Johanna Men, possibly born in Breda

Question

I am trying to locate the marriage for Jakob Staub b. 1709 and Johanna Men as well as the christening records for their six children. Time period between 1730 and 1762 for the marriage and 1730 to 1774 for christenings. Most likely, Jakob went to 'Holland' as a mercenary.

The only clue is an entry in a Swiss church register from March 1774 recording Johanna being from Bretä. I interpreted that as Breda but cannot be certain.

I would welcome any suggestions and/or comments on how to tackle dutch records.

Comments

A question.

What is the reason for this registration. Did it give his children citizen's rights?

And of those six names, does Jakob has close relatives with any of those names? The others might come form close relatives of Johanna.

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Most certainly, although moral considerations may have also played a part. He might have felt the need to state publicly that Johanna was his wife and the children were indeed his own.

The names don't fit within the 'traditional' naming pattern. Oldest son Jakob is certainly named after his father and/or grandfather. The oldest daughter Magdalena could be named after an aunt. Abraham, Wilhelmina, and Jacoba are not common names in the region so it seems likely those names come from Johanna's family.

The other question is why did Jakob return home without the family. The entry does not give dates or any indication if Johanna was still alive which is somewhat curious considering the informant was the father.

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@Andrea: Could you tell us what it says exactly because I can hardly read the document.

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I've added the German and English wording on the profile. Unfortunately, it is one of the more vague entries in the church register ...

Answer 1

Sorry, have not found a Johanna Men (or Man or de Man) in or near Breda.

Only soldiers in the  1707-1795 archives are Adam, Georg, Joh. Adam and Johannes Staub of which Georg is in the Swiss regiment.

Did find a Georg Staub (b. 1753) from county Werdenberg who married Maria Elisabeth Guurling/Huurling in 1804. His name was also written as Georg(e) Haub / Stoup / Stoop. This way I found that he married one Elisabeth Teunissen on 29 July 1787 in Nijmegen. She was from Wezel in Germany. I have tried to follow him because he is from Werdenberg. He died 13 April 1805 in Nijmegen. Unfortunately no record of his parents names.

Looking for the surname spelled Haub, I did find one Jacob Haub, a Swiss soldier, registered as a church member in Vlissingen on 16-9-1770 and in Middelburg on 8-3-1772. The 1772 registration says he is from Wezler.

I have used www.openarch.nl/?lang=en, www.wiewaswie.nl/en/search and www.archieven.nl/en/

Comments

Thank you so much. It looks like Johanna and the six children have to wait a little longer to be found. However, what you found is amazing. I do have a 6th great-uncle who was born in 1751 and is 'missing' but will check the other parishes in Werdenberg to see if there are other candidates.

Your help is much appreciated.

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Just found these records for a Johannus Staub. Looks like he was born 13 Oct 1747, died 28 Jun 1816 in Princenhage and was a Soldier? Cannot see any reference to any other related people. 

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I had seen them too, the only one possibly relevant person, in the Breda regional archives. But no baptism, even with Stoop variants (are in Dutch pronunciation quite close) and no known parents at his death.

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Spotted him too but no info other than that he is a retired soldier. There is a Johannes Staub who served in the Infantery, Regiment "Graaf van Rechteren". Problem is that it mentions 1751 as "lowest" year.

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@Remko: Thank you for confirming. I can make out dates but not much more. When the records mention 'lowest' year, does that indicate when they joined the regiment?

@W Koster: Interesting fact about the Stoop variant, in the Werdenberg region of Switzerland, the name 'Staub' is still pronounced 'Stob' by some people, my father included