Re: Draeger Family---Michael in Illinois and descendants---and Martin, and August ec
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In reply to:
Re: Draeger Family---Michael in Illinois and descendants---and Martin, and August ec
donna toner 10/05/10
If you'd like, you can email me directly at [email protected] have found several Draeger's, Hoffmanns, Steigmanns, Kurtner's in the general area of Czarnikau, now Poland on old baptismal records from the Morman data base of German baptismal records.I suspect that the Steigmann may have been Germanic Jews, the rest appear to have been Lutherans.I found Emma Albertine Hoffman's specific baptismal records---which was a lot of luck since the surviving records are so spotty.I suspect that we have some ancestors still there, but am not sure.I can give you better directions to my data sites from my office computer later if you like.Do you know of a chamber of commerce equivalent in Czarnikau that might be able to help sort out records there of anyone related that may still be there?I am positive that many of the Hoffmanns, Draegers, Steigmanns, and Kurtzners left around the same time to avoid the religious and ethnic battles that were ongoing at the time.From the Hoffmann side, I know specifically that they were from Huttka, a village now overgrown by Czarnikau that was about 4 miles to Czarnikau's south and east.Another branch of the Draeger family gives Michael Draeger Sr's birthplace as GrossDrenson which appears to be Grossdresson that shows on old German maps about 40 miles to the north and west of what is now Czarnikau, Poland.His son Michael Draeger is listed as born in Grosskotten which was closer yet to Czarnikau.When the family left, they appear to have gone overland to the west through Preussia to Bremmerhaven to board ships to Amerika, then settled around Chicago.I suspect that Michael Draeger Sr's son August came over first and may have lived with cousins a little further north in Michigan before coming on down to the Chicago area and sending back for his family.I believe I have the family from Michael down well documented.Anna Forn and Martin Draeger are given by Michael Sr as his parents on the background information on a later marriage, although I wonder if Anna Forn may have been Fischer.There is another entire large clan of Draegers that settled first in the Michigan area.What I've seen of their data seems to have them as from more central northern Germany possibly.Our branch were Preussians of the provence of Posen, in the district, or county (Kreis) of Charnikau or Czarnikau.This area was a watershed between the Preussians and the Polish for hundreds of years with unfortunately generations of conflicts to different degrees; brought even more to a head by the Preussian conversion to 'Evangelische' or Lutheran denomination and the Polish hold with Catholiscism.The kings of Preussia tried to encourage settlement of this area off and on which probably added a little more to the conflicts.Later when the area was actually conquerred by Preussia and added to it's territory as a part of the district of Posen, the Polish people in the area apparently still largely retained the older serf system (just a hair's breath above slaves to local noblemen----so with the language, the religious, the ethnic, and the relative freedom differences of the two groups; conflict was expected.If you want, I can get you access to all the ancestry data I have-----if you are a part of our specific family as I suspect that you may be, you may well fill in some voids----although if you don't fit well, then you would almost certainly be a part of the other Draeger branch from a little further north in America; and a little further west in old Preussia.I think you can see why American religious freedom was/is so valuable.Most of my Draeger group were stauch Lutherans for a long time after the relocation here.Take care---- [email protected]