Ancestry Chapter 3
The Story Begins - 1817-1842 -
Births and Marriage of Jacob Tybus and Christina Lardau
(click documents to see details)
Jacob Tybus born 1817, Rheinland, Germany/Prussia
Jacob is a common Catholic name at the time. We know from the record of his marriage that he was Catholic. His birth in the Rheinland is a presumption, based on the presumption that he was born into a branch of the Rheinland Tybus/Tibus family. His year-date of birth is based on his age of 25 when he married on November 13, 1843, which is somewhat on the young side for males at this time and place.
Christina Lardau born 1818, Rheinland, Germany/Prussia
We know from the record of her marriage that she was Catholic. Her birth in the Rheinland is a presumption, based on the presumption that she traveled with Jacob from the Rheinland to West Prussia, and then married him there. Her date of birth is based on a guess that she married at the age of 24, which is average for females at this time and place.
Christina's name is frequently given as "Catherine" which suggests that her christening names were "Christina Catherine" or "Catherine Christina."
Christina's surname is also seen in the records as "Lerdau" which is a peculiar name and probably a variant spelling or plain misspelling, or possibly Lardau is a misreading to being with.
Jacob Tybus and Chrstina Lardau are lineal ancestors to all Norek first-batch and second batch descendants.
Strings. Wilhelmine Augustine Tibus was born in 1824 in Underwagen, Pr. Eylau, East Prussia. I have not located a link between our family and Tybus/Tibus family(ies) in the Rheinland, or in East Prussia where at least one Tybus/Tibus family lived.
Josephina Norek born 1828, ______, Germany
Date is based on a guess that Josephina was 36 when her son Michael was born. So far we only know her from a single record, namely Michael's christening record. One of her many grandchildren, Josephine Norek, will be her namesake, and the name "Josephina" will be entered in my Baby Book as one of my Great Grandmother's.
Strings. Marcin Norek was born on October 4, 1835 in Gawlow, Poland. He is the Great Grandfather of Richard Norek, who emigrated to the U.S. from Gdansk. No known link. I met Richard when he was in Chicago for a chemical conference. A wonderful person. I saw a reflection, but whether it is real ....?
Christina Lardau & Jacob Tybus married 1842, Dirschau, West Prussia
Jacob Tybus and Christina Lardau were married on November 13,
1842, at the Catholic Church in Dirschau. Their marriage is the twenty-third
out of twenty-eight marriages at that church in 1842. Jacob and Christina are
everyone's lineal ancestors, whether you are a first or second batch
descendant. They will have eight children over the next 17 years, namely Maria,
Johann, August, Anna, Francisca, Michael, Helena and Franz. First batchers
descent from Helena and second batchers descend from Michael.
LDS microfilm #0585800. Record of the 1842 marriage of Jacob Tybus and Christina Lardau. Katholische Kirche Dirschau. At line 23. Page starts with line 15. Start of "1843" records seen below and "November" seen above.
Close-up of Jacob's and Christina's marriage record. The underlining of the Tybus surname has no particular significance. All the groom's surnames are underlined, and I have seen underlining to mark the family name in many types of early Catholic records from both East and West Germany.
There was only a single Catholic church in Dirschau in all years of West Prussian records covered here. It probably had a name but that name was never used. It was always called the Dirschau Catholic church.
Jacob was 25 years old and Christina was 24 years old. These are within marriage age ranges for that time. (Somewhat young for males. Average for females.)
Both Jacob and Christina are listed as being from Dirschau. Their witness was Joh. (Johann) Ortmann.
Conspicuously absent, however, are their families. No family member witnessed their marriage. No family member is ever listed as a godparent to any of their children. The church records show no siblings being married or having children.
New immigrants to the area of West Prussia, traveling together as an unmarried couple? Neither was old enough to have been a likely widower or widow. Jacob might have immigrated alone, but the odds are extremely low that Christina would have come by herself at age 24. Probably immigrants from a western German region (such as the Rheinland). In 1842 West Prussia was still undergoing the intense Germanization effort. (The Prussian goal of Germanization of West Prussia was never fully realized. The effort resulted in a concentration of German immigrants in the towns while Polish natives remained predominant overall.)
The Dirschau Catholic church records provide a fragment of the town's history. In the 1730's the surnames are all Polish, and the town is called "Tczew." By 1752 the town is called "Dirschovia (other variants include Dyrszewo and Dirszowo), but even up to 1780's the surnames listed are still all Polish. Here in 1842, the town is unquestionably known as Dirschau. The Catholic Church records' surnames are a mix of German and Polish names, which mix will continue through the 1800's.
Selections by year -
