Finding John Justen: a Genealogy Story
My grandmother Marie's mother was Louisa Justen: Louisa's parents were John Justen and Mary Gates, and their origin in Europe was a mystery to me. I started my search in early 2012.
The Marriage Record
My best clue was an 1866 marriage record that I had obtained from the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison: in flowing script it notes that Johann's parents were Mathias Justin and Maria Rust, and that John ("Johann") had been born in Petersdorf, Prussia; two other separately written certificates in different formats contained the exact same information.
And so I started to pursue church records in Petersdorf, Prussia. A search in Meyers Gazetteer for "Petersdorf" returned 40 matches. Ok, makes sense, popular name for a town in Prussia for that time; perhaps the most popular name. I spent some time trying to figure out the largest "Petersdorf"s, and then ordering microfilm from the Family History Center in Salt Lake City, to be viewed locally. I managed to find a few Justin's and Rust's, but not in the same place, and no Mathias Justin marrying a Maria Rust.
The Naturalization Records
I also obtained John Justen's naturalization papers: the declaration of intention from 31 Oct 1880 stated John Justen was born "about" 1842, and landed at the Port of New York "about" May 1844, and that he was born a subject of the "Emperor of Germany." The final papers, dated 24 August 1906, gave no immigration date, and just restated "Emperor of Germany" as his citizenship.
I searched for the death of a Mathias Justen in Wisconsin, and found one, in Milwaukee 1884, so I ordered the record hoping this would help, but the age was off by decades. I put the research on the shelf for a couple years, hoping new records would show up.
The Birth Record
Almost three years later, in early November of 2014, I stumbled across a FamilySearch index record for the birth of a Johannes Justen b 25 May 1840 in Üdersdorf, Rheinland, Prussia, and noted the following in my research log:
- Joannes Justen, b 25 May 1840. I have his birth as May 1842 from his naturalization petition, so not a perfect match.
- Father’s name: Mathias Josephus Justen. Matches Mathias Justen from his marriage record.
- Mother’s name: Anna Maria Brost. Close sounding to Maria Rust, from his marriage record.
- Birthplace: Uedersdorf, Rheinland, Preußen, Germany. Uedersdorf is close to “Petersdorf”, so might be a possible match.
- Marriage record for 27 Feb 1840 also found. Mathias Justen, birthplace Mehren, parents: Petrus Josephus Justen and Catharina Franzen. Anna Maria Brost, birthplace Uedersdorf, parents: Joannes Brost and Maria Schueller.
- Ordered film 560649: Taufen 1814-1867 Heiraten 1871-1871 Tote 1814-1869.
I ordered up the Üdersdorf films which arrived a couple weeks later. I was able to map out the family.
The Ship Record
Searching for Brost now, in addition to Justen, I found a promising arrival record for the bark Manchester out of Antwerp arriving in New York 12 Jul 1843 with 150 passengers out of Germany. It included a Brost family that matched Anna Maria Brost's birth family pretty closely, with very close ages, and even Anna Maria and a baby Johann (who would have been 3 years and 1 month but is only listed as 11 months):
But where was Mathias Justen, and who was the Barbara? Was the "John" listed at 11 months really my John Justen with his mother Anna Maria above?
The Trip to Germany
So, my new theory was that Üdersdorf was my John Justen's birthplace, but how could I really be sure? My wife and I were planning a trip to France, Germany, and Poland the next year, in 2015, so I had a German travel planner (TGAC) set me up with contacts for a day visit to Üdersdorf and Mehren. We ended up meeting with a couple local genealogists who had authored "Familienbuchs," basically compilations of all the family records in the town from the 18th and 19th centuries, and even had tea with the mayor of Üdersdorf, and a newspaper article was published in a local paper about our visit.
The mayor showed us the home, still existing, which the Brost family had sold to get the money to emigrate. I was still only 90% sure at this point that this was really my John Justen, so I was a little worried about all the fuss. But they sent me home with a copy of the Üdersdorf Familienbuch:
The Üdersdorf Familienbuch notes that the following Brost family members left for America in 1843: Johann Brost (55), his wife Anna Maria (60); and their children Matthias Brost (34) and wife Barbara (24); Anna Maria Brost Justen (30) and son Johann Justen (3); Susanna Brost (23), Nikolaus Brost (20), and Antonia Brost (18). The people and names match the ship record exactly, and ages are close. Barbara turned out to be the wife of the oldest son.
Final Proof
After visiting Üdersdorf, reviewing the Familienbuch records, etc., I was finally able to convince myself that this really was my John Justen. The unreliable marriage record introduced evidence that needed stronger evidence to convince me that "Petersdorf" was really "Üdersdorf" and "Rust" was really "Brost," as did the naturalization papers which gave John's birth as "about" 1842, and his emigration to New York as "about" the month of May 1844.
- Looking at maps of surname location in Germany, the Justen surname is prominent mostly in the Rhineland, and Üdersdorf was within this swarm of "Justen" surnames.
- I had found no Justen-Rust marriages in any Petersdorf, Prussia.
- The ship record was certainly that of the Brost family, and it was pretty certain that Johann Justen was on that ship with his mother.
- The death of Mathias Justen in 1841, prior to emigration, accounted for and matched the fact that I could find no records for a Mathias in Wisconsin.
- Coming over as an infant without a father, it is understandable how John might have gotten the birthplace on the 1866 marriage record 23 years later and his mother's maiden name wrong – and they weren't completely wrong, just some of the letters. There are no English words that begin with "ue," and the short German "o" in "Brost" would sound more like an English "u."
- The other Brost families settled in Wisconsin close to where we find Johann's wife's family.
What finally got me 100% convinced, however, were the four dozen DNA matches my sister and I have with descendants of Anna Maria Brost's siblings. All were on the ship to America, and married here: Susanna, Nicolaus, and Antonia. And many of these descendants, our 4th and 5th cousins, have taken DNA tests which show they share significant DNA with me and my sister.
Conclusions
If the marriage record had correctly used "Ued" instead "Pet" to start the name of the town of my ancestor, it would have sped up my research by a few years and made this connection a lot easier to prove. Meyers Gazetteer only returns one result for "Üdersdorf"!
Even the current inhabitants of Üdersdorf don't know where that name came from - the town has been around since well before Peter the Great, perhaps dating back to Charlemagne. A document from 1287 referred to it as "Oistersdorf." Some theories claim it was named after some person named Otto, or that it was named after the river otters found in the area (English and German share the same name for the animal).
My wife and I spent a few more days in the Eifel area on a trip in 2018, starting in Trier, staying first on the Moselle, and then a few days in Daun. We revisited Üdersdorf, this time on rented bikes, as well as the towns of other ancestors further back on this line. This area is not an international destination, but mainly popular with Germans; I highly recommend it if you are looking for somewhere more off the beaten path to vacation.
Sources
Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Meyer, August. n.d. Geschichte Dreier Eifeldörfer. Daun, Germany: F. Werner. 439 pages.
Zimmerman, Thorsten. 2011. Familienbuch Üdersdorf, circa 1650-1900 Mit Trittscheid, Tettscheid Und Weiersbach. Köln: Westdeutsche Gesellschaft für Familienkunde e.V. 732 pages.
"Deutschland, Geburten und Taufen 1558-1898," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NZQ4-1Y5 : accessed 04 Nov 2014), Joannes Justen; citing Uedersdorf, Rheinland, Preußen, Germany; FHL microfilm 560649.
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