Lawrence Huber – Where Was He Baptized?

In my last post about Lawrence Huber, I showed how I researched the Catholic records in Oberkirch. I found Lawrence’s sister’s marriage and her baptism in 1810. I did not find any baptism for Lawrence or any of his other siblings.

This is when you go back to the drawing board, so to speak. It is time to carefully analyze the information that you have. I know that Lawrence has a sister named Magdalena. She was born 24 April 1810 in Giedensbach.[1] Her parents lived in Butschbach when she married Michael Doll in 1832.[2] These two villages are very near to each other. The Catholic parish for both of these villages was in Oberkirch.[3] The gazetteer that I am using is based on data from the late nineteenth, early twentieth century. Perhaps there were different parishes in the area when Lawrence lived there.

I revisited the FamilySearch catalog. Instead of using the place search, I used the keyword search. This type of search looks for words in catalog entries independent of their location. I entered Butschbach and I found a church register for that village. It spans 1811–1900 and includes the villages of Hesselbach and Butschbach. There was never a church in Butschbach, but there was obviously a separate register for it.

I searched that register and found Lawrence! He was born 31 July 1817 in Butschbach. His parents, like Magdalena, were Joseph Huber and Theresa Kuder.[1] He and Magdalena were full siblings.

I also found baptisms for the brothers who were in the United States:

• George, born 9 August 1822 in Butschbach[2]
• Joseph, born 24 February 1825 in Butschbach[3]
• Franz Xaver, born 17 November 1828[4]

These were the only children I found for Joseph and Theresa Huber. There was a six-year gap between Magdalena and Lawrence’s births. That could be an indication that they had different mothers. I found Joseph and Theresa’s marriage in Oberkirch in May 1809.[5] The mother’s full name is included on each child’s baptism, so these are full siblings. I also checked for another marriage of Joseph, just to be sure. There was not one.

The mystery of Lawrence’s place of birth and parentage has been solved. There was another way I could have solved it. Come back next week and I will explain more!

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[1] Katholische Kirche (Butschbach, Offenburg, Baden), Taufen [Baptisms], 1778–1840, p. 23, no. 6, Laurentius Huber; FamilySearch, FSL 995,795, item 1.

[2] Katholische Kirche (Butschbach, Offenburg, Baden), Taufen [Baptisms], 1778–1840, p. 37, no. 3, Georg Huber.

[3] Katholische Kirche (Butschbach, Offenburg, Baden), Taufen [Baptisms], 1778–1840, p. 43, no. 1, Joseph Huber.

[4] Katholische Kirche (Butschbach, Offenburg, Baden), Taufen [Baptisms], 1778–1840, p. 51, no. 9, Franz Xaver Huber.

[5] Katholische Kirche (Oberkirch, Offenburg, Baden), Heiraten [Marriages], 1647–1815, p. 420, May 1809, Huber-Kuder; FamilySearch, FSL 995,509.

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[1] Katholische Kirche (Oberkirch, Offenburg, Baden), Taufen [Baptisms], 1778–1840, p. 359, Magdalena Huber; FamilySearch, FSL 995,507.

[2] Katholische Kirche [Catholic Church] (Oberkirch, Offenburg, Baden), Heiraten [Marriages], 1811–1900, p. 133, no. 6, Doll-Huber; FamilySearch, FSL 995,510.

[3] Kevan Hansen, Map Guide to German Parish Registers, Volume 2: Baden (Bountiful, UT: Family Roots Publishing, 2008), 169.