| Notes |
- The civil record of the first of Valentin Augsti's two marriages in France, dated Aug. 14, 1848, at Turquestein, Moselle, where he was living at the time, states - authoritatively but highly questionably - that he was b. in Turquestein. Proof to that effect was produced in the form of an attested affidavit or identity certificate (acte de notoriété) prepared by the Justice of the Peace for the canton of Lorquin, Moselle, on May 22, 1848, and officially approved (homologué) by the civil court at Sarrebourg, Moselle, on May 31, 1848. Wait a minute! Had Valentin Augsti actually been b. and his birth duly registered in the town in which he wed, it would have been quite a simple matter to check local civil birth records for the requisite proof. No such document is to be found in Turquestein. The elaborate subterfuge evident in Valentin Augsti's marriage record of 1848 was necessary - or so it would seem - because his parents had failed to register his birth with civil authorities wherever that birth actually took place. The parents were having children in Strasbourg between 1809 and 1812. But war came to Strasbourg in 1813, and the city was blockaded, disrupting citizens' lives and the machinery of local government. In the records of Valentin Augsti's two civil marriages at Turquestein, the surname is spelled “Augster.” In America the spelling “Augstein” is sometimes used. [1]
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