The Liebzeits of Glogon: All Descended From Anton Liebzeit

By: Jane Liebzeit, Canada

Anton Liebzeit was born in northern Bohemia-now the Czech Republic. His name, and those of his descendents, show many different spellings: but it was only the one Liebzeit who settled in the Banat of Hungary in 1764. From him are descended all the other “Glogon Liebzeits”.

This fact is confirmed by very consistent and meticulously recorded information from the Roman Catholic Church of Santa Anna at Glogon, Banat, Hungary. These records, in turn, were accessed and microfilmed by the Mormon Church, who keep them on file in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. (Microfilm #1190288,1190289 and 1190290, recording: Marriages for 1765-1850, Births fro 1765-1870: and Deaths for 1765-1871).

Roman Catholic priests always used Latin for their records; therefore Anton was listed in church records as “Antonius”. We will try to list family members by their secular, rather than “Latinized”, names: that is, by their “everyday” names. As well, we will try to note the variations in spelling of the surname as they occur.

The first records we have of Anton Liebzeit are from the Muster List of the Austrian Army, FHL Film #1362017: Musterlisten for 1755-1763; and specifically from the second portion of the film. The locality of the record is Kriegsarchiv, Wien; the title of the record is: 29. Inf. Regiment Muster Listen: Volume 1661, Item 2, years included 1756, 1757, 1763. This company was from “Bohmen” (Bohemia). In these records, Anton’s surname is spelled Liebezeit. He served under General Baron von Loudon, 29^th Infanterie regiment, whose second in command appears to have been one Obrist Lieutenant Fridrich von Hohenlohe.

The records show that he was “gebuhrtig von Komotau”. This, we have been told, means he was a “native of Komotau”. (Komotau is now Chomutov, in the northwestern part of the Czech Republic).

Note: Anton’s birthplace of “Schima” is based on the information from the settlers’ list that he was born in “Shama, Bohmen. Schima (also known as Zim, or Zahori) is about the closest equivalent we can find on the “soundex”. This particular information is subject to change.

If Anton was born in Schima, and was a native of Komotau, it is possible that he or his family moved from Schima to Komatau. Or it may be that Anton traveled to Komotau to “sign up” for military service. The distance from Schima to Komotau is about 25 kms; both are in the very north of Bohemia, probably right in the Erzegebirge Mountains (which are, apparently, 25 miles wide). Schima is in the district, or Kreiss, of Leitmeritz (Literomice); Komotau is located in this district as well. Schima is a very small town located close to the Elbe (Labe) River, south of the town called “Usti nad Labem” (formerly Aussig), and to the north of Literomice or Leitmeritz, on the west side of the river.

The Loudon Regiment (Austrian) fought against the Prussians in Silesia and Moravia in the Seven Years War (1756-63). The earliest action involving Gideon Loudon’s forces (to our knowledge) was at the Siege of Olmutz in Moravia (now Olomouc, Czech Republic) which took place May 12 – July 2, 1758. That same year he won a battle against the Prussians at Domstadtl, Moravia. Later that year he was up in Sazony, at the Battle of Hochkirch, which took place October 14, 1758 (Hochkirch is located between Bautzen and Lobau, just north of the Bohemian border). On August 12, 1759 his troops won the Battle of Kunersdorf (across the river from Frankfurt on the Oder). He also won a battle at Landshut in Silesia (now Kamienna Gora in Poland) in 1760. Although crushed by Frederick the Great and his Prussian troops at Liegnitz on August 16, 1760, Loudon captured Schweidnitz in a surprise attack in 1761… in the last Austrian success of the war.

Gideon Loudon was made captain of the 29^th Infantery Regiment in 1760: he retired in 1763, but was called back to service later, and was responsible for taking Belgrade from the Turks. In 1778 he became Field Marshall for all of the Austrian Army. We found the military records a challenge to read. We were able to make out the following: Anton was “ledig”, (meaning single, unmarried); he was 29 ½ years old; he had served a 4 year term in this particular “outfit”, at the time; and he was native of Komotau. (The muster list is dated January 29, 1763).

According to the “Settlers Records” (see below), Anton Liebzeith (sic) was in the “Laudon Infanterie” from 1756-1763. We don’t know why at January 29, 1763 they listed Anton as being with them for 4 years. [What was he doing for the first 2-3 years? Possibly transferred from another unit?]

The following information comes from the “Settlers Records” [also from the Mormon Church].

It is copied from “Andsiedlerakten 1688-1855 nach Ungarn [Batschak-Banat] 91686-1830)”, FHL Microfilm #1326491:

“LIEBZEITH, ANTON, MULLER

“Gemeiner bei der Laudon-Infanterie, gedient von 1756-63, blessiert,

“Kath.

“f. geb. Um 1741 in Schama, Bohmen

“b. 1764

“d. Pantschowa Banater Akten Gasz. 36 Nr. 9 ex. April 1764

“Shama” does not appear to exist; then, or now. We are failry certain that his place of birth would have been Schima (aka. Zim; Zahori) in northern Bohemia, not far from Varnsdorf [Warnsdorf], where other Liebzeits are known to have resided as recently as the second world war.

There are records of Liebzeits residing in Dreseen, Saxony (just over the German border) as early as 1620; specifically at Grossenhain. Many more were recorded in the Dresen area in the early days. But Liebzeits also lived father west in the Leipzig area. The surname LIEBZEIT is quite rare. We think there is a very good chance that the Liebzeits from Bohemia orginiated to the west and north: in Saxony, in fact. The areas of Bohemia in which we are currently aware that Liebzeits resided are in very close proximity to Saxony.

Speculation, here, leads to more investigatin, of course. The records of Anton’s birth, from the Muster List dated January 29, 1763, show Anton’s age as 29 ½ years. We would take this as a reliable source: and put his birth sometime in the summer of 1733. The settlers records (which were typed, in Anton’s case) indicate he was born “um 1741”: this must be an error. (The fact that the settler’s records were almost 100% handwritten, while Anton’s was typed, would seem to support the idea that changes were made at a later date: the typewriter was not invented until well into the 1800s. Some sort of damage may have occurred to the original record, and somebody was attempting to “fix” it at a later date.)

After the war, Anton settled in Glogon; as Glogon was only starting to be settled at this time, records indicate that Anton was discharged at Pantschowas in 1764. He married in 1766, at age 33 years, and proceeded to raise a family, from which all the “Glogon Liebzeits” are descended. Death records of the Roman Catholic Church at Glogon say that Anton died 1801 January 19, age 77 years. This would have put his date of birth at 1724. Relatives who provided the age at death may have had no idea how old he was; and although the date of death would be reliable, the ages given in the church records are notoriously unreliable.