Feltes – Opening Doors in Brick Walls

52 Ancestors: #26 A Visit of Moestroff, Ancestral Home of the Zwanck-Welter Family

I love it when I’m speculating about a relationship, searching for records to back it up, and end up finding the one document that brings it all together!

Remember doing jigsaw puzzles as a child? Did you try to connect the pieces even when they didn’t fit? The pieces of my puzzle were all spread out and I was sure they would come together into one picture.

Castle of Moestroff hidden behind walls and overgrown hedges and trees

Clara WELTER and Franz ZWANCK are another set of my children’s 5th great-grandparents in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Clara and Franz lived in the town my husband often visited while growing up. Being the oldest grandchild of Suzanne PEFFER and Fritz KREMER he would spend his summer vacation with his grandparents, running around the little village, and playing with the children there. Little did he know, his friends were most likely distantly related to him as many families have deep roots in the little hamlet.

The mill of Moestroff across the Sauer River from the castle and church.

Moestroff is a village which is on one of our main bike routes when riding north of Echternach and we stopped there to take a few photos this week.

The church of Moestroff (side view from back) with the priest’s entry door.

Franz ZWANCK (1750-1820)

Franciscus “Franz” ZWANCK was born about 1750 in Moestroff, commune of Bettendorf, district of Diekirch, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. His estimated date of birth was calculated from the age at death seen in his death record. I believe he may have been born several years after 1750. He was the son of Pierre ZWANG (d. aft. 1789) and Anne Marie HUSCHET (d. bef. 1789) per Franz’s 1789 marriage record. He died on 3 June 1820 in Moestroff.[1]

Clara WELTER (1766-1826)

Franciscus married Maria Clara WELTER, daughter of Johann WELTER and Anna Maria FELTES, on 26 October 1789 in Bettendorf.[2] Clara, as she was known, was born on 4 July 1766 in Reisdorf[3], the fifth of seven children. She died on 25 January 1826 in Moestroff.[4]

Franz and Clara’s children

Catherine ZWANK was born on 2 August 1790[5] and died on 29 March 1852.[6] (more below)
Peter ZWANK § was born on 19 August 1793 in Moestroff and was baptized the same day in Bettendorf.[7] He died at the age of 3 years on 8 September 1796 in Moestroff.[8]
Jacques “Jacob” ZWANK was born on 17 May 1795[9] and died on 15 February 1858.[10] (more below)
Johann ZWANCK was born on 26 April 1797.[11] He died on 28 February 1832.[12] (more below)
Margreta ZWANG § was born on 22 April 1799 in Moestroff.[13] She lived only eight days dying on 29 April 1799.[14]
Maria ZWANG § was born 26 May 1800[15] and died on 26 January 1815 at the age of 14 years in Moestroff.[16]
Franciscus ZWANCK § was born on 28 April 1804
[17] and died on 18 July 1804 at the age of nearly three months.[18] Both events took place in Moestroff.

§ is the symbol I use for children who are the end of the line. The additions of Margreta and Maria were only made today. I had found the death record of Maria who died in 1815 and was searching for her birth record when I found Margreta’s birth record. So close in age, I thought they may have been the same person. I continued to search and found the birth record of Maria and the death record of Margaretha proving they were two.

The children who survived to adulthood

Catherine ZWANK

Catherine ZWANK was born and baptized on 2 August 1790 in Moestroff. Catherine married Matthias ABENS, son of Théodore ABENS and Susanne HASTERT, on 29 May 1811 in Bettendorf.[19] Matthias was born on 2 January 1785 in Ralingen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.[19] He died on 3 August 1819 in Moestroff.[20] Catherine and Matthias had two children: Christophe (1816-1880) who remained in Moestroff and Anna Maria (1819-aft. 1889) who moved to the Province of Luxembourg in Belgium.

Catherine also married Nicolas WEYLAND, son of Hubert WEYLAND and Marguerite ÖRNTZEN (I believe this name may have later been ERNZEN), on 22 January 1828 in Bettendorf.[21] Nicolas was born on 29 January 1779 in Örntzheim (Nommern).[22] He died on 25 June 1859 in Moestroff.[23] Catherine and Nicolas also had two children: Catharina (1830-1900) who went to live in Paris, France, with her husband and family and Jacques Hubert (1833-aft. 1909) who went to live in the Province of Luxembourg in Belgium with his family.

Catherine died on 29 March 1852 in Moestroff.

UPDATE: My friend Linda, a researcher in Luxembourg, confirmed: Örntzheim (Nommern) is in fact Ernzen, part of Larochette (also called Feels or in Latin Rupe, all meaning -Little-Rock). Larochette was in the parish of Nommern before the French Revolution.

Jacques ZWANK

Jacques “Jacob” ZWANK was born on 17 May 1795 in Moestroff and baptized the same day in Bettendorf. Jacques married Maria DAHM, daughter of Pierre “Peter” DAHM and Anne Cathérine KIMMES, on 22 October 1823 in Bettendorf.[24] Maria was born on 10 July 1797 in Moestroff and christened the same day in Bettendorf.[25] Jacob died on 15 February 1858 in Moestroff and Maria died on 28 November 1859 in Moestroff.[26] Their story was told in 52 Ancestors: #39 The ZWANK-DAHM Family of Moestroff. Jacob and Maria’s children remained in Moestroff.

Johann ZWANCK

Johann ZWANCK was born on 26 April 1797 in Moestroff. He died on 28 February 1832 in Vianden. Johann married Cathérine HIERTZ, daughter of Jean HIERTZ and Barbe WEYRICH, on 17 January 1826 in Vianden.[27] Cathérine was born on 2 October 1804 in Vianden[28] Her death record has not been located. Johann and Cathérine had four children: Johann (1826-aft. 1886), Jacob (1828-1898), Wilhelm (1828-1832), Agathe (1831-?).

Getting back to the jigsaw puzzle

What I do when I have a genealogy puzzle is to add assumed children with TEMPORARILY ATTACHED typed in at the top of their notes to a set of parents in my database. These parents may already have proven children whose timelines are helpful in determining if I am on the right track. I work through each “child” adding information as it is found. If they end up not being connected I can easily detach the child leaving all of the information in my database. I don’t delete the information because, even if it is not useful to me, it may help someone else with their research.

The puzzle the ZWANG family presented was partly solved in this way. As you can see in the genealogical information above, the family name was seen with several different spellings: ZWANG, ZWANK, and ZWANCK. I had to be careful that all of these spellings were variations of the same name and not another family name.

Before I found the one document that brings it all together! this was what I knew. Pierre ZWANG and Anne Marie HUSCHET may have had at least 4 children. This was speculation on my part. Records were found for a possible son Ludovicus (1748-1776), a possible daughter Irmina Catharina (b. 1750), and sons Franz (b. abt. 1750) and Nicolas (b. 1764). The baptismal records of the first two children DID NOT have the maiden name of the mother – HUSCHET. For Franz, the subject of this post, no baptismal record was found however his marriage record gave the maiden name of his mother as HUSCHET. Nicolas’ baptismal record only had Anne Marie as his mother’s name.

One avenue I have not considered is that the ZWANG-HUSCHET couple may have had children in another town. In records found for the HOSCHEID family (which I worked through when I wrote A Priest Born in the 16th Century Leaves a Key to Open the Door in a Brick Wall) the surname HOSCHEID was also spelled HUSCHETE. I may have to re-visit the Brandenbourg records to see if there is a connection.

It must be mentioned here that early parish records for Moestroff were found in Reisdorf and later parish records were found in Bettendorf. Unfortunately, there is a period between the two where records are missing. Notably for Bettendorf before 1763.

Further speculation on my part was that Irmina Catharina went by Catharina and married Johann KELSCH on 9 March 1777 in Bettendorf. The marriage record does not list parents. Johann KELSCH was the godfather of Franz’s son Johann in 1797. As no age was listed, this Johann KELSCH could have been either the husband of Catharina ZWANG or her son. I found two researchers who list a date of death for Catharina’s husband. The date was 6 March 1798.

1798 Death Record of Pierre ZWANG found on pages 345 and 346 of the civil register of Bettendorf.[29]

While searching for the death record of Johann KELSCH (I still have not found it!) I found a death record I had not expected to find.

The early civil records for Luxembourg begin in 1796. This is the period in which the Republican Calendar was being used. The date I was searching for, 6 March 1798, would have been 16 Ventôse in the year VI. I found records dated the 3rd and the 20th of the month of Ventôse in the year VI but none in between.

One of the death records for the 3rd included the name KELSCH but it was the name of one of the informants and not the person who had died. The civil servant who was likely not very well educated in French made many spellings errors. They were errors he repeated in other entries and therefore likely how he thought they were written.

The handwriting and the spelling made it difficult to decipher the document, a death record for Pierre ZWANG, the father of Franz ZWANG. The record clearly states Franz was the son of Pierre but the relationship of Johann KELSCH who was the second informant is not given. However, his age was given as 21 which could only mean he was the son of Catharian ZWANG and Johann KELSCH.

From this record, I now know Pierre ZWANG was born about 1728 as his age was 70 years at the time of death on 21 February 1798.[29]

The family name ZWANG is a German word which means force. In the end, I did not need to use force to piece the puzzle together. The pieces fell into place although it did take hours of looking through the Luxembourg records, adding the records to my database, and citing the sources.

Do you have a similar way of solving the problems you run into in your genealogy research? I hope you’ve enjoyed this visit to Moestroff with the ZWANCK-WELTER family.

Sources:
[1] Luxembourg, Registres d’état civil, 1662-1941 (images), FamilySearch (original records at Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit, Luxembourg), Bettendorf > Mariages 1817-1890 Décès 1800-1859 > image 993 of 1494. 1820 Death Record (age at death 70). (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12456-37494-69?cc=1709358 : accessed 26 September 2015).
[2] Ibid., Bettendorf > Naissances, mariages, décès 1779-1812 > image 112 of 238. 1789 Marriage Record (left page, top). (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DRLB-BM?cc=1709358&wc=9RYW-DP8%3A129626601%2C130236801 : accessed 24 July 2017).
[3] Luxembourg, registres paroissiaux, 1601-1948 (images), FamilySearch (original records at Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit, Luxembourg), Reisdorf > Baptêmes 1725-1805, mariages 1763-1805 > image 20 of 59. 1766 Baptismal Record (left page, 5th entry). (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99WS-H9M2-Z?cc=2037955&wc=STHD-RM8%3A1501010555%2C1501010556 : accessed 24 July 2017).
[4] Luxembourg Civil Records, Bettendorf > Mariages 1817-1890 Décès 1800-1859 > image 1045 of 1494. 1826 Death Record No. 7. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12456-35658-79?cc=1709358 : accessed 26 September 2015).
[5] Luxembourg Parish Records, Bettendorf > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1763-1797 > image 47 of 94. 1790 Baptismal Record (right page, 4th entry). (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-32400-1478-56?cc=2037955&wc=STH6-SPJ:1500974653,1500923326 : accessed 24 September 2015).
[6] Luxembourg Civil Records, Bettendorf > Mariages 1817-1890 Décès 1800-1859 > image 1388 of 1494. “.” 1852 Death Record No. 16. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12456-37526-82?cc=1709358&wc=9RY8-SP8:129626601,129729901 : accessed 7 Sep 2011).
[7] Luxembourg Parish Records, Bettendorf > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1763-1797 > image 53 of 94. 1793 Baptismal Record (last entry on right page). (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-32400-2766-52?cc=2037955&wc=STH6-SPJ:1500974653,1500923326 : accessed 24 September 2015).
[8] Ibid., Bettendorf > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1763-1797 > image 94 of 94. 1796 Death Record (left page, 6th entry). (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9WM-MS17?cc=2037955&wc=STH6-SPJ%3A1500974653%2C1500923326 : accessed 24 July 2017).
[9] Ibid., Bettendorf > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1763-1797 > image 57 of 94. 1795 Baptismal Record (left, top). (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-32400-2824-51?cc=2037955&wc=STH6-SPJ:1500974653,1500923326 : accessed 24 September 2015).
[10] Luxembourg Civil Records, Bettendorf > Mariages 1817-1890 Décès 1800-1859 > image 1462 of 1494. 1858 Death Record No. 6. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12456-36487-72?cc=1709358&wc=M9M6-2ZY:2071013250 : accessed 10 Apr 2013).
[11] Luxembourg Parish Records, Bettendorf > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1763-1797 > image 60 of 94. 1797 Baptismal Record. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-32400-2625-75?cc=2037955&wc=STH6-SPJ:1500974653,1500923326 : accessed 24 September 2015).
[12] Luxembourg Civil Records, Vianden > Mariages 1834-1890 Décès 1797-1866 > image 918 of 1406. 1832 Death Record No. 10. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DTQS-LJ6?cc=1709358&wc=9RY9-DP8%3A130504801%2C130555401 : accessed 24 July 2017).
[13] Ibid., Bettendorf > Naissances, mariages, décès 1779-1812 > image 198 of 238. 1799 (3 Floreal year VII) Birth Record part 1 (right, bottom). (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DRLT-2L?cc=1709358&wc=9RYW-DP8%3A129626601%2C130236801 : accessed 29 July 2017) See also image 199 for part 2.
[14] Ibid., Bettendorf > Naissances, mariages, décès 1779-1812 > image 216 of 238. 1799 Death Record ( 9 Floreal year VII). (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DRLL-B8?cc=1709358&wc=9RYW-DP8%3A129626601%2C130236801 : accessed 29 July 2017).
[15] Ibid., Bettendorf > Naissances, mariages, décès 1779-1812 > image 227 of 238. 1800 Birth Record No. 19 (6 Prairial year VIII). (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DRLB-RV?cc=1709358&wc=9RYW-DP8%3A129626601%2C130236801 : accessed 29 July 2017).
[16] Ibid., Bettendorf > Mariages 1817-1890 Décès 1800-1859 > image 950 of 1494. 1815 Death Record. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12456-35621-4?cc=1709358 : accessed 25 September 2015).
[17] Ibid., Bettendorf > Naissances 1828-1890 Mariages 1800-1816 > image 1328 of 1507. 1804 Birth Record No. 46 (8 Floreal an XII). (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-13200-175-20?cc=1709358 : accessed 26 September 2015).
[18] Ibid., Bettendorf > Naissances 1828-1890 Mariages 1800-1816 > image 1328 of 1507. 1804 Birth Record No. 46 (8 Floreal an XII). (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-13200-175-20?cc=1709358 : accessed 26 September 2015).
[19] Ibid., Bettendorf > Naissances 1828-1890 Mariages 1800-1816 > image 1439 of 1507. 1811 Marriage Record (left page, first entry). (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-X2MW-CV?cc=1709358&wc=9RYD-FM9%3A129626601%2C129945501 : accessed 24 July 2017).
[20] Ibid., Bettendorf > Mariages 1817-1890 Décès 1800-1859 > image 985 of 1494. 1819 Death Recod (left, bottom). (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6RW9-DJV?cc=1709358&wc=9RY8-SP8%3A129626601%2C129729901 : accessed 29 July 2017).
[21] Ibid., Bettendorf > Mariages 1817-1890 Décès 1800-1859 > image 166 of 1494. 1828 Marriage Record No. 1. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6RW9-6C4?cc=1709358&wc=9RY8-SP8%3A129626601%2C129729901 : accessed 24 July 2017).
[22] Luxembourg Parish Records, Nommern > Baptêmes 1744-1787, confirmations 1750-1789, mariages 1751-1765, 1769-1787, sépultures 1752-1787 > image 68 of 170. 1779 Baptismal Record (part 1, right page, bottom). (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9WS-9SWR?cc=2037955&wc=STHZ-L2V%3A1500981117%2C1501018978 : accessed 29 July 2017). See also image 59 for second part.
[23] Luxembourg Civil Records, Bettendorf > Mariages 1817-1890 Décès 1800-1859 > image 1481 of 1494. 1859 Death Record No. 23. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6RW9-FQH?cc=1709358&wc=9RY8-SP8%3A129626601%2C129729901 : accessed 27 July 2017).
[24] Ibid., Bettendorf > Mariages 1817-1890 Décès 1800-1859 > image 82 of 1494. 1823 Marriage Record No. 10. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12456-38177-77?cc=1709358&wc=M9M6-2ZY:2071013250 : accessed 10 Apr 2013).
[25] Luxembourg Parish Records, Bettendorf > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1763-1797 > image 60 of 94. 1797 Baptismal Record. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-32400-2625-75?cc=2037955&wc=STH6-SPJ:1500974653,1500923326 : accessed 24 September 2015).
[26] Luxembourg Civil Records, Bettendorf > Mariages 1817-1890 Décès 1800-1859 > image 1487 of 1494. 1859 Death Record No. 48. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12456-39674-59?cc=1709358&wc=M9M6-2ZY:2071013250 : accessed 10 Apr 2013).
[27] Ibid., Vianden > Naissances 1793-1828 > image 113 of 484. 1804 Birth Record (10 vendémiaire an XIII). (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-XCWW-SC?cc=1709358&wc=9RYW-SPD%3A130504801%2C130707001 : accessed 29 July 2017).
[28] Ibid., Vianden > Naissances 1829-1890 Mariages 1797-1833 > image 1437 of 1493. 1826 Marriage Record No. 2. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DTCS-W58?cc=1709358&wc=9RY4-929%3A130504801%2C130760501 : accessed 24 July 2017).
[29] Ibid., Bettendorf > Naissances, mariages, décès 1779-1812 > image 179 of 238. 1798 Death Record part 1 (3 ventôse an VI) (right, bottom).(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DRL1-Y1?cc=1709358&wc=9RYW-DP8%3A129626601%2C130236801 : accessed 29 July 2017). See also image 180 for second part.

52 Ancestors: #12 A German Family Influenced by the French

My children’s 5th great-grandparents Johann Adam GORGES and Eva Clara RODENS were both born in the 1760s in the small town of Fell. Eva Clara was 14 months older than Johann Adam. Living in such a small town, they must have known each other from a young age. Fell is today part of the municipality of Schweich an der Römischen Weinstraße (Schweich on the Roman wine road) in the district of Trier-Saar in the west of the Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.

Eva Clara

The first child of the newlyweds Nikolaus RODENS (1744-1795) and Anna SCHUE (d. 1805), Eva Clara was born on 28 November 1764 in Fell. She was baptized the following day in the Catholic church Sankt Martinus in the town of Fell. The parish church is no longer standing today. In it’s place is a church built from 1865 to 1868. The new church was built crosswise on the same spot as the old church.

Eva Clara was the first of ten children. Her siblings were Barbara 1767, Nikolaus 1770, Nikolaus 1774, Philipp 1775, Matthias d. 1776, two stillborn children in 1778 and 1779, Anna 1781, and Maria Margaretha d. 1784.

By the time Eva Clara was 24 years old and ready to marry she had only two siblings still living, her 13 years old brother Philipp and her 7 years old sister Anna.

Johann Adam

Johann Peter GORGES (1718-1784) and Anna Maria HORSCH had four children before their son Johann Adam was born and baptized on 28 January 1766 in Fell. Like all of his siblings, he was baptized in the Sankt Martinus church in Fell.

His older siblings were Anna Maria 1758, Elisabeth 1760, Maria Angela 1762, and Barbara 1763. His younger siblings were Maximin 1767, Johann Peter 1769, and Maria Angela 1771. Johann Adam also had four older half-siblings as his father was previously married and widowed. They were Anna Maria 1752, Johann 1753, Johann Joseph 1755, and Katharina 1757.

Johann Adam was 14 years old when his mother Anna Maria HORSCH died on 17 October 1780. He was 18 when his father Johann Peter GORGES died on 31 January 1784.

Couplehood and Parenthood

Johann Adam GORGES was 23 years old when he married Eva Clara RODENS on 11 February 1789 in Fell. They would make their home in Oberfell (Upper Fell).

The young couple was married five months when the French Revolution erupted on 14 July 1789 with the storming of the Bastille in Paris. Three years later when French troops invaded Germany they were at first pushed back. But the German imperial army was defeated in late 1792 in Valmy. In August 1794, French Republican troops took Trier. All German territories on the left bank of the Rhine River were ceded to France in 1797 at the peace treaties of Basel and Campo Formio making Trier a French city. Control of the Rhineland was secured by France who would occupy the area for twenty years.

During the years France was in control of the Rhineland Johann Adam and Eva Clara raised their family of ten children. The first children born were Nikolaus on 15 March 1790, Barbara on 25 March 1792 and Anton on 12 April 1794.

Only these first three children would know their maternal grandfather Nikolaus RODENS who died two days after the youngest son Anton celebrated his first birthday. Nikolaus was buried on 15 April 1795, a day after his death.

The next two children, Matthias born 26 April 1796 and Ann born 3 July 1798 both died in 1799 within a month of each other. Matthias died on 18 February and Anna on 18 March. There was, however, a more joyful event during the year with the marriage of Eva Clara’s only brother Philipp RODENS to Gertrud HOFFRANZEN.

The French Revolution ended with the coup of 18/19 Brumaire in the Year VIII of the Republican Calendar. This was the 9th to 10th of November 1799 when Napoleon Bonaparte’s dictatorship began.

Unbeknownst to Johann Adam and Eva Clara over a decade of constant warfare was on the horizon but they continued to grow their family with the births of Johann on 21 January 1800, Katharina on 11 September 1801, and Anna on 17 May 1803.

The Napoleonic Wars began 18 May 1803, the day after their 8th child was born. The following year Eva Clara’s only sister Anna married Johann Adam SPIELES.

The family continued to increase with the birth of another son, Matthias on 8 July 1805.

Austerlitz-baron-Pascal — The Battle of Austerlitz, 2 December 1805 (François Gérard [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

The children lost their only living grandmother, Anna SCHUE, on 1 December 1805, the day before the Battle of Austerlitz. This historical event brought about the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine. A year and a half later the last child of Johann Adam and Eva Clara was born on 2 May 1807. He would live only nine months, dying on 21 February 1807.

Did not return!

Seven of the ten children born to Johann Adam and Eva Clara were living when they bade farewell to their oldest brother Nikolaus when he went off to serve in the French army. Little did they know their son Nikolaus would not return. As with many German families who received news of their sons who were fighting in foreign parts, they learned of his death. According to the Extrait Mortuaire (death notice) recorded in the Fell death register for 1812, he died on 27 November 1811 in Dax, France. He was a soldier and a chasseur. This designation is given to certain regiments of French light infantry or light cavalry to denote troops trained for rapid action.

I checked the death records for Dax, Landes, France, and did not find a death record for Nicolas GORGES dying on 27 November 1811. However, on 30 December 1811 Joseph BERNARD and Fabian SIEULANNE, an employee of the military hospital established in Dax, informed civil authorities of the deaths of fifteen men, one of them being Georges NICOLAS of the 20e Régiment de Chasseurs à Chevals. (20th Regiment of Light Cavalry). He was admitted to the hospital at Dax on 15 September 1811 and died on 27 December 1811. Could this be Nikolaus, and his first and last names were switched? There is a discrepancy in the month of death compared to the entry in the Fell death register.

In 1814 Prussian troops took Trier ending the French rule. After Napoleon’s defeat, the Franco-German borders of 1792 were restored during the Paris peace treaties of 1814 and 1815. Trier was proclaimed part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815. With the new political situation and taxes on goods crossing the western border, Trier’s economy began to steadily decline.

The End of French Influence

Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars on 13 Sep 1815, the GORGES-RODENS family would soon lose their patriarch. Anton, the now oldest son, was the informant for the death of Johann Adam GORGES who died on 5 May 1816.

Eva Clara was now a widow with six children, the youngest being only nine years old. Over the next half a dozen years she saw four of them marry. Anton married Anna Maria LEHNEN (1799-1864) on 15 February 1817 in Longuich and the religious ceremony took place two days later in Fell. Barbara married Matthias SCHMITT (18200-1828) on 30 January 1823 in Longuich and the religious ceremony took place the same day in Fell. Johann married his first wife Anna Maria GRACH (1798-1832) on 26 February 1824 in Longuich. Anna married Johann ASEM (1801-1853) on 28 February 1824 in Ruwer where the religious ceremony took place the next day.

The oldest daughter Barbara was widowed when she had been married only 5 years. Three months later, on 5 April 1728, her brother Johann GORGES was the informant on her death. Who would raise the little two boys who were four and less than a year old?

The youngest son Matthias married Anna Maria FELTES (1798-1875) on 19 February 1830 in Longuich. And finally, the last of the children to marry was Katharina who married Johann DIER on 3 January 1832 in Trier. The religious ceremony took place two days later at St. Matthias, in Trier.

Johann GORGES first wife Anna Maria GRACH died on 7 November 1832 in Fell. Two months later he was marrying his second wife, Anna Maria BOTZ (1808-1863) on 10 January 1833 in Fell. Johann and Anna Maria were my children’s 4th great-grandparents.

On 22 January 1836 Anton GORGES, the oldest son, was the informant for the death of his mother Eva Clara RODENS. She left five children, all married, whose situations may have become better from 1840 due to the improving economic climate in the area.

Genealogy Sketch

Name: Johann Adam GORGES
Parents: Johann Peter GORGES and Anna Maria HORSCH
Spouse: Eva Clara RODENS
Parents of Spouse: Nikolaus RODENS and Anna SCHUE
Whereabouts: Fell, Longuich, Trier, Germany
Relationship to Cathy Meder-Dempsey: children’s 5th great-grandfather

1. Johann Adam GORGES and Eva Clara RODENS
2. Johann GORGES
3. Johann GORGES
4. Margaretha GORGES
5. Catharina “Catherine” “Ketty” “Ged” SCHWARTZ
6. Marcel Mathias MEDER
7. Cathy’s husband
8. Cathy’s children

Sources:

Richard Schaffner, Einwohnerbuch der Orte Fell u. Fastrau mit Fellerhof, Fellerburg und den verschiedenen Mühlen im Gemeindebereich 1665-1905, 2008/09
Armin Giebel, Ortsfamilienbuch des StA Longuich bis Okt. 1931 (June 2013)
Armin Giebel, compiler, Familienbuch Standesamt Ruwer-Waldrach, (Stand: Sept. 2016)
Heribert Scholer, Familienbuch Farschweiler 1703-1899 A-Z, 1992
Thomas Schmitt and Richard Schaffner, Familienbuch der Pfarrei St. Klemens Ruwer mit den Orten, Ortsteilen. Höfen und Muhlen Mertesdorf (1083-1850), Eitelsback ab 1803, sowie Duisburgerhof, Grünhaus, Karthäuserhof, Koxmühle, Reisenmühle, Grünhäusermühle, Karlsmühle und Schippenmühle 1672-1905 (2007)
Germany Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898 / Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898, (index), FamilySearch
Germany Marriages, 1558-1929 / Deutschland, Heiraten, 1558-1929, (index), FamilySearch