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Thürkow is a small town of around 350 people which is located about 8 miles north of Groß Wokern, the home of August Heiden and Heinrich Rambow. In the early 19th century, it was the home of several of the ancestors and relatives of August's "alleged" father, Johann Cansier. Johann lived in Groß Wokern at the time of August's birth.

Of course, we do not know the actual circumstances of the birth of August. The German term "angeblich" was used to describe his father in the church records. That word as mentioned above translates into "alleged to be" so August was born out of wedlock.

Johann's name was spelled Kannseyer in the records that showed his death but all of his relatives were in the books as Kannsehr so we assumed that this was a misspelling. Most of these people were illiterate so it was up to the parish pastor to figure out how to spell the names that were simply spoken to them in most cases. See below for more detail.

  1. Johanna Carolina Sophia Grube born about 1784 and died March 10, 1828 (August Heiden's paternal grandmother)

  2. Johann Carl Ernst Kanseyer or Cansier died February 26, 1853. He was married to Johanna Carolina Sophia Grube on May 2, 1806 and married Hanna Sophia Schlee on February 27, 1829   (August Heiden's alledged father and his wives)
  3. Daniel Christian Friedrich Kannsehr born October 22, 1811  (August Heiden's half-brother)

  4. Elisabeth Maria Catharina Kannsehr born February 25, 1832 (August Heiden's half-sister)

  5. Frederica Maria Carolina Kannsehr born January 15, 1830 died January 24, 1835 (August Heiden's half-sister)

  6. Hanna Friedericka Carolina Kannsehr born January 22, 1836 died February 3, 1836 (August Heiden's half-sister)

  7. Louisa Friederica Carolina Kannsehr born March 14, 1845 (August Heiden's half-brother)

  8. Sophia Charlotta Kannsehr born May 24, 1819 (August Heiden's half-sister)

  9. Sophia Friedericka Kannsehr born May 22, 1809 died March 19, 1818

  10. Stillborn Boy Kannsehr born and died November 16, 1837 (August Heiden's half-sibling)

  11. Stillborn Kansehr born and died June 9, 1834 (August Heiden's half-sibling)

  12. Stillborn Kansehr born and died July 24, 1816 (August Heiden's half-sibling)

  13. Wilhelm Heinrich Ernst Kannsehr born December 29, 1813 (August Heiden's half-brother)

 

The spelling of this family's name seems to have varied over the years in German records. Most of the people were in the 18th and 19th century in rural Germany were illiterate and relied on the local pastor to write their names into the church record books. Often, the pastor simply spelled a name phonetically to the best of his ability or just spelled it without reference to earlier entries by another cleric.

The birth, baptism, confirmation and parent records for what we will call the Kanseyer line all match in terms of dates, locations and relationships. The exact spelling of the surname, however, did not stay consistent over the decades.

The earliest generation we found listed the father's name as Jacob Canseyer born around 1670. His first child is named Anna Ilsabe Canseyer but the second child is listed as Hinrich Kanseyer. All of Hinrich's children in the next generation are recorded as Kanseyer.

The children of his son, Christoph Friedrich Wilhelm Kanseyer continued that spelling except for one child whose name was spelled Kanseier and a son, Johann Carl Ernst who was listed as "Kansehr" in his church's records.

The next change may have come about because Christoph's church was in the village of Alt Sϋhrkow.  His son, Johann, lived in the village of Thϋrkow and the church records there also even misspelled his village of birth as Alt Sϋrkow.

In the records report we received from East Germany in 1973, the man listed as the "alleged" father of August Friedrich Anton Theodor Heiden was Johann Cansier of Gross Wokern. So, this was yet another clergyman spelling the name of a man who was most likely not personally involved in the process of recording his illegitimate child's birth.

Since that largest number of records spelled the name Kanseyer, that is the one we will use unless or until we find other evidence. Comments? Send an EMAIL.