Chapter 13

Putting It All Together

We’ve covered a multitude of German records and research strategies and thrown a number of caveats at you in this book. While all genealogists have the same research strategies available to them, the detailed application of these strategies is unique to each research problem that is faced. Yes, there are some “evergreen” sources and methodologies that you should try virtually every time you research, but no one record set will lead to pay dirt every single time. Each ancestor faced a unique set of circumstances in life, and these circumstances directly affect the types of records you will be able to find. To illustrate this point, this chapter contains detailed case studies of German genealogy research targeting different records from different centuries and locations. Hopefully these studies will help guide your research and show you how to put all of the pieces together to fill in your pedigree chart.

Case Study: Using Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century German Church Records

The following case study from my family includes research from Wellington R. Machmer of Virginia, Gary Mauchmar of Michigan, and Michelle Potter of Iowa.

According to the Philadelphia oaths of allegiance found in Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Johann “Philip” Machmer and Johannes (John) Machmer arrived October 20, 1744, in Philadelphia aboard the ship Phoenix. A Pennsylvania land patent dated March 2, 1765, confirms their relationship as brothers. The patent recited that on April 23, 1756, John had signed over rights to a piece of land to his brother Philip. The land document also revealed that John had died by 1762, the year his widow, Barbara, had remarried a man named Leonard Spang and had confirmed Philip’s ownership of the property.

According to family legend (and a biographical history of Berks County, Pennsylvania), the Machmer origin was in German-speaking Switzerland (Wellington R. Machmer had also recalled that his namesake grandfather frequently enjoyed “yodeling”), so research centered on this area.

However, while researching another lineage in the adjacent towns of Sprendlingen and Bosenheim, part of the wine-growing area of Germany’s Rheinland, I found a surname rendered as “Macheimer” and “Mahomer” in the Sprendlingen Evangelical Church records. Variant spellings of the Machmer name in America had been recorded as Machemer, Magemer, Magmer, Mauchmer, Maughmer, and Mauchmar. While “Macheimer” and “Mahomer” seemed to be perhaps outside the circle of expected variant spellings, the staff at the European help desk of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City said that they were not outside the realm of possibility.

I decided to search the Sprendlingen church records for baptisms from the time frame in which the brothers Johann “Philip” and Johannes (both of whom were having children in the 1740s and 1750s) would have been expected to be born. Not only were the brothers found in the church’s baptismal records, they turned out to be a pair of twins who survived infancy, a relative rarity in 1721! The twins were the first children born to their parents, identified as Simon and Anna Elisabetha in the records. Johann Philip was named for his paternal grandfather and Johannes was named for his maternal grandfather.

The Sprendlingen church records also contained a marriage record for Simon and Anna Elizabetha, which indicated that Simon was born in the close-by hamlet of Bosenheim. Searching the Bosenheim parish records turned up his baptism record from 1697, but unfortunately the town’s church records began a only few years earlier so there would be no records for his preceding generations. However, the burial records for Simon’s parents, Hans Philipp and Anna Dorothea, were found. These records gave estimates of their births in the 1670s.

The Bosenheim church records identified the children of Hans Philipp Macheimer (born about 1671, died April 4, 1737, Bosenheim, Germany) and Anna Dorothea (born about 1678, died May 3, 1742, Bosenheim):

1765 Pennsylvania land patent mentioning brothers Philip and John Mauchemer (Pennsylvania Archives Record Group 17, Patent Vol. AA-6, page 155)

1721 baptism record of twins Johannes and Joh. Philip Mahomer in the records of Sprendlingen Evangelical, Germany (single-spaced entry in middle of page)

  1. Simon Macheimer, born February 25, 1697, Bosenheim
  2. Anna Margaretha Macheimer, born March 2, 1699, Bosenheim
  3. Johannes Macheimer, born October 1, 1700, Bosenheim
  4. Maria Elisabeth Macheimer, born February 5, 1707, Bosenheim
  5. Anna Maria Macheimer, born May 19, 1711, Bosenheim
  6. Johann Jacob Macheimer, born October 29, 1713, Bosenheim
  7. Johann Philip Macheimer, April 15, 1715, Bosenheim

The Johann Jacob and Johann Philip in this generation lead to the question of whether it could be known for sure that the immigrants actually were the twins and not their uncles. However, further research in the Bosenheim church records uncovered a burial record for one of the uncles showing he was buried in Germany after 1744. The records also contained baptismal records for children born in Germany to the other uncle after the twins’ immigration date of 1744.

1737 confirmation record of twins Johannes and Joh. Philip Mahomer (their names are fourth and fifth from the top of the second column) from the records of Sprendlingen Evangelical, Germany

The Sprendlingen church records identified the children of Simon Macheimer/Mahomer (born February 25, 1697, Bosenheim, and confirmed there in 1712 at age 15) and married January 28, 1721, in Sprendlingen to Anna Elisabetha Wyeler.

  1. Johann Philipp Mahomer, born December 7, 1721, Sprendlingen
  2. Johannes Mahomer, born December 7, 1721, Sprendlingen
  3. Johann Just Mahomer, born May 6, 1725, Sprendlingen
  4. Johann Jacob Mahomer, born July 3, 1729, Sprendlingen
  5. Anna Margaretha Mahomer, born June 22, 1732, Sprendlingen
  6. Anna Elisabetha Mahomer, born December 25, 1735, Sprendlingen
  7. Johann Gerhard Mahomer, born February 22, 1739, Sprendlingen
  8. Johann Friedrich Mahomer, born September 2, 1742, Sprendlingen

1697 baptism record of Simon Macheimer (bottom of photograph) from the records of Bosenheim Evangelical, Germany

A manumission document from the Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe (General National Archive in Karlsruhe) shows that the twins, called Johannes and Philipp “Magamei,” were freed from obligation of military service to go to America upon payment of one hundred florins.

Children of Johann Philipp Mahomer/Machemer (born 1721 and died about 1773, Bern Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania) and Elisabeth (born November 10, 1716, and died October 21, 1786, Bern Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania):

  1. Nicholas Machemer (born about 1756, died about 1823), married twice: first to Rosina and on March 12, 1820, to Eva Faust
  2. Philip Machemer (born about 1757), married on December 26, 1781, to Elisabeth Freymayer
  3. George Machemer (born about 1764, died 1840), married on May 3, 1786, to Maria Esther Graeff
  4. Margaretha Machemer (born about 1766, died about 1842), married October 12, 1784, to Friedirch Graeff
  5. Anna Maria Machemer, married to Sebastian Berlet

Pennsylvania naturalization records show that Philip was naturalized on April 3, 1761, and his children’s names are identified from his Berks County will, which was dated November 27, 1773. The marriage dates for his children came from the private pastoral records of an independent Reformed minister, the Rev. John William Boos.

1744 manumission of brothers Johannes and Joh. Philip Mahomer to go to America (Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe)

Children of Johannes Mahomer/Machemer (born 1721 and died between 1756 and 1760, Bern Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania) and Barbara:

6. Andreas Machemer, born before 1751

7. Heinrich Machemer, born before 1751

8. Magdalena Machemer, born before 1751

The only document filed regarding an estate for John Machmer was a guardianship petition from his children, who all stated they were above fourteen years of age (which meant they could request who their guardians would be), dated September 2, 1765. Andreas chose Joseph Woolerton, Henry chose Henry Gicker, and Magdalena chose Jacob Dester.

Case Study: Using Nineteenth-Century Records

The following case study used with permission from Pam Stone Eagleson of Kennebunk, Maine, from her “Nein Konig Da” – Starting Over: The Henzes of Einbeck, Germany and Hermann, Missouri. Eagleson is a board-certified genealogist.

When Eagleson began her search, she assumed that her ancestor Wilhelm/William would be the original immigrant in her Hentze family, but after years of research in deeds and census records and looking at originals of National Archives passenger lists (portions of which had been omitted from the microfilmed passenger list referenced in Germans to America), she was able to identify that William’s father came to America before William.

Georg August Hentze (known primarily as George Henze in America) was born on April 4, 1794, in Einbeck, Hannover, Germany, and died between 1863 and 1870 in Hermann, Missouri. He married three times: first, on December 27,1823, to Katharine Dorothea Louise Hellberg (born March 27, 1801, Boesingfeld, Germany, and died between 1831 and 1832); second, on December 26, 1832, to Johanne Friederike Wachsmuth (born about 1803 and died October 29, 1833); and third, on April 6, 1834, to Martha Elizabeth Wedekind of Witzenhausen (born about 1803 and died July 18, 1866, in Hermann, Missouri).

Several generations of Georg’s ancestors were found in the records of St. Marien Evangelical Church, Einbeck, and his forebears were members of the Bakers and Brewers Guild. George, a younger son, made the military his profession; he fought in the Napoleonic Wars before later becoming disabled and being pensioned in 1832. During most of his military career, he was stationed in the city of Hannover, and baptisms of his children were found in records of the Evangelical Garrison Church. Variant spellings of the surname found in records include Hentze, Henzen, Henze, Hense, and Hensey.

According to various records summarized in correspondence from the Niedersächsiches Hauptstaatsarchiv in Hannover, Georg became a bleacher of linen and leased a farm near Hannover in 1832, after his retirement from the military. Later, he bought a parcel in the city with a home and laundry.

During the buildup to the Revolutions of 1848 (see chapter four), Georg sold his property and took as much of his family as possible to America (older sons William and August would stay behind to complete their military service), arriving aboard the ship George Washington on New Year’s Day at the port of New Orleans, as shown in National Archives passenger lists. Within months, he purchased land near Hermann, Missouri (deed found in Gasconade County Historical Society Archives and Records Center), and on July 17, 1854, Georg received naturalization in the Circuit Court of Gasconade County, Missouri.

The last record relating to Georg is an 1863 mortgage deed conveying legal title to his property to son Henry. His wife Elizabeth’s death was recorded in 1866 in the register of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Hermann, Missouri.

Georg August Hentze birth entry, April 4, 1794. Certified transcript issued March 2, 1981, St. Marien Evangelical Lutheran Church, Einbeck, Germany, citing 1794 Birth and Baptismal Register page 348, number 18; privately held by third great-granddaughter Pam Stone Eagleson [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Kennebunk, Maine 2013

Family data, William Henze family Bible, privately held by Dr. Dwayne V. Smith, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Ft. Mitchell, KY, 2006

Georg Hentze had six children, four from his first marriage and two from his third marriage:

  1. Carl Friedrich Heinrich “August” Henze, baptized November 23, 1824, Hannover, Germany, and died February 9, 1897, Montgomery County, Missouri. He married Dorothea Elizabeth Brunckhorst.
  2. Carl “Adolph” Heinrich Theodor Henze, baptized May 13, 1827, Hannover, Germany, and died between January 1848 and 1860. He is likely to have died shortly after arrival in America since he was not found in further records; it is possible that he had some type of physical or mental impairment since he was not required to stay behind to perform military service.
  3. Karl “Wilhelm” Ludwig Henze, baptized July 8, 1829, Hannover, Germany, and died December 17, 1882, Montgomery County, Missouri. He married twice: Rosie Schramm and Frederike Stoehr.
  4. Johannes Justine Konradine Henze, baptized June 13, 1831, Hannover, Germany, and died March 7, 1832, in Hannover.
  5. “Heinrich” Friedrich Gottfried Wilhelm Henze, baptized January 19, 1835, Hannover, Germany, and died February 11, 1898, Hermann, Missouri. He married Mrs. Caroline (Voight) Brandenberg.
  6. Karl Heinrich “Friedrich” Henze, baptized March 4, 1836, Hannover, Germany, and died October 6, 1874, Montgomery County, Missouri. He married Conradina Ahrends.
  7. Records summarized by the archives in Hannover showed August and Wilhelm’s German military records and discharges. Wilhelm and Heinrich would later serve in the Union Army during the Civil War. Wilhelm’s line kept a family Bible that recounted many dates.