First name: Kristaps

Last name: Rozenvalds/Rozentals

Father: unknown

Mother: Anna Rudzis/Radzin

Birth: 16-Mar-1858, Raggenhof, Jekabnieku

Baptism: 25-Mar-1858, Zalenieku Lutheran Church

Marriage: 1883, Anna Smiltnieks, Zalenieku Lutheran Church

Children:

• Lizette Emilija (1887-1917) – original baptism records for 1887 in Zalenieku no longer exist so here is Emilija’s death record from 1917, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church, Riga (NOTE: it says she is the widow of ‘Andrejs’, this is a mistake and she is actually the widow of his brother ‘Zanis’.

• Lavize Olga (1895-1963)

• Anna Zelma (1898-1960)

Death: 16-May-1935, Riga, chronic heart inflammation

Burial: unknown

More Information

Kristaps Rozenvalds/Rozentals was my husband’s great-great grandfather. My husband’s grandfather, Zanis/John Zekants, was orphaned at the age of 2 and was raised by his mother’s parents and sisters so in some ways Kristaps was a foster-father to my husband’s grandfather.

He was born at Raggenhof, a small manor house in Jekabnieku in 1858. His mother, Anna Rudzis/Radzin, was a single mother having a child on her own. Unfortunately it was quite common in the records to come across this situation. An ‘illigitimate’ child has a bit of a harder time in life living without a father they could claim. Latvia did not use patronymics in the same way that Russians did, but it was still very important in official documents for your father to be listed with your name. Kristaps did not have this option as a child or young man. He was baptized with the maiden name of his mother which is listed in the record as ‘Rudsiht’. This name seems to interchangeable over the decades with ‘Rudzis’, ‘Rudzitis’ and ‘Radzin’. We have no idea who is biological father was or what circumstances led to Anna being pregnant out of wedlock. He lives his adult life with the names of his step-father though, ‘Rozentals’ and ‘Rozenvalds’. During and after WWI, Kristaps lists his father as being ‘Geddert’ just as his sister, Lavize does. I imagine this was just easier and there was no way to check on such things back then.

In 1859 or 1860, Anna Rudzis/Radzin married the older widower, Geddert Rozentals/Rozenbergs. Geddert must have been willing to take on a small step-son of dubious parentage. Anna and Geddert had their own child, Lavize, in January, 1861.

Kristaps married Anna Smiltnieks in 1883, recorded at Zalenieku Lutheran Church. The original record for this marriage may no longer exist but a more modern listing has been made (although not available online). Kristaps and Anna seemed to move around quite a bit to different farms close to each other in the Jekabnieku area. Also, interesting to note is that Kristaps was illiterate while his sister, Lavize, was not. Does this reflect a situation where Kristaps was not as educated because he was illegitimate? Was he just not interested in school? Or did he have some learning disability? Literacy was quite widespread in 19th Latvia and his sister could read and write so a little bit unusual for Kristaps to be illiterate.

Kristaps’s first child was Lizette Emilija, born in July-1887. The records for this year at Zalenieku no longer exist so no record can be found. In 1892, they have their next child, Luize, while living at Cuceni farm. There are connections with this farm in Geddert’s family. Is that why they were there? Baby Luize died the following year, 1893, while the family is living at Strautini farm. In 1895, they have their 3rd daughter, Lavize Olga, while they are living at Vendini farm in Ūziņu.

Olga would play a large role in the life of my husband’s grandfather, Zanis/John, by stepping in as a foster-mother after the early death in 1917 of her sister, Emilija (John/Zanis’s mother).

Kristaps and Anna’s final child was another daughter, named Anna Zelma. She was born in 1898, while the family was living at Ginguli farm in Abgunst.

At least 2 of Kristaps’s daughters had his sister, Lavize, as a godparent. Also interesting to note that Kristaps was married using the name ‘Rozentals’ and all his children were baptized with that name. Even though his sister, Lavize, was baptized ‘Rozenbergs’. Geddert’s biological son, Kristaps born in 1838, was baptized ‘Rozentals’. But in this Civli Register of the 1890s all of them are listed under ‘Rozenvalds’. Lavize would get married in 1899 in Riga using the name ‘Rozentals’ but would say her maiden name was ‘Rozenbergs’ for the rest of her life. Kristaps (born 1858) would use ‘Rozenvalds’ for the rest of his life. Olga would use ‘Rozenvalds’ or a hyphenated ‘Rozentals-Rozenvalds’ until marriage. But when giving her maiden name later in life it was just ‘Rozentals’. My husband’s grandfather knew his mother’s maiden name as ‘Rozentals’ but in her death record from 1917 she is listed as both ‘Rozenvalds’ and ‘Rozentals’. and Kristaps mother, Anna Rudzis/Radzin, would die with the name ‘Rozenvalds’ even though when she was married she used ‘Rozenbergs’. Aspazija’s father, Dāvis, would also go back and forth between ‘Rozenvalds’ and ‘Rozenbergs’. I do not know why generations of this family from 1838 until the mid-20th century kept going back and forth between these ‘Rozen…’ names.

This is an 1894 Civil Register List for the Zalenieku/Jekabnieku area that lists Kristaps and his family:

The second entry in this document, #456, is this Kristaps (born 1858). Although, NOTE that Kristaps uses the birth year ‘1852’ in documents for the rest of his life for some reason. There is a note written here that his father is not known and that he was born out of wedlock to his mother Anna. The women listed on the right as living with him are as follows:

• his wife Anna, born 1864
• daughter Lizette (Alice) born Jul-1887 NOTE: the name ‘Alice’ here is a mistake
• daughter Lawize born 1895 NOTE: Lawize went by her middle name ‘Olga’ for her adult life
• daughter Anna Zelma, born 5-Aug-1898

Lizette is my husband’s great grandmother.

Entry #455 above is for Kristaps Rozenvalds, born in Feb-1838, son of Geddert. This is the Kristaps who was baptized with the name ‘Rozentals’ in 1838 so a name change has happened here. On the right side are the names of the two women living with him. The bottom one is his wife, Grieta, who is listed has having passed away sometime after this document was made. The top one is Lawize, age 34, a half-sister to both men named Kristaps here.

Sometime probably around 1900 Kristaps moves his family to Riga. His sister, Lavize, is already living there having been married at St. Martin’s Church in 1899. I believe Kristaps and his family lived for some years at Grodnas Street 1a in the Iļģuciems neighborhood of Riga.

In July 1914, just days before the start of WWI, Kristaps’s mother Anna died. She was buried at Lacupes Cemetery on the 30-July-1914. At some point, probably after the start of WWI the family moves to the other side of the Daugava River to try to avoid the German advance. They move to Karlines Street 32 (Miera Street today).

During WWI, Kristaps and his wife and his sister and niece all evacuate to the northern town of Rujiena. Kristaps returns to Riga in 1920 just after independence is achieved. The family moves back to Karlines Street 32 (Miera Street today) where they live until 1922 when they move down the street to building 9.

Note that in this 1920 ID document he is listing his father as being ‘Gerdad’, a variation of ‘Geddert’.

Here is a photo of Kristaps from 1928. It is from a Riga ID document and shows that he was illiterate.

Kristaps died in 1935, 7 years after the death of his wife. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find out where he was buried. The Lacupes Cemetery where his daughter and mother are buried does not have him or his wife listed in their records.