Chart | Baptism | Social Security | Census
Parents of Lorenz Weiss and Joseph Weiss √
Facts (with source information):
We have a certified copy of Jacob Weiss’ baptism record, from Europe. There is room for doubt whether the Jacob baptized in 1841 was the parent of Lorenz and Joseph Weiss. It is likely, but not yet proven. Still. It is an interesting old record, and helps us understand the more recent records from St. Louis.
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1841 Baptism of Jacob Weiss
I am not certain that this baptism record is for the father of Lorenz and Joseph Weiss. The name, date, and place are all what we would expect. I got this record from a Weiss family descendant who hired a genealogist in Serbia to find family documents. The focus was on a different branch of the family tree, different than Lorenz and Joseph’s. It might be possible to hire a genealogist to find Lorenz and Joseph’s baptism records.
According to Google Translate, one of the languages shown is Croation. “IZVOD IZ MATICE KRSTENIH” means “EXCERPT FROM THE BAPTISMAL CERTIFICATE.” This certified copy is from Bela Crkva, which is a town in the south Banat district of the province of Vojvodina, Serbia. German-speaking residents called the town Weisskirchen. (Wikipedia)
The upper left corner says this is from Zrenjanin, a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Serbia, which is part of the Archdiocese of Belgrade.
The handwritten date at the top of the form is in Hungarian, which is one of the languages printed on the form. This is a transcript, not the original baptism record. We cannot tell from this which language is on the original. We do know that Lorenz Weiss and Joseph were German speakers.
(Bela Crkva was founded in 1717 when the region was governed by the Habsburg Monarchy. It was part of the Banatian Military Frontier of the Monarchy and, since 1774, was a seat of the Illyrian (Serbian) section of the Banatian Frontier. Briefly, in 1787-1788, the town was controlled by the Ottomans. In 1848-1849, the town was part of autonomous Serbian Vojvodina, but in 1849 it was again placed under military administration. With the abolishment of the Military Frontier, the town was included into Temes county of the Kingdom of Hungary, one of two autonomous parts of Austria-Hungary. According to the 1910 census, the town itself was mainly populated by Germans and French people, but its surrounding municipal area was mainly populated by Serbs. This complicated history accounts for the Weiss brothers’ various answers when asked for their birth place. They say Austria, Hungary, and sometime later, Germany. They are talking about the same place, but the map of Europe kept changing.)
1892 Passenger Record of Jacob’s older son
Lorenz Weiss arrived at Baltimore aboard the Gera. He says he hails from Weisskirchen.
1905 Passenger Record of Jacob’s younger son
Joseph Weiss arrived at Baltimore aboard the Chemnitz. He says he is going to join his brother, Lorenz Weiss, in St. Louis.
1917 Naturalization of Jacob’s younger son
Joseph Weiss applied for citizenship. This very informative record gives his birth date and place, and identifies the ship that brought him to America. His arrival date is incorrect. This is common on the paperwork for naturalization. The immigrant might not have saved any paperwork from the voyage.
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Applications for Social Security
1936 Lorenz Weiss
This document shows Lorenz Weiss’ birth date and place, and the names of his parents. The information about his employer is stamped on the page, so it looks as if the employer was encouraging people to apply.
1947 Joseph Weiss
This document shows Joseph Weiss’ parents’ names.
1940 Census
There are three Weiss households on this page: Lorenz Weiss, Joseph Weiss, and Lorenz’ son Frank Weiss. This is Emerson Avenue in North St. Louis, which was mentioned on both social security applications (above).
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