Josie Driscoll - The Descendants of Karl Gottfried and Mariana Klapper of Silesia, Prussia

THE DESCENDANTS OF
KARL GOTTFRIED
AND MARIANA KLAPPER
OF SILESIA, PRUSSIA

Josie Driscoll, Fred Klapper & Richard Klapper

Copyright 2017 Josie Driscoll, Fred Klapper & Richard Klapper.
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ISBN: 978-1-4907-8313-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4907-8312-3 (e)

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Contents

In the early 1970s one of the authors, Fred Klapper, became interested in the family history of the Klappers. Fred and his brother Richard are descendants of Charles William Klapper, the eldest son of Carl Gottfried and Mariana. Freds timing was excellent in that not only was his father, William Richard (Dick) Klapper, still alive but so was Dicks mother, Mae Klapper, who was living in the old family home in Coleman, Texas. Fred was able to obtain numerous documents and stories from her and his father. In addition, Fred and his father were able to make contact with some of the Klapper descendants still living in England and obtain their information on the family history.

Freds brother, Richards, interest in the Klapper family history was not stirred until almost 30 years later. Having the information Fred had collected earlier was a tremendous help in his further research. In particular, much of the original data which formed the basis for this book came from notes and family trees which were prepared by Elizabeth Ester Lizzie (Klapper) Shirmacher (born 1878) prior to her death in 1948. Lizzie was a granddaughter of Carl Gottfried and evidently had a serious interest in her family history since she left numerous notes and family trees with fairly detailed family information. Her notes provided Fred and Richard starting points for their further research.

After Richard and Fred began in earnest to research information on the Klapper family they were extremely fortunate to discover a distant cousin who lived in Wales. She was Josie Driscoll and she brought a wealth of information and research help to the effort to create this book. She is a descendant of Raymond Klapper, a son of Carl and Mariana. Her input not only provided additional information on other Klapper descendants but also provided a check on the accuracy of the information available to Fred and Richard. Living in the UK, her knowledge of London proved invaluable.

In addition to the information from Lizzie, information on the early Klappers was obtained from letters by Charles Edward Klapper (born 1911), Charles Frederick Klapper (born 1905) and Ernest James Klapper (born 1895). The letter from Ernest James indicated that his information came from the flyleaf of an old German Bible published in 1736. Elizabeth Ester, Charles Frederick and Ernest James were descendants of Carl Gottfrieds son Charles William while Charles Edward was a descendant of Carl Gottfrieds son Raymond. While all of these sources provided interesting information, unfortunately they did not agree in all details and some was later found to be in error. However, they all provided information which was helpful in our research. For informational purposes, these notes, trees and letters are included in appendices to this book.

After collecting large amounts of data, stories and pictures from multiple lines, Richard realized that the raw genealogical data would be available in public records in the future but family stories and pictures would disappear forever as time and generations passed. He decided that the only way to ensure that the Klapper family stories and pictures would survive for future generations would be to publish them in a book. Fortunately, Fred and Josie agreed and consented to become co-authors.

This book is laid out in a series of chapters and appendices. The first chapter discusses Carl Gottfried and Mariana Fransiska and their ancestors and the remaining chapters discuss descendants of each of their children. The appendices contain miscellaneous topics and references covering related information which may be too detailed for inclusion in the chapters.

Although numerous people have contributed information for this book, the authors would like to particularly acknowledge the efforts of Laraine Walker, George Henschel and Ian White. They have provided pictures and information which has been invaluable in writing this book.

Marriage record of Gottried and Mariana Klapper In the cathedral of Nysa, Poland

CHAPTER 1

Karl Gottfried & Mariana Fransiska Klapper

Karl (Carl) Gottfried Klapper was, per family recollections and his church marriage record, a farmer in the area of Prussia called Silesia in the small village of Sacherau (Sakerau), near the village of Toepliwoda (Tepliwoda), Prussia.

Carl was born June 27, 1798 in Sacherau, Kreis Muensterberg, Silesia, Prussia. Since Kreis is German for district, he was born in Sacherau in the district of Muensterberg. Sacherau was just outside of Toepliwoda which is now Cieplowody, Poland and Muensterberg is now Ziebice, Poland. These towns are south of Wroclaw, Poland.

Carl married Mariana Fransiska Patschkowsky on January 31, 1832 in Neisse, Prussia. Neisse is now Nysa, Poland. Elizabeth Ester Shirmachers notes indicate that Carl was Lutheran while Mariana was Roman Catholic. As discussed later in this chapter, their burials in London would confirm this. Their marriage record was found in the parish registers of the Roman Catholic cathedral in Neisse (Latter Day Saints Film 2407407). Per this marriage record his name was Heinrich Gottfried who was 33 years old and a landowner in Toppliwoda. He is listed as Roman Catholic (probably to avoid problems marrying a Roman Catholic), single and the legitimate son of Johann Klapper. The German word for landowner indicates someone who owns a piece of land but it could be just a small plot or garden.

According to the church marriage record, Mariana was 26 years old, Catholic, and the legitimate daughter of the commoner tanner Carl Patschkowsky. The German word burgerlich which is here translated as commoner denotes not of noble birth but also implies skilled trade/middle class. This information implies Mariana was born in 1805. This agrees with the information provided by Elizabeth Shirmacher which indicated Mariana was born 11 April 1805 and her death record which indicated she was 63 when she died in 1868.

It appears they had 4 sons and 3 daughters. Although birth records for the seven children have been found in church records, no record has been found for a fourth daughter named Amilia who was indicated by Elizabeth Shirmacher as another daughter. A researcher in Berlin indicated that the name Amilia was not used in German and therefore it is doubtful, but not certain, that this daughter did not exist. As a side note, an Amelia Klapper marriage was found in London in 1871. However, research by author Josie Driscoll has shown that this Amelia was not the daughter of Carl and Mariana. She was a Klapper only by a previous marriage.