The Elling Ancestral Village - Tietlingen

The road leading into Tietlingen.










Entrance to the famous golf club there.

Apartments/ Flats in Tietlingen

Farm ground just like Ohio

 It's been almost four years now since I, by some insane luck, happened to meet Herr Hogrefe, an electrician from Stellichte, Germany, through a post I made on the Stellichte, Germany website. Hogrefe's grandmother was a Fuhrhop from Stellichte (just like our immigrant grandmother). He was familiar with the village of Tietlingen, as well, where the Elling family lived for well over a hundred and fifty years. 


Best of all, he generously offered to take some photos and send to me. We may or may not be related somehow way back when...more on that when you see the Stellichte photos - but the kindness of a stranger will not be forgotten.

We definitely struggled with language as his emails arrived in German and I would run them through the online translator, with sometimes humorous results. He was doing the same with my letters in English.

So, with many thanks, I post some of the photos sent by Friedel Hogrefe, Elektromeister, Stellichte.

As always, click on the photo for a better view.

Photos and the Story of Stellichte

Schwalshof farm in Stellichte, owned by the Fuhrhops since the 1850's. Shown in the photos are the barn and the street leading up to the farm, as well as the inscription over the barn door.

 















 
Sometime after his marriage to Anna Maria Engel Fuhrhop (1842) and the birth of daughter Dorothea in Tietlingen in 1847 and before their immigration to America in 1859, Johann Friedrich Elling, our immigrant ancestor, moved with his wife and family to Stellichte, about ten miles from their previous home in Tietlingen. On the microfilm of Court Records for Stellichte 1830 - 1880, I found numerous references to them and to the Fuhrhop family.

Anna Marie Engel Elling geb. Fuhrhop bought house/farm no. 30 in 1852 and sold it in 1859. Was it purchased or was it an inheritance? In his own right, Johann Friedrich Elling bought house/farm no. 14 in 1852, as well, and sold it in 1853. Was that just a temporary home until Anna came into possession of her place later that same year? It's all speculation. 



















What do we know for sure? The film is poor and I had to ask my researcher in Germany for help in translating, but even I could see quite a number of Fuhrhops show up in Stellichte. In particular, the researcher noted that house/farm no. 2 changed ownership for several generations of Fuhrhops from 1800 - 1857. Otto Fuhrhop, she says, obviously had to compensate several persons in 1857 - perhaps husbands of his sisters - but that one place always remained in the family.

When my friend Hogrefe sent these photos of Stellichte, he told me his mother was a Fuhrhop from Stellichte and these photos above are of her family farm, the Schwalshof farm, owned by the Fuhrhops, he states, since the 1850's. Then I looked at the inscription on the barn and saw that the wife of this Otto Fuhrhop, a name I had seen in the census, was named Anna Maria and we all know how the Germans loved to pass on those names. I really don't know if this farm is related to our immigrant grandmother because I haven't done the necessary research to find out, but wouldn't it be great...





































I also know that Johann Friedrich's son, Heinrich Friedrich, my gg grandfather was the only one of the family's children born in Stellichte in 1852. The previous siblings were born in Tietlingen and the youngest was born in America in 1860.

So if someone is looking for a great research opportunity, please take on the Fuhrhops for me, will you?

Johann Friedrich Elling, German Birth and Baptism

Ev. Luth. Kirchenbuch - Dushorn Parish, Hanover

To find our family further back in Germany, I hired an excellent researcher, Dr. Sylvia Moehle, who worked at the Fallingbostel Archives.  Even if had had found the records myself, I know I would have had little or no success in translating them with any accuracy.  If you enlarge the above record, you'll understand.

This birth/baptismal record is from the Ev. Lutheran Kirchenbuch of Tietlingen Dushorn Parish, Hanover,  The year is 1817.  The month is July.  On July 14, 1817, Johann Friedrich Elling (our immigrant) was born and he was then baptized on July 18.  Parents: Johann Friedrich Elling of Tietlingen and his legal wife, Anne Ilse (born) Meier.  Godparent: Hans Joachim Elling.

From this record, we now know another generation back - there was a Johann Friedrich Sr.  Later we will look to see if Hans Joachim, godfather, is actually the grandfather of the new baby as this was the grandfather's name.

Because of the high infant mortality rate, babies were baptized soon after birth.  Sometimes the mother was not able to attend the baptismal ceremony.