In my blog of October 24, 2020, titled Rethinking Some Details About Franz Toews, I questioned whether the math book written by a Franz Toews and dated 1800, in which Franz Toews (born 1812) wrote his personal details in the blank pages of the back, was actually written by Franz 1812’s father. That’s what has been assumed by all who have written about it, including Luella Toevs Wiese, the author of Franz Toews: From Heubuden, West Prussia to Mountain Lake, Minnesota 1812-1898 and his Descendants, Toevs, Toavs, Taves, Taevs.
I still doubt that the book was written by Franz 1812’s father, probably being even more skeptical about the idea than I was when preparing that blog in October. However, to me the bigger question than who authored that math book is, “Who were Franz 1812’s parents?” Beyond that we could ask, “Who were his grandparents and great-grandparents, etc.?” After all, one major goal in doing genealogical research is trying to discover our roots going back further and further in history.
I haven’t reached a definite conclusion yet in my attempts to answer those questions, but my research has produced some interesting results. There appear to be two possible paternal lineages for Franz 1812, taking into account the significance of that math book.
One of those possibilities is almost uniformly presented in the online family trees found on such websites as GrandmaOnline.org, Geni.com, FamilySearch.org, etc. This possible lineage would suggest that the Franz Toews who wrote the math book would have been Franz 1812’s father’s uncle (Franz 1812’s grand uncle). That family tree would trace back from Franz Toews (1812-1898) to Abraham Toews (1781-1827) to Isaak Toews (c. 1754-1803). The Franz Toews who wrote the math book in this scenario would be Isaak Toews’ brother.
Another possible lineage for Franz 1812 would have the author of the math book be his grandfather. This family tree would go back from Franz Toews (1812-1898) to Franz Toews (1784-1832) to Franz Toews (1758-1813). It would be this last-named Franz (1758-1813) who would be the most likely author of the math book—whichever of these lineages is correct.
Don’t miss the import of that last statement in the previous paragraph! It is my belief that Franz Toews (1758-1813) is the probable, almost certain author of the math book—no matter which of the two lineages may be correct. That’s because both of those lineages trace back to the same source: Martin Toews (1724-1775, according to FamilySearch.org he is called Abraham Martin Toews) and his second wife, Judith Sukkau Toews (1725-1798). They were the parents of both Isaak Toews (1754-1803) and his younger brother Franz (1758-1813).
The disadvantage of the second possible lineage for Franz 1812 is that we have no record of marriage or children for his supposed father Franz Toews (1784-1832)—we just don’t know much about him other than his birth, baptism and death. The strength of that suggestion is the greater likelihood that Franz 1812 would have written his life history in a book authored by his grandfather than one authored by a grand uncle.
Whichever the actual lineage, the exciting news is that we can go back beyond 1812 almost a century in tracing our family tree on the Toews side! I plan on continuing to investigate the details of the ancestors involved in that extension, in hopes that we can have a greater sense of certainty about the actual lineage. When I find anything noteworthy, I will definitely plan to let you know.
Nice work! Thank you.