Background: The Remus family had been in West Prussia since at least 1600. They often paid the Polish nobility for the right to establish a farming village and recruit the German farmers for the village. There was an up front payment and share of the farming income for the nobility. The period of the latter arrangement was 20 years so the arrangement was either renegotiated of the family moved on. The village head was known as a Schultz and the founding village head was known as a Freischultz.

The Remus family was in Schwente near Flatow, West Prussia about 1700. The most of the family moved east to the Lukowo village about 1740. Then about 1755 they began to move further east to the village Waldowo near Zempelburg. The Christoph Remus family including grown sons Daniel and Peter were there for the census of 1772. The church records show occasional visits for baptisms by a soldier Gottfried, Martin and Lorenz Remus.

Skic and Waldowo

1770, 26 August, the bands having been read on the 19th August, 24th, and 26th of the same in the parish church of Slavianowo and Waldowo in the solemn parish Mass there being no legitimate impediment detected, I the above, the renowned [Famatos] Martin Casimir Zych adolescent of the dwelling property (?) [Oeconomum Bonorum] of Skic, son of Martin Zych, and Eva Dorothea Remusowa (Remus) widow [Viduam] of the tenant [Arendatorum] of the property of Waldowo daughter of Bogomil (Gottlieb) Krause (?) in the parish church of Waldowo. I have questioned them and both consenting I have solemnified those present by words joined in marriage. Witness the Magnificent [Magnifico - signifies a member of the higher nobility] Stanislas Komierowski(?) of the manor[Aula] of Komierowo and the Noble [Nobilis - also signifies the higher nobility] Adalberto Osowski of the manor[Aula] of Waldowo."

An explanation of the above:

Line 1: To be married, the bands had to be read three times to see if there was any objection to the marriage. In this case there was no objection.

Line 2. The bands were read both in the bride's church (Waldowo) and the groom' s church (Slavianowo) - the slash shows a special Polish language character in both village names. "I the above" refers to the priest. From 1717 to 1772 the Lutheran church was banned in Catholic Poland so most of the baptisms, marriages and deaths were performed in the Catholic Church and recorded in Catholic Church records.

Line 3: Famatos is not really the same as famous, it seems to mean, of good name. John continues to explain, " Adolescens would mean a bachelor - perhaps with the connotation of a living father who had not yet received his share of the land."

Line 4: Skic, shown in this line and the first line, is a village near Slavianowo where some Polish nobility lived. Also people's gender was reflected in their family names. For example, Christoph Remus' sister would be Dorothea Remusowa.

Line 5: Eva Dorothea Remusowa is a widow of one of the Remus family brothers living in Waldowo. I don't yet know whom yet. Her dead husband was an Arendatorum; that is he rented land from the local Polish nobility (likely Adalberto Osowski of Wal/dowo shown in the last line). This was the usual situation at this time; Germans rented Polish land usually on 20-year contracts. It was the custom for both men and women to marry quickly after a spouse's death since a complete team was needed to run a farm and provide for the kids.

Remaining lines: Here the local Polish nobility from Waldowo (Adalberto Osowski) and from nearby Komierowo (Stanislas Komierowski) witness the marriage. I suspect they did this as Christoph Remus was the village head (Schultz) on their land so there was likely a personal and professional reason for their attending.

October 2, 2000