Two Main Branches in Germany
Dorum und Eschwege
In Deutschland habe ich zwei Hauptfamilienstämme lokalisieren können: Einen mit der Herkunft Eschwege, Hessen und einen mit der Herkunft Dorum, Landkreis Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen. Der Eschweger Stamm lässt sich bis 1760, der Dorumer bis 1786 zurückverfolgen. Ob beide Familien miteinander verbunden sind findet sich am Ende dieses Artikels.
Dorum and Eschwege
In Germany, I have been able to locate two main family branches: one with the origin in Eschwege, Hesse, and one in Dorum, Cuxhaven district, Lower Saxony. So the one more in the middle of Germany and the other in the north of Germany. The Eschwege branch can be traced back to 1760, and the Dorum branch to 1786. Whether the two families are connected can be found at the end of this article.
Eschwege Branch
The name Callenius was relatively common in Eschwege from the mid-18th to the mid-20th century. It survived several generations there during this period and spread somewhat throughout Germany. Almost all of the Callenius family members living in Germany today descend from this line.
I’m also related to this branch. The earliest known ancestor of my Callenius family to date – the wigmaker Johann Rudolf Callenius – is said to have come from “Volleben” and married into the long-established Eschwege Gleim family in 1760. Unfortunately, the location of Volleben has not been identified over decades. On a copy of a letter from Willy Callenius dated April 7, 1938, to the parish office in Volleben, he himself noted in the margin: “Came back on April 12, 1938, as undeliverable. The Reichspost could not find a place called ‘Volleben’.” Thus, the place seems to have been unknown even in the former German eastern territories (see picture).
Dorum Branch
Here I made an important breakthrough:
During research in the USA, I came across another Callenius family that appeared to come from northern Germany, from the town of Dorum, 25 km north of Bremerhaven. After ordering Dorum’s church records on film from the Church of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in Utah, I systematically searched them for the name Callenius. According to this, Otto Ludwig Callenius, quartermaster of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment Hanover, appears for the first time in 1786 and then regularly thereafter in the baptismal register of the Protestant congregation of Dorum. At some point, he gave up his military career and settled in Dorum with his wife, Helena Catharina Eibsen, as a alcohol distiller.
Dorum baptismal register, year 1786. Unfortunately, my photograph isn’t the best, but the text is still reasonably readable:
They had several children. One of their grandchildren, Adolph Friedrich Callenius, born on June 3, 1834, in Dorum, emigrated to the USA in the mid-19th century. He married Metta Eggers around 1860 and settled in Baker, O’Brien County, Iowa. He died there in 1914, five years after his wife. Leaving behind a large family.
In the “Reichsaddress” Book of 1898/99, a brewery owned by O. Callenius and a “Calenius Hotel” are listed in Dorum.
In Germany, representatives of this name line almost disappeared. As I learned from a local resident, a farming family named Callenius lived in Dorum until the 1990s or even a little later.
Here are some gravestone images from the Dorum cemetery [Source: Find A Grave]:
Wo kam die Familie in Dorum her?
Durch weitere Forschungen ließ sich die Herkunft des Otto Ludwig Callenius, welcher sich damals in Dorum niederließ, auf Horneburg bei Stade bestimmen. Dessen Vater war Johann Günther Callenius, Vogt des Kirchspiels Sievern. Die Herkunft des Johann Günther war jedoch nicht zu finden.
Eschweger und Dorumer Familie – gibt es eine Verbindung?
Diese Frage drängte sich natürlich auf und ich war zunächst nicht in der Lage eine Antwort darauf zu geben. Es könnte ja möglich sein, dass die Dorumer Familie durch die örtliche Nähe eher zu den skandinavischen Ländern zuzuordnen wäre.
Durch Zufall stieß ich bei einer Internetrecherche auf das Ortsfamilienbuch Padingbüttel von 2019. In diesem ist verzeichnet, dass der Stammvater der Dorumer Familie – Johann Günther Callenius – aus Polleben stammen soll. Dies macht absolut Sinn und passt von der Altersangabe bei seinem Tode (1792: 72 Jahre alt) zeitlich auf den am 20.03.1721 in Polleben geborenen Sohn des Amtsgärtners Otto Jacob Callenius und ist somit der Bruder des Stammvaters der Eschweger Familie, Johann Rudolph.
Beweis erbracht:
Damit ist nachgewiesen, dass die Dorumer und Eschweger Familien zusammengehören. Und das bedeutet, dass die allermeisten heute in Südamerika, USA und Deutschland lebenden Callenius über dieses Glied miteinander verwandt sind.
