What's in a name? Redux

I am now convinced that my Schipp family was originally named Sip in Poland. That the Michael Sip married to Elizabeth Jusczynska in 1872 are my great grandparents.

 I have found no documentation regarding the change in spelling but I have a theory.

The Polish pronunciation probably sounded like “ship” and therefore the Prussian authorities gave it a Germanic spelling. At that time, the area where they lived was in the province of Posen in the Kingdom of Prussia. All civil authority was Prussian and their goal was Germanification of the region that was once Poland.

It might be that civil birth records of their children would help verify my theory if they match first names and dates that I already have. Unfortunately, civil records don’t exist before 1874 and I’m still unsure of which LDS films would have the information I’m seeking for later births.  At $7.50 a pop, I cannot order films unless I’m pretty sure I’m on the right track so I’ll have to study my dates a little more.

 

The LDS film from the Grabow nad Prosna church baptism records corresponds with the dates I have for my grandmother, Stanislawa born in 1874, and her older sister, Rosalie born in 1872.  Along with a baptism record for my great great uncle Stanislaus, this has convinced me that these are my ancestors.

I think that I have also found my 3rd great grandfather Sip, but I’m still waiting for the film that should confirm that.

It’s exciting to finally find one of my ancestral villages.  With any luck I’ll continue to uncover details of my family history.

I’ll be grateful for any suggestions and/or comments as to how to confirm or refute my findings.