The name Walbaum derives from the middle lower German form of Walbom. The word means either ´walnut tree´ or ´Tollkirscher´ which translates directly to English as deadly nightshade. Our ancestors came from Lauenstein, Lower Saxony in Germany (about 40km/25miles south of Hannover). In church files our name is written in numerous forms: Walbom (Walbomius), Walboem, Walbohm, Waltbaum, Walbaum, and Walbbaum. With reference to the various forms, it should be noted that the ancestors of our family have always written their name with one ´L´. This has been gleaned from numerous preserved documents or signatures from past times. The name was misspelled by official bodies or in church records on numerous occasions using two L´s. It is assumed that the name "Wallbom" originated as an original family name and is not related in any form to us (the word Wallbaum stems from ´a tree used in defense of fortification´).
Our family tree begins with Gallus Serenus a.k.a. Helle, pastor in Lauenstein from 1595-1624. He was born around 1570 (location unknown) and died around 1624/25. After pronouncement from Hanover, he was given the parish in Lauenstein in 1595 and is named as the pastor up to the year 1624. When another candidate asked for the parish in 1626, it was said that there had been a longer vacancy. Therefore it seems that he died around 1624/25, from the plague (Black Death) , as stated on an old list of pastors in the Lauenstein parish's archives. He was married to Anna Feldstein, daughter of pastor Feldstein in Lauenstein, his presumed precursor. His daughter Maria married Johannes Walbaum, a rector in Bodenwerder and pastor in Lauenstein from 1626-1665. He was born in Pyrmont in 1597 and died in Lauenstein in 1670. Another of our direct ancestors, Christian Andreas Walbaum, was a brewer, an organist, and a Curate in Lauenstein. He is also mentioned as holding the office of mayor. He died in 1725 and is buried in the churchyard in Lauenstein where his grave can be found to this day. His wife, Anna Magarethe Auhagen, is also buried in the Lauenstein churchyard. They had 9 children of which Johan Christoph Walbaum (born 1683) is our direct ancestor. He was also organist and mayor of Lauenstein and married to Anna Louise Marquard.
(thanks to Lisa Walbaum on the facebook page, "Proud to be a Walbaum", and the web page: Das niedersächsische Pastorengeschlecht Helle for much of the above)
This Walbaum family tree has sprouted unintentionally from my Repplier family web site. My initial interest in family history was sparked during a visit to Scotland in 1974 when I was 19 years old. There I had the pleasure of meeting various members of the Laing branch of the Walbaum family, whose interest in our common ancestry got me started on this fascinating journey. Since then I've had the pleasure of meeting other Walbaum relatives in Scotland, England, Germany, Chile and the United States. We all owe a vote of thanks to Heinrich Boenten who assembled an extensive Walbaum family tree & history dated 1932. Much of that tree has been incorporated into this web site. Hopefully, someday I will be able to obtain an English translation of the many stories in the Boenten, "Beitrage Zur Geschichte Des Geschlechtes Walbaum (Lauensteiner Zweig) 1595 - 1932", to add to this site. I've also been fortunate to inherit the extensive research of my great aunt Adelaide Walbaum Neall (1884-1957) which she carried on for many years when it was a much slower and more painstaking task. I would like to thank my mother, Frances Repplier Hanson, my grandmother, Charlotte Walbaum Neall Repplier, and my great-grandmother Wilhelmine Walbaum Neall for their interest in family history passed on to me. Thanks also to Alice Laing MacKnight, Jean Walbaum Laing, Charlie Laing & Anne Wylie Walbaum in Scotland, Mina Löhse, Cora Barrelet & Jörg Grohne in Germany and Noël Balaresque Walbaum & Mary Walbaum Walbaum in Chile for their help in this labor of love. - David Repplier Hanson (Philadelphia, March 2011)
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