Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Working our way backward: Ottilia Elisabetha D'Huy

This is the title page of the kirchenbuch I've been using to research my Stutzmann ancestors of Grossbockenheim. I thought it looked kinda cool:

Kleinbockenheim and Grossbockenheim kirchenbuch, 1751 
Okay, so we've determined that immigrant ancestor, great great Grandpa Friedrich Stutzmann, was born in 1845 to (Johann) Peter Stutzmann and (Luise) Charlotte Schlick in Grossbockenheim in the Rheinfpalz region of Germany. Peter's parents were (Johann) Michael Stutzmann and Jacobina Blasius. We think we can find Michael's parents by exploring the records from nearby Asselheim and we still have to track down the records on Jacobina's parents. On the other side, we know Charlotte's parents are (Johann) Rudolph Schlick of Kleinbockenheim and Ottilia Elisabetha D'Huy, my fourth great grandparents. We know very little at this point about Rudolph's parentage but right now let's talk about Ottilia, also known as Ottilie.




The records, as you can see, are very difficult to read. This is Ottilia's baptismal record. The year is definitely 1779, and it looks like the date is March 31. She is born Ottilia Elisabetha D'Huy to Johannes D'huy of Grossbockenheim and his wife Maria Catharina. I can't tell a maiden name for her. There are a whole bunch of other names listed which I assume are her godparents, since it seems it's tradition for German children to have more than 2 godparents.

We don't have a marriage record for Ottilia and Rudolph at all, but later on, on Dec. 17, 1863, we have a death record for Ottilia, which, again, is very hard to read. Damn you, Germans, with your meticulous records but atrocious handwriting!




But this is basically what I can tell from this record - Ottilia died in Kleinbockenheim on Dec. 14, 1863 at the age of 84 (putting her birth year at about 1779, which again jives with what I know) and she was buried 3 days later. Again, we find the name Johann Rudolph Schlick of Kleinbockenheim, who was her husband, as well as Johannes Dhuy and Maria Katherina, her parents. There is a date in there I'd like to take a closer look at as well as some other words. I don't know if I'll be able to determine what letters are there, though sometimes trial and error helps...that's what I'll be working on today!



No comments:

Post a Comment