Steckelberg and Jirjahn in Dannenberg mid 1800s

hannover-l
1

Steckelberg and Jirjahn are both documented in the vicinity of Dannenberg. The easiest first source is "Familienkunde der ehemaligen Aemter Dannenberg und Hitzacker" by Heinrich Borstelmann (Lüneburg: Herold & Wahlstab, 1938). Here are the entries for Steckelberg and Jirjahn:

[p. 155] Steckelberg: Brandleben 1709/10 Stoffer, 1/2 H.; 1727/28 Davied; 1749/50 Hinr. Chr.; 1799/00 Jürgen; 1929 1 H., auch 1 H. in Carwitz.

[p. 88] Jirjahn.
1727/28 Laase Hinr. Jirjahn, 1/2 H.
1769/70 (Jirjahn) Laase Julius Jürgen, 1/2 H. -- Hans Jürgen, 1/2 H., noch 1779/80.
1799/00 (Jirjahn) Laase Hinr. Joachim, 1/2 H. -- Joh. Jürgen, 1/3 H. -- Jürgen Ludewig, Pferdehüter -- Gr. Gusborn Joh. Hinr., 1/2 H.
1929 (Jirjahn) 6 Familien, darunter 5 Landw. 1 H. in Laase u. 1 Landw. in Gr. Gusborn).
Dieser in Nnds. früher sehr seltene Fn. ist ein wendischer und aus Jurjan, Jurij Jan (= Georg Johann) entstanden.

Now the interpretation:

The Steckelbergs came from Brandleben, where they are documented starting 1709/10. 1/2 H means owner of a half-sized farm. So there was a Stoffer Steckelberg living in Brandleben on a half-sized farm in 1709/10. And then a Davied (David) Steckelberg in 1727/28, Hinrich Christian in 1749/50, Jürgen in 1799/00. In 1929 there was also a Steckelberg farm in Carwitz. But I think you need to look in Brandleben.

The Jirjahns lived first in Laase. I think you can interpret most of the rest. Jürgen Ludewig Jirjahn was a horse tender. Johann Hinrich Jirjahn had a half farm in Gross Gusborn. In 1929 there were six families, among which five were farmers. One farm in Laase and one farmer in Gross Gusborn. The Jirjahn name, formerly very rare in northern Lower Saxony, is Wendish in origin and comes from Jurjan short for Jurij Jan, which is Georg Johann.

So you need to look in Brandleben for the Steckelbergs and Laase for the Jirjahns. The good news is that both were in the Langendorf parish, so all the church records are in Langendorf. They go back to 1729. There exists a cross-indexed marriage register for Langendorf, but it is held as far as I know only in the church office there: Alphabetisch-chronologisches Trau-Register der ev.-luth. Kirchengemeinde Langendorf der Jahrgänge 1729/1852, by Friedrich Biermann (Bergen/Dumme: Handschrift, 1971). This means that with some work and help from the Langendorf parish office, you should be able to research your families back to the early 1700s. Here is the address there:

ev.-Luth. Pfarramt
Elbuferstr. 96
29484 Langendorf
Germany

Now the interesting thing is that I have a bunch of data on the descendants of your Fred Steckelberg and his wife Lisette née Kohlmeier. I am related through the Kohlmeier side. Most likely you already have much of this data, most of which I received from Michael Steckelberg in 2001. If not, please let me know. Of course I am most interested in any Kohlmeier information you may have also, both ancestors and descendants. Also, my guess is that we may be related in the Langendorf vicinity, for that is where the Eggerts came from too.

Hope this helps.

=Jim

2

Hi Janice,

This morning I looked up the baptismal record for Frederick Steckelberg on
the microfilm of Kirchenbuch (church record book) records for Dannenberg
(LDS FHL microfilm 1727375). The record is in chart form and reads as
follows:

Village: Brandleben
Sex: Knabe
Name: Steckelberg, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm
Birthdate: siebenten August (1856) Abends zehn ein halb Uhr
Parents: Schulze und Hauswirth Johann J�rgen Heinrich Steckelberg u.
                    dessen Ehefrau Catharina Elisabeth Wilhelmina geb.
Jirjahn zu
                    Brandleben
Date of Baptism: 17 August 1856
Godparents: der Holz.......... Wilhelm Behn aus Langendorf, J�rgen Heinrich
                    Wilhelm Schulz ......... aus Langendorf, J�rgen
Friedrich Riebock
                    Hauswirthsohn aus Brandleben

I also found the baptimal record for a sister and brother to Frederick. The
record for the sister is:

Name: Anna Louisa Maria Steckelberg
Birthdate: 27 Dezember 1859, Abends acht Uhr
Parents: Schulze und Hauswirth Johann J�rgen Heinrich Steckelberg u.
                    Catharina Elisabetha Wilhelmina geb. Jirjahn in
Brandleben
Date of Baptism: 1 Januar 1860
Godparents: Catharina Maria Ebel in Brandleben, Wilhelmina Louise D�pke in
                     Landendorf, 3) Catharina Elisabetha Schulz in
Langendorf

The record for the brother is:

Name: Johann J�rgen Carl Steckelberg
Birthdate: 3 Juni 1864, morgens ein Uhr
Parents: Schulze und Hauswirth Johann J�rgen Heinrich Steckelberg u.
                    Catharina Elisabetha Wilhelmina geb. Jirjahn in
Brandleben
Date of Baptism: 5 Juni 1864
Godparents: Wordervogt J�rgen Schult in Kaltenhof, Hauswirth Heinrich Rohin
in
                     Brandleben, Johann Joachim Bange in Brandleben

The Dannenberg Kirchenbuch records have only been filmed for the years 1852
through 1869 (I believe the microfilmed records were made from the duplicate
set of civil records and not the original Kirchenbuch records). I checked
the Kirchenbuch marriage records prior to 1857, but could not find a
marriage record for Johann J�rgen Heinrich Steckelberg and Catharina
Elisabetha Wilhelmina Jirjahn. Luckily, I also have access to a microfilm
of marriage contract records for Dannenberg (LDS FHL film # 1804036). There
I found the marriage contract for J.J.H. Steckelberg and C.E.W. Jirjahn.
The contract is several pages long and was difficult to read and understand,
so I only copied the information about the participants:

30 Oct 1839

1) der Hauswirth u. Schulze Johann J�rgen Heinrich Steckelberg aus
Brandleben als Brautigam

2) Catharina Elisabeth Jirjahn aus Gross-Gusborn aus Braut mit ihrer Mutter
Catharina Dorothea Gr�necke und dessen Ehemann Interimswirth (?) Johann
J�rgen Christoph Gr�necke aus Gross-Gusborn und ihren Storm�nncken
Hauswirthen Jirjahn aus Siemen und Joh. Heinrich Gr�ncke aus Gross-Gusborn.

The second part of the record suggests that the bride's father had died and
the mother had remarried.

The part of the record that I did not copy describes the property that the
couple being married brought to the marriage. I did not understand all of
this, so I did not try to copy it. The record did state that Johann J�rgen
Heinrich Steckelberg had a son from an earlier marriage, so I looked and
found that marriage.

2 Nov. 1831

1) Johann J�rgen Heinrich Steckelberg als Brautigam

2) dessen Vater der Schulze Steckelberg

3) Marie Elisabeth Weinecke aus Lacherin als Braut

4) deren Vater Johann J�rgen Weinecke, Altentheiler, aus Lacherin.

The contract stated that the bride's possessions were:

a) 200 … Baar Geld (200 ? of ??? money)
b) 1 zwei Jahrige alt Pferd (1 two year old horse)
c) 1 tr�chtge Kuh (1 … cow)
d) 1 Webetau (something for weaving?)
e) 1 … und Stuhl (1 … and stool)
f) 1/2 Hochz. (?)
g) 1 Ehrenkleid (1 set of wedding clothes)

The bride also received as a gift

a) 1 neuen Eichenkleiderschrank (1 new oak clothes wardrobe)
b) 2 neuen Eichenkoster (2 new oak chests)
c) 1 volles Bett (1 full bed)

The groom received the following from his father:

a) 1 Kuh, die 2te aus den Stall (1 cow, the second in the stall ?)
b) 1 Schaaf beides einmal jahrlich (1 sheep, both about 1 year old?)
c) 1 Schwein oder ..... (1 swine or ......)

These records indicate that the Steckelberg family was quite well off. Both
Johann J�rgen Heinrich Steckelberg and his father were mayors (Schulze) of
their village (Brandleben). The property that Johann J�rgen Heinrich and
his first wife had when they married was more than most newly married
couples had.

Like you, I also have ancestors from Dannenberg. My great-grandmother,
Elisa Catharina Louise Wappaus, was born in the village of Klein-Heide in
1860, the daughter of Johann Joachim J�rgen Wappaus and Maria Sophia
Elisabetha Wilkening. Louise's (that is the name she went by) father was
born in Klein-Gusborn in 1823, the son of Johann J�rgen Christoph Wappaus
and Catharina Elisabeth nee Ripke. Louise's mother was born in Splietau,
parents currently unknown. Louise emigrated to the U.S. in 1877 and married
my great-grandfather Wilhelm Zirk in New York City in 1878. Wilhelm and
Louise Zirk subsequently moved to New Lots, Brooklyn, N.Y. and later Middle
Village, Queens, N.Y. where Wilhelm became a very successful truck farmer.
Louise died in Middle Village in 1924.

I wish you luck and success in your research.

Fred Buck
Cincinnati, Ohio