Question on German surnames

[LukeFF]

I've been updating my family tree, and I've found that I have ancestors on my mother's side of the family with the surname of Mouser / Mauser. Sure enough, they are from Baden-Württemberg, going back to the 1700s in and around Öschingen. So, I guess my question is, how common of a surname is Mauser? I see that there was a Peter Paul Mauser born in Württemberg in the 1800s, who was a German weapon designer. 

 

On a side note, this family history stuff is so addicting.  

[Blooddawn1942]

I've no statistics to refer to, but my guess is, that Mauser is not too uncommon. Not as common like Müller, Meier, Schmitz, Fischer and Schneider, but surely not uncommon. 

 

Edit : a quick check revealed, that Mauser is not in the top 100 of german surnames. 

Edited June 17, 2019 by Blooddawn1942

[sevenless]

Hi Luke,

 

according to one site, that name is one of the rarer types in Germany and obviously more common in Austria. According to one site roughly 4.000 folks carry that name worldwide, another site gives 11.000 entries. The meaning of the name "Mauser" is a guy who is hunting down mice. A micecatcher - maeusefänger, same as a ratcatcher - rattenfaenger. 

 

https://forebears.io/de/surnames/mauser and https://de.geneanet.org/genealogie/mauser/MAUSER

 

A variant of the name is "Mausser", with double "S". According to this site (https://de.geneanet.org/genealogie/mausser/MAUSSER) that name is even less frequent (1.600 entries) and present at several towns in Baden-Württemberg ending with -INGEN (that hints to alemannic tribe origin - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alemanni).

 

Oeschingen here:

 

https://de.geneanet.org/fonds/individus/?go=1&nom=MAUSER&place__0__=Oeschingen&size=50

 

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by sevenless

[ZachariasX]

1 hour ago, LukeFF said:

. Sure enough, they are from Baden-Württemberg, going back to the 1700s in and around Öschingen.

The name Mauser is rather frequent in Baden-Württemberg. There seems to be a line of that Family in Öschingen. beside the name's high frequency in that region, there is even a Mr Mauser giving a talk about an old wood-carving museum in Öschingen. As it is written on that page, their family also seemed to live there for some time.

 

1 hour ago, LukeFF said:

On a side note, this family history stuff is so addicting.  

It can be. I did that once I've inherited 6 generations worth of photographs from my family and I thought to collect the usable ones and organise them a bit. It was some years of work and I got to know some people I didn't personally know. But I got every single one down with name and dates plus some stories about them. The work turned into two big books eventually. You have a kid, then it's really worth having.

 

While there are some well known sites that can help you drawing up a sketch of a family tree, if you want to know more I recommed you to take what you have as info and photos to the person closest to your missing links. It doesn't matter if you never met them before, people like to talk about such. Also, in Germany archives are usually pretty good and you can go and look at the original books. In Germany, churches kept very good records of the people  for obvious reasons besides public authorities. They are the next best thing to Ellis Islands immigration records.

 

 

 

[Cybermat47]

1 hour ago, LukeFF said:

I see that there was a Peter Paul Mauser born in Württemberg in the 1800s, who was a German weapon designer. 

 

On a side note, this family history stuff is so addicting.  

 

It would be pretty cool to be related to Peter Paul von Mauser (the “von” presumably being a later award for his weapons design), he’s arguably the most prolific German weapons designer of all time.

 

I’d be interested in doing some research into my own family history. Apparently there’s a possibility that I’m descended from one of William the Conquerer’s knights - or, more likely, one of the knight’s serfs who adopted his name 

[LukeFF]

All good stuff, guys, thank you so much! I had known from my mother that there was German lineage somewhere in her family, but I'd not researched it until, partly because I couldn't sleep last night, I decided to update the family tree I'd created on Ancestry.com (which has turned into a really, really good site). By just inputting a few names of more recent relatives, I ended up with a whole bunch of info that I never thought I would ever find. 

 

8 hours ago, ZachariasX said:

Also, in Germany archives are usually pretty good and you can go and look at the original books. In Germany, churches kept very good records of the people  for obvious reasons besides public authorities. They are the next best thing to Ellis Islands immigration records.

 

That's what it looks like someone in my family out there has been doing - going through a ton of the original German records and then putting it all online. As a result, I can trace my family history all the way back to one Balthes Metzger - my 11th great-grandfather born in 1534 somewhere in Germany.  Also some Mercks, Honsingers, Gommingers and - my personal favorite - Steinfilbers. ? Most of them seem to have been from that one area in and around Öschingen and the Hesse area. 

 

8 hours ago, ZachariasX said:

It can be. I did that once I've inherited 6 generations worth of photographs from my family and I thought to collect the usable ones and organise them a bit. It was some years of work and I got to know some people I didn't personally know. But I got every single one down with name and dates plus some stories about them. The work turned into two big books eventually. You have a kid, then it's really worth having.

 

Yeah, what really got me started on this years ago was an aunt on my father's side of the family that had collected through the years all sorts of family history records by simply talking with relatives at family reunions. She ended up with a mountain of information (including a lot of stories) that would have taken me ages to collect on my own, so I owe her a great debt for collecting all this. Turns out my paternal ancestors were quite the bunch - farmers, cattle ranchers, slave owners (all the way up to the end of the American Civil War), and as I found out last night, a 7th great-grandfather that was in the 11th and 15th Virginia Infantry regiments during the American Revolution and was at Valley Forge. 

 

So, yes, it's a lot of work, but at the same time it's a lot of fun seeing what sort of family history is out there. 

[Lusekofte]

There was at a time more than one Mauser weapon company. 

Same goes for Walther 

good luck with your search. I am giving my wife a start at this with dna analizes. It can be very helpful. A company called my heritage provide a world wide service. And the more use it , bigger chance of finding more. 

Got a friend that found several relatives in Greece and us

[Uufflakke]

@LukeFF,

 

This site might also be of interest to you:

https://www.houseofnames.com/mauser-family-crest

 

 

[AndyJWest]

1 hour ago, Uufflakke said:

@LukeFF,

 

This site might also be of interest to you:

https://www.houseofnames.com/mauser-family-crest

 

 

 

Some of that may be of interest. I'd not take too much notice of the 'family crest' though, without a better source. Take a look at their page for 'Smith'. Yup, they seem to think (or more likely, claim for commercial purposes, since they sell jpgs of the 'crest') that the 'Smiths'  share common ancestry from a single founder 'Smith', and accordingly have a 'family crest', which is just stupid. You got the surname 'Smith' because that was what your family did. It isn't a 'Smith' crest, though it may possibly be a crest adopted by someone of the name Smith. Whether that is true for Mauser is less clear, though. Maybe the mouse-catchers were all related. Maybe they weren't. The houseofnames.com crest quite likely  has as much historical validity as the 'family tartans' that Edinburgh tailors invent for gullible tourists with no discernible Scottish ancestry.

3 hours ago, raaaid said:

im descendant of the sister of an spanish king according my dad, i think that explains my lazyness

 

I think it's been more or less established that anyone with any European ancestry is descended from Charlemagne.  Simple statistics will demonstrate that anyone living at that time will either have left no descendants at all, or will be an ancestor of everyone. And Charlemagne certainly left a lot of directly-traceable descendants amongst European royalty. Even allowing for their notorious in-breeding, there have been quite enough non-royal offspring of royal families (legitimate and illegitimate) for the Charlemagne line to have spread elsewhere, even down to the lowly peasants. 

 

AS for myself, I've not traced any royal line, but I do know that my (English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, and possibly-Huguenot-but-definitely-French-speaking) ancestors will have fought on both sides in more or less every conflict the British Isles has seen. Which may or may not be relevant to family dynamics...

 

 

[Legioneod]

19 hours ago, LukeFF said:

I've been updating my family tree, and I've found that I have ancestors on my mother's side of the family with the surname of Mouser / Mauser. Sure enough, they are from Baden-Württemberg, going back to the 1700s in and around Öschingen. So, I guess my question is, how common of a surname is Mauser? I see that there was a Peter Paul Mauser born in Württemberg in the 1800s, who was a German weapon designer. 

 

On a side note, this family history stuff is so addicting.  

 

Very interesting stuff. I completely agree on family history being addicting. So far I've traced one of my lines all the way back to the 1600s.

Much of my family came from France in the 1600-1700s but I also have some German ancestors (Klein) who immigrated to Louisiana in the 1860s. I also have some Indian (Native American) in me though I haven't tracked down the tribe.

Many of my ancestors fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War and my 3rd Great Grandfather fought at Gettysburg and would wounded around Devils Den.

 

My grandfather served in the Pacific during ww2 and my other grandfather was in the Army during the war though I'm not sure where he served.

 

Family history is a very interesting subject. It's cool when you find a historical event that your family participated in.

[LukeFF]

2 hours ago, Legioneod said:

Family history is a very interesting subject. It's cool when you find a historical event that your family participated in.

 

Yeah, it's a really neat thing. In the past few days I've found a number of ancestors on both sides of the family who fought in the Revolution, both sides of the Civil War, and the War of 1812. There's probably some descendants in there who fought in the 30 Year's War. 

[LukeFF]

Well, it's been quite the week doing more research - I had to untangle some conflicting info I'd received from my aunt years ago and, in the process, found out that - provided the info is correct, which I think it is - Pocahontas is my 11th great-aunt. Plus, I confirmed something that I'd been told years ago - that William Wallace is indeed in my family line, as my 23rd great-uncle and thus the brother of my 22nd great-grandfather Sir John Wallace, Laird of Elderslie. ? 

[NETSCAPE]

On 6/17/2019 at 6:38 PM, Legioneod said:

Many of my ancestors fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War and my 3rd Great Grandfather fought at Gettysburg and would wounded around Devils Den.

 

My (g-r-r-r-eat!) uncle "Benajamin Burt" was in the Yankee Cav. We have his sword, binoculars and pistol. Also we have an awesome looking charcoal portrait of him. Apparently he survived the war and drowned 2 years later, (i suspect this might have been a suicide). He was also a river-boat gambler and the story goes he once "shot a cheater dead". What a badass.

 

Oh and I dated a Mauser girl once. Her family had little to no understanding about what their name mean't and the weapons associated with it. I honestly was expecting a K98 production line the first time I met her parents. Disappointing to say the least. 

Edited June 22, 2019 by NETSCAPE

[Legioneod]

7 hours ago, NETSCAPE said:

 

My (g-r-r-r-eat!) uncle "Benajamin Burt" was in the Yankee Cav. We have his sword, binoculars and pistol. Also we have an awesome looking charcoal portrait of him. Apparently he survived the war and drowned 2 years later, (i suspect this might have been a suicide). He was also a river-boat gambler and the story goes he once "shot a cheater dead". What a badass.

 

Oh and I dated a Mauser girl once. Her family had little to no understanding about what their name mean't and the weapons associated with it. I honestly was expecting a K98 production line the first time I met her parents. Disappointing to say the least. 

 

Interesting story about uncle Ben. It's a shame about the Mauser girl, a K98 would be a nice surprise, it's one of the rifles on my gun shopping list.

[NETSCAPE]

So I logged into my moms ancestry stuff. I am finding records for more civil war guys. One got drafted into the 7th Indiana in '63 and died listed under the 13th Indiana 19 days after the war ended, damn measles got him. 

 

Man I can tell this is going be REALLY addicting... 

[NETSCAPE]

Hey @LukeFF what strategy did you use for uncovering the Revolutionary War information? Pensions? Muster/Rolls? or that Sons of Liberty stuff? It seems rather difficult (and inconclusive/or not concrete) when common names are uhhh common. I know my odds are slim but it would be a neat find. WW2 and Civil War vets are the easiest to discover for me it seems. I had to dig HARD to get information on someone I KNEW served during the Great War (my great grandpa was in the US medical corps).

 

It was interesting to learn that my "German" family was actually Austrian and Bohemian. A significant amount of my English lineage is traced back to the early American Colonies, which is really cool. I'm talking births recorded in 1620s and 30s which is beyond epic. The farthest back I've connected is currently an English line to 1350.

 

 

On 6/22/2019 at 2:44 PM, Legioneod said:

 

Interesting story about uncle Ben. It's a shame about the Mauser girl, a K98 would be a nice surprise, it's one of the rifles on my gun shopping list.

 

I've owned a couple k98's, shooter-grade, for uhhh shootin'. Out of all the main battle rifles of WW2 it is my all around favorite. The Arisaka type 99 wins in the "feels the best in my hands" award though. 

---

 

Meet the Austrians. 

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by NETSCAPE

[Retnek]

That picture could have been taken anywhere in (western to middle) Europe 100 y ago. It's interesting to find people at that time - living so much more separated and within much more intact local sub-cultures - on those pictures present a very uniform way of clothing. Pictures usually were taken in the "Sundays dress". The more wealthy farmers, craftsmen, clerks - whoever could afford the luxury of a photo at that time - preferred a common civil, middle-class dress-code. And most (nearly all, I think) of that clothing was sewn or needled by hand, by the family-women usually. Or a local tailor for the men's best suit.
During holiday I love to visit local museums in small towns or villages all over Europe - from Norway down to Austria at least one can find this standard. Uniforms of any kind were fine, too. No way to wear traditional or day-by-day clothings! Rarely I could find (very) old people wearing a bit more traditional pieces on pictures taken 1910 or so.  There are some exceptions (fishermen, sailors f.e.), but all in all the Central European middle-class had to be photographed in the way shown above.

 

PS: 13 children at least ... looking healthy and well dressed. A blessed family!

Edited June 25, 2019 by Retnek

[LukeFF]

2 hours ago, NETSCAPE said:

Hey @LukeFF what strategy did you use for uncovering the Revolutionary War information? Pensions? Muster/Rolls? or that Sons of Liberty stuff? It seems rather difficult (and inconclusive/or not concrete) when common names are uhhh common.

 

I've just been uncovering the info as it comes up in suggestions made by Ancestry. Most of the time this is through info found on findagrave.com. To that end, I've found info on not only Revolutionary War ancestors but also some from the War of 1812 and some new Civil War vets I previously didn't know about. 

 

I also found out this week that, very much to my surprise, the first male ancesetor on my mom's side of the family to live in America was actually a black slave who lived on the Lower Brandon Plantation, which still exists to this day. What's more, that plantation was owned by same Harrison family that has produced 2 American presidents. 

[LukeFF]

So, I recently found some more interesting information on the German branch of my mother's family: the Mausers were apparently the Von Mosers until the name was changed. I also found some Mercks and Metzgers in the family line - which is funny, since my maternal grandfather was a meatcutter. ? 

 

One other interesting tidbit from the line is one Levi Mauser, which leads me to wonder if there is some Jewish ancestry in the family line.