On-line forum for Germans from Russia Researchers

I am researching my family tree on my mother’s side: Liebelt, Hauff and Grabotin families from Bessarabia. This is what I do know:
LIEBELT
- My grandfather was Wilhelm Liebelt, born January 7, 1884 in Michelfeldt, Bessarabia. My mother thought his father’s name was David Liebelt (born in 1853?) She did not know her grandmother’s name or if there were siblings, etc. I have seen some references to Wilhelm living in Bulgaria. He lists that on the passenger ship list. Wilhelm came to the United States in May of 1906 to Baltimore, MD then on to North Dakota but eventually settled in Alberta, Canada. My grandmother, Theresa (Hauff) travelled with him so they were married before 1906.
HAUFF
- My grandmother was Theresa Hauff, born February 3, 1884 in Dobrudscha, Romania. Died July 11, 1931 in Saskatchewan, Canada. Her parents were August Hauff, born December 29, 1853 in Bessarabia and Maria Grabotin (or Grabatin, Grabadin), born June 3, 1856 in Bessarabia.

I did see on your website a David Liebelt born in 1853 but nothing about a spouse or children so I don’t know if that is my great-grandfather. In a Canadian census my grandfather, Wilhelm Liebelt, stated Bulgaria as residence but no village, etc.

Thank you for any help in my research!
Carole

The Wilhelm and David Liebelt records in our database seems to match with your Shipslist notation that Wilhelm was born in Bulgaria:

http://www.blackseagr.org/blksea-db/get ... 3&tree=132

http://www.blackseagr.org/blksea-db/get ... 1&tree=217

http://www.blackseagr.org/blksea-db/get ... 9&tree=132

Perhaps these records could help? I would definitely suggest looking closely at every Liebelt record in our database to see if you can find connections.

_________________
Regards, Murray
BlackSeaGR Forum co-Administrator
Gauer Family Website

Thank you, Murray, for your response. Perhaps you or others could clear up a couple of questions. From your records and mine I have the following on David Liebelt:
1. David Liebelt born in Michaelsfeld, Caucasus (from Dale Wahl Collection) and died in Rustschuk, Bulgaria - no birthdate listed
2. David Liebelt born in Neu Elft (from Elli Wise) on November 6, 1853.
3. My family records (very sparse) state my great grandfather, David Liebelt, was born in Michelfelt, Russia in 1853. My grandfather, Wilhelm Liebelt, stated he
resided in Bulgaria.

So either #1 or #2 could be my great grandfather or are these the same person? Are Michaelsfeld and New Elft close to each other. I have also noted there is a Michelfeld in Kherson/Odessa region. Are there church records for that town?

As I am new to this organization I have a question about the notes section. In the David Liebelt (Wahl/Koblenz Resettlement) under notes it states: m. Maria Milz, to Bulgaria. Does the m. mean that Maria Milz was David's wife?

Where is Dobrudscha, Romania (I am assuming this is a region not a town)? Is Michaelsfeld, Caucasus in that region? Where would Lutheran church records for these areas be kept and have they been translated?

Thank you!
Carole

Hello Carole,

I'll just answer the easy questions and we'll see who can help you with your questions about David and Wilhelm

Yes, "m." is married

Dobrudscha was wholly contained within the present boundaries of Romania but it is not an exact match. See http://www.blackseagr.org/learn_dobrudscha.html and http://www.blackseagr.org/research_village.html for more information on Dobrudscha. On this map: http://www.blackseagr.org/maps/bs96.gif you can see the Crimea area ("Krym" on the map) and Romania ("Rumelien" at the "42" marker on the far left of the map).
The only Lutheran "Michaelfelt" in our master BlackSea Village list is found in the Caucasus so that matches your family record.
I do not know where Romanian records are kept. Many researchers are working on getting records from the various archives but it is a work very much in progress just to get the records let alone translate them.

One last bit of information about your David Liebelt born in 1853 in Neu-Elft. The only Neu-Elft in our villages database is this one in Bessarabia: http://blackseagr.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=63 and it is not near either Dobrudscha or Crimea.

_________________
Regards, Murray
BlackSeaGR Forum co-Administrator
Gauer Family Website

According to Ulrich Mertens' list of German villages in South Russia, there was indeed another Michelfeld in either Nikolaev or in Odessa district. In 1919 there were only 17 people living there, and the village is labeled in the list as Catholic.
I just checked for the name Liebelt on familysearch.org "Russia, Lutheran Church Book Duplicates, 1833-1885" and got 36 hits for Liebelt, all from Bessarabia, and no reference to a David. BUT, this index is NOT complete. I was recently informed that this index will receive another update sometime in September.

Carole, this is an intriguing line of research for me because of the Saskatchewan connection. I found some connections to the Hauff family on Ancestry.com. If the information here is correct, Theresa Hauff had a sister Mary Hauff who married Jakob Jesse. (I have this couple in my database because of their connection to my home community.) The information here has Theresa Hauff married to your Wilhelm Liebelt (1894-1957) with a son John born 01 Sep 1912 in Morse, Saskatchewan.

I realize it is the Liebelt line you are currently researching. I have nothing further to add at this time.

Merv Weiss. Saskatoon, SK

I located the census image of the Wilhelm and Theresa Liebelt family in the 1916 Western Prairie Provinces Census of Canada. It is indexed very poorly, and took me a while to find it. There are several Hauff families living in the same census district, including Theresa's parents, and brothers (I assume) Johann, Jakob, and Christian. Theresa's sister Mary and husband Jakob Jesse can also be found in the same census district.