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All of the people of Yagodnaya Polyana were Lutheran and all attended
the same church. The church was an intergral part of their everyday life,
in fact one of the reasons the Germans left Russsia was for freedom of
religion. Detailed records must have been kept by the church in Yagoda
but those records have never been found. It is believe they burned many
years ago when there was a fire in the church. It has been theorized that
copies of the church records may have been sent to a main location for
the Lutheran Church but those records have never been found either. Of course the Lutheran Church records in the United States provide a wealth of information. Some Church records where Germans from Russia lived have been microfilmed; those in Oshkosh, WI, Walla Walla, WA and much of Colorado. The records usually consisted of a bound book with the following six registers. While much of the earlier records were written in German, the content is usually apparent since most of the information consists of names and dates. Baptism Register This is a wonderful source of genealogical information. The mother's maiden name was usually included along with the witnesses or sponsors. The witnesses or sponsors were usually important people in the life of the family having the child. They were frequently relatives but not always. Confirmation Register A good souce of birth locations often including village names in Russia, dates and parents names. Many churches took photos of confirmation classes that often hang on the walls in the churches. Sometimes confirmation or birth certificates were brought with the immigrants from Russia. Here are two confirmation certificates, over 150 years old for Johannes Weitz and Marie Elisabeth Morasch Weitz. Marriage Register This is a good source of the names of the couple's parents. Additionally, witnesses were important people in the lives of the couple. Church Membership or Roster Some membership registers simply list the man's (father of the family) name, date of entry into the church and date of exit. This can help to track the movement of individuals. Some registers were incredibly detailed with all members of the family, birth dates, birth locations, confirmation dates, marriage dates and marriage locations, death dates and death locations. Parochial Certificate This was a particularly valuable document for the Germans traveling from Russia to the USA. The received a document from the church in Yagoda, usually signed by Pastor Schilling with all their essential church information. This document, called a Parochial Certificate, was shown to the new Lutheran church when immigrants arrived in the USA, it was essentially a letter of transfer. Since there is no census records after 1857 or any church records available in Yagoda, this document can provide absolutely accurate and very valuable genealogical information. This parochial certificate of my Weitz ancestors included their full baptismal name, baptism date & location, birthdate, marriage date, confirmation date & location, knowledge of the scriptures and date of last communion. It even indicated the wife's number (first or second wife) and birth order of children from which wife. More information about parochical certificates can be found on the Volga German web site. Death Register
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