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.