Week 17: At Worship #52Ancestors — Making Sense of it All

As the daughter of a long-line of Roman Catholics, I am grateful for the church’s meticulous record keeping showing the baptisms, marriages, and (sometimes) deaths of my ancestors.[1] Yet it wasn’t until recent years that the Catholic Church itself started publishing records. The early publication of church records belongs to another church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I’ve mentioned their free website as it is one of my most favorite resources: www.familysearch.org. FamilySearch says they have the largest collection of genealogical and historical records in the world and I believe it!

FamilySearch was founded in 1894 as the Genealogical Society of Utah. Their website says they have more than 3.5 billion images on microfilm, microfiche, and digital media. They have collected records from over 100 countries and currently have over 200 scanners and cameras distributed around the world copying genealogical and historical documents. No matter where you are from, they probably have your ancestor’s records![2]

So, why do they do this? If you look at their FAQ, here’s what they say: “FamilySearch gathers records for genealogical purposes, providing family history resources to those who are searching their ancestry.” But, I don’t think that tells the whole story. While I’ll be brief, I want to be sure to provide you with a clear understanding of this aspect of their faith, so I’ll be quoting directly from their website.[3]

Mormons believe that baptism in their faith is required to enter heaven and that everyone, even the millions of people that lived before the faith was established, must have the opportunity to receive this sacrament of salvation. Therefore, Mormons are called to research their own ancestors in order to request “proxy baptisms” for them. Mormons believe that all those that have died “continue to exist in the afterlife as conscious spirits with the capacity to learn, exercise faith, and make choices pertaining to their personal salvation.” They state that does not mean that the deceased is automatically a Mormon when baptized, but that they can accept the Mormon faith if they choose.

You can agree or disagree with Mormonism (or any other faith for that matter) but one thing that you can’t argue with is the incredible generosity of the Latter-day Saints sharing the documents they have gathered for all to use and all for free.

I can’t even begin to recount the numerous records, especially church records, I have found via the FamilySearch website. Many are not indexed, but if you are willing to spend the time, you can find a wealth of information. A perfect example is from just this past weekend where I found a record naming two of my 3-times great-grandparents! [Insert happy dance.]

I’ve written in this blog a couple of times about my 2nd great-grandparents who came from Germany under one name and changed their name almost immediately upon arriving in the U.S. But I never could figure out who were the parents of my 2nd great-grandfather, Joseph Glaeschen/Glacy. I thought it was odd that the church’s marriage register showed Joseph’s wife’s parents, but not his. As I looked at the document more closely, I realized that this was Joseph’s SECOND marriage. He’d been married before to a woman named Barbara Treaten (or something close to that as it is spelled at least 3 different ways in the records I have). Well, I’ll be switched! I went on to find the record of this first marriage and there were his parents: John Glässgen and Barbara Masser. Whoopie!

Unfortunately, FamilySearch has not yet finished digitizing the records from this diocese, but once they do, I will have more information on John and Barbara Glässgen.

What I can tell you now is that Joseph was their legitimate son (thank you to the good father for mentioning that!) and that they came from a small village in Bavaria called Wernersberg.

Wernersberg is now a “municipality” in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, not far from the French border.[4] The town is called “Cuckoo’s Nest” by the locals (I haven’t figured out why). It is located in the middle of the Palatinate Forest and has about 1,100 inhabitants.[5] The Office of Tourism website shows a darling village of red-tiled half-timbered houses and amazing views of the surrounding forest. The town has an annual celebration the second weekend in May called “Cuckoo-goerwe.” I don’t know what that is but someday, I’m gonna go!

From 1798 to 1814, Wernersberg was a part of the French Republic and then the Napoleonic Empire, putting some credibility back on my grandmother who always said we were French.[6] Wernersberg had a Catholic church whose name, amazingly enough may have been St. Cäcilia (Cecelia)! However, I don’t think the church building exists anymore (I’ll have to check that out when I get there!).

My ancestors did not get married in Wernersberg. I haven’t yet figured out exactly why, but I suspect that, as in other places in the world I have researched, one got married at the largest church around and your small village church was used for mass and maybe baptisms. Anyway, John and Barbara were married in the larger “city” of Annweiler (about 7,000 inhabitants). Back then, there was only one Catholic church, but as far as I can tell, the original church building no longer exists. The current Catholic church, St Josef’s, was built in 1866-68.

I have barely dipped my toe into exploring this family. I can tell you it is going to take a lot of learning on my part to research them effectively. I am hampered by not being able to read “High German” (or ANY German for that matter), but I know there are plentiful resources available. If my goal is to visit there (in 2021-22?), I have to take the time, take the courses, and LEARN about German genealogy! Wünsch mir glück![7]

[1]Because burial is not a Catholic sacrament, records for burials can be sparse.

[2]FamilySearch, “Archives,” (https://www.familysearch.org/records/archives/web/: accessed 29 April 2019).

[3]The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Newsroom, “Background Explanation of Temple Baptism” (https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/background-explanation-of-temple-baptism: accessed 29 April 2019). Click on this link to read more.

[4]Wikipedia(http://wikipedia.org), “Wernersberg,” rev. 06:48, 20 January 2017.

[5]Pfalz-info, “Wernersberg in the Palatinate” (https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.pfalz-info.com/wernersberg-essen-trinken-uebernachten/&prev=search: accessed 29 April 2019).

[6]Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernersberg), “Wernersberg,” rev. 16:31, 23 January 2019 [in German].

[7]If Google Translate is correct, this means “Wish me luck!”

St. Josef’s Church, Annweiler. Wikimedia Commons, Immanuel Giel, photographer (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Annweiler_katholische_Kirche.JPG). The photographer has released this work into the public domain. Attribution to him … — St. Josef’s Church, Annweiler. *Wikimedia Commons*, Immanuel Giel, photographer (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Annweiler_katholische_Kirche.JPG). The photographer has released this work into the public domain. Attribution to him is not legally required, but the right thing to do.