In
the parish records of Dushorn, my researcher was unable to find
marriage records or burial records for either Hans Friedrich or Anna
Marie. The microfilm is not always the best; perhaps if the actual
books could be accessed, those records might be located. She stated
that the records prior to 1777 were extremely difficult to read.
The
baptism records of the parish from 1730 - 1770 were then checked with
no success in finding Anna Marie's birth, but Hans Friedrich was
located. I do not have a copy of that record, again because it was too
poor to copy, but the researcher did extract the data for me.
Dushorn Parish Baptism Register, p. 74.
Name of the Child: Hans Friedrich Elling
Date of Birth: 5th of March 1735 (No baptism date given.)
Name of the Father: Christ. Friedrich Elling
Name of the Mother: Cathrine Marg. Brecht
Godfathers: Hans Ripke from Ronhagen; Hans Heinrich Meiss from Fallingbostel; Cord Bleden from the Darbrugge at Walsrode.
More luck in that another generation back is revealed.
Also
in the Baptism Register, two more children - siblings to Hans Joachim -
were found. I have included the copy above, so if you enlarge it, you
can follow along with the translation. :-)
Dushorn Parish Baptism Register, p. 76
Anno (Year) 1758
Name of the Child: Hans Friedrich (Jr.)
Date of Birth: 22nd of January 1758; baptized 24th of January 1758
Name of the Father: Hans Friedrich Elling
Name of the Mother: Anna Maria Helmken
Godfather: Hans Jacob Helmken
Anno 1760
Name of the Child: Ilse Marie Dorothee
Date of Birth: 23rd of April 1760, baptized 27th of April 1760
Name of the Father: Hans Friedrich Elling
Name of the Mother: Anna Marie Helmken
Godmothers: Ilse Marg. Helmkens from Tideln, Marie Elisabeth Anne Grothofs from Elfern, Anne Dorothee Jankens from Elfern.
From
here on, research becomes trickier but not impossible. We can still go
back further, but the documentation becomes sketchier. More on that
next time!
Oh, yes, by now I am telling you about my fifth great grandfather - Hans Joachim Elling!
According to German sources, Joachim is pronounced Yo-a-k'm with the stress on the first and third syllables.
Hans
Joachim Elling was born in Tietlingen, Dushorn Parish, on June 24, 1763,
and was baptized on June 27th. I have that record, but as you can
imagine, the older the record, the poorer the copy, so I did not post.
It was a good record; and in that it named Hans Joachim's parents,
Hans Friedrich Elling and Anna Maria Helmke (Helmken), taking us another
generation back!
Hans Joachim married Anna Engel
Fedderke (Fedderken), who was also born in Tietlingen on October 1, 1764,
and baptized on October 4, 1764. She was the daughter of Johann Casten
and Ilse Marie Fedderke of Bockhorn, part of Dushorn parish. The
marriage took place on February 20, 1789. Hans Joachim was described as a
haeusling, or tenant, at Tietlingen.
The researcher could find eight children in the church records:
Stillborn boy in 1790
Ilse Marie, born Aug. 1, 1791
Johann Freidrich, born April 4, 1792 (our ancestor)
Johann Heinrich, born March 4, 1797
Anna Engel, born Feb. 11, 1800
Ilse Marie, born April 26, 1802
Casper Heinrich, born June 10, 1805
Hans Joachim, born May 22, 1808
These
records told us that the first Ilse Marie probably died before 1802, and
another child was given her name. This was a common practice. Some gaps
in the years between children might mean that there were miscarriages
or babies died and the death missed or not recorded.
The
death record of Hans Joachim could not be found, but his wife died at
age 55 on August 11, 1819. Her husband was listed on the death record as a
pensioner, so he was still alive at the time of his wife's death.
For more information on what was going on in Germany during the life of Hans Joachim Elling, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_century_history_of_Germany and http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=2803&HistoryID=ac62
He lived through some turbulent times in Prussia.
