Mennonite Baptisms in Heubuden, West Prussia:
1770-1799

Transcribed by Glenn H. Penner (gpenner@uoguelph.ca)

Source: Mennoniten Gemeinde Heubuden (Kr. Marienburg) Kirchenbuch.
(LDS Film #1344434), Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.
Original in the Mennonitischen Forschungsstelle Weierhof

Mennonites began appearing in the Heubuden area, particularly in the nearby city of Marienburg, in the 1500’s. It was not until the late 1600’s and early 1700’s that a substantial population of Mennonites were found in the region. During these early years the Heubuden Mennonites had their own ministers, but were served by the Ältester in Danzig. In 1728 the Heubuden Gemeinde was established with its own Ältester. Church records were started in 1770 with a baptismal register. Birth, marriages and deaths were recorded from 1772 on. Unfortunately these records are lacking in detailed information for the years up to 1816. Names of parents are rarely provided for births and deaths of children, for baptisms, or for marriages. Ages are infrequently given in the death register. This has made it quite difficult to connect the many people mentioned in these registers.

The baptismal register available to us appears to be a handwritten copy of the original made in Prussia. The person who made this copy probably added information on the baptismal candidate.

There are two important points that must be taken into consideration when using the Heubuden baptismal register:

1) The location given for the baptismal candidate may not be that of the parents
2) The records do not indicate whether or not the parents of the baptismal candidate were alive at the time of the baptism.

One of the best Mennonite Encyclopedia articles on West Prussia Mennonite congregations is that for Heubuden; and is well worth reading.

The transcription I have done has first and last names standardized. In general the standardized names are those that are most commonly used in the baptismal register. In some cases the standardized name is a more modern version (e.g. Dyck) of the name (i.e. Dieck or von Dyck).