also told me they do not do genealogy anymore. I checked Roman's naturalization record and all it stated was he came from Bavaria, but did not state where in Bavaria. I have a copy of his death record, the same response as the other records. His obituary did not state where in Bavaria he came from. It seems like I am at a dead end. As far as the Oechsner's I do not know where or what church they married in. I did contact the Catholic Church that they were buried from no longer keep records. One dead end after another. But I am not quite ready to give in yet! I will try other places to see how far it will take me. Thank you for your help and suggestions.
Best Regarts😉
BB Allen
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Had done more reseach on the two son's Frank and Peter born in Germany. Found their U.S. military WWI draft records. Frank stated he was born at Holzendorf, Germany and Peter said he was born at Fussendorf, Germany. Where are these two places located from Stetten Bavaria?
Yes, Anna was born in Stetten, Bavaria Germany. I have a copy of her birth church record. And she herself said she was born in Bavaria when she filled out a form when she went back to Germany for a visit shortly before WWI.
Regards,
BBAllen
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Do you know Meyers Gazetteer (https://s.meyersgaz.org/)? This is the primary source for finding German places in the time frame of the German Empire (1871-1918).
Entering "Stetten" in the search field and filtering the results by the region "Bayern" returns 20+ places with this name. Which one is your Stetten?
There are 4 places called "Holzendorf", but none in Bavaria; "Fussendorf" returns no result.
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Franks draft record actually says he was born in "Felzendorf, Germany" if you look at the image. Someone has apparently misread it as Holzendorf. However, there is no Felzendorf to be found in Germany. His naturalization papers (which should be most accurate) say he was born in Fitzendorf.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7T38-MH3Z?treeref=GF98-3GB
Fitzendorf actually exists and is in the Unterfranken region of Bavaria (Bavaria is called Bayern):
https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/10488115
Which Stetten in Bavaria is Anna's birth record from? There is a Stetten in the Unterfranken region of Bavaria but it is roughly 50 miles from Fitzendorf so not very close. But Barbara's kids were born many years after Roman was born so she and her husband may have relocated from the Stetten area to Fitzendorf.
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Anna was born in Stetten in the Unterfranken region of Bavaria. Since I am having a problem in finding informaation on Roman, I thought I would go through his sister Barbara. Barbara died in 1937. Frank her son gave the information for her death certificatae. Frank stated Barbara's Father was Thomas Derra and her Mother's name was Margaret (maiden name unknown). Barbara and her husband John Oechsner married in 1881 in Germany, where I do not know.
I tried looking through the Meyers Gazetteer this morning, but it is in German, and I don't read German (just know a few words). Since I'm not familiar with the region's of Germany and I don't understand the language I was wondering if you would like to pursue in finding the information on Roman? Would you know if there is a German census for the 1870's and 1880's for that region of Bavaria? This morning I also tried looking through the "Marriag and Residence Records" but they too are written in German. Frank had a brother who also was born born in Germany and he too stated on his naturalization papers he was born in Fitzendorf. This is about all the information I have on the Derra family. If you would like the pursue this project please let me know.
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According to the Meyers Gazetteer there are 2 Protestant Churches in Wurtzberg. Would someone know how I can get in contact with these 2 churches?
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Hello @BBAllen
Here is one thought I have on the Derra family:
The family name "Derra" is quite rare in Germany. According to https://nachnamen.net/nachname-derra there are today 449 people in Germany with this surname. Checking the entries in the phone directory (https://www.dastelefonbuch.de/Suche/Derra#karte) shows a cluster of "Derra" about 40 miles north of Nürnberg (Nuremberg), specifically in the villages Neubrunn (https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/20258086) and Breitbrunn (https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/10231084) in Unterfranken. This clustering may mean that here is the origin of the Derra family.
Unfortunately, the church books of these villages seem not to be available online. You may want to contact the parish in Kirchlauter (pfarrei.kirchlauter@bistum-wuerzburg.de) which today is responsible for all churches in the region and ask about the availability/accessibility of the historic church books. They may have been transferred to some archive.
There is of course no guarantee that Roman Derra came from one of these villages. But it may be worth a try. Note that Fitzendorf is only about 10 miles away.
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Thank you for the information. You may be onto something. I will take your advise and look into this. Hopfully this will lead me on to something. Again, thank you ever so much. If I find anything out, I will let you know.
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The lutheran church of Fitzendorf belongs to Burgpreppach. You can find the church records here:
Maybe you find something here. But you have to pay about 19.90 Euros for a month. Or you find someone who has already got an account.
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