Here is how the story begins: On March 3, 1995 Kenneth (K.W.) Mickan asked Weldon Mersiovsky if he would help him identify the date and place of death of Michael Mickan, the immigrant ancestor of the Mickan clan. He had given his son Michael a copy of the “1965 Mickan Album.” On the first page, […]
The Michael Mickan Mystery – There could be three of them! Read More »
The story that you are about to read was gleaned from facts that were carried to the grave by all who lived it. It is pieced together from numerous records and how we interpreted them. Before we started putting it all together all we knew was that Adolf Mersiovsky was born in Hochkirch, Germany and came
An explanation by Weldon Mersiovsky. Texas Wends, especially those who trace their families back to Prussia, should consult Dr. Georg Alpermann’s book, Höfe und Bauern in Klitten (Homes and Farms In Klitten) for possible information about their own family. It identifies homes and farms in the villages of Klitten, Jahmen, Dürrbach, Kringelsdorf, Ölsa, Kaschel, Thomaswalde,
Home and Farms in Klitten (since 1588) by Georg Alpermann Read More »
Many people have asked me why I am involved in the Texas Wendish Heritage Society because they think that my name is not Wendish. They are correct. Mersiovsky is not a Wendish name. It is a Bohemian name, an old Bohemian name. My ancestors lived in the Kingdom of Bohemia since Miros built a farmhouse
They Had Wendish Wives and Husbands! – by Weldon Mersiovsky Read More »
When St Peter Lutheran Church in Serbin combined with St Paul Lutheran Church in Serbin in 1914 all of the church records of St Peter were burned except for the “Official Acts” meaning baptisms, marriages, death and confirmations. All of these “Official Acts” survived except for the confirmations. Of the confirmations, we have years 1887-1913.
St Peter Families – by Weldon Mersiovsky Read More »
This document was found in the papers of Arthur C. Repp, located in the archives of Concordia Historical Institute located on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary in St Louis, Missouri. Rev Repp collected this document and others while researching the articles he wrote in the 1930s and 1940s for the Quarterly publication of the
St Peter Constitution – in English as it was written Read More »
How it Really May Have Happened by Weldon W. Mersiovsky Now, it came to pass, as the Lord looked down upon the children of the sons of earth, he saw in the midst of the land of the Sons of Armenius, west of the Oder-Neisse River and along the Elbe and Spree Rivers, especially in
Why are the Wends? Read More »
This article was written in February 1989 by Dr. Maria Beate von Loeben who was born in the village of Kuppritz in 1927 and lived there until 1945. Kuppritz is about five miles east of Bautzen in former East Germany. Dr. von Loeben is an instructor of English at Wurzburg University. In November 1989 the
In a Wendish Country by Dr. Maria Beate von Loeben Read More »
It goes without saying that our Wendish and German forebearers encountered illnesses and maladies of all sorts. How did they deal with them? Let’s take a look at some of the remedies used to give relief and/or to bring about desired results for maladies, dating from the days back in Germany, all the way into the 1940’s here
Is There a Doctor In the House? Read More »
Every January 25th, the Wends go to the birds. Want to know more? Vogelhochzeit is a custom that was celebrated among many of the Wends in Texas until the 1940’s. It then gradually died out, until more recent years when attention was brought to it again. My mother recalled the custom very well and often told
