February 8, 2024

Pauline Koth in Turek

My search for Pauline [pronounced Paulina, auf Deutsch], who married Gottfried Arndt continues.

Was she born in Turek, Kalisz province?

She arrived in Cass Lake, Minnesota in 1910 and lived for another 21 years.

Pauline Arndt grave marker, Pine Grove Cemetery, Cass Lake MN¹

Clues

Last week, I gathered clues and concluded that Pauline (who married Gottfried Arndt) was born in November or December in 1859 or 1860.

She was born in Turek or Kalisz Province in (what we know call) Poland. At the time of her birth, the area was a Russian partition.

There was no absolute proof of her parentage in the American documents, but there were a couple of good clues:

The travel document’s Russian patronymic Danielova means that her father’s name was Daniel
Her maiden name was likely Koth (pronounced Cote in German).

SGGEE

The Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE) focuses on the genealogy of Germans from Russian Poland and Volhynia. As a subscribing member, I have access to indexed family groups and other members’ research.

SGGEE index entry for Paulina Koth²

Paulina Koth in the SGGEE Pedigree Database:

Born: 22 Nov 1859
Birth location: Jozefina, Turek, Wielkopolskie,³ Poland
Father: Theodor (=Teodor) Daniel Koth
Mother: Anna Krystyna Semmler
Source: Turek parish records, indexed by a volunteer

Is this my Pauline?

This information is very close to what I know (so far). The date fits within the November/December 1859/1860 parameters. Is the date from the Julian or Gregorian calendar?⁴ Is the date in the index for her birth, baptism or registration?

Her father’s name is Daniel Koth (Daniel in her Russian travel papers and Kot/Koth from her marriage record). The birth location is Turek (like on her ship manifest listing).

Baptism

Pauline’s name was included in the SGGEE index because of the work of one of the society’s members. That person indexed church record books of the Turek parish. Those church record books were microfilmed by the LDS church in the 1970s. However, the microfilmed records are not currently available outside of the Salt Lake City FamilySearch Library.

So, I searched the Polish State Archives and got lucky.

Baptism Record of Paulina Koth⁵

Translation

I am indebted to the volunteers of the Genealogical Translations Facebook Group, especially Elżbieta Bogusława, who provided this English transcript of Paulina’s baptism.

#197

Józefina

It happened in Turek on 29 November/11 December 1859 at 3 in the afternoon. Appeared Daniel Koth, 33 year old farmer residing in Józefina in the presence of Gottlieb Kniepel and Wilhelm Schultz, both 22 years old and both residing in Józefina and showed us a female child that was born in Józefina on 22 November/4 December current year from his wife Anna Krystyna née Semmler, 37 years old. This child was given the name Paulina during a religious christening ceremony conducted today and her godparents, mentioned above, witnesses together with Józefa Grabke and Dorota Hentohel. This act was read to the declarant and witnesses, and signed by me only since no one else can write. Father Teinzmann

From the baptism record, Paulina Koth

born on November 22, 1859 – Julian calendar
born December 4, 1859 – Gregorian calendar
birth location: Józefina
baptism/registration location: Turek
Evangelical church
parents: Daniel Koth (33 year-old farmer) and Anna Krystyna Semmler (37-year old)
baptism sponsors: Gottlieb Knispel and Wilhelm Schultz
witnesses: Józefa Grabke and Dorota Hentschel

Is this the same woman that married Gottfried Arndt?

I think so.

In my modern sensibility, I assume that all my ancestors knew their birthdays. However, I note that Paulina’s parents, baptism sponsors and witnesses were unable to write (and likely unable to read). They set their days based on the literate class’s schedule: the church’s schedule.

With that reasoning, Paulina understood that her birthday fell within a particular church season. She was born on the 2nd Sunday of Advent in 1859 (December 4 of the Gregorian calendar). For her entire life, she may have assigned her birthday to the beginning of the Advent season.

Next Week

Did Paulina’ have siblings baptized in Turek?
Are there other clues in Turek records?

Edited 12 Feb 2024 to correct spellings and complete the URL to the baptism record.

SOURCES

1
Karrie Blees. Photo of Pauline Arndt Grave Marker at Pine Grove Cemetery, Cass Lake MN. October 15, 2021. This marker was fabricated by Pauline’s grandson, Donald Norenberg (1932-2012).
2
Copyright information from SGGEE 2019: “Results from these web pages are intended for the personal use of SGGEE members. The database and the results of the search are copyrighted by SGGEE. Republication of this material in any format, whether hard copy or electronic, is strictly forbidden.” Therefore, I did not include a full image of all of Pauline’s information from the SGGEE database in this blog post.
3
Wielkopolskie was created January 1, 1999 out of the former Poznań, Kalisz, Konin, Piła and Leszno Voivodeships. So this SGGEE index entry was geographically indexed according to modern geo-political borders.
4
Russia continued to use the Julian calendar, so many dates are written 2 ways. As genealogists, we need to know which calendar was used. To learn more about Julian and Gregorian calendars, go to https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Julian_and_Gregorian_Calendars.
5
Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu Oddział w Koninie [State Archives in Poznań, Branch in Konin] “Akta stanu cywilnego Parafii Ewangelicko-Augsburskiej Turek, Księga urodzeń, małżeństw i zgonu” [Civil status files of the Evangelical-Augsburg Parish in Turek, Book of Births, Marriages and Deaths]. Reference Code 54/859/0/-/32, https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/en/jednostka/-/jednostka/1835745, scan image 08: accessed 17 January 2024, entry for Paulina Koth, 1859, Turek, baptism, No. 197.

Author: Karrie Blees

Filed Under: Arndt, Kot/Koth, Semmler