THE WEISS STORY, SELZ TO FOX VALLEY
- ADAM WEISS
- FRANZ WEISS, 1772 -- 1779, born Rhineland territory
- KARL JOSEPH WEISS, 1814 -- 1895, born Glückstal, Odessa district
- JOSEPH WEISS, 1852 -- 1921, born Selz, Odessa district
- CONRAD WEISS, 1882 -- 1948, born Selz, Odessa district
- REMIGIUS WEISS, 1919 -- 1988, born Fox Valley homestead
- MERV WEISS, 1949 -- , born Prelate, Saskatchewan
ADAM WEISS. I
learned of Adam Weiss and his wife Margaretha Schnepf from the 1842
marriage record of his son Franz. Adam would
have lived during the mid 1700's in the Rhineland territories of central
Europe. To date I have not learned the identity of his village.
Because the Weiss family has been of the Roman Catholic faith, I assume
Adam lived in Alsace or Baden or the Rhineland Pfalz. Wuerttemberg
was mostly Protestant. Economic and political factors encouraged
a mass migration of Germanic peoples to South Russia at the turn of
the nineteenth century. Approximately one hundred thousand Germans
made the trek to the steppes of South Russia, with the peak years of
emigration being 1763, 1804, 1808-1810. I don't know if Adam made
the move, but his son Franz did.
FRANZ WEISS. The 1816 census for the village of Glückstal, as published by Karl Stumpp, lists a colonist in Household # 32 as Franz Weiss, 37, with wife Henrika, also 37, and three children: Eva Maria 4, Magdalena 2 1/2, and Karl Josef 1 1/2. The low household number indicates Franz & family were in Glückstal by 1805. All subsequent Archive records indicate the name of Franz’s wife as Magdalena. The 1835 marriage record of daughter Magdalena to Georg Welk of Kandel provides the name of the bride’s mother as Magdalena Koessele. I next found a baptism record for Henrietta Magdalena Goessele, born 24 Feb 1775 in Beihingen, Freiberg, Württemberg. The Goessele entries in the Beihingen Familienbuch state that Henrietta Magdalena Goessele married Franz (surname unknown) from Bruchsal in 1804 and left for Russian Poland. Subsequent searches in the Bruchsal and area records reveal lots of Weiss families, and a few Schnepf families, but thus far, a baptism record for Franz Weiss, born about 1779, has yet to be found. Franz and wife ‘Henrika’ also appear in the 1810, 1812 and 1814 census for the German colony of Glüclstal. But the 1818 census indicates that the Franz Weiss family was no longer living in Glückstal.
The next reference to Franz Weiss I found on the 1820 Selz Voters List. Then the 1828 Selz Debtors List shows Franz Weiss in Household # 21, now with 4 males and 2 females. If these numbers are accurate, it would appear that two more sons were born into the family in addition to Karl Josef. The two females would be Franz’s wife and daughter Magdalena. Daughter Eva, age 17, is likely living in another household as a servant, or she married young. Eva did marry Josef Deis from Kandel, but I do not have any births for this couple prior to 1836. I am guessing that Franz moved from Glückstal, a Lutheran colony, to Selz because it was a Catholic colony. And Selz is where the rest of the Weiss story plays out.
Magdalena Weiss, nee Goessele, wife of Franz, died in Selz 17 Apr 1836.
On 03 Mar 1842, Franz married Marianna Wagner, nee Derschamm, daughter
of Adam Derschamm and Anna Elizabeth Koehsler, in Selz. Franz and
Marianna are listed in the 1852 Kutschurgan Church List for Selz, Household
# 27. Franz died in Selz on 29 Jan 1868 at the age of 95. The survivors
were listed as wife Marianna, and children Karl, Eva, and Magdalena.
KARL WEISS. I
have archival records which show that on 17 Sep 1833, Karl married Christina
Mastel, daughter of Nicolaus Mastel and Marianna Hartmann. Birth records from Selz indicate Karl and Christina had at least three
children: Catharina (1834), Philipp (1837), and Margaretha (1839).
Karl and his family are listed in the 1852 Kutschurgan Village Church
Lists, in the village of Selz. This "census" lists the
household with Karl 39, Elizabeth 33, Philipp 15, Ludwig 5, Catharina
17, Helena 9, Cecilia 2. Living with them are Karl's father, Franz
73 and wife Marianna 67. So Karl has a new wife in this census,
and daughter Margaretha has died. It appears that this daughter died
as an infant, and possibly the mother, Christina, died at the same time.
I don't know when Karl married Elizabeth Degenstein, daughter of Peter
Degenstein and Theresia Peter, but in 1840 they had a daughter who was
also named Margaretha. Karl and Elizabeth had eight more children. Elizabeth
died 01 Feb 1873 at the age of 54. Her survivors were listed as husband
Karl, and children Joseph, Johann, Helena, Zizilia. The status of Karl
Joseph's household and property holdings is outlined on pages 84 and
85 of the 1892 Statistical Journals on Odessa
Uyezd villages, Odesa State Regional Archives, 274-2-18. When Karl
Joseph died in Selz on 11 Feb 1895, his age is given as 83 years, and
he was survived by a widow, Barbara Meier.
CHILDREN OF KARL JOSEPH WEISS:
- Catharina, b. 14 Aug 1834
- Phillip, b. 24 Jan 1837
- Margaretha, b. 20 Feb 1839
- Margaretha, b. 27 Dec 1840
- Helena, b. 25 Dec 1842
- Otilla, b. 14 Dec 1844
- Ludwig, b. 15 Dec 1846
- Anton, b. 19 Feb 1849
- Cecilia, b. 26 May 1850
- Joseph, b. 01 Jun 1852 -- my great-grandfather
- Johann, b. 14 Jul 1854
- Roch, b. 05 Jul 1857
JOSEPH WEISS. My great-grandfather married Margaretha Goldade around 1872. Margaretha was born 23 Mar 1849, the daughter of Stephan Goldade and Genevieve Thomas. The Goldade family was one of the founding families of Selz. Birth records again reveal that Genevieve died around 1891. Joseph married a second time in Selz to Franziska Weichel, on 22 Nov 1893. According to EWZ records, Joseph died in Selz in 1921.
CHILDREN OF JOSEPH WEISS:
- Joseph, b. 12 Jun 1874
- Anton, b. 24 Oct 1876
- Elizabeth, b. 11 May 1880
- Konrad, b. 09 Dec 1882 -- my grandfather
- Dorothea, b. 26 Mar 1885
- Genovieve, b. 18 Oct 1887
- Margaretha, b. 21 Jul 1890
- Jakob, b. 31 Jul 1894
- Fransisca, b. 21 Jan 1899
- Brigetta, b. 01 May 1901
KONRAD
WEISS. My grandfather married Brigetta Fetsch on
10 Aug 1908 (see marriage record)
in Selz. Brigetta was born 10 Jan 1888, the daughter of
Michael Fetsch and Barbara Schwab. The Fetsch family was
one of the founding families of Selz. Konrad and Brigetta
had three daughters born in Selz before they emigrated
to Canada in 1913. One daughter died before they left.
Konrad and Brigetta homesteaded near Fox Valley, Saskatchewan,
and raised their family in that community. Both are buried
in the Fox Valley Cemetery. Conrad died 02 Dec 1948. Brigetta
died 09 Dec 1966.
CHILDREN OF KONRAD WEISS:
- Emelia, b. abt. 1909
- Barbara, b. abt. 1910. Died in Selz.
- Agatha, b. 1912
- Joseph, b. 15 Sep 1914
- Frank, b. 28 Dec 1915
- Julia, b. 22 Nov 1917
- Remigius, b. 05 Jan 1919 -- my father.
- Eugenia, b. 13 Oct 1920
- RoseMarie, b. 29 May 1922
- Nicholaus, b. 1924
- Dan, b. 25 Jul 1925
- Anne, b. 14 Feb 1927.
REMIGIUS WEISS. My
father was born on the Weiss homestead northeast of Fox Valley. He attended
school first in Beiseker, Alberta, and then at Tigh and Snowdown schools
near the Weiss family farm, seven miles southwest of Fox Valley. He
worked on the family farm with his parents until he was drafted into
the Canadian military. Dad married Rosie Schafer of
Golden Prairie, SK on 27 Dec 1943. After the war they returned to the
farm to raise their family. Dad died on his sixty-ninth birthday in
1988.
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Konrad and Brigetta Weiss with their children Dan, Rem, RoseMarie,
Frank and Ann. Missing are Joe, Eugenia and Julia. Taken about 1938,
on the Weiss farm where I was raised. |
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About 1942 standing in the Weiss garden. Conrad, Johann Klug (neighbor),
Brigetta, Frank and Rem. |
Descendants of Karl Joseph Weiss, 4 Gen
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