The Mürer the Merrier

Today, I am taking you to the tree top. That is, as far as my Stammbaum (family tree) has grown to date. If you look at the progeny chart I presented at the end of my last post, you will find Johann Henrich Eichenauer (1764-1813) on the second line. Use him as a reference point for what I am presenting today. On 10 January 1794, Johann Henrich Eichenauer was married to Anna Christina Mürer in the Evangelische Kirche (Lutheran Church) in Niederthalhausen. (If you have been paying attention to past posts, you should know where that is located now.)

Johann Henrich's father had just arrived in this area to take up the position of Conductor of the Hof Trusbach (again--see the last post for more info). But Anna Christina Mürer's family had been residents of Niederthalhausen (the closest village to the Hof) for at least two previous generations.

Below is Anna Christina's baptismal record from  the Niederthalhausen Evangelische Kirchenbuch, 1776.

I will now endeavor to transcribe and translate for you:

Sept 15--Anna Christina, Michael Mürers et ux. Anna Margretha geb. Georgin, Töchterlein, nat. d. 14, h. 8 mat. Gevatterin: Anna Christina, weÿland Martin Brauns nachgelassen ehel. Tochter

By way of explanation, it should be understood that most Lutheran church records during this period were written using both the Latin and Deutsch languages and were written in the Gothic script which differs significantly from our Roman script. 90% of Germans today cannot read these documents because when Adolph Hitler came to power in the 1930's, he instituted a reform of the written language which was more Romanesque. And while the old script was taught in schools for a number of years, most who learned it as children have passed on or have not used it for decades.

There are several Latin abbreviations in the above record:

et ux. -- which stands for "et uxorem", meaning "and wife"

nat. -- which stands for "nativus", from which we get the word nativity, meaning "birth"

d. -- stands for "dies", meaning "day"

h. -- stands for "hora", meaning "hour"

mat. -- stands for "matutinum", from which the French got matinée and we borrowed from the French, but means "morning". So I guess if you go to a matinée, it should be in the morning. But all the ones I have ever been to were in the afternoon. Go figure.

There are a couple of German abbreviations as well:

geb. -- stands for "geboren" meaning "born" and in this case, refers to the maiden name. In English we often use the French word "née" in the same way.

ehel. -- stands for "eheliche" (fem.) or "ehelicher" (masc.) and has the idea of "legitimate"

and though it doesn't appear here I will throw in for no extra charge the abbreviation--

unehel. -- which you have no doubt already figured out means "illegitimate".

Since I am on this instructive kick, I may as well mention that:

1. German does not use an apostrophe to show possession

2. Sometimes a woman's last name appears in the feminine form, which means that "in" is added the the end of the surname.

3. "lein" or "chen" are diminutive suffixes which when attached to the noun conveys either the idea of smallness or intimacy or endearment. "Tochter" means "daughter" but in the record above, "Töchterlein" means infant daughter.

So, to finally get around to the translation:

Sept 15--Anna Christina, Michael Mürers et ux. Anna Margretha geb. Georgin, Töchterlein, nat. d. 14, h. 8 mat.

Gevatterin: Anna Christina, weÿland Martin Brauns nachgelassen ehel. Tochter

"[baptized on] September 15 [1776] -- Anna Christina, born on the 14th at 8 in the morning, infant daughter of Michael Mürer and his wife Anna Margretha née Georg,

Godparent: Anna Christina, the legitimate daughter of the deceased Martin Braun"

So, from this record, we glean some information which will help us in climbing a little higher in the family tree. And with this information, I was able to find Anna Christina's parent's marriage record.

This record is also from the Niederthalhausen records from the year 1775.

And says:

Mart. 5 -- Michael Mürer, Witwer, weÿland Johann George Mürer nachgelessener ehelicher Sohn,

mit Anna Margretha, weÿland Lorentz Sielens zu Mühlbach hinterlassener Witwib geb. Georgin"

This entire record is in German, except for the date, which again uses an abbreviation for the Latin word "Martii". If it had been German, it would have been "März" but both mean March.

Thus, "5 March 1775 -- Michael Mürer, widower, legitimate son of the deceased Johann Georg Mürer, with Anna Margretha, née Georg, surviving widow of Lorentz Siel of Mühlbach" [I haven't seen a surname anything like Lorentz's in the Tann or Niederthalhausen area but a cursory look at the Mühlbach records shows a surname of "Siel" cropping up now and again, so I am going with that for the time being]

From this record I learn that: 

1. Michael Mürer and his bride are both widowed.

2. Anna Margretha's late husband is named, as is the village where they resided. You can look up this village on Google Maps, just type in "Mühlbach-Neuenstein, Germany" into the search space (if you don't know how to make the umlaut over the 'u' try typing it as "Muehlbach." It is the same difference.) What you will find is that Mühlbach is a tad over 7 km walk southwest from Niederthalhausen.

3. The father of the bridegroom is named, thus reaching back one more generation.

Unfortunately, the Lutheran records in Mühlbach only go back to 1770, and between that date and the date of Anna Margretha Georg-Siel's marriage to Johann Michael Mürer in 1775, there is no marriage record for the Siels which might provide her father's name, no death record for Lorentz Siel which might confirm the spelling of her first husband's surname, nor any record of children born to them during that five year period.

If you are only casually interested in the Eichenauer genealogy, you may wish to get off the bus here because I am about to explore the first marriage of Johann Michael Mürer. And because this does not have a direct bearing on the Eichenauer ancestors, some will find this information superfluous.

However, I like to pull on every thread that is hanging out. You never know when you might unravel something really useful.

--------

OK, so now only the really, really dedicated family researchers are still with me, right?

We know that Joh. Michael Mürer was a widower when he married Anna Christina Mürer-Eichenauer's mother in 1775. So by digging a little deeper, I found a marriage record for Johann Michael Mürer in Niederthalhausen in1761:

"den 30ten Julÿ ist der [unidentified occupation--looks like "Jungefell"], Joh. Michael Mürer, und Anna Margretha, Simon Stippichs Witwe Copuliert worten(?)."

I have written to Regina, whom I have mentioned before, to get some clarification on his occupation and the correct spelling of the last word, but the gist of the record is clear:

"On the 30th of July [1761], Johann Michael Mürer and Anna Margretha, Simon Stippich's widow, were married."

There are three questions that pop into my head at this point:

1. What was Anna Margretha's maiden name?

2. Did they have children?

3. When did she die?

To answer the first question, I went back to the marriage records in Niederthalhausen. I didn't have to look far. The answer was on the same page:

"den 24ten 7br. Simon Stippich [unidentified occupation or marital status], ist mit Anna Margretha, Johann Henrich Reims Tochter auß Oberngeis Copuliert worden(?)"

Regina has been asked about this one as well. Maybe the next blog will contain her insight in these two records. The unidentified occupation or marital status is "Witwer" meaning widower.

But I do know what 7br. means. The first time I saw this, I jumped to the conclusion that it meant "July" because after all, July is the seventh month of the year. But further research revealed another Latin link. In fact the last four months of the year are often written in this manner.

Dec-ember 10br.

Nov-ember 9br.

Oct-ober 8br.

Sept-ember 7br.

Do you see the Latin numbers that begin each month? Now, I am not sure why the Roman calendar was off by two months from ours. Rachel, if you are still reading, I'm counting on you to comment on this. But Dec would be 10br, Nov would be 9br, Oct would be 8br and so of course 7br is September.

So, the translation is "On the 24th of September, Simon Stippich, Widower, and Anna Margretha, the daughter of Johann Henrich Reim from Oberngeis were married."

Interestingly (at least to me) is where Oberngeis is located. Although it appears with this spelling on a map from 1849, somewhere along the line it dropped the "n" and is now spelled Obergeis. If you looked up Mühlbach, then from there a 4.5 km walk southeast along Rt 324 would get you there.

On to question 2, "did they have children?"

The short answer to that is , yes, there were at least four born between 1762 and 1768. If you want to know more, you have to pay double what you have been paying. Seriously, I won't go into the details. Superfluous can only stretch so far.

And question 3, when did Johann Mürer's first wife die?

And the answer is ...

"21 Jul [1771] ist Anna Margaretha, Johann Michael Mürers Ehefrau 18t. ej. abends 10 Uhr gestorben begraben worden Alt 38 Jahre"

Another Latin abbreviation: "ej." stands for "ejusdem" which means "the same"

Translation is "Buried on 21 July 1771, Anna Margaretha, Johann Michael Mürer's wife, died on the 18th of the same month, age 38 years"

Well, I think since you hung in there with me, I will provide a portion of the 1849 map that shows the area that has been a part of this discussion as a reward. The fact that both of his wives came from some distance over the hills from Niederthalhausen makes me ponder the why of it. Most marriages took place between couples who lived within spitting distance of each other. Not that they would ever do that, but, I'll leave you to do the speculating about that--the reason for getting his wives from elsewhere, not the spitting thing.

Niederthalhausen is in the upper right. Oberngeis is in the bottom center and Mühlbach is just above center on the left. Hope it is legible for you.

'til next time, SRR

The Book Has Arrived

I received the book 650 Jahre--Nieder- und Oberthalhausen (1327-1977) today. And while it was disappointingly small--less than 3/8 of an inch thick and 134 pages as compared to the book about Tann which is over an inch thick and 409 pages--there is a chapter on the history of Hof Trunsbach which I found interesting. After I have a German acquaintance proofread my translation I will share what I have learned.
But for now, you will just have to be content in having a photograph of Hof Trunsbach that I lifted from the book and one fact to whet your appetite.

This is the Farm Estate of which Johann George Eichenauer (1727-1822), my GGGGG Grandfather, was Conductor. And his sons, Johann Henrich (1764-1813) (my GGGG Grandfather) and Johannes Eichenauer (1773-1836) also held this position. In fact, the book states that Eichenauers held this position generation after generation for nearly one hundred years (1794-1888). Way cool!

You may not be sure how you are related to these men, so this is the way it stacks up:

Johann George Eichenauer (1727-1822) was the father of
Johann Henrich Eichenauer (1764-1813), father of
Johann Konrad Eichenauer (1794-bef 1852), father of:
1. Anna Margaretha Eichenauer, second wife of Johann Tobias Rödiger, and together, parents of:
1a. Conrad Roediger (emigrated to Ohio in 1881)
1b. George Roediger (emigrated in 1888)
1c. Justus Rödiger, whose son John Henry Roediger emigrated in 1893.

2. Johann Friedrich Eichenauer, who married Katharina Rödiger, Johann Tobias Rödiger's daughter from his first marriage and who had four sons and one daughter who emigrated to Ohio:
2a. Tobias Eichenauer (emigrated in 1867)
2b. Conrad Eichenauer (emigrated in 1880)
2c. Adam Eichenauer (emigrated in 1880)
2d. Justus (Gustav) "Gus" Eichenauer (emigrated in 1883)
2e. Anna Elisabeth "Lizzie" Eichenauer (emigrated in 1896)

Assuming that you, as a reader of this blog are a descendant of Johann Konrad Eichenauer, this should hopefully help you to see where you fit in. If it is still not clear, just post a comment and I will be glad to help you pin it down.

Another Resource

I was corresponding with Regina, my German contact--cf. my last post-- to see if she knew of any 18th or 19th century map resources that might show the villages and with the house numbers. Because villages were very small, they simply assigned a number to each house. Church records often included the address in baptism, marriage and death records. This is helpful when trying to connect loose ends with known family members and I think having a map of the proximity of the various households would be interesting.

She gave several suggestions and then told me of a book that might include a map. The name of the book is _650 Jahre, Nieder- und Oberthalhausen_. This was a nice surprise! As you may remember, I have a book about Tann with a similar title and have been wondering if a book had been written about any of the other villages in the Rohrbach valley. I had asked my cousin, Jürgen, about it a month or so ago but he had been unable to find out anything. The book about Niederthalhausen could provide more discoveries about the Eichenauers who resided there from about 1794 until today. 

So, after learning that there was such a book, I did a google search and discovered a copy for sale at Abebooks.com. I have ordered the book and now anxiously await its arrival.

Of course it is more than likely that the map that I was originally asking about is not in the book. There certainly isn't in the Tann version.

So I will try to contact some of the people she suggested to me and see if that bears any fruit.

In the meantime, I continue to index Niederthalhausen Churchbook records for more Eichenauer relatives. I am currently working on the baptismal records in the late 1700s. I am nearly always finding at least one new relative on every page. I will continue this process until 9/21 when my access to Archion.de runs out, then decide whether to renew right away or to begin to enter the results obtained thus far into my Ancestry.com tree. So much to do, and so little time!⌚️

Ain't the Internet Great!

About a week ago, I was cruising Ancestry.com and saw that a particular tree (by a German woman) had a specific date for an Eichenauer's birth that I only had a guesstimate for. Out of curiousity I contacted her and asked if she has a source for her information. She not only provided me with the source for that one, but for several others. Additionally, she told me of three websites in Germany where records are archived. Two are free and have most of what can be found on ancestry.com and familysearch.org. They are civil records, none of which go back further than 1878 when civil records began.

The 3rd site charges for viewing and downloading files. 

I took three days off of work this week and decided to get a 30 day pass that allowed unlimited viewing and 50 pages to download. I have only 7 pages left on my pass.

From somewhere I hear a voice whispering "choose wisely, Grasshopper."

So, I have now achieved what I never anticipated: more records than I can keep up with.

But while I am assimilating as much as I can, I will pass on to you an observation about the Eichenauers in Germany. 

I think I already mentioned that the Rödigers were pretty much stuck in Tann for centuries. Our line of Eichenauers came to Tann between 1824 and 1826. Before that they lived at Hof Trunsbach near Niederthalhausen. But while looking at the Niederthalhausen records, I noticed that there were no records pertaining to Eichenauers there before the 1790s.

With the help of the German woman's tree I discovered that Johann Friedrich Eichenauer's (1824-1881) great grandfather, Johann George Eichenauer died in Niederthalhausen in 1822, but was born in Grebenau in 1727. His death record says that he was the "Conductor" of the Hof Trunsbach. I am guessing right now, but from old maps, Hof Trunsbach looks to be a large farm estate. And apparently the owner hired a manager to run the place. I am hoping that someone has written more about Hof Trunsbach.

So, where are Hof Trunsbach, Niederthalhausen and Grebenau in relation to Tann?

Time for you to pull out Google Maps. Hof Trunsbach still exists. If you google map "Hof Trunsbach, Ludwigsau, Germany" it should take you right to it just off of the L3254 (Road). If you follow the L3254 SE less than 3 miles (4.4 km) you will arrive in Tann where the Rödigers and Eichenauers met. If you follow the L3254 NE 1.6 km you will arrive in Niederthalhausen. Or if you feel like walking there is a more direct path that is 1.2 km and would be about a 15 minute walk. Anybody want to do that? I'm up for it. Anyway, Niederthalhausen was the closest Lutheran church and that is why the records are found there.

Now let's take a look at where Grebenau is located. Just google map "Grebenau, 36323, Germany." If you get directions from Grebenau to Hof Trunsbach you will see that it is about 40 km (24 miles). About a 40 minute drive on today's roads. That was a fur piece back in the day. Somehow Johann George Eichenauer heard about, and was able to secure the Manager job and moved his family there.

After I finish perusing the Niederthalhausen records, I plan on heading over to Grebenau (figuratively) and finding out how long the Eichenauers resided there.

There is a Method to my Madness

Since returning from Europe, I have been working on indexing and transcribing the 250 pages that were purchased. Thanks to you who helped with the copying expenses. That turned out to be much more than I expected, but I think that once the records have been transcribed, the knowledge gained will make it all worth while.
I thought I'd take a few minutes to assure you that these records are being processed, even though I haven't posted much to substantiate that claim, and to give you an idea of how I am processing the information.
I want to reiterate that I have never had any formal training in either the German language, nor in the old Gothic script that is used almost exclusively in these records, but I keep learning as I go along.
And I have found that the record keepers also throw in a little Latin now and then, just to make things interesting.
I have started keeping a vocabulary list gleaned from these church records and categorizing them based on their usage. I have ecclesiastical terms (usually in or based on Latin), place names, occupations, relationship terms, etc.
I also have a surname list which includes all the names of all the people found in the records which were purchased (which I have been able to read or make a good guess at). The purpose for this is two-fold. First, it gives me a database to pull from when a new surname is discovered. For instance, I have learned that Johann Heinrich Rödiger's mother's maiden name is Bettenhausen. Now, I can look through my index of surnames and find other Bettenhausens and see if there are other relationships that can be connected to our family.
Second, many of the names are difficult to read and certain letters (at least to me) look almost identical. Capital B and L are similar, lower case n and e and u are similar, f and h, and d and final s are a few examples. So, to use Bettenhausen as an example, the first time I ran across it, I had to determine if it was Bettenhausen, Buttonhausen, Buttonfausen Letten..., Lutten... etc. By looking at a number of families with that name it becomes easier to determine which is correct. And occasionally a scribe will actually write it very legibly or use Roman style script (which is like that which we learn here in the States).
I have also started keeping a spreadsheet for each of the four types of records which the church kept: birth/baptism, confirmation, marriage and death. I am beginning with the records of people I know to be related (and how they are related). I start by transcribing the Gothic script into typewritten German and then translate it into English. This process leads me to find other relatives that I did not know about: brothers, sisters, spouses. Even the baptismal sponsors/witnesses/godparents provide clues. They will sometimes tell us that the child's mother's sister was one of the "Taufpathen" and name her, for instance, as "Catharina, wife of the miller, Heinrich Böttner." This opens up a whole new avenue of exploration at some point.
After I have entered the information about people I "know" I will go back and pick up on the clues that I have found and look at the people who have surnames that are the same as those whom I have already identified. There are times when the relationships found just beg to be explored further, and I can't resist the temptation. I think you can see this process going on in my last two posts.
While, initially it appears that I may have found only about 100 records of any import to our family history, the reality is that in the final analysis many more will come to light.
Realize, that many of the records are spread across two pages, so perhaps in reality there are only 150 pages of records. However, on each of those pages there are 4 to 10 individual records. I haven't added them up yet, but I would estimate that there are 800 to 1000 individual birth/baptism, confirmation, marriage and death records obtained in this last treasure hunt. And because this is such a small, relatively stable community, the chances of inter-relationships existing  between the individuals in the majority of these records is extremely high. On one particular page I found the marriage records of three of Friedrich Eichenauer and Anna Katharina Rödiger's children.
I am determined to mine as much information from these records as possible so as to discover as many of the relationships as possible.

So far, I have made my way through all of the birth/baptism and marriage records and have begun on the death records collecting people's names and pulling out the ones I know to add to the database, It is a long (and tedious) process and on a number of occasions I have called upon people with more knowledge of the language or script to help me pry the info from these records. So please be patient. I will try to post information from the records that I have figured out so that you can update and add to your records.
And I will also try to keep the Eichenauer:Rödiger ratio as even as possible, knowing that some of us are more of one than the other.
Wow. This ended up much longer than I intended. And sadly I have no interesting images to go along with this blog. Hope you made it this far.--Steve

The Baptismal Record of Anna Martha Scheuch

The Baptismal Record of

Anna Martha Scheuch,

daughter of Nikolaus Scheuch and Anna Christina Schade

from the Evangelische Kirchenbuch von Tann, Taufenbuch [Baptism Book], 1851, p. 89, #440

(obtained from microfiche at the Landeskirchliches Archiv der Evangelische Kirche von Kurhessen-Waldeck in Kassel, Germany)

The last post presented Nikolaus Scheuch and Anna Christina Schade’s Marriage Record. Now we will take a look at one of their daughter’s baptismal record. This child is Anna Martha Scheuch who would marry George Roediger (son of Johann Tobias Rödiger) and have 9 children with him.

I am trying a bit different style in this post, which frees me from using a spreadsheet to present the facts. Let me know what you think.

Main Header:

Gemeinde Tann; Jahr: 1851; Monate: Julius bis November, Seite 89

[Church] Community of Tann; Year: 1851; Month: July 1848 to November

Column 1:

Fortlaufende Nummer des Bandes—Consecutive number of the volume

440

Column 2:

Geburts Ort Straße, Hausnummer, Gutsname oder Kolonatsnummer und dergleichen

Birthplace, Street, House number, __ or __ and the same

Tann, Nro: 52

Tann, [House] Nr: 52

Column 3:

Tag und Stunde der Geburt—Day and Hour of the Birth

der zweite October, Nachts. halb elf Uhr

the second of October, 10:30pm

Column 4:

Ort und Tag der Taufe—Place and Day of the Baptism

Tann, der 12te October

Tann, on the 12th of October

Column 5:

Geschlecht und Namen des Kindes—Gender and names of the children

Weiblichen Geschlechts, Anna Martha Scheuch

Female gender, Anna Martha Scheuch

Column 6:

Namen und Stand der Eltern—Name and [social] status of the parents

Nikolaus Scheuch II, Landbauer, und dessen Ehefrau, Anna Christina, geb. Schade

Nikolaus Scheuch II, farmer, and his wife, Anna Christina, née Schade

Column 6:

Namen und Stand der Taufpathen—Name and [social] status of the godparents/sponsors

Anna Martha, des Landbauers u. zeitigen Bürgermeisters, Nikolaus Scheuch I’s wife, geb. Fey

Anna Martha, wife of Nikolaus Scheuch I, the farmer and current mayor

Column 7:

Nachträgliche Bemerkungen—Subsequent Remarks

Am 1/6 73 mit George Rödiger verheirathet; † d. 6 Juny 1886

On 1 June 1873, married to George Rödiger; died on the 6th of June, 1886

MEINE NACHTRÄGLICHE BEMERKUNGEN:

(If you’ve been paying attention, you now know that I am about to make some subsequent remarks of my own)

1. You may have noticed that the father of the baptized child, Nikolaus Scheuch, has the designation “II” after his name and the husband of the sponsor, also Nikolaus Scheuch has the designation “I” after his name. Don’t confuse this with Junior and Senior. Think of it like this: The sponsor’s husband is the oldest person in the community with the name Nikolaus Scheuch, and the father of the baptized child is the second oldest person in the village with that same name. “I” could be the grandfather or uncle of “II” or even no known relative at all.
2. From p. 320 of the book 650 Jahre Tann, Nicolaus Scheuch is listed as the Mayor from 1850 to 1879, so the Nikolaus Scheuch I of the baptismal record is no doubt the same person as that listed in the book.
3. It is a good idea to pay attention to the names of the baptismal sponsors. Often they were close relatives of the parents of the child being baptized, a brother, sister or parent. And at some point we will no doubt learn of the relationship of Nikolaus II to Nikolaus I.
4. Frankly, I am stumped on the terms Gutsnamen and Kolonatsnummer. I have asked for help on gutefrage.net and have been told that no such term as Gutsname exists in German (gutefrage means “good question”). However, what I usually find in this column is a house number. Since villages were so small, each house had a number rather than a street address. By about 1900, however, Tann had begun using street addresses.

Transcript of Nikolaus Scheuch and Anna Christina Schade's marriage record

The Marriage Record of

Nikolaus Scheuch and Anna Christine Schade

from the Evangelische Kirchenbuch von Tann, Traubuch [Marriage Book], 1848-1849, p. 30, #97

(obtained from microfiche at the Landeskirchliches Archiv der Evangelische Kirche von Kurhessen-Waldeck in Kassel, Germany)

Anna Martha Scheuch was the first wife of George Roediger, son of Johann Tobias Rödiger and Anna Margretha “Gretchen” née Eichenauer. This marriage record belongs to her parents.

I have not yet deciphered some of the text, but will present what I know, and will provide an update if and when the unknown portions can be deciphered. My English translation of the German text is in RED. My best guess will be bracketed with question marks, or if I am unable to make out an entire word I will mark that with an underscore.

The Marriage Book during this time period has a main header and then seven columns with sub-headings. The page from which the marriage record of Nikolaus Scheuch and Anna Christina Schade is taken provides the following information. Note—The seventh column is for subsequent remarks, which in this case is blank so is not included in the table:

Main Header:

Gemeinde Tann; Jahr: 1848-1849; Monat: September 1848 bis Dezember 1849

[Church] Community of Tann; Year: 1848-1849; Month: September 1848 to December 1849

Fortlaufende Nummer des Bandes Consecutive number of the volume	Namen, Stand, Herkunft, Alter, Konfession und Wohnort des Bräutigams Name, Social Status, Provenance, Age, Confession and Residence of the Groom	Namen, Stand, Herkunft, Alter, Konfession und Wohnort der Braut Name, Social Status, Provenance, Age, Confession and Residence of the Bride	Ort und Tag der Gerichtl[iche] Ehe Anzeige oder obergerichtl[iche] Bescheinigung Place and Date of the legal marriage notification or supreme court certificate	Kirchliche Angebote Church Banns	Tag und Ort der Trauung Day and Place of the Marriage
97	Nikolaus Scheuch, Landbauer, ehel. Sohn des Landwirthes Konrad Scheuch und dessen Ehefrau Agnese geborene Hildebrand, 26 Jahre alt, evangelische Konfession, zu Tann. † 25/3 80 Nikolaus Scheuch, farmer, the legitimate son of the farmer, Konrad Scheuch and his wife, Agnese née Hildebrand, 26 years old, Lutheran Confession, from Tann. Died on 25 March 1880	Anna Christina Schade, eheliche Tochter des ?Künster?, Justus Schade, und dessen Ehefrau Anna Martha geborene Scheuch, 19 Jahre alt, evangelische Konfession, zu Tann. † 15 ?Sept? 188?9? __ __ Hersfeld Anna Christina Schade, legitimate daughter of the ?artist?, Justus Schade, and his wife, Anna Martha née Scheuch, 19 years old, Lutheran Confession, from Tann. Died on 15 ?Sept.? 188?9? __ __ Hersfeld	Hersfeld, am 14te November, 1849 Hersfeld, on the 14th of November, 1849	__ den __, __ den 2. 9. und 16ten Dezember 1849 __ den __, __ den 2nd, 9th and 16th  of December 1849	Dezember 26, Tann December 26, Tann

 The death date given for Anna Christina Schade on the chart reflects what I believe to be written there. However, the year could be 1880, and the month might possibly be October. See what I had to work with!

Carl Roediger

Carl Roediger was instrumental in launching me on a search for relatives in Germany. He introduced me to my third cousin in Germany, Jürgen Schmidt. Jürgen and his wife Edith invited my mother and myself to stay with them in their home near Nuremberg and accompanied us on a trip to Tann, where they took us to the Lutheran church, showed us where the Eichenauer and Rödiger homes had been and where the Rödiger property had been. They also took us to visit Liesel (Eichenauer) Schmitt as well as other Rödiger cousins in Tann.

If it hadn't been for Carl Roediger none of that would have ever happened.

He would have been a member of our recently loosely organized team of Eichenauer/Roediger researchers--this team needs a moniker--but for the fact that he has been battling cancer and was in poor health.

So it is with sadness that I present Carl's obituary here, just as it was printed in the Wapak Daily News last week. But I feel it is appropriate that I honor his memory by sharing this post:

"Carl E. Roediger, 83, of New Bremen died on Monday, May 15, 2017 at 9:45 p.m. at the Otterbein Senior Lifestyle Choices of Cridersville. 

Carl was born on October 27, 1933 in New Knoxville, the son of the late Elmer W. and Geraldine E. (Fledderjohann) Roediger. On November 23, 1956, he married Melba J. Weed, and she died on March 17, 1998.

Carl is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Doug (Michelle) Roediger of Wapakoneta; a granddaughter, Morgan Roediger of Wapakoneta; two grandsons, Joel and Matthew Roediger of Wapakoneta; and a brother and sister-in-law, Gene (Grace) Roediger of New Bremen.

Along with his wife and parents, Carl was preceded in death by a son, Greg Roediger, and two grandsons, Ben and John Roediger. 

Carl was a member of St. Paul United Church of Christ in New Bremen. He was a 1951 graduate of New Bremen High School. He had served our country in the United States Army during the Korean War, and was a member of the New Bremen American Legion Post 241. Carl also served his community as a member of the New Bremen Emergency Squad. He was a charter member of the New Bremen Historic Association, and had served as the president of the organization. 

Carl enjoyed carpentry, woodworking and helping with construction projects. He loved to golf, play cards with his friends and travel, especially to Germany where he had visited many times. He also loved to follow his grandchildren in their various school and sports activities. Carl had worked for the former STAMCO of New Bremen where he was a Design Engineer for 42 years before his retirement in 1998. 

Funeral Services will be held at the Gilberg-Hartwig Funeral Home of New Bremen on Monday, May 22 at 10:30 a.m., with the Rev. Becky Erb Strang officiating. Interment will follow at the Evangelical Protestant Cemetery of New Knoxville. Calling hours will be held on Sunday, May 21 from 2 until 6 p.m., and on Monday one hour prior to the services at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions in memory of Carl can be made to the New Bremen Historic Association, or to the Auglaize County Cancer Association. Condolences to the Roediger family can be left online at gilberghartwigfh.com.

Published in Wapakoneta Daily News on May 18, 2017

Gibb's Rule 39 Revisited

I was looking over this post and realized that I had made a transcription error which led to a translation error. It is the occupation of Nikolaus Rödiger. And the difference between the occupation of Burgmann and that of Bergmann is quite significant. I have now determined unequivocally that Nikolaus was the latter. So, instead of being a guardian of a castle, he was actually a coal miner. My cousin, Jürgen, recently wrote in regard to why family from Tann would show up living over 200 km from their hometown, in Bochum, Westphalia. This is a rough translation from the German:

"At that time, around 1840 to 1870, many people moved from the Hersfeld region to Westphalia, they all worked in coal mining. Many died, the social conditions were catastrophic."

On April 25, 26, 27 I shall be in Kassel, going through church records at the Landeskirchliches Archiv. I have a long list of records to copy. I have found a place to stay within 4 blocks of the Archiv, so will not need to take the bus from another part of town. I will try to let you know how it is going, if the wi-fi at the apartment is decent.

This promises to be very exciting, and I can hardly wait!!

Quick Update

In preparation for my trip to Kassel, I have been studying the records that I have thus far accumulated from the Landeskirchliches Archiv--Kassel and have made a few corrections or found additional information that reflects on the info which I have given to the Fab Four--You know who you are.

Be sure to update your files with this info:

√ Correction: Johann Tobias Rödiger was born on 9 Sept 1797, not the 7th as was previously thought. This comes from both his baptismal record and his death record in the Tann Church Book.

√Correction: Anna Margaretha (Eichenauer) Rödiger, second wife of the above JT Rödiger was born in Niederthalhausen, Hersfeld-Roenburg, Hesse. It may be that I told you that she was born in Tann. Not for sure whether I did or not. Her Baptismal Record is recorded in the Niederthalhausen Church Book and her death record in the Tann Church Book says she was born there.

√Addition: Catharina Rödiger, daughter of George Rödiger and Anna Martha Scheuch, who was born 4 April 1883 in Tann and died 14 April 1883 in Tann, was buried on 16 April 1883, presumably also in Tann. This additional information comes from her death record in the Tann Church Book on the same page as Anna Eva (Heÿer) Rödiger's death record.

√Addition: Johann Tobias Rödiger's first wife was Anna Eva Heÿer. Her mother was Anna Katharina Lehn. I am absolutely sure of her first and middle name and her maiden name does appear to be "Lehn", but I have put a question mark after it in my records because I am not familiar with that last name and my proficiency in Fraktur handwriting recognition is still somewhat limited. Not to mention the fact that the scribe of this document is particularly sloppy. Just so you know--there could be a revision on her maiden name in the future.

√Addition: One of Justus Rödiger's daughters was Margaretha, b. 3 Mar 1879, in Tann. I now know who she married and when. Anna Margaretha Rödiger was married to Balthazar Zuschlag in Rohrbach, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Hesse on 8 July 1905. Balthazar was born in Tann on 17 June, 1865 to Peter Zuschlag and Anna Maria--I'll take a stab at her maiden name but please don't hold me to it--Garmeros? May not be right, but it is a place to start. This record comes from Sheet 6, Nr. 6 of:

ancestry.com:
Collection: Personenstandsregister Heiratsregister
Description: Year Range : 1905
Source Information:
Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Original data: Eheregister und Namensverzeichnisse. Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Wiesbaden, Deutschland.

Gibbs's Rule 39

Having watched 12 seasons of NCIS, I have become familiar with Leroy Jethro Gibbs's Rules. I think Rule 39 is appropriate for this post. It first appeared in episode 21 of season 7, in case you were dying to know. The rule is: "There is no such thing as a coincidence." We all know that there really are coincidences, but it does make a good "rule of thumb" for genealogists to live by.

Two posts ago (was that only yesterday?) I presented the marriage record of Catharina Elisabeth Rödiger, newly found sister of Justus, George and Conrad Tobias Rödiger. She was married to Jakob Lotz in Bochum, Westfalen on 4 Jan 1873, 200 km from her home town of Tann, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Hesse.

On the same day (in the record immediately following that of Catharina Elisabeth Rödiger) was the following record:

In the following, I have included the German text of the headers as well as of the content in case you are curious about the language and terminology. A couple of surnames may not be translated correctly--these registrars had a nasty habit of falling in and out of Gothic and Roman script in mid sentence--and are signified by "(?)" following the name. I haven't gotten use to that yet.  [Note that blue type signifies the column headings and red type the content of the record under consideration.]

Column 1

Vor- und Zunamen und Stand des Bräutigams, auch Wohnort desselben:

der Burgmann, Nikolaus Rödiger zu Altenbochum, evang.

First and last name and occupation of the bridegroom, also the same's residence:

the coal miner, Nikolaus Rödiger, at Altenbochum, Lutheran. [Altebochum is just a km or two east of Bochum]

----

Column 2

Namen, Stand und Wohnort der Eltern:

der verstorbene Justus Rödiger und seine Ehefrau Anna Catharina Gohsmann(?)

Name, ocupation and residence of his parents:

the deceased Justus Rödiger and his wife, Anna Catharina Gohsmann(?)

----

Column 3

Alter des Bräutigams:

30 J. (geb. 20. März 1842) zu Tann

Age of the bridegroom:

30 years old. (born on 20 March 1842) at Tann

----

Column 4

Ob Eltern oder Vormund die Einwilligung geben, und wie solches geschehen:

Mutter mundlich

Whether the parents gave their consent, and if so, in what form:

mother gave oral consent

----

Column 5

Ob er verehelicht gewesen und wie die Ehe getrennt worden:

Ja. [I think this says: Sie tote] am 18. September 1872 verstorben Anna Margretha geb Gronewald(?)

Whether he was previously married, and how the marriage union was separated/broken:

Yes. [If so it would mean: She is dead] on 18 September 1872 Anna Margretha née Gronewald(?) died

----

Column 6

Vor- und Zunamen und Wohnort der Braut:

Anna Margaretha Falls zu Altenbochum, evang.

First and last name of the bride:

Anna Margaretha Falls at Altenbochum, Lutheran.

----

Column 7

Namen, Stand und Wohnort der Eltern der Braut:

der verstorben Nikolaus Falls und Catharina Elisabeth Neuber zu Tann

Name, occupation and residence of the bride's parents:

the deceased Nikolaus Falls and Catharina Elisabeth Neuber at Tann

----

Column 8

Alter der Braut:

28 J. (geb. 7 October 1844)

Age of the bride:

28 years old (born 7 October 1844)

----

Column 9

Ob Eltern oder Vormund die Einwilligung geben, und wie solches geschehen:

Mutter schriftlich

Whether the parents gave their consent, and if so, in what form:

mother gave written consent

----

Column 10

Ob sie verehelicht gewesen und wie die Ehe getrennt worden:

Nein

Whether she was previously married, and how the marriage union was separated/broken:

No

----

Column 11

Tag der Copulation:

der 4. (vierter) Januar [1873]

Day of the marriage:

on the 4th of January [1873]

----

Column 12

Name des Predigers, der die Copulation verrichtet:

Kleppel

Name of the preacher who performed the wedding ceremony:

Kleppel

----

Column 13 (not included in the image of the record above to allow the pertinent text to be a bit larger, but presented below to show that there is indeed a column to record appropriate remarks.)

Bemerkungen:

[Blank]

Remarks:

[Blank]

So, a girl from Tann named Rödiger, who solidly connects to our family, is married in a town 200 km away, and on the same day, in the same town/church and by the same preacher, a man named Nikolaus Rödiger, son of a Justus Rödiger from Tann is also married.

Is it just a coincidence? or should we invoke Rule 39?

This Nikolaus Rödiger is six years older than Catharina Elisabeth, having been born in 1842. His father's name is Justus (August) Rödiger. I only have one Rödiger in my tree by that name. That being the son of Johann Tobias Rödiger, who was born in 1850.

If Catharina Elisabeth and Nikolaus were married on the same day and in the same place, and Rule 39 applies, then I would guess that they were closely related. It is possible that their fathers were brothers and since I have no siblings of Catharina's father in my tree, the possibility of this is VERY real.
And if this is true then Catharina Elisabeth and Nikolaus were first cousins.

I WILL pursue this when I go to Kassel.

Death Record of Catharina Elisabeth (Rödiger) Lotz

This is the record that established that Conrad Tobias Rödiger/Roediger did indeed have an older full sister. I have had to extrapolate the header info from the info contained in the columns, but with the help of a friend at the South East Ohio Historical Society in Athens, Ohio I have learned what caused her death

#110--
Column 1 [deceased's name and immediate family]--Catharina Elisabeth Lotz geb. Rödiger, Tochter die Eheleute Tobias Rödiger und Anna Margaretha Eichenauer zu Tann; Ehefrau des Puddler Jakob Lotz
Catharina Elisabeth Lotz, née Rödiger, daughter of the married couple Tobias Rödiger and Anna Margaretha Eichenauer of Tann; wife of the Puddler*, Jakob Lotz

Column 2 [deceased's occupation and residence]--Ehefrau, Bochum
Wife, residing in Bochum

Column 3 [age and birthdate]--25 [Jahre alt], geb 28 November 1848
25 years old, born 28 Nov 1848

Column 4 [relationship of informant]--der Ehemann
the husband

Column 5 [date and time of death]--18 achtzehnter Juli, Abends 6 Uhr
18 July [1874], 6 in the evening

Column 6 [cause of death]--Schwindsucht
consumption/tuberculosis

Column 7 [date and place of burial]--21 Juli; Bochum
21 July [1874], in Bochum

*See the previous post for an explanation of the occupation of Puddler

By comparing this record, with that of her marriage record (see previous post), it becomes clear that she had only been married for one and a half years when she died. I'm no expert on TB, but my understanding is that usually a person lives a year or more before succumbing to the disease, so it is likely that Catharina Elisabeth had the disease before she was married or contracted it afterwards, but she probably suffered with it for most of her married life.

The question of whether she had any children was answered by the record immediately above her own death record.

#109--
Column 1 [deceased's name and immediate family]--Johann Georg Heinrich Conrad Lotz, Sohn der Eheleute Puddler Jacob Lotz und Catharina Elizabeth Rödiger
Johann Georg Heinrich Conrad Lotz, son of the married couple, the Puddler Jacob Lotz and Catharina Elizabeth Rödiger

Column 2 [deceased's occupation and residence]--Kind, Bochum
Child, residing in Bochum

Column 3 [age and birthdate]--geb. 30. November 1873
0 years old, born 30 Nov 1873

Column 4 [relationship of informant]--die Eltern
the parents

Column 5 [date and time of death]--17 siebenzehnten Juli, Abends 1/2 11 Uhr
17 July [1874], 10:30 in the evening

Column 6 [cause of death]--Brechreiz
diarrea and vomiting [often referred to in 19th century America as cholera infantum, a common cause of infant death]--this explanation is also curtesy of my friend at SEOHS

Column 7 [date and place of burial]--21 Juli; Bochum
21 July [1874], in Bochum

Next post will contain a surprise wrapped in a mystery, coming as it does from the same page as Jakob Lotz and Catharina Elisabeth Rödiger's marriage record in Bochum.

Reunited with Conrad Tobias Roediger's Sister

As you probably know if you have been reading these posts, my great grandfather was Conrad Tobias Roediger, son of Johann Tobias and Anna Margaretha Eichenauer. Our family has been aware that Conrad Tobias had three older brothers and a half-sister from his father's first marriage. And while a 19 year gap between the birth of his half-sister and the death of his father's first wife would suggest that Conrad Tobias may have had other half-siblings of whom we are unaware, we have always assumed that the full-siblings of Conrad Tobias Roediger were all accounted for, until now.

The timeline of the marriage of Johann Tobias Rödiger and Anna Margaretha Eichenauer and the birth of their children help to illustrate:

25 Dec 1847 Marriage of JT Rödiger and AM Eichenauer in Tann, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Hesse

22 Sep 1850 Infant Baptism of Gustav "Justus" Rödiger in Tann

24 May 1854 Birth of George Rödiger/Roediger in Tann

18 Mar 1866 Birth of Conrad Tobias Rödiger/Roediger in Tann

As you can see, there is time between each event above to squeeze in another birth. However, there was no information, either from the family or found in documents, to suggest that there were in fact other children--
until I accidentally stumbled across a death record for a Catharine Elisabeth Lotz in Bochum, Westfalen, a city over 200 km from Tann.

I am still working on the exact translation of that record. However, that discovery led me to her marriage record, which was easier for me to read, so I will start with it:

The record says:
#2--The name and profession of the groom: Der Pudler Jakob Lotz zu Bochum, evang.
Jakob Lotz was a Pudler or Puddler (this was a man who worked in a foundry, stirring the molten pig iron to introduce oxygen into it, thus hastening the burn off of carbon), his residence is Bochum and he was of the Lutheran faith.

Name, occupation and residence of the groom's parents: der farbrikarbeiter Conrad Lotz und seine Ehefrau Catharina geb Krause zu Bochum
Jakob's father was a factory worker, Conrad Lotz, and his mother was Catharina née Krause. They lived in Bochum

Age of the groom: 27 J. (geb. 13. Febr. 1845)
Jakob was 27, born on 13 Feb 1845

Whether Jakob's parents or guardians gave their consent and in what form: Vater mündlich
Jakob's father gave oral consent

Whether the groom was previously married: Nein
Jakob was not previously married

Name and residence of the bride: Catharina Elisabeth Rödiger zu Tann, evang.
Catharina Elisabeth Rödiger, of Tann, and of the Lutheran faith

Name, occupation and residence of the bride's parents: der Landbauer Tobias Rödiger und seine Ehefrau Anna Margaretha Eichenauer zu Tann
Catharina Elisabeth's parents were the farmer, Tobias Rödiger and his wife, Anna Margaretha Eichenauer of Tann

Age of the bride: 24 J. (geb. 28. Novbr. 1848)
Catharina Elisabeth was 24, born 28 Nov 1848

Whether Catharina Elisabeth's parents or guardians gave their consent and in what form: Vater schriftlich
Catharina's father wrote his consent

Whether the bride was previously married: Nein
Catharina was not previously married

Date of Marriage: der 4. (vierter) Januar [1873]
4 Jan 1873

Name of the preacher who performed the ceremony: Kleppel
-----------------
If you would like a copy of this record, just let me know.
-----------------
Below is an updated Timeline which now includes Catharina Elisabeth:

25 Dec 1847 Marriage of JT Rödiger and AM Eichenauer in Tann, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Hesse

28 Nov 1848 Catharina Elisabeth Rödiger

22 Sep 1850 Infant Baptism of Gustav "Justus" Rödiger in Tann

24 May 1854 Birth of George Rödiger/Roediger in Tann

18 Mar 1866 Birth of Conrad Tobias Rödiger/Roediger in Tann
----------------
My next post will provide Catharina Elisabeth's death record, which provides some additional information and a couple of new surprises.

Civil and Church Death Record for Anna Margaretha (Lötz) Rödiger

On the same page of the Tann Church Death Record book as the death record of George Roediger's first wife, Anna Martha Scheuch and their 9th child, Anna Katharina, is the death record for Anna Margaretha (Lötz) Rödiger, wife of the Bürgermeister, Justus Rödiger. They died just 2 months apart.

Today, I am going to provide an Auszug (Abstract) of the facts from Anna Margaretha (Lötz) Rödiger's death record as provide by the church in Tann, and then take a look at the Civil Record of her death which I found on ancestry.com

Tann Tod Kirchenbuch (Tann Death Church Book) p. 192 (1886)

Record #: 837

House Number of the Deceased: House # 8

Name: Roediger, Anna Margaretha

Maiden Name: Lotz

Birthplace: Meckbach

Birth Date: 16 October 1849

Death Date: 8 April 1886

Burial Date: 10 April 1886

Husband: The farmer/peasant and current mayor, Justus Rödiger

Sterberegister und Namensverzeichnisse, Mecklar
(Civil Death Register and Name Directories, from Mecklar)

This says (as best I can make out):

Page 14, Number 14

Mechlar, on the 8th of April 1886

Before the official who signed, today, the peasant/farmer George Rödiger, who lives in Tann, indicated that Anna Margaretha Rödiger was born Lotz, wife of Mayor Justus Rödiger, [she was] 36 years, 6 months, 22 days old; of the Protestant religion, living in House #8; [she was] born in Meckbach.

[She was] the daughter of the deceased musician, Eckhardt Lotz and his wife, Eva Elisabeth, born Apel.

[She died] in her home on the 8th of April, 1886 at 11 o'clock in the morning.

[The next sentence is obscure to me. I can not make out one word, which is making the entire sentence unclear--hope to get some help on this soon. But the German that I can read is "Anzeiger ??? aus eigener Wissenschaft unterrichtet." I think that the gist is that George is stating that he has personal knowledge of the facts.]

Pre-read, approved, and signed, George Rödiger

The Civil Servant, [signature]

The conformity with the main register, Mecklar, on the 8th of April 1886

The Civil Servant, [signature]

SUMMARY

In addition to the information contained in the church record, in this document we learn who Anna Margretha's parents were, including her mother's maiden name, and the fact that her father was a musician by occupation.

What is curious to me is why her husband's brother, George, was the informant. Perhaps, the spouse was not permitted to provide this statement, or perhaps Justus was too overcome with grief to provide it.

It is sad to realize that less than 2 months later George's own wife would die from complications of childbirth.

In case you don't have access to Google Maps or Google Earth to see where Tann is in relationship to Meckbach and Mecklar, check out this map snapshot:

Coming Soon--

Meet the sister of Justus, George and Conrad Rödiger that we never knew they had until a few days ago!