2

I'm an amateur genealogist and I have browsed through 17th and 18th century German church records in pursuit of my ancestry and I am now stuck.

Background

My sources come from: https://www.archion.de (paid subscription needed to access sources)

I have used the following table to help me interpret the texts: https://www.archion.de/en/family-research/deutsche-schrift/alphabet-table/

What is blocking me is a birth record for a certain Henning Conrad from 1691. The reason why I believe this is my ancestor is that he is mentioned (at least that is my assumption) in his sons (whom I have much more sources for) birth record from 1716 from the same town (Gestorf). This would make Henning Conrad about 25 years of age at the age of his sons birth which is plausible.

KB 1673-1751 (Kirchenkreis Laatzen-Pattensen / Gestorf), page 209. Entry #7

  1. Johann Wilhelm Warneken, He?ning Conrad W???????? ??h? geborn ?? 3? April ?? ?????

Source: KB 1673-1751 (Kirchenkreis Laatzen-Pattensen / Gestorf), page 209. Entry #7

Finally, the birth record that is troubling me:

KB 1673-1751 (Kirchenkreis Laatzen-Pattensen / Gestorf), page 72

Wa??????? Henning Conrad geborn D. 9. Martij. (... Henning Conrad, born 9th of March)

Source: KB 1673-1751 (Kirchenkreis Laatzen-Pattensen / Gestorf), page 72

Here is the same information without the red circle:

KB 1673-1751 (Kirchenkreis Laatzen-Pattensen / Gestorf), page 72

Are any of the surrounding sentences about this same record (e.g. information about parents)?

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

All birth records should contain information about the child, the date of birth, his/her parents, plus any godparents, and each underlined name typically starts a new record. (Too bad that the scan quality is so poor in both scans, and the red circle in the second does not help either, because it covers up further information.)

Let me take a stab at the first scan:

"Johann Wilhelm Warneken, Henning Conrad Warnekens Söhnl[ein], gebohren den 3ten April. S[el]b[igen] nachts getauft." (JWW, son of HCW, born 3. of April and baptised the same night.) I think the fourth word in the third line should be "Gevatter" (godparents). The rest is very hard to read, but contains names (Sophia Vinther (?), Richard Hauser, ... Eleonora Louisa ??? .... tochter (daughter).)

In the second scan I would read the portion you circled something like this:

???? Henning Conrad, gebohren d. 9. Martii (born on March 9), nachmitt. zwischen 2 und 3. (between 2 and 3 in the afternoon). Getauft den (baptised on) 13.

Gevatter (godparents):

  1. Henr. Kuhlmann,
  2. Henning Ritter, Altarist (?), ...

Unfortunately I cannot read the remaining two lines.

The record before starts out: "Diepgen Henrichs Christian Dieterich...", which translates into "Christian Dieterich, [son] of Henrich Diepgen...". The unreadable first portion of your record should have the same structure. The godparents may give you some information about the record, but you would have to know quite a bit about the town before you can have any degree of confidence; the last names are different; are they neighbours, distant cousins, uncles, etc.?

Improve this answer
6
  • Thank you very much! Very interesting... I will attach a second image without the circle. The quality of the original scanned pages is unfortunately bad.
    – Alix
    Feb 17, 2018 at 23:02
  • You mention that this record should have the same structure but that would mean that Henning Conrad is the father of whomever is mentioned here?
    – Alix
    Feb 17, 2018 at 23:20
  • Small detail, but I think it should be "Martij" (with a j). Seems like it is a correct spelling: wiki-de.genealogy.net/Monate
    – Alix
    Feb 17, 2018 at 23:35
  • 1
    No. The second set of names in the preceding record is the first and middle name of the child. In your record, the son's name is Henning Conrad. As to the last name, and the name of the father, I have to plead ignorance. The underlined name (if it is indeed an underline and not something crossed out) should be the last name of both father and son. But the first name of the father ought to follow the last name (at least in the convention used by this recorder). Henning Conrad sounds like a common enough name combination to me; hard to say if you have indeed found a match.
    – user3697176
    Feb 17, 2018 at 23:36
  • You mention an important detail about the ordering of words. I think the first two letters are "Wa" which would mean that the last name starts with these letters, which confirms my theory. I have looked through a lot of books in the surrounding area and not found any possible alternatives.
    – Alix
    Feb 18, 2018 at 0:01

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.