In Part 1, I presented the information I had on Augusta Emilie Nipkow and her parents, Fredrich Nipkow and Wilhelmina Huebner and their origins in Pomerania. Augusta said she was born in Butow, which I have concluded (at least for the time being) is the present-day village of Bytowo, Poland east of Stettin (Sczcecin). Their immigration record says they came from Hohengrape, present-day Chrapowo, Poland, which is southeast of Sczcecin. My next step in research is to determine what records are available for these villages. At the time the Nipkows left there, these were German villages, Prussian to be exact.
Wikipedia has a "List of municipalities in the Province of Pomerania" which indicates that Butow was in the District Saatzig.
A website full of information on German locations is http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/. It lists Hohengrape being in the Soldin district. Other place names higher up in various bureaucratic hierarchies are Berlinchen, Brandenburg, Berlin, Landsberg, and Niepoelzig. Of interest are church records of Hohengrape, which the site says are available in the Landsberg Archives for 1842 - 1874. A designation of "LDS" by this entry suggests we might find a microfilm of these records from the LDS Church. Even though Augusta wasn't born here and wouldn't have a christening record here, it is possible her younger siblings do. The family might be mentioned in other church records as well.
The website also includes an entry for Butow. It was in the Saatzig district after 1816, and prior to that in Arnswalde district. Other placenames in the bureaucratic hierarchies are Frankfurt (Oder), Brandenburg, Stettin, and Neumark. There is no mention of church records, so perhaps this village had no church. I'm really interested in this location, as I want to prove that this was in fact Augusta's birthplace. The residents of Butow may have gone to a neighboring village for church.
I spent some time studying Google Maps for the area around Butow (Bytowo). A close neighboring village would likely have a church that served their community. Suliborz is two miles to the southwest. Wikipedia states that this town had been known as Gross Silber prior to the end of WW2. The church there was destroyed in the war. But there would have been a church there when Augusta was born. And then two miles north from Butow is the town of Krzemien (Kremmin).
This information became very useful when I went back to Ancestry. Ancestry has a set of Pomeranian records that include several Nipkows. Although I didn't find Frederich Nipkow and Wilhelmina Huebner, I do see similar names. A marriage record for Daniel Nipkow and Wilhelmine Albertine Huebner is listed. The record states Daniel's age at the time of marriage on 13 June 1858 was 31, matching what is believed to be Frederich's birthdate of 27 July 1827. Wilhelmina's age is 25 which would be accurate given her birthdate of 2 July 1833. The marriage took place in the parish of Klempin. That sounds a lot like Kremmin above, but it is not the same. But Klempin (Klepino) is in Stargard (Stargard Szczecinski), just 25 miles east of Butow. So the place is reasonable. The ages are a very good match. And the last names match perfectly, but Daniel and Frederich are entirely different first names.
So what more can be found about Daniel Nipkow? Amazingly there is a christening record for him on Ancestry. And the birthdate matches Frederich Nipkow exactly - 27 July 1827. His name at baptism was Daniel Friederich Nipkow. Now, I am certain this is the right man. The name makes sense. The birthdate matches. And now I have two new ancestors from the record, his parents - Johann Friederich Nipkow and Dorothea Maria Marx. Daniel was baptized in the parish of Saarow (Zarowo) five miles north of Stargard. And Ancestry also shows a parish register for Stargard that shows Daniel's parents and siblings and their birthdates. And there is a marriage record for Daniel Friederich and Wilhelmina that also shows her father's name - Christian Friederich Huebner - another ancestor!
I am satisfied that this has been a successful search. Of course there is more to do. A careful translation and interpretation of the available records may yield more information.
The availability of genealogical records has exploded since I first started doing genealogy in the mid 1970s. These records from present-day Poland may not have been available at all then - in any form. Then, research had to be done by visiting the locations, or by mail if one took the time. But the work done by the LDS church, changing political environments, and technology, have all helped make records available that would have been nearly impossible to find years ago.
But I think this exercise has shown a technique that is timeless. I could have plugged in Frederich Nipkow's name and birthdate into Ancestry and found the same records. But it may not have made sense without knowing the background information. I think it is important to have as many pieces of information as possible and to prove that they all fit together. It was important that the birthplace I had for Augusta wasn't too far from the parish which held the marriage record I found matching her parents. And as I dig into these new found families more, I would expect to find that Augusta named some of her children after her aunts and uncles.
Wikipedia has a "List of municipalities in the Province of Pomerania" which indicates that Butow was in the District Saatzig.
A website full of information on German locations is http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/. It lists Hohengrape being in the Soldin district. Other place names higher up in various bureaucratic hierarchies are Berlinchen, Brandenburg, Berlin, Landsberg, and Niepoelzig. Of interest are church records of Hohengrape, which the site says are available in the Landsberg Archives for 1842 - 1874. A designation of "LDS" by this entry suggests we might find a microfilm of these records from the LDS Church. Even though Augusta wasn't born here and wouldn't have a christening record here, it is possible her younger siblings do. The family might be mentioned in other church records as well.
The website also includes an entry for Butow. It was in the Saatzig district after 1816, and prior to that in Arnswalde district. Other placenames in the bureaucratic hierarchies are Frankfurt (Oder), Brandenburg, Stettin, and Neumark. There is no mention of church records, so perhaps this village had no church. I'm really interested in this location, as I want to prove that this was in fact Augusta's birthplace. The residents of Butow may have gone to a neighboring village for church.
I spent some time studying Google Maps for the area around Butow (Bytowo). A close neighboring village would likely have a church that served their community. Suliborz is two miles to the southwest. Wikipedia states that this town had been known as Gross Silber prior to the end of WW2. The church there was destroyed in the war. But there would have been a church there when Augusta was born. And then two miles north from Butow is the town of Krzemien (Kremmin).
This information became very useful when I went back to Ancestry. Ancestry has a set of Pomeranian records that include several Nipkows. Although I didn't find Frederich Nipkow and Wilhelmina Huebner, I do see similar names. A marriage record for Daniel Nipkow and Wilhelmine Albertine Huebner is listed. The record states Daniel's age at the time of marriage on 13 June 1858 was 31, matching what is believed to be Frederich's birthdate of 27 July 1827. Wilhelmina's age is 25 which would be accurate given her birthdate of 2 July 1833. The marriage took place in the parish of Klempin. That sounds a lot like Kremmin above, but it is not the same. But Klempin (Klepino) is in Stargard (Stargard Szczecinski), just 25 miles east of Butow. So the place is reasonable. The ages are a very good match. And the last names match perfectly, but Daniel and Frederich are entirely different first names.
So what more can be found about Daniel Nipkow? Amazingly there is a christening record for him on Ancestry. And the birthdate matches Frederich Nipkow exactly - 27 July 1827. His name at baptism was Daniel Friederich Nipkow. Now, I am certain this is the right man. The name makes sense. The birthdate matches. And now I have two new ancestors from the record, his parents - Johann Friederich Nipkow and Dorothea Maria Marx. Daniel was baptized in the parish of Saarow (Zarowo) five miles north of Stargard. And Ancestry also shows a parish register for Stargard that shows Daniel's parents and siblings and their birthdates. And there is a marriage record for Daniel Friederich and Wilhelmina that also shows her father's name - Christian Friederich Huebner - another ancestor!
I am satisfied that this has been a successful search. Of course there is more to do. A careful translation and interpretation of the available records may yield more information.
The availability of genealogical records has exploded since I first started doing genealogy in the mid 1970s. These records from present-day Poland may not have been available at all then - in any form. Then, research had to be done by visiting the locations, or by mail if one took the time. But the work done by the LDS church, changing political environments, and technology, have all helped make records available that would have been nearly impossible to find years ago.
But I think this exercise has shown a technique that is timeless. I could have plugged in Frederich Nipkow's name and birthdate into Ancestry and found the same records. But it may not have made sense without knowing the background information. I think it is important to have as many pieces of information as possible and to prove that they all fit together. It was important that the birthplace I had for Augusta wasn't too far from the parish which held the marriage record I found matching her parents. And as I dig into these new found families more, I would expect to find that Augusta named some of her children after her aunts and uncles.
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