GENEAL-FORUM

I am looking for any possible Swiss information on Johannes Georg Tur (Thur), my 4x Great Grandfather. JGT was married in Heusden, Noord Brabant, Netherlands in the year 1789. He married a Dutch girl, Elisabeth Kuijsten, and they settled in Genderen, Noord Brabant, Netherlands.

They had four sons:
- Blees Thur (1790 - 1863)
- Jan Thur (1792 - 1833) My 3x GG.
- Jacob Tur (1796 - 1869)
- Arien Thur (1798 - ??)

Jacob kept the name "Tur" and the other three sons used the name "Thur"

There are no prior records of JGT in the Netherlands. His wedding record says he is from Wijk, but that may have been where he was staying at the time. Our family lore has always been that he was possibly a Swiss soldier. JGT died in Genderen, Noord Brabant, Netherlands in 1802. In 1820, his eldest son Blees was married. In the wedding records of Blees it states that Blees' father (JGT) had died in 1802, and that Blees' "grandparents of paternal side have been in Switzerland for several years where they lived and died".

That is all I have to go on. A long shot at best. If anyone has any idea where I can begin to look, or be of any assistance at all, it would be most appreciated. This is my #1 brick wall.

I have added the wedding document of JGT and Elizabeth Kuijsten. It is where I discovered Georg was his middle name.
I have also added the record from Blees' marriage, describing the possible Swiss connection.

I thank you for your time.
Johannes Thur (Yes, I share the same name as JGT. Except for the Georg)

The Register of Swiss Surnames lists places of citizenship for Swiss citizens as of 1962, and with todays official spelling - so one has to be careful, as spellings often have chenged over the years.

The only name similar to what you are looking for is Thür (with the umlaut often getting lost abroad): the only pre-1800 place of citizenship for Thür is Altstätten, canton St.Gallen. So - if your ancestors were actually from Switzerland, Altstätten might be a good place to start. Church records have been filmed by the Mormons.

If Johann Georg Thür (?) served in a Swiss Regiment in the Netherlands, he was probably a protestant. Following Wolf's advice, you should therefore start to deploy the records of the protestant parish of Altstätten, which also contain a family register of 1779.

If you can't find him in Altstätten, I suggest you find out which Swiss Regiment was garrisoned in the neighborhood of the marriage location - and then come back to this forum. I've indeed seen many cases where Swiss mercenaries married close to their garrison, even if they had already left the service.

Besides Thür, Dürr could also be a potential name, however with many possible origins in several cantons. How would you pronounce the German Umlaut ü in Dutch?

Peter

Thank You for your feedback. It gives me a start, and I will pursue your suggestions.
Peter - I do know they were Protestant, they were also very poor. They could not pay their taxes on their wedding, and when JGT died, his widow could not pay the taxes on his burial. (Swiss soldiers probably did not make much)

I have asked a cousin in the Netherlands about your question "How would you pronounce the German Umlaut ü in Dutch?"
His answer is Tuur, so that may be where the pronunciation "Tur" came from, later changed to "Thur"

I live in British Columbia, Canada. My parents emigrated here from Genderen, Netherlands in 1960.
I am not fluent in Dutch, so sometimes it takes me a while to figure some of my research out.