Schmirdau (Smiardowo)
Schmirdau is a village that is about one third of the distance between
Flatow and Vandsburg. It is street village (strassendorf); that is, the houses are close together and line both sides of the road.Andreas Driese (Troi) and his wife Anna Zibell purchased the privileg of being Krugers in this village on 20 May 1731 from the landowner Joseph Dzialynski (ZBS p. 59). In the following year, Andreas Driese (Troi) and descendents were sold the Frieschultz privileg for this village in a contract with Joseph Dzialynski (ZBS p. 23). Martin Remus, his wife Catherine Nitz and their family also lived in the village no later than 1732. The Peter Remus family of
Zbosse were intermarried with the Zibell family, too. The mill for the village was in nearby Kujan.As there was no church in the village, Martin's children born in the village were baptized in the Catholic Church in
Flatow (it that time period the Lutheran church was banned). Click here to see the Catholic Church and baptismal in Flatow (Click here to see that church).My surmise is that Martin Remus must have been involved in the Krug (tavern) prior to his purchase the Krug privilege on 18 November 1749 by my ancestor and his son, Caspar Remus (ZBS p. 60; DKF p. 60). Augustin Dzialynski of
Pottlitz was the seller of the Krug privilege.Martin then moved to Schwente where he purchased the Frieschultz privilege
. Click here to find out lots about Schwente.The Krug was well located on a main road, conveniently located for both the villager and traveler. The Krug privilege also included as much land as that held by a regular farmer so a kruger generally also farmed. A Krug can no longer be found in the village and was probably burned in the 1859 fire that destroyed most of the village.
To see the design and interior of a Krug of that era, click here. The likely site of the Krug in Schmirdau was where the two roads intersected (now the location of a shrine):
Prior to taking over the Krug, son Caspar married Catharina Halweg and lived a bit north in the Preuss Friedland Parish. He moved to Schmirdau around 1748. His wife Catharina died around 1752; Caspar remarried and further children were born.
Here is the 1772 land census record:
Remus, Casper Smierdau Crojanke 18113050 6039 390 28
Casper was living with wife (second wife Ludovica), six sons (3 over 12 years old (Michael,
Peter and ?) and 3 under 12 years old (Gottlieb, Johan, and Adalbert), one hired male worker, and one hired female worker. There were ten in household.My great-great-great-great-grandfather Peter Remus born in 1746 in Preuss Friedland Parish in Kries Schlochau and lived here in
Schmirdau (he is listed in the census above). He married Barbara Pufal/Zick born in 1746 in Zempelburg. My great-great-great-grandfather Daniel Remus, was born between 1772 - 1778 in Zempelburg. My great-great-great-great-grandfather Peter Remus' father was Caspar Remus of this village and his mother was Catharina Helweg, both were born in Preuss Friedland parish. As noted Caspar Remus was the son of the eventual schultz Martin Remus of Schwente.Another family in this village was that of Johan Grams who was married to Wilhelmine Rosenau; their son Carl August was born here about 1853. If you share an interest in this family, contact
ANN HEARIN <aehearin@msn.com>.
Here is a view of the village:
Click here for an enlarged picture
Click
here to see more pictures and a map of the modern village - the village was destroyed in the Second World War and is mainly modern buildings.Click here for an 1806 Map with Schmierdau in the lower center.
Click here for an 1914 Map with Schmierdau in the lower center.
Click here to go to other West Prussia Villages.
Please send any information and queries to Bill Remus at
October 31, 2006
