52 Ancestors: #35 The Welter-Hennes Family of Ernzen, Germany

Anton WELTER (1773-1849)

Anton WELTER, son of Johann Bernard WELTER and Maria BRIMERS, was born on 15 December 1773 on Ernzerhof outside of Ernzen. He was baptized the same day in Ernzen.[1]

1773 Baptismal Record of “Antonius Welter”[1]

Anton was the only son, a middle child, but also the youngest as his two younger sisters died at an early age. His mother Maria died in 1781[2] leaving an 8-year-old Anton and his two older sisters. Her widower Bernard, as he was known, married again six months after her death.[3] He and his second wife Maria BARTZ had a daughter nearly nine months after the marriage.[4] The baby only survived two months.[5] Bernard and Maria did not have any other children. Anton’s step-mother died in 1791.[6] By this time Bernard’s children were nearly all grown. His oldest daughter Elisabeth had been married two years at the time and Catharina would marry in 1800. His only son Anton was nearly 18 years old. Bernard never married again.

Anna Katharina HENNES (1779-1845)

Anna Katharina HENNES, daughter of Johann HENNES and Magdalena MÜLLER, was born on 14 May 1779 in Holsthum.[7]

View of the village of Holsthum

Like Anton WELTER, Anna Katharina was a middle child and had two older sisters. Her father Johann died in 1786 when his wife was pregnant with their youngest child.[8] Matthias, their only son, was born two months later. Two months after giving birth to her deceased husband’s child, Magdalena MÜLLER married Johann TRAMPERT.[9] Magdalena was 44 and Johann was 27. With this marriage, her husband took on the responsibility of five step-children between 9 years and 2 months. Magdalena and her second husband did not have children of their own.

Anna Katharina and Anton marry in 1803

Anna Katharina HENNES married Anton WELTER on 23 March 1803 in Ernzen.[10] They had three children during their first seven years of marriage. Their first, Bernard was born in 1805 and named after his paternal grandfather. A record of baptism has not been searched for but it is likely his grandfather was his godfather as was the practice of the times. Their next two children were girls: Elisabeth was born on 31 January 1807[11] and Katharina WELTER on 21 July 1810.

Before they had more children there were several deaths in the family. Anna Katharina’s step-father Johann TRAMPERT died on 19 August 1812 at the age of 55 years.[9] Anton and Anna Katharina youngest daughter Katharina died on 5 December 1812 at the age of nearly two and a half years.[10] Anton’s father Johann Bernard WELTER died on 27 March 1813 at the age of 76 years.[3] Almost a week later the family would be attending another funeral. Anna Katharina’s mother Magdalena MÜLLER died on 2 April 1813 at the age of 70 years.[12] Three deaths in four months make me wonder if they were caused by disease or a hard winter.

A year later Anna Katharina and Anton named their son born on 4 April 1814 Peter. He lived only ten months dying on 6 February 1815. A little more than two years later another son was born and named Peter. He was born on 10 August 1817 and died on 12 May 1819 at the age of twenty months.[10]

Anton and Anna Katharina’s youngest child, Anna Maria was born on 3 April 1822.[10]  Anna Katharina was 43 and Anton was going on 49.

The WELTER children begin to marry

Their oldest daughter Elisabeth married Hubert WEIMANN, son of Bernard WEYMANN and Susanna MALAMBRÉ, on 11 February 1835 in Ernzen. Hubert was born on 13 July 1805 in Ernzen.[13]

Their oldest son Bernard married Katharina WEBER on 2 April 1837 in Aach (Eifel).[14] Katharina was born on 2 January 1795 in Aach to Peter WEBER und Susanna KREIN.

The mother of this family, Anna Katharina HENNES died on 9 March 1845 in Ernzen and was buried two days later.[10] Her widower Anton was left with three children, two of whom were married.

The youngest daughter Anna Maria married Peter STEIL on 18 February 1846 in Ernzen.[15] Peter was born on 3 January 1810 in Berdorf (Luxembourg).[16]

The father of this family, Anton WELTER died on 26 January 1849 in Ernzen and was buried two days later.

After their parents’ deaths

The oldest of the WELTER children, Bernard died on 1 February 1855 in Ernzen at the age of 55. His widow Katharina WEBER died two decades later on 30 April 1875 in Ernzen and was buried two days later. They may have remained childless.[14]

Anna Maria, the youngest of the WELTER children, died on 9 January 1861 and was buried two days later. She was 38 years old and left a husband and four children.

Elisabeth’s husband Hubert WEIMANN died at the age of 67 on 29 October 1872 in Ernzen and was buried two days later. He left her with three children.

Peter STEIL, Anna Maria’s widower, died on 21 December 1872 in Ernzen and was buried two days later. He was survived by two daughters and a son. The son emigrated to North America during the year and likely only learning of the death of his father after the new year.

A Peter STEIL, age 18, was found on a passenger list with an arrival in New York on 20 May 1872 via Liverpool, England. A match for Peter STEIL born 12 January 1854 in Ernzen was not found in America. He cannot be the same person as the Peter Steil 1852-1913 who lived in Stearns County, Minnesota, as he came over in 1867. Suggestions on other spelling for the STEIL name would be appreciated.

Elisabeth WELTER, the last living child of Anton and Anna Katharina, died on 24 September 1877 in Ernzen and was buried three days later. Elisabeth, my third great-grandmother, was 70 years old. She left three children who would live to see the outbreak of World War I. Only one of these would live to see the end of it.

How are the DNA matches looking for this branch?

One of the first Shared Ancestor Hints on Ancestry DNA for my brother’s test was for a match who descends from Johann HENNES, the father of Anna Katharina HENNES.

AncestryDNA

The person who matches was quick to reply to my short message sent in June 2016 and we have not corresponded since then. It’s been over a year since she has signed in. I really need to get in touch with her as I realized while writing this post that we have another set of common ancestors who do not show up as a hint. She does not have the parents of Mathias HENNES’ wife Elisabetha MALAMBRÉ. My 4th great-grandmother Susanna MALAMBRÉ was Elisabetha’s sister. This match is a 6th cousin through Johann HENNES and Magdalena MÜLLER and through Gérard MALAMBRÉ and Barbara BIESDORF.

1856 Passenger list for the Peter Hennes family. Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957

Mathias HENNES, the brother of Anna Katharina HENNES, had two sons who went to America. The youngest son Michael went in 1837 at the age of 21. He appears to have not been married and therefore without known descendants. The older son Peter went in 1856 with his wife and their seven children. They had lived in Silberberg/Nusbaum since their marriage in 1836, the year before Michael left.[17] They met up with him in Lemont, Cook County, Illinois, and he was in their household at the time of the 1860 census.

At the time I found this match I did not know so many people with connections in my tree left the Eifel area for America. This gives me another reason which may convince people to upload their raw data to GEDmatch. I haven’t been able to map any of the maternal chromosomes as matches are few and hard to figure out. It would be nice to get this tiny 14 centimorgans segment labeled but with there being two sets of MRCAs I’d need more matches to triangulate.

A few photos to end this post

While I was working a stand at the 12th National Day of Genealogy and Family History in Leudelange on October 15th, my husband took a bike ride especially planned to go through the Nusbaum area so he could get some pictures for this post.

The winding road to Nusbaum

A view of Nusbaum from afar

Willkommen in Nusbaum – Welcome to Nusbaum

Sources:
[1] Luxembourg, registres paroissiaux, 1601-1948 (images), FamilySearch (original records at Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit, Luxembourg), Echternach > Baptêmes 1761-1797 > image 66 of 131. 1773 Baptismal Record, right page, 3rd entry. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-32399-12771-29?cc=2037955 : accessed 9 November 2016).
[2] Ibid., Echternach > Baptêmes, mariages, décès 1779-1783 > image 102 of 177. 1781 Death Record, right page, bottom. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-32400-11740-46?cc=2037955 : 9 January 2015) and part 2 of 1781 Death Record, left page top. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-32400-11629-47?cc=2037955 : 9 January 2015).
[3] Richard Schaffner, compiler, Familienbuch 2 der Pfarrei St. Marcus Ernzen bei Irrel, Daten bis 1798 aus den Kirchenbüchern der Pfarrei Echternach (damals fur Ernzen zuständig); mit: Ernzen-Hof, Fölkenbach und teilweise auch Prümzurlay (Häuser der rechten Flußseite) 1680-1899 (compiled in 2000), p. 237-238, Family #839. Welter-Brimers and Welter-Bartz.
[4] Luxembourg Church Records, Echternach > Baptêmes, mariages, décès 1779-1783 > image 122 of 177. 1782 Baptismal Record, left page. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-32400-11658-39?cc=2037955 : 9 January 2015).
[5] Ibid., Echternach > Baptêmes, mariages, décès 1779-1783 > image 140 of 177. 1782 Death Record, right page, 2nd from bottom. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-32400-11497-19?cc=2037955 : 9 January 2015).
[6] Ibid., Echternach > Baptêmes, mariages, décès 1788-1797 > image 118 of 331. 1791 Death Record, left page. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-32401-8336-15?cc=2037955 : 9 January 2015).
[7] FB Ernzen, p. 234, Family #830. Welter-Hennes.
[8] Werner Neumann, Familienbuch der ehemaligen Pfarrei Schankweiler mit dem Pfarrort Schankweiler und den Filialen Holsthum und Peffingen, pg. 79, Family #485. Hennes-Mühler.
[9] FB Schankweiler, pg. 238, Family #1377. Trampert-Müller.
[10] FB Ernzen, p. 234, Family #830. Welter-Hennes.
[11] Germany Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898 / Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898, (index), FamilySearch, FHL microfilm 462714. Elisabetha Welter, christened 31 Jan 1807 in Sankt Markus Katholisch, Ernzen, Rheinland, Prussia; father Antonii Welter; mother Chatarinae Hennes.(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NTJ5-T7S : accessed 15 October 2017).
[12] FB Ernzen, pg. 219, Family #775. Trampert-Müller.
[13] Germany Marriages, 1558-1929 / Deutschland, Heiraten, 1558-1929, (index), FamilySearch, FHL microfilm 462,714. Hubertum Wayman and Elisabetham Welter, married 12 Feb 1835; citing Sankt Markus Katholisch, Ernzen, Rheinland, Prussia. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JH8P-DBZ : accessed 15 October 2017).
[14] FB Ernzen, p. 235, Family #832. Welter-Weber.
[15] FB Ernzen, pg. 203, Family #719. Steil-Welter.
[16] Luxembourg, Registres d’état civil, 1662-1941 (images), FamilySearch (original records at Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit, Luxembourg), Berdorf > Naissances 1799-1858 > image 84 of 534. 1810 Birth Record No. 1. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6S5H-ND?cc=1709358&wc=9RY3-HZ9%3A129626101%2C129760301 : accessed 22 October 2017).
[17] Richard Schaffner, compiler, Familienbuch der Pfarrei St. Petrus Nusbaum in der Südeifel mit Nusbaum, Nusbaumerhöhe, Freilingen, Freilingerhöhe, Enzen, Silberberg, Stockigt, und Rohrbach 1722-1899, PDF (Kordel bei Trier, 2001), pg. 113-114, Family #464. Hennes-Hostert.

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