Looking through the Polish Archives over the last week exposed a couple of interesting documents. In summary they detail tax rectifications for quite a number of the small villages around Liegnitz (eastern and ‘other’) from 1722. These include:
- Rosenau
- Barschdorff
- Gross Beckern
- Gross Wandriss
- Neudorf
- Oyas
Sadly Bienowitz is not included, nor Alt Beckern or Panthen. I might be looking for northern Liegnitz villages (rather than eastern or ‘other’) for these (fingers crossed these might appear as well)…
Deciphering in detail with be a challenge, but as well as taxation details, it gives villager’s names and likely indicates the size of the property and the type of work they did.
It is believed that our first verified Hoffmann (my 5xGreat Father), Johann Gottlieb was from Rosenau. We estimate his birth was around 1735. The family church records were likely from Oyas, Unfortunately we are not aware of any surviving records from this church.
This record from Rosenau lists 2x Hoffmann’s working properties there in 1722.
- Hanns Hoffmann (Hanns being short for Johann)
- Friedrich Hoffmann
We have to be realistic that Hoffmann is a fairly common surname. But in saying in that there are not too many listed in this area, this is where we are from, so there is a good chance that one of these residents from 1722 is a 6x or 7x great grandfather and/or maybe an uncle. In the absence of church records this is the closest we have got to identifying an earlier generation!
The record from Barschdorff lists a single Schnieblich working a property there.
- Friedrich Schnieblich
The Schnieblich’s tie into the Hoffmann family at a number of junctures. And Barschdorff is one of the villages where the name is to be found for more that a century from this point. Barschdorff is located close to Rosenau. I am of the opinion that a sister of Johann Gottlieb Hoffmann may have married into the Schnieblich family. Pure conjecture. And sadly the records most likely to support this would have been kept at the Oyas church.
However Barschdorff families did attend the family Church (Liebfrauenkirche – Liegnitz) and I will look to align these families with records from there.
The record from Gross Beckern also lists a Schnieblich.
- Martin Schnieblich
Goss Beckern and Alt Beckern are the villages where 4xG Grandfather Hoffmann and at least 2 more subsequent generations farmed.