John Ciriacks
Neenah, Wisconsin USA

    Helmut helped write the 1997 booklet about the village of Baden from which the 4 Cyriacks brothers: Hinrich, Friederich, Brune and Hermann emigrated to the USA in the 1860s and 1870s.  Baden Haus Nr. 35 at the northeast corner of Verdenor Strasse and Bahnhofstrasse where these brothers were born is on a page 68 photo.  Of the 10 people on the 1936 photo, the Cyriacks family members are:  Johann and Johanne Meyer geb. Cyriacks and her maiden sister Katharine.  Their youngest sister Betti's daughter, Hanna Biermann, 7, sits between her aunts.  Hanna (1929 ~ 1996) lived with these childless relatives and inherited Haus Nr. 35, which was rented out when my wife Nancy and I were there in 1972 with Hanna's niece, Gerda Biermann, who spoke English so well at age 13.
    The keystone in the arch above the large door on the barn half of Haus Nr. 35 in my 1972 photo reads "J. CYRIACKS, M. CYRIACKS GEB. MEYER, 1882."  The second marriage of Johann Cyriacks (1841 ~ 1931) was c1882.  He married Meta Meyer (1858 ~ 1886) and had 3 daughters, the second of whom died 6 months after her mother.  Only one child, Sophie born in 1874, survived Johann's initial 1873 marriage with Sophie Mattfeld.  Son Johann Hinrich born March 24, 1873, according to the Achim church records must have died as an infant.  Five girls and two boys were born to Johann's third wife, Gesche Elfers (1854 ~ 1921).  Johanne "Hanna" in the 1936 photo was their third child.  Both sons Johann born in 1893 two years after Hanna and Hinrich born in 1897 died in World War I.  Their names are on the memorial in the Baden cemetery.

    Haus Nr. 35 was torn down in the 1970s to straighten and thus greatly improve traffic on Verdener Strasse, the main road along the north bank of the Weser River from Bremen to Verden, a city with its own bishop and the "county seat" of Landkreis Verden ("VER" are the letters on all car license numbers from this area to the southeast of Hansestadt Bremen).

    This Haus No. 35 that is no more was the home of Jaeger, Cyriacks and Meyer families.  Some 21 Cyriacks were born at No. 35.  In 1840 Johann Cyriacks (1812 ~ 1899) from Etelsen married Catharina Jaeger (1819 ~ 1881) of Baden at the church parsonage in Achim.  This couple had 7 sons and 2 daughters from 1841 to 1861.  Two of these Sons died as children.  Firstborn Johann (1841 ~ 1931) served in the army of Hannover.  By the time second son, Hinrich (1847 ~ 1914) reached military age, Prussia had taken over Hannover and most of Germany.  The better alternative to "cannon fodder" for Prussia was to take a ship in Bremen for America, which brothers Hinrich did in 1867(?), Frederich (1855 ~ 1944) did in 1871; Brune (1858 ~ 1910) in 1874(?) and Hermann (1861??) did in 1878.  [Helmut C. from Baden found the 1871 and 1878 dates from a list of 395 people who emigrated "nach Amerika" from 1863 ~ 1883 from just the one Evangelisch church serving the Achim area].

New York, USA

Records received July 1999 from Helmut Cyriacks in Bremen-Lesum show that Hinrich Cyriacks and brothers had some first cousins who came to America about the same time that Hinrich crossed the ocean.  Their father's older brother, Uncle Brune Cyriacs (1809 ~ 1868) in Etelsen, died Jan. 4, 1868; 3 of his 8 children came to the USA about June 1868: Beta, 26, Katharine, 21 and Gesche Katharine, 17.  Their brother Brune Cyriacs came about July 1867 when he was 17, but died in New York March 4, 1868.  Did Hinrich Cyriacks, age 20 in 1867, travel with cousin Brune in 1867?
This Brune and his children can be found online at:   www.ortsfamilienbuecher.de/

    Later in 1868 two cousins from Uncle Hinrich Cyriacs (1815 ~ 1894) in Etelsen came to the USA the month after their mother, Margret geb. Eggers died; Margret born in 1847 and Johann born March 1849.

    Cousin Hermann Melchior Bischoff, born May 1841 in Langwedel, is shown living in New York.  He was the oldest of this group of relatives and may have been the first to come to America.  Hermann's great grandmother was Anne Cyriaks (1739 ~ 1822) born in Etelsen, the 2nd of 10 children to Claus Hinrich Cyrjacs (1703 ~ 1784) and Gesche (1711 ~ 1787).

Neenah, Wisconsin, USA

The century of 1900-1999 is finished giving thanks to our gracious and patient God.  We deserve judgment, BUT God in His mercy sent His only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate.  

    I thank everyone who was so kind to Bob and me during our visit to Germany, Spain and France.  Especially I thank Reinhard, Renate and Tobias Zimmermann, who live only 10 miles east of the Cyriacks villages of Etelsen and Baden.  We put many kilometers on their two cars.  They also translated our visits into English.  Toby was our 1998-99 exchange student.  Now Christian Poendl takes his place and kindly translates parts of this letter for me.

Footnotes

(¹) This Newsletter is in memory of Leroy Ciriacks (1912 ~ 1999) and Ruth Cyriacks nee Cass (1925 ~ 1999).  Ruth died in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she moved from So. California about 5 years ago to be close, to two of her 3 children.  It was always a pleasant time to visit Ruth and her son Hal's family, which son Bob and I have done almost every year in the 1990s.  Both Ruth and husband Harold Cyriacks (1922 ~ 1989) were born in central Nebraska.  Harold, a retired Los Angeles police officer, served in Germany at the end of World War II.  He said he would have visited his Cyriacks cousins near Bremen, but had no idea where they were - - - a story which motivates one to record the key facts of our Family History.

    Leroy farmed east of West Bend near Saukville, Wisconsin.  Leroy and family have encouraged this Family History Project and the reunions held every couple years.  They have also been a blessing to my family, especially after my wife Nancy died in 1992.  It was Leroy who said that the Ciriacks spelling was because the farm was recorded that way in the 1880s at the Courthouse in West Bend.  However, the pastor at the Lutheran Church always used Cyriacks as is shown on my grandfather Alfred's 1901 confirmation certificate.

(²) Their Cyriacks family came from Etelsen and the house-farm building where Heinrich and Lisa Cyriacks-Meyer now live.  In 1972 Hermann Biermann took my wife Nancy and me to visit Heinrich and Lisa, who gave us a copy of the 1959 book, Die Gemeinden im Kirchspiel Daverden, by Pastor Hermann Willenbrock.  In July 1647 courthouse records, Warner Ziriackes is among the 5 Bauleute (builders) in Etelsen; 4 others were Kotner.  A 1699 list of 7 Bau-Meier (Baumann) names Johann Hinrich Ciriacks, who must be the 1675 ~ 1742 ancestor of Helmut C. in Bremen-Lesum.  Older brother Warner Cirjacs (c1672 ~ 1729) is the ancestor of our 700+ member Cyriacks-Ciriacks family in the USA.

John A. Ciriacks Wisconsin, USA          

L A S T	Family Reunion
Sunday, June 25, 2006	Jackson, Wisconsin Village Park (more pictures)