When researching ancestors in the area of Belgium and Luxembourg, “Dénombrements” that have been preserved in the Archives of Luxembourg are a gold mine of information. You might think of these enumerations as a kind of census. You can find names, but you also get great detail about the condition of the people mentioned.

The catch is that digital images of these exist, but they aren’t indexed. They have to be read, and the handwriting used is a style of cursive that takes time to learn. I have been practicing, with the help of the genealogy community online, and present here an excerpt of that translation.

Excerpt from the Prevost D’Arlon

What follows are a few villages from the area surrounding Arlon. For those interested in the Thines family, these are the villages where we first see them appearing around 1700.

While at the time of this publishing I have not found their name mentioned. However, you will notice the name Claus Kintsch (Küntsch), from a family that would eventually marry into the Thines family.

These entries paint a pretty grim picture of life in the area at this time. The Thirty Years War had ended ten years prior, and war would soon come again. During the Thirty Years War this area was devastated.

Here is the translation:

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The Provost of Arlon

Appeared the Sieur Anthoine, Lieutenant Provost of the said provostship, and he was given orders to have the subjects of his office brought to the town of Arlon. After he had formally sworn an oath, along with the heirs of Jehan Freylingen, mayor of the said district, the heirs of Clauss of Heyschlingen, first alderman, Gabriel Weissgerber of Metzert, alderman, and Vincent Nicolas, sergeant, they declared as follows:

The Village of Stockem

That since the year 1636 it has been completely devastated, and that not a single house remains. And although it is close to the said town, it is true that of fifty journals of land not a single one is cultivated, so that all the land remains uncultivated, and the children abandoned by the inhabitants are scattered throughout the world, without anyone knowing where they might be.

They declare that in the village of Stokem before the wars there were twenty-four households, and between them about ten or twelve plows.

The Village of Heischlingen, dependant of the Village of Stockem

They declare that in the said village there is still a house held by the aforementioned heir Clauss, who maintains a full plow team, namely four horses, and has three cows. He owes two hundred and forty pattagons, from which he pays…

There are also still three other inhabitants in the said village, namely:

  • Knappes Hans, who has two horses and one cow, which he keeps as a lodger of a bourgeois of Arlon named Jean Pierre
  • Mergen Niclaus, who maintains a half plow team, and the horses are not his own but, on the contrary, he still owes for them; he also keeps two cows as a lodger, from Jean
  • Schweychers Claus, who has a full plow team, namely four small horses, along with two cows as well, being heavily indebted, though he cannot say by how much.

The last three named have no house in the said place; they are lodged in huts which they have attached to old ruins. There formerly were, in the said village of Heischlingen, six households.

The Village of Freylange

That in the said place there are still three inhabitants…whereas previously there were seven.

  • Simon Nicolas has two horses and a third which he rents. He uses them to farm land that, for the most part, is under obligation to a bourgeois known as le Schwartenfeller. For this land, he pays 200 Brabant florins and owes an annual rent. He also owns one cow.
  • Sars Henri lives with the aforementioned Simon Nicolas. He also has two horses and works land equal to half a plow. Although the value of his land is low, he owes more than it is worth. He also owns two cows.
  • Seckes Johan, the aforementioned mayor, has no inheritance except for one farmstead, which he recently transferred. He borrowed money at interest from the hostess of the Golden Head, in the amount of 100 Brabant florins. He also owns two cows.

The Village of Metzert

Dependent on the said district, formerly had seven inhabitants before the wars, and now has only three, namely:

  • Gabriel Weyssgerber, a laborer, has his house and outbuildings, and three horses — two blind and one sighted — and two cows. He is lodged and holds around three jours of land at la Roie. He owes 700 florins because his horses and livestock were taken from him on three separate occasions by the enemy.
  • Schneyder Pierre has three horses and three cows. He is hosted by Michel Metzler of Arlon, and owns little to no property. He farms land belonging to others, and owes at least 700 florins.
  • Jentges Ternuss is a tenant farmer under a butcher from Arlon named Nicolas Metzler, to whom all the goods of the said tenant belong.

They declare that the said ban of Stockem and the community thereof have taken and owe to Sieur Eyrullois and his mother-in-law two hundred thalers, in order to pay billets and fodder for the soldiers, the said ban having previously — before the wars — had more than forty inhabitants in the entire territory of Stockem.

Wolkrange

There appeared Kintsch Clauss, mayor of the said place, and Henrich Jehan, alderman there, and they declared, after having taken an oath, that formerly the village had about eighteen inhabitants, and that now there remain only two, by name.

  • Kintschen Clauss has land for a full plow, four horses, and also four cows, which livestock he holds as a tenant. He owes 300 florins.
  • Henen Johann has arable land for half a plow, four horses, and three cows, which he likewise holds as a tenant. He owes 200 florins.

Of the twelve who once remained in the said village, only two remain; there are no houses, for they have all been burned, and these two are the only ones still living in the village.

The community of the said Wolkrange owes seventy-five florins to a certain bourgeois of Arlon.

Sesslich, for the part of Wolkrange

There were formerly three inhabitants here, and now they are completely ruined and deserted.

Names Mentioned:

Unless I have validated that a more modern spelling of the name exists, I’ve left these names as is. For example, later marriage records indicate Schweychers is Schweicher.

One has to bear in mind when reading these that there may have been a language barrier. The writing is in French. It is possible that these people also spoke French, but Arlon was located in a German speaking area of what was at the time the Spanish Netherlands.

  • Johann Henen
  • Claus Küntsch
  • Ternuss Jendtges
    • One may note this resembles the surname “Thines.” This is likely because the origin of the surname is a patronymic of a diminutive for Anthonius. Anthonius > Thonus > Thines. In other words, you can understand his name as something like “Tony.”
  • Pierre Schneyder
  • Gabriel Weyssgerber
  • Nicolas Simon
  • Henri Sars
  • Johan Seckes
  • Claus Schweicher
  • Nicolas Mergen
  • Hans Knappes

Historical Notes

A painting by Anton Goubau of mercenaries plundering a village during the Thirty Years War. Your ancestors would have been familiar with scenes like this.
  • What we see here in a vignette is the ruins not just of villages but also the economy at this time. Many of these farmers were renters. Yet their crops and livestock were destroyed by the war and thus their landlords are unable to turn a profit.
  • We see two or three people listed in these villages. It is a matter of debate how many people lived in a “household” at the time, but it may have been four or five people living in each house.
  • Note that poor Gabriel Weyssgerber had his horses and livestock stolen by passing troops more than once. This would have been commonplace not just here in the Spanish Netherlands but villages across Europe.