| Photos: | Ronneburg | Nauendorf/Grossenstein | Gera | Eisenberg | Zerbst (Private) |
In an interesting move the Thusius family Latinized its name from Thoss in the 1600s. To this date I have not located any family Thusius who were not related to the first known Jakob Thusius of Naitschau. Following the descendants of this Thusius, the family fans out moving north out of Naitschau. Map
Jakob was a pastor of the Lutheran church in Naitschau from 1601 to his death in 1629. He succeeded Abraham Kynau, the father of his wife, Elizabeth Kynau, who served from 1570 to 1600 at his death.
Jakob's son, Christian had the following credentials:
1623 Student in Leipzig
1637 Schlosschreiber in Ronneburg, Eastern Thuringia (i.e. "castle writer" = secretary to the electoral court of Saxony)
1641 Schreiber zu Mennsdorf now part of Paitzdorf east of Gera (Thuringia)
later Verwalter und Gerichtshalter des herrschaftlichen Gutes zu Naundorf bei Ronneburg
(Administrator and judicial authority of the feudal estate at Naundorf near Ronneburg)
He died in Naundorf in 1655. We believe this is current day Nauendorf, which is the nearest to Ronneburg and Grossenstein which are both mentioned as locations Naundorf was "near" in various records.
Photos of Ronneburg
Photos of Nauendorf and Grossenstein
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Immigration to America
The Thusius descendants in America all appear, thus far, to be related to Friedrich August Carl Thusius of Eisenberg, Germany. Friedrich had three wives, two of whom had children. The daughters of his third wife decided to travel to America. Each came separately.
Julia arrived 11 May 1860 at New York City, on the ship Donau from Hamburg, Germany. Alma came later 28 April 1864 to New York City, on the ship Bremen from Bremen, Germany. Marie had married in Germany to August Friese and had a son, Wilhelm Carl. In census records she states that she came to the U.S. in 1867. The closest record found thus far has August Friese, age 38; Ottilie, age 32; and Carl, age 8; arriving New York 20 November 1866 from Bremen on the ship Bremen. Julie and Marie eventually settled in Arlington Heights, a suburb north of Chicago, Illinois. Alma married and settled for a while in Wisconsin with her family before moving to Arlington Heights. Their mother, Johanna Christiana Krauthahn Thusius left Germany in 1867 to join her daughters. She had to post an announcement in the local papers in Eisenberg in case people wished to collect debts before immigration.
Friedrich's son by his first wife, Friedrich Eduard stayed in Germany. Eduard's son, Carl Edward Paul, after some disillusionment with his theological studies and after the death of his father, decided to immigrate to America and try to find his father's half-sister, "Tante Weinrich" (Julia Thusius). He immigrated 12 Jul 1886 to New York City, from Hamburg, Germany on the ship Rugia. He began to search for his aunt, but only knew that she lived in Dunton, Illinois, not knowing that the town of Dunton had changed its name to Arlington Heights. No one knew where Dunton was. He ended up in Iowa. From there he took up a pastorate in South Dakota where this line of the family branches out from.
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