VARIATIONS ON NAME ESLHOLTZ: Itzholtz, Izholtz, Itzhold, Itzelt, Itzeldt, Elsholtz, Elßholtz, Elzholt, Elzholdt, Ezelt, Etzoldt, Etzolt, Ützoldt, Ützolt, Äzoldt, Ätzolt, Äetzoldt, and other possible spellings using combinations of above variations, SRE 24 Sep 2003.
Notes for Michael ELSHOLTZ
OCCUPATION: Somewhat illegible, but probably Küster = Sexton.
LOCALITY: Peitz was formerly located in the Markgrafschaft of Nieder-Lausitz (Lower Lusatia), Kingdom of Saxony. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna stipulated that portions of Saxony be given to Preußen (Prussia), and became the Sachsen Provinz of Preußen. Peitz was in one of these areas. In 1691, at the time of this person's son's marriage, Peitz was located in Sachsen. From the entry, there is some question as to whether this might actually be Zeitz in Sachsen, and not Peitz - SRE, 21 May 2003.
Check catalog under Niederlausitz. Be careful; there is a Wendish congregtion and a German one in Peitz. Get in touch with someone there. They will help you do this.
-- NOTE THAT PEITZ IS MOST LIKELY NOT THE PROPER LOCALITY, BUT RATHER ZEITZ. THIS IS PRETTY DEFINITE, UPON CLOSE PERUSAL OF THE RECORDS. I AND SEVERAL OTHERS IN THE FHL HAVE LOOKED AT THIS OVER A PERIOD OF SEVERAL HOURS, AND ZEITZ SEEMS THE MOST LIKELY POSSIBILITY -- SRE, 2 June 2003.
NOTES/LOG:
-- Have written to Peitz to have this person's marriage searched - Oct 2000.
-- Received the following answer from Kurt Malk, Evangelisches Pfarramt, Lutherstr. 8, 03185 Peitz, 22 Mar 2001: "Sehr geehrter Herr Shon R. Edwards, leider kann ich Ihnen bei der Erforschung Ihrer Vorfahren nicht behilflich sein. In unserem Archiv befinden sich Kirchenbücher erst ab dem Jahr 1807. In unserer Gemeinde sind die Kirchenbücher aus dem 16. und 17. Jahrhundert durch Kriegseinwirkung vernichtet worden. Standesämter gab es erst seit 1875. Ich habe Ihnen unsere Kirchengeschichte beigelegt" = "Dear SRE, unfortunately, I can't help you with the research of your ancestors. In our archive are books only since 1807. In our parish, the church books from the 16th and 17th centuries have been destroyed as a result of wars. There were only [civil] registry offices beginning in 1875. I have enclosed a history of our church" - SRE 1 Apr 2001.
-- There are a couple of different possibilities that can still be tried. First, try writing to the Wendish parish. See if they have surviving books from this time. Perhaps either the Elßholtz's were Wendish or he married into a Wendish line. This particular point is confusing. I sent my letter to the "Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Peitz", address: Am Markt. Got a reply from Pfarrer Malk at a different address. There were also Pfarrerin und Pfarrer Berndt, at yet another address. Do they administer the same parish? Or are they two separate ones? And what of the Wendish parish that used to exist? The other possibility would be to see if our Sachsen land records now being cataloged by Steve Gates and Alex Schmaltz in the FHL cover this area or not. If so, it may be possible to track them through land records. Check all other possibilities, as well.
-- See also son's notes -- SRE 11 May 2002.
-- From son’s marrige entry, there is some question as to whether this might actually be Zeitz in Sachsen, and not Peitz - SRE, 21 May 2003.
-- Checked citizenship books for Zeitz, and found a Michael Uetzholdt in the index, but haven't found in records. Could this be our person? Peitz still seems the best possibility, but either could be correct. Zeitz could be checked by a researcher in the area, however -- SRE, 21 May 2003.
-- I had some German experts at the FHL look at it ,but they had a pretty tough time, as well. After having checked and carefully comparing the handwriting of capital p's and z's (The top of the letter in the record is mostly illegible, but could be either p or z. The bottom of the letter looks similar for p’s and z’s, but the loop for z is wider than for p.), it seems that it indeed probably is a Z, not a P. Also, found in the Bürgerbuch 1600-1700, on p. 213 (last entry, 2nd page), a Michael Uetzhold, father Michael Uetzold, both bakers. Became a citizen in 1693. Interestingly, although this person's son was married in Spandau in 1691, supposedly had a son Martin around 1693, who doesn't show up in parish registers (though in indexes) - at least can’t find yet. Could this person's son have come back to Zeitz temporarily and had a son? Check out this possibility in Germany in September -- SRE, 29 May 2003.
-- Another matter: There is more than one Zeitz in Sachsen. Besides the city (Kreisstadt), the others are in the following protestant parishes: Barby, Belleben, Moritzburg, and Hannsburg. This is a big problem. Ask on AMF mailing list if there is a source listing where all church books in middle Germany are. This would help. Search by mail the city of Zeitz. If no luck, try other parishes. Try to find this info before go to Europe, so can search records cheaply -- SRE, 29 May 2003.
-- Have written to a lady on the AMF (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für mitteldeutsche Familienforschung) e-mail list (Susanne Arndt, susanne@arndt-2000.de ), who lives in Spandau. She has agreed to look at our marriage record in the church books in St. Nikolai, where Peitz/Zeitz is mentioned. Since the copy on microfilm is so terrible, it’s hard to tell for sure which is correct - SRE, 30 May 2003.
-- Checked Roger Minert’s new reverse index for Sachsen (Königreich and Provinz both) and found there were no other towns ending in …eitz than Peitz and Zeitz - SRE, 28 June 2003.
-- Sent money to Barby, Belleben, Mortzburg, Hannsburg, and one of the parishes in Zeitz city (The other I will check in person in Europe, since the books are in process of being microfilmed, and won’t be back at the parish until the end of August.) to have them search for the Elsholz family. Hopefully can get results back in time to help me know which of the parishes is correct (or whether the family is actually from some small town that is just near Zeitz) - SRE, 16 Jul 2003.
-- E-mail received 30 Jul 2003 from Susanne Arndt, Spandau-Berlin:
Hallo Shon,
Gerade hat sich die Nikolai-Kirche bei mir gemeldet. Natürlich nicht die Kirche, sondern Frau Pfarrer!!!!! Einwandfrei ist es die Stadt Zeitz und nicht Peitz oder ähnliches. Wir sind ab dem 8.8. - 16.8. in Urlaub. Ich kann dann die Spandau-Bücher nach dem Namen Bellin usw. einsehen. Noch einen schönen Tag und herzlichen Gruß aus Spandau von
Susanne
=
Hello Shon,
The Nikolai Church [Spandau] just contacted me. Naturally, not the church, but the lady priest!! [In your marriage entry, the place], is most definitely the city of Zeitz, and not Peitz or other similar place. We will be on vacation from 8-16 Aug [2003]. I will check the Spandau books for the name Bellin after that. Have a beautiful day and greetings from Spandau.
Susanne
This is wonderful news, as there is now no doubt that Zeitz city is the correct place, and alterations in September 2003 German trip itinerary can be made and appointments set up, while bagging the Peitz angle altogether. Records from those Zeitz parishes in microfilming in August, but will be available for useage in September, according to parish secretary, St. Nikolai parish - SRE, 30 July 2003.
-- Received a letter from Brigitte Haberland, Sonnenstraße 3, 06425 Alsleben, Germany, 011-49-34692-21349, dated 16 Aug 2003. She researched records for Belleben parish (Haus Zeitz) and didn't find any relatives there. She said there was no entry for Elsholtz or anything similar. She checked all entries of births, marriages, and deaths from the beginning of the books, beginning 1645 and 1652, page by page, since no index exists. The name didn't appear anywhere. She gives a history of Haus Zeitz. It is now in ruins (since WW II) -- SRE, 1 September 2003.
-- Checked in Zeitz four different parishes: St. Michaelis, St. Nikolai, Schloßkirche, and St. Stephan. I found some Etzoldt families, but I never found our own. I'll add the details later. One of the ladies at the St. Nikolai parish told me that a sexton, like this man was, would have been moving all over the place every few years. That could be our problem. Also, the son was a soldier, and was probably going all over the place, too, SRE 23 Sep 2003.
-- There were many with the name Etzoldt, Äetzoldt in both St. Stephan and St. Michaelis churches, but none were ours. The ones in St. Stephan, however, seem to have been descended from a Hans Äetzoldt, living in Bergisdorf. Could our family also have come from there? Items checked were: St. Michaelis parish: birth index 1566-1682, marriages 1567-1648; Schloßkirche: indexes lost A-F, checked line by line from beginning of christening books in 1668, through 1671, nothing found at all on Elßholtz; St. Nikolai: indexes of births 1674-1701 (I think the 1st number must be wrong, since I'm sure I checked through the period of 1665, our estimated birth date. In fact, I believe I checked all the way back to around 1580, when the books start. I also checked marriages for Nikolai in index, from 1614-1730, and found no Elszoltz or Etzoldt. Checked St. Stephan line by line from 1619 to 1682. No mention of our ancestors, but there were some older Etzoldt's. Also checked marriages 1580-1695, same. Checked for death of Michael Etsoldt 1650-1691 (supposed to have been dead at time of marriage of son Michael), found nothing in Stephan.
-- Letter form Haynsburg parish received 15 Nov 2003: "Kirchl. Verwaltungsamt Naumburg, 49-3445-767231, Sehr geehrter Herr Edwards, Inhre Anfrage erhielt ich von Pfarrer Köppen, der für das Kirchspiel Hanyburg zuständig ist. Leider haben wir in den Kirchenbüchern von haynsburg keine Angaben zu Michael Friedrich Elsholz finden können. Wir werden die Anfrage an das Gemeindebüro des Kirchspiels Zeitz, Michaeliskirchof 9, 06712 Zeitz weiterleiten, da Sie als Gebutsort [sic] die Stadt Zeitz vermuten. Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Elvira Kröber, Kreisarchivbeauftragte des Kirchenkreises Naumburg-Zeitz." Unfortunately, no MIchael F. Elsholtz was found in Haynsburg parish, SRE 16 Nov 2003.
