Marriage Record: 1843, Joseph Niehues & Maria Anna Beerman, Riesenbeck, Westphalia

     One of my fresh projects for 2015 is to create a place here on Indiana Ties to store a transcribed copy of the documents that are the back bone of my genealogy research.  All those church records, marriage license applications, obituaries, wills, death certificates, etc. that contain the evidence.  One reason I've decided this is a good idea is that they are just plain fascinating.  (Okay, not everyone thinks so.  But some do!) Also, I could spread the family history wealth and possibly help other relatives. And by transcribing these records experience tells me that I might unearth something I missed earlier. I'll give you a specific example below of how I came across an interesting bit of history while preparing this transcription today.  
     My plan is to load those records here on Indiana Ties in a "Family History Sources Folder" as well as uploading them to Scribd under my "Family History" collection.  Then these records will be available for the search engines as well as becoming a backup for my records.  Any family member who is curious about an ancestor's records can come here to see them.  Of course, this will take time.  So, I think I'll get started.  My inspiration for this first record selection came when I received an email a few days ago from another Niehaus researcher from Louisville, Kentucky, asking if our families might be connected. He found my Niehaus Newsletter online and wanted to get acquainted.  I love it when that happens.  We haven't made a family link yet but I did learn that our ancestral villages were 120 km apart in the province of Westphalia.  With this possible family tie in mind, I've chosen to upload the marriage record for Joseph Niehues and Anna Maria Beerman from 1843:
     Below are the two pages from the St. Kalixtus Catholic Church in Riesenbeck, Westphalia, Germany where the priest recorded the marriage on October 10, 1843.  Underneath the microfilmed copies I have included the translation of the record. This microfilm is available from the Family History Library and that link is below. 

Groom: Joseph Niehues
Occupation: Small Farmer
Residence: Lage
Age: 39 years
Prior Marriage: yes
Parents: deceased
Bride:  Maria Anna Beerman
Parents: Gerhard Heinrich Beermann
    Hay farmer in Bergeshovde
Bride's Age: 30
Consent: Father gave consent
Prior marriage: no
Marriage Date:  10 October 1843
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Catholic Parish Register (St. Kalixtus Church) Riesenbeck, Westfalen,
Marriage Records 1826-1869, FHL film No. 841-522, 1843 records, No 10.
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The link to this record in my Scribd is here:  Family History Scribd
I wrote an earlier post about Joseph and Maria Anna Beerman that provides more details:  Here's that link.
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     Oh, did you catch that hint of another family history story in the transcription?  There's one comment that surfaced when I took the time to review this record.  Did you notice that the groom, Joseph Niehues, had been married previously?  That's a fact I forgot to investigate when I first acquired this record a few years ago.  Maybe he had children by his first marriage. That would mean that my great grandfather, his "eldest" son, may have had more siblings.  Instead of the one brother that we always thought was the only sibling left in Germany, there may be more family.  Who knows?!  Perhaps there is a connection to the family of the Niehaus researcher I mentioned above.  I've added that item to my research to do list.
     Be sure to leave me a comment if you have any more clues about this family history.
Thanks for visiting Indiana Ties,
Nancy

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