GENEAL-FORUM

Hi,

I am looking for my great-great-grandmother. Her full name was agnes emelie ferdinandine still and according to my knowledge of her she was born in berlin between september of 1842 and september of 1843. She probably moved to paris around 1860 to study music. She came from a family of musicians. On june 9th 1865, Agnes married with Ignacio Jose Melchor Mendioroz Ynza in Batavia, Isle of Java [modern Jakarta]. They had two children, the first one, valentina bertha henrietta mendioroz still, born in paris in 1867 and jose lucianne mendioroz still, born in bruges, belgium in late 1868. Ignacio and Valentina were prestigious 19 century opera singers and jose lucianne studied piano at berlin and milan conservatories. There seem to have been a close connection with Batavia, for in addition to their wedding, ignacio performed in batavia in 1867 and valenina's opera debut took place in that city in 1885, which makes me believe that probably agnes' parents were either missionaries or diplomats or something of that nature. I don't have a second lastname for her and the only other clue that I have is that agnes had a sister named Bertha Still. Any suggestions or clues would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much.

I forgot to mention that after ignacio's retirement from the opera, he and agnes settled in milano. In 1903, ignacio died in lucernne, switzerland and in 1907 agnes died in milano. Both of them are buried in milano's cimitero monumentale.

Thanks.

In the historical adressbooks of Berlin at www.adressbuch.zlb.de I only found this person:

F. A. [maybe the initials of Friedrich August] Still
Registrator bei der Stadtgerichts Hypotheken Registratur
Neue Königsstr. [Königstr.] 8

between 1839 and 1843. I did not check previous and later years.

Maybe he is A. E. F. Still's father.

Hope this information helps a little.

This is what I found:

A. F. STILL or F. A. STILL
- from 1826 to 1833 Stadtgerichtsregistratorassistent (Registratorassistent bei der Hypothekenkommission des Stadtgerichts) [same meaning], Berlin, Haakschemarkt 6 [obviously Hackescher Markt today]
- from 1834 to 1836 in Berlin, Brunnenstr. 2 [mentioned as registrator in 1836, so he was promoted to a higher rank]
- from 1837 to 1846 Registrator in Neue Königstr. (1837: No. 40a; 1838: No. 40b; 1844: No. 8; 1845: No. 8a
In 1847 his widow is mentioned:
- STILL geb. SCHULTZ, widow of a registrator, Neue Königstr. 5a
In 1848
- same entry, but in Krausenstr. 11
In 1849
- same entry, but in Krausenstr. 41

So F. A. or A. F. Still obviously died about 1846 in Berlin. I did not check the directories after 1849, but will do so if you are interested. By the way, Still as a surname seems to be pretty unique in Berlin since there are no other Stills in the directories from 1823 to 1849. No Still entries before 1826.

Hope this helps you in some way.

Best regards,
Willi

Willi,

I have some questions for you, like what is a registrator and what do you mean when you say he was promoted to a higher rank?

Then, it is very interesting that you say that the still surname was/is very rare in berlin. Among the things I found out when I researched the surname a few years ago is that the still surname came to germany from sweden, where the surname is pretty abundant. Do this has a ring of truth for you?

And yes, if you don't mind doing it for me, can you check the directories after 1849. I mean I have so very little clues to go on, and everything you have shown to me seems tremendously interesting. There is another name that I forgot to mention. In valentina's birth certificate, her god-father was henri edouard wilhelm kruger and her god-mother was her aunt bertha still. No idea if they were married or not, or if he was somehow related with the family.

Thank you so much for all your help,

Kindest regards,

Lluis

Guten Tag, Lluis,

a registrator was someone whose job was to register the files etc.
Before F. A. Still became a registrator he was the assistant of a registrator. So he was promoted. He worked in the mortgage section of the municipal court in Berlin.

Did the baptism you are talking about take place in Berlin ? So the godparent's original name must have been Heinrich Eduard Wilhelm Krüger. Krüger is an everyday surname in Germany just like Müller, Lehmann and Schulz e.g.

Will search for the Still widow in the directories after 1849 as soon as possible.

Best regards
Willi

Hi Lluis,

1850 / 1851: Still geb. Schultz, widow of a registrator, Krausenstr. 41
1851 / 1853: "Still, Dlle., Lehrerin der französischen Sprache, Niederwallstr. 8" [Demoiselle = Fräulein, teacher of the French language]
After 1851 no more widow Still.
1853 - 1855: "Still, Dlle., Lehrerin der französischen Sprache, Markgrafenstr. 99" [So she moved, after 1855 no more entry]

The results of my spot-checks:
1888: Still, H., Schneider [tailor], SO [former postal district in Berlin], Dresdener Str. 128/129 II, III
1899: Still, Heinrich, Schneidermeister [master tailor], SO, Reichenberger Str. 19 I
1910: Still, Heinrich, Schneidermeister, SO 26, Kottbuser Str. 13
Still, Therese, Klempnerwitwe [widow of a plumber], Wilmersdorf, Berliner Str. 25 pt.

Hope this information is useful.

Regards,
Willi

Guten Morgen Willie,

Ok, I think all the information you have given me is quite valuable. Now, is there a way for me to look for a birth record for Mr. Still and/or Mrs. Schultz in Berlin/Germany?

And no, the baptism that I mentioned took place in Paris in 1867. Well, if the Demoiselle you found was a teacher of french, it fits with the family's oral tradition. Bertha Still could have been the french teacher, so she was probably older than Agnes. I know that Agnes was born around 1842, so Bertha was probably born around 1836. Then, both of them lived and married in paris and maybe the Still you found after 1843 were family relatives. Like I said, all of the information you found is very exciting, but I wish I could have some records. Do these records were destroyed by WWII or do they still exist?

Thank you so very much for all your help and patience.

Truly thankful,

Lluis

Hi,

Thanks to the information provided by Willie, there is a big chance that A. F. [perhaps the initials stand for Friedrich August] Still and his widow geb. Schultz might be Agnes and Bertha Still. According to Berlin's directories, A. F. Still passed away around 1846 and his widow around 1851. Can any one tell me what should be my next step in order to get/locate some kind of birth records and/or marriage records? By the way, Willie also told me that apparently the Still surname seems to be pretty unique in the Berlin area, for besides A. F. Still and his widow there are no other Stills on the directories records from 1823 to 1849.

Thank you so much for your help,

Lluis