The Search Hits a Wall - Christian Friedrich and his father, Johann Elling

A quick trip back to the Elling family history...

In documents about Hans Friedrich Elling, discussed in an earlier post, his parents were mentioned: Christian Friedrich Elling and Anna Catharine Maria Brecht. Scattered among the parish records for Dushorn parish were records for the village of Tietlingen and that was where many of the earliest Elling records were found.

The written record of baptisms for Tietlingen began in 1700 and several Elling baptisms were within the first years, among them Christian Friedrich in 1706. His parents were Johann Elling and Margaretha Gronhagen/ Grunhagen. I have a copy of that record, but it really is dark and unreadable and not suitable for posting. However, it reads:

Christian Friedrich Elling
born 10 July 1706, baptized 11 July
Parents: Johann Elling and his wife Margretha Gronhagen
Witnesses: Hans Feitger.
(Dushorn Baptisms 1706, page 73.)

No marriage entries for Tietlingen were recorded before 1712 and in that very year Johann Elling married again - probably this was the same Johann, but we can not know for sure. If this is our Johann, his second wife was Dorothea Liesebeth Helberges, daughter of Harmen Helberges on 24 Nov 1712. (Dushorn Marriages, p. 95.) (See record above under Anno 1712, 2nd entry.)

Christian Friedrich had two siblings named:
Johann - born 11 Dec, 1700, baptized 17 Dec. Parents: Johann Elling, no mother given.
Hinrich - born 22 July 1703, baptized 27 July. Parents Johann Elling and his wife Margretha Gronhagen. Witnesses: Hans Meyer from Tiedteln. (Dushorn Baptisms,1700 and 1703, p. 73.)

Johann Elling and second wife, Dorothea Liesebeth Helberges, have children baptized up until 1732. In 1734 when Christian Friedrich married, Johann had already died. Burial records for Dushorn begin in 1777, so that death record was unavailable.

Christian Friedrich Elling married Anna Catharine Maria Brecht on 11 March 1734 (Dushorn Marriages 1734, p. 95.)

On 11 March were married Christian Friedr. Elling, son of the late Johann Elling and Anne Catharine Maria Brechten, Hans Michael Brecht's legitimate daughter.
(See record in image above under Anno 1734)

Christian Friedrich and Anne Catharine Maria Brecht had children:
1. Hans Friedrich (our ancestor - see previous post)

2. Henrich Friedrich - born 1 Feb 1738, baptized 7 Feb. Witnesses: Friedrich Elling at Hage-?,
Jurgen Buswickel (?) at Walsrode, Johann Heinrich Otten at Utzen.
(Dushorn Baptisms 1738, p. 75)

3. Johann Georg - born 26 March 1741, baptized 30 March. Witnesses: Joh. Luig. Elling held
the child during the baptism. (Dushorn Baptisms 1741, p. 75)

4. Anna Margaretha - born 4 Oct 1745, baptized 8 Oct. Witnesses: Dorothea Margaretha Olffer aus Utze, Anna Margaretha Elling aus Honerdingen?, Anna Meyer aus ?
(Dushorn Baptisms 1745, p. 75.)

5. Georg Christian - born 16 ? 1748, baptized 18 ?. Witnesses Johann Georg Smalstieg from ?,
Joh. P. Kuh from ?, Hans Jurgen Kienbostel from ?
(Dushorn Baptisms 1748, p. 75)

6. Hans Jacob - born 21 aug 1750, baptized 21 Aug. Witnesses: Jacob Holtmann held the child
during baptism.
(Dushorn Baptisms 1750, p. 75)

7. Johann Heinrich - born 3 Dec 1754, bapt. 10 Dec. Witnesses: Heinr. Sals..., Carsten Juck from Oepke and David Meier, teacher at Vorbrugge near Walsrode.
(Dushorn Baptisms, 1754, p. 76)

Sometimes the records for Tietlingen show up in the Fallingbostel records, so it was really a search to find family documents. Tax and census records around 1700 could give us more information. The issue becomes the poor condition of the records and their readability.

I think it was interesting that the Elling family stayed in the village of Tietlingen at least from 1706 until probably after 1859 - over 150 years. Our ancestor immigrated in 1859, but he probably left behind family in Tietlingen. In fact, one correspondent talked about Elling family members there during his childhood, probably in the 1930's and 40's. I guess that is why I would really like to make a visit there someday. I have been sent photos, but it's just not the same as standing in that church where many of these baptisms and marriages and maybe even funerals took place. It's on my list.

Hans Friedrich Elling and Anna Marie Helmke

Not out of "stuff" yet! Last on the blog, we learned about Hans Joachim Elling, my fifth great grandfather. His records, thankfully, led to his parents: Hans Friedrich Elling and wife Anna Marie Helmke.

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!

Johann Friedrich Elling, Sr. - in Germany

It's been almost twenty years ago now that I hired an excellent researcher in Germany to help me find the Elling family origins. Dr. Sylvia Moehle worked at the archives in Fallingbostel and was so helpful in not only finding the records, but in translating them, too. Obviously, when you look at the actual images that I've posted, it's no secret that it is hard going to make anything out of what often seems illegible, especially in the earliest records.

First, Dr. Moehle took a great deal of time finding the Lutheran parish for the Ellings and it was Dueshorn parish. From those records, we found that our immigrant grandfather, Johann Friedrich Elling (the immigrant) was the only son of Johann Friedrich Elling, Sr. and his wife Anne Ilse (nee Meier/ Meyer.) Five children were born to this couple in Tietlingen:

Johann Friedrich (Jr.) born 1817

Margarethe Dorothee Marie Catharina Engel born 1821

Anna Ilse born 1824

Engel Dorothee born 1828

Dorothee Catharina Engel born 1833

(I have the baptismal records for those children, but will not post because of the quality.)

Johann Friedrich Elling Birth Record

Johann Friedrich Elling Sr.'s baptismal record from the Dushorn parish church book, p. 68. #12, is the image above -

The date of baptism is first - #12 in the year 1792, 4 (April), 6 (day)

Born 4 April 1792 at Tietlingen, godparent - Cord Harms and ???

Parents - Hans Joachim Elling, haeusling (tenant) at Tietlingen and his wife Anne Engel Fedderke from E..?

Beside the entry in parentheses is a cross and the date 11 April 1864. That is a notation by the pastor or clerk marking J.F. Sr's death.

Johann Friedrich Elling Death Record

The second image is the death record of J. F. Elling Sr. - #21. This is from the Dushorn parish book 1853 - 1873.

The date at the top of the page is 1864, the place of death is Tietlingen.

Name, Profession, Age of Deceased - Elling, Johann Freidrich, Altenthelier (pensioner) and widower at Tietlingen, 71 years and 7 days.

Parents - Hauswirth Hans Joachim Elling and his wife Anne Engel Fedderke

Date of Death - 11 April, 8:00 in the evening

Cause of Death - Weakness (of old age)

Day of Burial - 14 April

So after his son and family emigrated to America in 1859, the father lived almost five more years. How hard it must have been to say good-bye to his oldest son.

Any information for J. F. Elling Sr.'s wife, Anna Ilse Meyer Elling could not be found in the Dushorn records. The marriage records for that period were hardly legible, according to the researcher. Since her baptism record was also not in that parish, it is thought that they may have married in her parish, whatever that was.

A valuable outcome of these records was that we have two sources giving yet another generation back of the Elling Family - Hans Joachim and Anne Engel (Fedderke) Elling. More on them next time.

Back Even Further - Hans Joachim Elling, Still in Tietlingen

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.

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.