Leer Index — About This Index

Please note that this index is not inclusive for the entire city.  Some are cross referenced, but the data for this list is from the Reformed Church in Leer.  There is an Ortssippenbuch for the Reformed, Lutheran and Catholic churches in Leer.  

These surnames are in as close to alphabetical order as possible, except where surnames would be spelled in more than one way. Names that begin with the letter V, for instance, may be found in with the Fs, Ks in the Cs, Ws with Vs, Ts with Ds, Bs with Ps, and even Gs with Ks. For instance, Coob could possibly be found among the Koob families, or Frauke could be Vrouwke. Also Vry-Frei-Frey-Vrey.  Names were originally spelled by the pastor or priest.  Also, in a case where the spelling is a judgment call, such as Hinderks, Hendriks, Heinrichs, and Hinderik; they will all be found in one area as if all spelled the same. Remember, there was no proper way to spell these names, it was up to the person who was writing it down at the time, and they generally used a personal phonetic system.

Following the family groups, you will find a separate alphabetical listing of couples whose banns were 'proclaimed' in the years from 1796 to 1818. Their banns were read, at this church, on three Sundays before they were married, but did not have a marriage date included in the register because they were married in another church. These are included to give you a clue for further research. These proclamations are not indexed here, but they may be included in the Leer Ortssippenbücher.

After that, you will find the death records index which was included in the original index, covering the years 1815-1852. This index has some names that are not included elsewhere.

Following that is a cross-reference section, listing the surname of the wife first, followed by the surname of her husband. If you are looking for Maria Jelder and are not sure who she married, look in the cross-reference section under Jelder and check all of the couples listed.

• Check under all possible starting letters: C/K; T/D; W/V; F/V; B/P; G/K
• Look under all possible spellings and pronunciations
• Use the cross-reference index
• Abbreviations used:
  

  *	[born]
  	[married] I [first marriage listed] II / III [subsequent marriages]
  †	[died]
  s.	[son]
  d.	[daughter]
  N.N.	[unnamed or unbaptised]
  geb.	[follows a widow's late husband's surname, (equivalent of nee, born) ahead of her birth family name: i.e. Antje Buss geb. MEYER; meaning: Antje, widow of Buss, birth name Meyer]

WHAT TO DO IF YOU FIND YOUR FAMILY LISTED

• Order the proper films to verify names, dates and family groups. Look at the birth record to get the parent's names; look at their marriage record to get their age and parent's names. Do not skip a generation, because the surname may not be the same, especially in the 1800-1815 time frame. Most of these records have not been verified.  All Ortssippenbuch is a secondary record - the microfilm has the original or primary record and is always more accurate.  
• Once you know the parents, and if the residence is listed as Leer, you could order the film containing the family register (FHL#1810455). It is set up just like this index, in alphabetical family groups, with marriage dates and birthdates, and the penmanship is very readable, the microfilm photography excellent. Repeat the above steps to verify dates, names, and parents.
• Check church records and Ortssippenbücher for nearby towns.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU DON'T FIND YOUR FAMILY LISTED

• Try every possible spelling of the name. [Example: van der TUIN / van der DUIN].
• Occasionally, the indexer would index a family with their "Napoleonic" surname and the patronymic form, also. [Example: REINDERS, Jan and KOK, Jan]. Some of the children could be with the patronymical name, and the remainder with the permanent surname. If found, this information is included.
• Perhaps the wife was married more than once, but not always in this church, the cross reference will help you determine a different spouse, and the record to look at to get a former spouse's name. [Example: NERJES, Friedrich].
• In the cases where the man is listed more than once in a reasonable time frame, with two or more spouses, and the original record was not checked or the index did not reflect it to be the same man, they were treated as two separate entries. [Example: SNOEK, Jacob]. Most marriage records will say widow or widower, then list the name of the former spouse, unless it is a first marriage, where the parents' names are recorded after the bride's and groom's names.