[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] early settlers of the Prazuchy area

[albertmuth at aol.com]

Much as I would like to, I cannot pursue every new idea that I get when transcribing records. I thought I would share an idea for furthering research that several people might be able to take advantage of.
 
There is a Lutheran parish in the village of Prażuchy, located about 14 miles (23 kilometers) northeast of Kalisch, the western-most area of the Russian empire in the 19th century.  We know that there were German settlers in the area before the time of the Partitions, that they were served initially by the pastor in Władysławów (the first Lutheran church), then by the pastor from Stawiszyn.  Kneifel reports in his Geschichte der Evangelisch-Augsburgischen Kirche in Polen (which I downloaded at http://www.eduardkneifel.eu/). Settlers officially requested permission to have their own church in 1799; this permission was granted in 1808.  Until recently, the LDS library catalog had Prażuchy films starting only from 1826.  You can see now that they have added marriages and deaths from 1811-1825, and filled in gaps (marriages from 1846, 1848, 1852).
 
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the jurisdictions are constantly changing, both political and ecclesiastical. Before 1793, one needs to consider the voivodeships of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After 1793, both the Prażuchy area and what would later become the Prussian state of Posen was part of South Prussia/Südpreußen (1793-1807) (in English, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Prussia; the German version seems to contain less information).  
 
 
In Prażuchy marriage records over the time period 1811-1825, the pastor records meticulously the name of the parish where a groom or bride had been baptized. Before 1810, records of German Lutherans were recorded at either Lutheran or Catholic parishes. One apparently must consider both.
 
Locally, people’s births were recorded in 
 
1)  Kosmów (LDS has records from 1782 on): Laufer, Lucius, Marielke, Muehlnikel, Oswald, Preuss, Reinsch, Reschke, Schilke, Ulm, Vogel, Welke, Werner
 
2)  Lisków (LDS has records from 1728 on): Fechner, Neumann, Noske
 
3) Przespolew (LDS has records from 1749 on): Beyer, Dreilich, Franke, Gottschling, Lehmann, Littmann, Tulke,
 
And off to the West, in the area later to become Prussia
 
4) Bentschen (Kr. Meseritz):  Linke, Welke
 
5) Hammer Borui (Kr. Bomst)(LDS has records from 1795 on):  Gellert, Giering, Kurz, Noske, Reich, Schinschke, Stechbart, Stenschke, Wellach
 
6) Neutomischel (LDS has records from 1741 on):  Farr, Janot, Knobel, Lubke, Rausch, Tepper.
 
I hope that people with Prażuchy roots can now trace their ancestry back a little bit further.
 
 
Al Muth