Earliest Genealogical Records

In the summer of 2006, my husband and I lived in Copenhagen while he taught a business course at the Copenhagen Business School. We had a third-floor walk-up owned by a famous Danish ballet dancer who was teaching in New York City at the time. On the walls hung stunning photographs from some of his solo ballet performances in Copenhagen.

On alternate mornings while my husband prepared his lectures, I sat at my computer writing chapters of a book I co-authored with my taichi teacher, Liu Yu, about her life in China. The book is Awakening the Sleeping Tiger: The True Story of a Professional Chinese Athlete. I spent eleven years interviewing, organizing my notes, writing the book, and taking three trips to China for location research, and I thoroughly enjoyed the process.

While in Copenhagen, my husband and I rented bicycles we used for commuting and exploring coastal towns on weekends. On weekday afternoons, my well-used bike took me to the King's Garden, a large park next to Rosenborg Castle, to practice taichi with a stop to fill up my basket at the grocery market on the way back. 

The highlight of the mornings when my husband lectured was riding my bicycle to the Danish State Archives (Statens Arkiver), where I researched the family records of the Jurgens family who lived on the Eiderstedt peninsula, which was part of Denmark until the mid-1800's when it became part of Germany. 

The archives allowed me to look through the "original" copies of the various census records. Compared to visiting a German archive where I was told I couldn't enter the building without an appointment, the Danish archives were a total pleasure. From my careful notes, here is what I found. Although I couldn't read every bit of the old German and Danish scripts, especially the words for occupations, I was able to trace my roots fairly easily.

Census Records Most Recent to Oldest 

1 Feb 1860, Vollerwiek, page 177
1. Frauke Jurgens, age 18

1 Feb 1845, Vollerwiek, page 169
1. Cornils Jurgens, age 67, born Tetenbuell, Tageløhner Käthner or day laborer
2. Frauke Peters, age 44, born Vollerwiek
3. Gertje Jurgens, age 13, born Vollerwiek
4. Marten Jurgens, age 11, born Vollerwiek
5. Matthus Jurgens, age 7, born Vollerwiek
6. Frauke Jurgens, age 4, born Vollerwiek
7. Cornils Peters, age 10, born Vollerwiek
8. Jurgen Schau?, age 87, couldn't read birthplace or occupation
9. Catharina Schau?, age 61, born Husum
10. Johann ??, age 26, born Vollerwiek

1 Feb 1840, Vollerwiek, page 501
1. Cornils Jurgens, age 62
2. Frauke Peters, age 37
3. Gertjen Jurgens, age 8
4. Marten Jurgens, age 6
5. Matthus Jurgens, age 2
6. Cornils Peters, age 5
7. Jurgen Schau, age 82
8. Cath. Fossen?, age 56
9. Joh. ?, age 21
10. Christina Schau, age 14

1 Feb 1835, Vollerwiek, page 156
1. Cornils Jurgens, age 58
2. Frauke Peters, age 35
3. Peter Jacob Jurgens, age 16
4. Johann Jurgens, age 13
5. Frauke Jurgens, age 6
6. Gertje Jurgens, age 3
7. Marten Jurgens, age 1

1 Feb 1835, Tetenbuell, page 144
Cornils Jurgens, age 24, unmarried, servant
Living with Anna Dorothea Schachcliss?, age 60, widow, maiden name Hardings

13 Feb 1803, Vollerwiek, page 119
1. Cornils Jurgens, age 26, dienst boettcher or barrel maker
(Head of household was a house mother; he was a boarder)

The Jurgens name appears many times in the Vollerwiek and Tetenbuell censuses, but I could not confirm at this point how these individuals fit into the family.

Birth, Marriage, Death Records

I am told the genealogical records for the Eiderstedt peninsula are well preserved but not digitized. Ancestry.com has some records online.

The earliest BMD record found so far is the birth and baptism record for Frauke Ingwers (wife of Cornils Jurgens, b. unk), born 25 Sep 1745, and baptized on 29 Sep 1745, in Tetenbuell, Danmark, (now Tentenbuell, Nordfriesdland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany).

Line 44 shows the birth and baptism dates for Frauke Ingwers.

Here are the the birth and baptism record for Cornils Jurgens, born 8 Feb 1777 and baptized 12 Feb 1777, in Tetenbuell, Danmark (now Tetenbuell, Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany). The parents are Cornils Jurgens and Frauke Ingwers.

Line 11 shows the birth and baptism dates of Cornils Jurgens.

References

Birth records from Ancestry.com.

Census records from Danish State Archives and from Ancestry.com.


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