I am looking for information on the Frederick Wilhelm Thunhorst family from
Hanover.
He was born in 1834, his wife Marie Elise ? was born in 1843 and they had
two children, my grandfather Heinrich F. born in 1861 and a daughter Maria born
in 1865. They came to the U.S. in 1867 and settled in Cleveland Ohio. I would
appreciate any assistance. Thank You Donna
Hello Donna,
The emigrant database from the Osnabück archives show these Thunhorsts:
Thunhorst, Catharina Clare 26269
Thunhorst, Christoph Heinrich 26265
Thunhorst, F. Wilhelm 27633
Thunhorst, Familie 26214
Thunhorst, Friedrich Wilhelm 26266
Thunhorst, Gerh. H. 25194
Thunhorst, Gerhard 25195
Thunhorst, Jobst 25194
Thunhorst, Jobst Heinrich 25195
Thunhorst, Jobst Heinrich 26267
Thunhorst, Jobst Heinrich 26268
Thunhorst, Johann Christoph 26268
Thunhorst, männl. 26186
Thunhorst, männl. 26265
Thunhorst, männl. 26266
Thunhorst, Marie Elisabeth 25750
Thunhorst, Marie Elsabein 25194
Thunhorst, Marie Elsabein 25195
Thunhorst, Marie Engel 26269
Thunhorst, weibl. 26265
Thunhorst, weibl. 26266
The number of Frederick Wilhelm Thunhorst is 26266. It appears that there
are a number of Thunhorst traveling together. Those code numbers from 26265
to 26269 leads to the town of Essen as the place or origin. (Now called
Bad Essen). It is located east and a little north of Osnabrück. It is
likely that all those Thunhorsts came from the same general area, because
the numbers are so similar. I will leave it up to you to decide if that is
your Frederick Thunhorst family. You can order the records from Osnabruck
and they will send you the records with a bill. I think you can just write a
check.
To see how I found the information above follows:
The address for the Niedersachsen archives (for Osnabrück, Hannover and
Wolfenbüttel) is:
http://app.staatsarchive.niedersachsen.de/findbuch/
On that page click the bar and choose Osnabrück. Click on Abschicken.
Go to Index in the middle of the page
Fill in the box with the surname you are looking for
Go to Ort and hold it down and choose Personen
Click on Suche starten
It will bring up a list of Thunhorsts (which will show you the code
numbers as I listed above) The code number leads to a city or town from
which they came. Note the number, in your case, for Frederick Thunhorst.
Click on that number which will give you this type of statement:
Bestell-Nr.: Staatsarchiv Osnabrück, Rep 450 Wit Nr. 86
Go back 3 pages and click on Glidederung. You will see a list of towns.
Finding the right number is tricky: the numbers get progressively
larger, but it is hit and miss until you get to the 26266 (the number for
Frederick). I'll just tell you now it is Essen that you want (toward the
bottom). Click on the numbers to the far left of Essen and you will see
the numbers which include 26265 through 26269. The kind of records will
contain:
The source references about any individual emigrant
are further ordered along the following schema: (1) Name and place of
residence, (2) date of birth or age and a birthplace if other then
the place of residence, (3) occupation, (4) name of the parents, (5)
family members also emigrating with reference as to their
relationship such as wife, brother, daughter, son etc., (6) religious
affiliation, (7) goal of emigration, (8) emigrations timing,
mentioned is the exact date but sometimes only the year an emigration
pass, a consent agreement was issued or the year the home residence
was vacated, (9) value of possessions, (10) comments, here follows an
abbreviated explanation giving the reasons of emigration for example
via references to family status or economical situations.
The address to order the records is:
poststelle@staatsarchiv-os.niedersachsen.de
Ask for the records by using the code which matches your ancestor:
Bestell-Nr.: Staatsarchiv Osnabrück, Rep 450 Wit Nr. 86
Another alternative to that is to use the LDS Center if you live near one.
They have a number of church records for Bad Essen:
Kirchenbuchduplikat, 1765-1874 Evangelische Kirche Essen (Kr. Wittlage)
You'll probably have to use those records anyway if you want to follow your
ancestors back as far as you can.
I hope this is helpful,
Barbara Stewart