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I came across your Find a Grave site for Ernestine Klingsporn Utecht in Willowhole Cemetery, North Zulch, Texas the other day and recognized that Ernestine was a first cousin to my great-grandfather William Zirk/Johann Wilhelm Zirke.

Ernestine was born in Grocholin, Posen, Kingdom of Prussia on 22 Nov 1855 and was baptized in the nearby Evangelic (Lutheran) parish of Exin. Her full name at birth was Caroline Ernestine Klingsporn. She had a twin sister Henriette Ottilie who died in Grocholin on 5 Oct 1859.

Ernestine and Henriette Ottilie's parents were Martin Klingsporn and Marianne Zirke, who had married in the Evangelic parish of Gollantsch on 23 Oct 1836. In their marriage record, both Martin and Marianne are both listed as being from the village of Wysniewo in the parish of Gollantsch. Martin's occupation was a shepherd's helper (Schäferknecht) and later was listed as a farmer (Planteur). Still later, when the family was living in Grocholin, which was a estate owned by a noble family, Martin's occupation was listed as a Voigt, which I translate to a foreman or an overseer. From his first marriage record (to Marianne Zirke), Martin was born in about 1813.

Marianne Zirke was born in about 1815 (also from the marriage record). She is listed as a Schäfertochter in the record, which means she was the daughter of a shepherd. I believe that her father and mother were Maertin Zirk and Anna Rosina Hass -- the marriage record for Martin Klingsporn and Marianne Zirke does not state the names of the parents, but in 1835 Maertin Zirk and Anna Rosina nee Hass were living in the village of Wysniewo as recorded in the birth of their daughter (and I believe last child) Anna Wilhelmina Zirk. Maertin Zirk was a shepherd.

Maertin Zirk and Anna Rosina nee Hass were also the parents of Carolina Zirk, born 5 Aug 1821 in the village of Szerteneko, then in the parish of Schokken. After Marianne Klingsporn nee Zirke died on 13 Mar 1860 due almost certainly to complications from the birth of her last child five days earlier, Martin Klingsporn married Carolina Zirk on 21 Jul 1861 -- this marriage took place in the town of Nakel but was recorded in the Exin parish records (it was not recorded in the Nakel parish records).

Martin Klingsporn and Marianne nee Zirke had seven children, as follows:

1) WIlhelmina Klingsporn, born 19 Oct 1839 in the village of Smuszewo in the parish of Gollantsch.

2) Anne Caroline Klingsporn, born 25 Mar 1842 in the village of Pawlowo in the parish of Margonin.

3) Julie Klingsporn, born 28 Jun 1849 in the village of Laskownica in the parish of Gollantsch.

4) Emily Paulina Klingsporn, born 12 Oct 1850 in the village of Grocholin in the parish of Exin.

5) Caroline Ernestina Klingsporn, born 22 Nov 1855 in the village of Grocholin, parish of Exin.

6) Henriette Ottilie Klingsporn, born 22 Nov 1855 in the village of Grocholin, parish of Exin, died on 5 Oct 1859, also in Grocholin.

7) Henriette Klingsporn, born 8 Mar 1860 in the parish of Grocholin, parish of Exin, died on 3 Sep 1860, also in Grocholin.

Martin Klingsporn and Carolina Zirk had one child as follows:

1) Johann Friedrich Klingsporn, born 12 Mar 1862 in Grocholin, parish of Exin.

I do not have any other information on the Klingsporn family in Germany -- they seem to disappear after the 1862 birth record.

As best as I can determine, Maertin Zirk and Anna Rosina Hass had seven children as follows:

1) Marianne Zirke, born in about 1815, died on 13 Mar 1860 in Grocholin, parish of Exin. Married Martin Klingsporn on 23 Oct 1836 in Gollantsch.

2) Michael Zirke, born in about 1817 and died between 1871 and 1878. Married 1) Wilhelmina Wendtland on 20 Oct 1844 in Gollantsch and 2) Wilhelmina Kuhn on 7 Jul 1861 in Exin.

3) Carolina Zirk, born 5 Aug 1821 in the village of Szerteneko, then parish of Schokken. Married 1) Christoph Hinz on 12 Oct 1845 in Gollantsch and 2) Martin Klingsporn on 21 Jul 1861 in the town of Nakel (marriage recorded in the Exin parish).

4) Johann Zirke, born in about Oct 1824, died in Cleveland, Ohio of 23 Feb 1908. Married Wilhelmine Klingsporn of Podolin, parish of Gollantsch on 25 Apr 1852 in Gollantsch. Johann and his wife had eight children, seven of whom emigrated and settled in Cleveland, Ohio.

5) Catharina Justina Zirke, born in about 1929. Married Michael Schmalz on 2 Nov 1850 in Gollantsch.

6) Anna Rosina Zirke, born in about 1831 and died before Nov 1862. Married Christoph Felske on 7 Nov 1858.

7) Anna Wilhelmina Zirk, born on 3 Jul 1835 and died before Feb 1863. Married August Rohde in about 1854.

Maertin Zirk appears to have died between 1852 and 1858 and his wife Anna Rosina Hass died after 1858. (These dates were determined from the children's marriage records -- the records did not list the names of the parents but did state whether they were dead or alive.)

I descend from the second child, Michael Zirke and his first wife Wilhelmina Wendlandt. Michael and Wilhelmina had seven children, two of who survived to maturity and emigrated to the U.S.

My great-grandfather, William Zirk, was born in Smuszewo, parish of Gollantsch on 18 Apr 1850. He emigrated from Germany in about 1872, settling in New York City, first in Manhattan, then Brooklyn and finally Queens. He worked as a gardner or farmer in all three locations, operating his last farm in Middle Village, Queens, New York City until he was almost 80 years old. William Zirk died in Ridgewood, Queens on 10 Apr 1932. His second daughter, Wilhelmina Friedricke Zirk, was my paternal grandmother.

The second surviving child of Michael and Wilhelmina Zirk was Samuel Zerke, who was born in Smuszewo on 20 Apr 1852 and died in Esthersville, Iowa on 13 Jul 1936. Samuel married Rosalie Apolius in Posen in 1875. In about 1878, Samuel and his wife emigrated to the U.S. and settled in Iowa, where he worked as farmer the rest of his life.

I want to thank you for putting the information about Ernestine Klingsporn Utecht at the Find a Grave site -- I always enjoy being able to extend a line of relations in my database. In this case, it is particular interesting because of the different places where the different (1st) cousins settled -- Texas, Ohio, Iowa and New York.

My best regards,

Frederick Buck
CIncinnati, Ohio