1826 Baptism von Gentzkow

Cornelia “Conny” Schneider Diederichs is an avid family researcher in Germany. She loves the hobby so much that she hunts for clues for our Gentzkow family even though it is part of her husband’s lineage.

On a cold, rainy day in March of 2016, Conny had a special cake in the oven. The next day, Werner and Christine von Gentzkow were visiting to celebrate Werner’s birthday. While the cake baked, she searched online in ancestry.com’s newly-added German Church records. After finding many of her maternal ancestors, she recalled that she searched for von Gentzkow “just for fun.”

Baptism Record

This is not a “normal” German Baptism record. Most baptisms have a short paragraph with the name of the child, the parents’ names and the names of the sponsors. This one is two pages!¹Ancestry.com. Ostholstein, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1597-1959 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. For Julius August Emil von Gentzkow. Parish of Bosau, 1829, page 508-509. From the church records of Bosau; this entry is a correction to the church record of 1826.

Conny and Jürgen Gentzcke (another Gentzkow Cousin-researcher) transcribed the long-hand into typed German. Below, the transcribed document is roughly translated into English:

Entry in the church book of Bosau – part of the Grand Duchy L. Oldenburgic Consistory –

Church baptism 1829 Page 509-510:

Correction see pag (for pagina = side) 485:

Page 485 of the church book: The note on the birthing of a boy in Bosau, dated September 18, 1826, according to official research by the Grand Duchy of the Oldenburg Consistory at Eutin and at his command to correct and supplement it:

Left margin: day of birth: 18th September 1826 in Bosau – right margin: day of baptism: 7th Sept. 1828 in Neukloster in the Duchy of Meckl. Schwerin

Julius August Emil, illegitimate son of Ida Juliane Beata Friederike von Gentzkow, owner of the estate Jatzke, located in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg, Strelitz, and Widow of the Royal Prussian Lieutenant Julius von Gentzkow, who died at Jatzke on 21st of November 1821. The mother took the boy without him being baptized from Bosau, and the baptism was carried out two years later on the 7th of September, 1828, and performed by the pastor Emil Samuel Haupt at Neukloster in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg, Schwerin. Baptism witnesses were: Advocat/attorney Diederichs of Güstrow and the Bürgermeister/mayor Ehlers of Neubukow.

For our assurance, a) the written declaration made by the mother and b) the baptismal certificate of Pastor Haupt are entered here for information, on which originals were deposited in the archive of the Grand Ducal Consistory in Eutin.

(a) I, the undersigned, hereby confess that, on the 21st of November, 1821, my spouse, the Battle-brave royal Prussian Lieutenant, Herr Julius von Gentzkow, died. On September 18th, 1826, when I was a widow in the pastorate of Bosau in the Principality of Eutin, I gave birth to a boy whom I, after surviving my confinement, took from there and had my brother, the attorney Herr Advokat Diederichs of Güstrow, house the child with the Herr Bürgermeister, the lawyer Ehlers of Neubukow. Pastor Siewersen of Bosau’s refusal to undertake the baptism of the child forced my brother to obtain it in another way. But it was not until September 7th last year that his efforts were successful, when Pastor Haupt of Neukloster carried out the baptism of the child on the day to be remembered, at which my brother and the child’s foster father, Mayor Ehlers, took the place of baptism witnesses.

I then declare that I recognize the boy, who was baptized on September 7th, 1828 by Pastor Haupt of Neukloster under the names “Julius August Emil”, for the boy I birthed on September 18th, 1826 in the pastorate at Bosau, and is therefore my biological son and assure this, as well as the truth of my given above confession with the words of eternal truth. So help me God and his holy word. I give this declaration personally as a certificate and have signed and sealed it in the presence of the witnesses. On my estate at Jatzke in Mecklenburg Strelitz, 24th September 1829, Ida Juliana Beata Friederike von Gentzkow.

The owner of the estate Jatzke, née von Gentzkow, who is well known to us, personally signed and sealed the following documents in our presence. We affirm this in lieu of an oath, Jatzke the 24th September 1829,

Julius Biermann, financial manager and Christian Friedrich Behn, overseer of the Gut (estate) of Jatzke.

b) the child born on the 18th of September 1826 in the house of Pastor Siewersen of Eutin in the Principality of Lübeck, whose parents are named and who was not baptized at the time due to certain circumstances and has not been baptized until now, according to the order and in Names of the above-mentioned pastor Siewersen of Eutin, as compatierenden preacher, and at the same request of the charge d’affaires of the child’s mother, Mr. Diederichs from Güstrow, who is currently here, as well as the child’s foster father, the Bürgermeister Ehlers from Neubukow (according to previously made statement by the latter that the same was really the child born in Bosau and not yet baptized) baptized by myself here today on September 7, 1828 , and received the names Julius August Emil . The two aforementioned gentlemen were witnesses to the christening: the Advokat Diederichs from Güstrow and the Bürgermeister Ehlers from Neubukow.

At the request of the compatierende preacher and for the purpose of subsequent insertion in the parish register at Bosau, I will personally issue this testimony sub fide pastorali and seal it with the local church seal.

At Neukloster in the Wismar church district of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Schwerin on the 7th of Sept. 1828.

Erich Samuel Haupt, Preacher, Bosau, the 21st of December 1829.

Details in this baptism record

Wow, there is a LOT of information in this document! First, the child is born in Bosau (at the house of Paster Siewersen). His mother is Julie von Gentzkow, the owner of the Gut (estate) at Jatzke. Bosau and Jatzke are about 300 km apart.

Second, the child was baptized two years after his birth at Neukloster. In the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church of the early 1800s, this is very unusual; children were baptized soon after birth.

Third, the mother placed the child with the Bürgermeister of Neubukow with the assistance of her brother, Advokat Franz Gottlieb Diederichs from Güstrow. Advokat Diederichs is actually Julie’s half brother, through their mother’s first marriage.

But wait, there’s more!

The full story of this child’s birth is told in the Corrections to the Church Books.²Ancestry.com. Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1971 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Oldenburg>Bosau>Verschiedene Akten 1826-1882. Berichtigungen von Kirchenbüchern: Eutin-Bosau [Corrections to Church Books]. Conny found pages and pages AND PAGES of letters and testimony. This image is item 8a of the correction book – the first part of a letter from Advokat Diederichs:

In this Book of Corrections, we find several other details:

Julie von Gentzkow sought to cover up her pregnancy. Her brother Franz Gottlieb Diederichs helped her find a place to birth the child. Pastor Siewersen did not fully understand that he was assisting a lady of rank (and the sister of his friend Diederichs). Advokat Diederichs specifically asks the church governing body to force the correction in the church books of Bosau:

 … zugleich aber auch verfügen, dass mir zur erforderlichen Legitimation des Kindes ein offizielles Geburts und Taufzeugnis zugefertigt werde.

He asks that an official certificate of birth and baptism be issued to him in order to legitimize the child. This is a big deal!!

Click here to read the 1829 Corrections to Bosau Church Books

Gentzkow in the United States

All the Gentzkow cousins in America trace their lineage to “George Edward” Gentzkow (182?-1904) and his wife Magdalena Sophia Schultz (1830-1897). This baptism record could be the link from the American Gentzkow family to the German clan. Werner searched for a document like this for 20 years! Conny’s discovery provided another big step in my Gentzkow Journey.

Next week, we will travel deeper into the genealogical record to answer this very important question:

Are Julius August Emil and George Edward the same person?

St.-Petri-Kirche door (2017) Bosau.