Our German Origins in Stedebergen

Please welcome our guest blogger, Lydia.

Lydia found me via the internet and soon we 
discovered that we are very compatible research
partners.  She is very knowledgeable about the 
German line of Spoerings and Germany, in general, and I had been researching
my immigrant Spoering great-grandfather, Heinrich, who came to America.
So by combining our resources, I think we have
a very good "picture" of our line of Spoerings.
(Actually, she has two lines - a Spoering married
a Spoering!) 

Lydia will discuss the Spoering beginnings in Germany as far back as records and known history allow.

Lydia -

 "Thanks to incredible research by Dianne and other Spoering descendants, we know a great deal about "the life and times in America" of Hermann Heinrich "Henry" Spoering (1845 - 1917) and his family following their arrival in Ohio in 1882 - which can seem like ancient history to most of us in our comparatively young nation.  But Henry's roots in Germany actually reach back for literally centuries to a tiny village called Stedebergen (pop. 278), incorporated within the modern township of Doerverden in the district (Kreis) of Verden in the Federal State of Lower Saxony.

Archaeological evidence has revealed that the area around Stedebergen had been settled for several millennia B.C. by Celts and, later, by various Germanic tribes, including the Saxons.  Larger villages in the immediate area began appearing by name in medieval documents by around the 1100s A.D., though the first mention of Stedebergen seems to date from 1320.  

Stedebergen is just south of Verden about four miles.

The precise origin and meaning of the village name remains unknown, unfortunately, but it seems to always have been an extremely small village made up of 10-20 clustered farmsteads, each consisting of a farm house, barns, and outbuildings, with each farm's fields lying at varying distances from the village. 

The landscape around Stedebergen and of much of Lower Saxony is low-lying and flat, with considerable marshy areas that required draining before being arable, and the soil is generally sandy.  The region has long been primarily agricultural until fairly recently, with little industrialization, and the main crops were wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, and sugar beets.  Dairy farming was widespread, as well as the raising of pigs and sheep; beekeeping was also common.  Horse breeding was also extensively practiced, but that is a story for another blog!

Photo of Farm Nr. 1, Stedebergen.  The farms all look similar; No. 5 farm photo was not available.  The Spoerings were directly connected to Farm 5, but also to Farm 1 through Anna Sophia Ilsa Burdoff, an inheritor of that farm.

 

First, a brief word about the northern German farmer's "mindset" regarding his farm.  The farm represented a family's entire means of existence; thus, the acquisition, preservation, and bequeathing of a family farm INTACT and WITHIN the immediate family was always the primary goal of every generation of northern German farmers, including the Spoerings, as we will see. 

 Farm inheritance was governed by the rule of primogeniture, i.e. inheritance by the eldest son when possible, and marriages were arranged with an eye toward preservation and even expansion of the family farm holdings.  It seems highly likely that love played little to no role in the choice of marriage partners, since rule number one was to preserve the family farm.  Finally, a farmer's daughters and younger sons would often receive a  cash settlement or a small plot of land as recompense for the eldest son's inheritance of the entire farm, and they could actually receive these settlements before the father died.  This settlement sometimes may have financed the emigration of younger siblings, but this is also an issue for another blog!

 And now back to the story of the Spoering family in Stedebergen.  A researcher named Otto Voight documented  the ownership succession of each of Stedebergens c. 20 farms over centuries.  According to Voight,in 1980, the first documented evidence of Spoerings in Stedebergen's farms appeared in a document loosely translated as "Livestock Valuation Register of the Verden Government Office" dated 1600.

In this document appeared one Johann Sporingk, who owns 10 horses, 20 cows, 15 pigs, 24 sheep, and 89 beehives worth 9 Talers 6 Shillings (making him the biggest farmer in town, incidentally), and one Herman Sporing, who owns 5 horses, 12 cows and 8 pigs worth 3 Talers 5 Shillings.  It's a relatively safe bet that one of these men was an ancestor of Dianne's and mine, but no genealogical records have turned up that would prove this supposition. Voight also traced the owners of Farm Nr 5 - the farm which the common ancestor Dianne and I share owned at one point and remained in the Spoering hands for another 100 years after our lines diverged.

So the inheritors were:
Diedrich Spoering (1613-1681)
Johann Spoering (1656-1701)
Johann Spoering (1687 - 1752)
Hinrich Johann Spoering (1731-1791)
Johann Hinrich Spoering (1759 - 1811)

Yes, they were following rule number one very well and keeping Farm Nr. 5 in the family.  It is this Johann Hinrich Spoering who is my 4th great-grandfather and Dianne's 3rd great-grandfather and after whom the lines split between the Spoerings who remained in Germany and the line which ultimately came to Ohio.

Johann Hinrich and his wife, Lucie Burdoff (1821-?) had 8 children on Farm Nr. 5.  The eldest also named Johann Hinrich (1786-1834), inherited Farm Nr. 5, and all of his descendants remained in Stedebergen or the surrounding area.  Their youngest child was Jacob Friedrich (1810-1860), and because he did not inherit the farm, married Catharina Margaretha Norden (1821 - ?) of Hollehrden (now Lehrden), possibly taking over a farm she had inherited there.  Their eldest son, Johann Friedrich Spoering (1842-1920) predictably inherited this farm in Hollehrden, and his younger brother, Hermann Heinrich (Henry) Spoering, Dianne's 2nd great-grandfather, makes the decision to emigrate to Ohio in 1882 with his family.  We can only speculate why, though the opportunity to acquire a farm of his own in America might have been a compelling factor.

 And so the centuries-long story of the Spoerings from Stedebergen, both the ones who stayed and the one who left, comes to an end.  But there is still much to investigate and uncover, so the quest is likely to go on for quite awhile.  In the meantime, I hope you found this extremely brief glimpse into the life and times of Stedebergen of some interest or value."
Lydia

Stedebergen

Jacob Friedrich Spoering, Back to Germany

St. Andreas, Verden

*Hermann Heinrich "Henry" Spoering, his wife, and several children left Germany to emigrate to America in 1882, leaving several siblings behind. His father was Jacob Friedrich Spoering, who died before Henry left Germany.  

Jacob Friedrich Spoering was born on Farm 5, Stedebergen, Verden, Lower Saxony, Germany on July 18, 1810, and was baptized at Saint Andreas Church (Lutheran) on July 21, 1810.

St. Johannes, Visselhoevede

 He married Catharina Margareta Norden, daughter of Johann Juergen and Anna Margareta (Bremer) Spoering on December 2, 1841, in Visselhovede, Germany. Jacob was about 31 at this time and Catharina, about ten years younger, born January 15, 1821, in Hollehrden.  The couple married in Visselhovede at the St. Johanniskirche (the same church some of the Ellings attended).

This is the marriage document for Jacob F. Spoering,  son of Johann Spoering, family cottager in Stedebergen and Catharina Margaretha Norden, daughter of Johann Juergen Norden, householder in Hollehrden.

Catharina was born in Hollehrden (now Lehrden), Rotenberg, Wumme, Lower Saxony.  At some point, Jacob and Catharina moved from the Stedebergen Farm 5  to Hollehrden before their first child, Johann Friedrich Spoering was born on October 15, 1842.  Since Jacob F. was the youngest son, he may have moved to the Norden farm of his wife, perhaps having a cash settlement from his father because he did not inherit Farm 5 Stedebergen and/or a dowry/farm from his wife's family, the Nordens

So Herman Heinrich was the second son, born on January 16, 1845, and an only daughter, Ilse Catharina Maria, came on November 16, 1847.  Last, the youngest child was Hermann Diedrich, born on June 24, 1850.

Stellichte (home of the Elling ancestors before immigrating) is just east of Lehrden (Hollehrden).  Stedebergen, a very small village is just south of Lehrden, Rotenberg, Wumme, Lower Saxony, Germany. It does not show up on this map.
The social circle of the people of this time was very small, as the only way to travel was by horse, horse and cart, or walking. For instance, the distance between Lehrden and Stellichte (Ellings) is 3.2 km. (The Spoerings and the Ellings lived quite close together, but may or may not have known each other.)  Perhaps about a 10 mile radius would be the limit for traveling from home.

The death date for Jacob Friedrich is thought to be July 14, 1860 in Hollehrden.  A death record for Catharina could not be found.
These are my great-great grandparents.

More on Hermann Heinrich Spoering from Lehrden

(Thanks to my wonderful, fellow researcher, Lydia, who helped so much with continuing the line of Spoerings back to Germany from the U.S.  We share Johann Spoering (1759-1811), my 3x great grandfather, as our common ancestor.  Her knowledge of the German language and her persistence made this such a successful endeavor.  Thank you, Lydia!)

A baptismal record found in the Elbe- Weser Triangle, Germany records (on Ancestry) confirmed that Hermann Heinrich Spoering was born on 16 January 1845, in Hollehrden (now Lehrde), Rottenburg (Wumme), Lower Saxony, Germany.

His parents, Jacob Friedrich Spoering and Catharina
Margaretha Norden Spoering (my great-great grandparents), had the infant baptized 
on 2 Feb 1845, at the only Lutheran church in nearby
Visselhovede - the Evangelisch-lutherische Kirche
St. Johannis, about six miles away from his
birthplace.

This church was built first in 1358 and renovated and expanded in the 18th century.  The bell tower shown with the clock was built in 1799.  The Reformation was well established in this area by the 1630s.

 Henry was the second son of his parents, and as a second son, he most likely would not inherit the family farm which had been in the family for generations at Stedebergen.  So, one of his options would be to marry a woman who did inherit a farm or some wealth, just as our immigrant Elling did when he moved from Tietlingen to Stellichte where his wife owned a farm.  Or perhaps the lure of cheap land in America called to him as then he could have his own farm.

Although Hollehrden was named as the birthplace of all the siblings, that name was changed to Lehrden along the way.  Lehrden can be found at the bottom center of the map, and interestingly, Stellichte, where our immigrant Ellings lived before immigration, is only about 2 miles to the east, and Bendingbostel, home of the Tietjes, about 4 miles to the west.

At the age of 30, Herman (called Henry) married Katharina Maria Flocke who was about ten years younger.  By 1882, they were ready to leave Germany with their three young daughters - Mary, Sophia and little Anna, only 9 months old. Their destination was listed as Defiance, Ohio, on the ship's manifest, landing first in New York City.

More information may be found on these previous posts:

Spoering immigration by Jason Snow:  
 http://attheriverbend.blogspot.com/2019/08/our-spoering-family.html

 Spoering Reunion