Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Anna Catharina

Female Bef 1678 -


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  • Name Anna Catharina  
    Born Bef 1678  , Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Person ID I4893  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Family Johannes Stähle,   b. Abt 7 Mar 1659, Soultz-Sous-Forêts, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 28 Dec 1719, Soultz-Sous-Forêts, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 60 years) 
    Married Abt 1699  , Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Magdalena Stähle,   b. 9 Apr 1700, Soultz-Sous-Forêts, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 7 Dec 1704, Retschwiller, Bas-Rhin, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 4 years)
     2. Hans Georg Stähle,   b. 6 Aug 1702, Retschwiller, Bas-Rhin, France Find all individuals with events at this location
     3. Johann Caspar Stähle,   b. 14 Feb 1706, Retschwiller, Bas-Rhin, France Find all individuals with events at this location
     4. Stähle,   b. 15 Feb 1710, Soultz-sous-Forets, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France Find all individuals with events at this location
     5. Hans Dietrich Stähle,   b. 15 Jul 1714, Soultz-Sous-Forêts, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 3 May 1785, Retschwiller, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 70 years)
     6. Johann Jacob Stähle,   b. 11 May 1719, Soultz-Sous-Forêts, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France Find all individuals with events at this location
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F2203  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1,. The name Catharina appears in most of the children's birth records; however, the 1706 birth of Johann Caspar Stahle shows Anna Catharina.

      2. Per Price and Associates, Inc., (c) Research Report, prepared for Noel Stoker and used by his permission. Report dated 31 July 2015. File name: Staehli2015May/1333. A transcript of the report:
      "PROJECT SUMMARY
      OBJECTIVE
      • Focus on finding the correct ancestry of Eva Staehli of Sulz.
      RESULTS
      • Identified the correct family of Johannes and Eva Stähle.
      • Identified the second wife and family of Johannes Stähle.
      • Developed two theories concerning the ancestry of Eva, wife of Johannes Stähle.
      • Traced two additional generations for the probable ancestry of Eva.
      RECOMMENDATIONS
      • Search death records of Soultz­-les­-Forêts for information on the Wilhelm and Straub families.
      • Continue searching earlier records of Schwabwiller for the Straub family.
      • Contact city archives in Soultz­-les­-Forêts to identify potential record sets that may help in identifying the origin of Johannes Stähle.
      • Search for additional descendants of Johannes Stähle for further clues that may show up in the baptismal sponsors.
      Introduction
      Previous research indicated that Eva Stähle was born in Soultz-­sous-­Forêts, Bas­ Rhin, France in 1693, the daughter of Johannes Stähle and his wife Eva. A preliminary search in the parish records of Soultz­-les­-Forêts revealed the presence of two Hans­Eva Stähle couples having children at the same time. Research began with a focus on these two couples in order to learn if children of the families could be separated, and the identity of the correct ancestral couple could be ascertained.
      Stähle family in Soultz­-sous­-Forêts
      Eva Stähle was born and baptized in Soultz-­sous-­Forêts in November 1693, the daughter of Johannes Stähle and his wife Eva.1 Fortunately, the baptismal and marriage records of Soultz-­sous-­Forêts have been indexed and were available for consultation.
      Unfortunately, it was discovered that there were two Hans and Eva Stähle/Stelle families having children in Soultz-­sous-­Forêts at the same time. Spelling for the two families varied for each record, making it difficult to ascertain the two separate families on that basis alone. A closer study of the two families proved successful in identifying which children belonged to each Hans Stähle/Stelle. The ancestor, Johannes Stähle, was consistently referred to by his occupation, a salter. Furthermore, by tracing the families through the early 1700s and looking through the indexed records, it was ascertained that the descendants of each Hans went by slightly different spellings of the surname. The ancestral line was later known as Stähle, while the descendants of the ‘other' Hans later went by Stell.
      Eva Stähle's father, Johannes Stähle, was a salter in the town of Soultz­sous­ Forêts. He first appears in town in 1686, where he, as a bachelor, witnessed the baptism of Johann Schora on 25 August.2 The entry mentioning of him was written, "Johannes Stöll, of ___ [left blank], the single salter here." This indicates that Johannes Stähle did not originate in Soultz-­sous-­Forêts, as the priest left a space to later write his town of birth. The priest did not go back and fill in the entry. Johannes Stähle appears as a baptismal sponsor an additional five times between 1686 and 1688.
      Johannes Stähle married Eva around 1688 or 1689, as indicated by Eva's 1699 death record.3 Unfortunately, the extant marriage records for Soultz-­sous-­Forêts have a gap between 1681 and 1737. The couple had three daughters: Margaretha (1690), the ancestress Eva (1693), and Maria Barbara (1697). Johannes Stähle's wife, Eva, died 24 January 1699.4 Johannes Stähle remarried shortly after his wife's death, as he and his second wife Catharina have their first daughter, Magdalena Stähle, on 9 April 1700 in Soultz-­sous-­Forêts.5 By 1702, the Stähle family had moved to nearby Retschwiller, where Johannes continued his trade as a salter, but between 1706 and 1714, the family moved back to Soultz-­sous-­Forêts. Johannes Stähle and his second wife had five children, including four sons, before his death on 28 December 1719.6 His age at death gave a calculated birth date of 7 March 1659; however, he was not born in Soultz­sous­ Forêts. Godparents for the children initially seemed to point to the Rempen family as perhaps related, as members of this family showed up in several children's baptisms. A closer look at other baptismal records in Soultz-­sous-­Forêts shows that the Rempen family was particularly popular as sponsors for numerous families, indicating a social connection rather than a familial one.
      The origins of Eva Stähle
      The death record of Eva Stähle and the one following hers are rather interesting documents that potentially provide clues into her parentage. Eva, wife of Johannes Stähle, died 26 January 1699 in Soultz-­sous-­Forêts.7 The document is difficult to read and in parts is illegible; this is the best translation of the entry:
      "the 26th January 1699, died Eva, a devout working quiet housewife: Hans Stelle, the local salter, his wife of ten years, after which she until the 9th day, when began pricks in her [illegible], after which she had endured extreme pain, finally, with faith in God her savior, and very beautiful patience, her soul having believed in Him, after the 24th, in the night, softly and with a [illegible] departed, and the day following was buried.
      Let such a soul rest, and give this body a happy resurrection. Her age 32 years."
      Following her entry is this entry, for the death of Barbara Straub, also difficult to read and in parts illegible, and translated thus:
      "Here, amazingly, after which was received word, and amazingly [illegible] her faith, died, only 5 days after the previously mentioned soul had died [illegible], died on the 31st of the same month and in the night, the same's mother: named Barbara, age in her life was a wife of [?Gadelsf.] after [illegible] was 5 days of illness; Hans Georg Straub, citizen and miller from Keffenach, County of Zweibrücken, [illegible] a surviving widow, otherwise originally from Wirtzberger Land [i.e. Württemberg], in holy rites was buried."
      From this translation, it seems that Barbara, the mother of Eva, was the widow of Hans Georg Straub of Keffenach at the time of her death. Keffenach at the time belonged to the parish of Birlenbach. A search of those records revealed some conflicting information. Hans Georg Straub of Keffenach and his wife Barbara were the parents of three children baptized in the parish: an unnamed daughter in 1674,8 a daughter Margaretha on 15 April 1683,9 and a son Jacob on 30 July 1684.10 The only Straub death record found in Birlenbach was for Hans Georg Straub, "the old miller," who died 25 May 1683 in Keffenach.11 This death for Hans Georg Straub, "the old miller" seems impossible to be the same person as the Hans Georg Straub who married Barbara and fathered a child born in July 1684. Additionally, by calling him "the old miller" this may indicate that there was a young miller, i.e. Hans Georg Straub who married Barbara. The death records of Birlenbach between 1683 and 1691 are missing; perhaps Hans Georg Straub, husband of Barbara, died in this time period.
      It is very strange that there are no entries of baptism for the Straub family prior to the 1674 entry, even though other children's entries show up from Keffenach in the 1660s and 1670s. Nor is there a marriage in the records for Hans Georg Straub and Barbara. If Eva is the daughter of Hans Georg Straub and his wife Barbara, her baptismal record should be in the records of Birlenbach, but may show up in other places. According to her death record, Eva was born approximately 1666 or 1667. There are two theories for the parentage of Eva, wife of Johannes Stähle:
      1. A search through the parish registers of Soultz-­sous-­Forêts shows only one Eva baptized between 1665 and 1667 - Eva Wilhelm, daughter of Hans Wilhelm and his wife Barbara, baptized on 25 November 1666. Hans Wilhelm was a salter in Retschwiller, where he and his wife had four children between 1666 and May 1673. Several things make this a strong possibility - Hans Wilhelm has the same occupation as Johannes Stähle, the family lived in Retschwiller where Johannes Stähle later lived, the age of birth of this Eva would put her as age 32 years, 2 months at the time of death of Eva, wife of Johannes Stähle. There are some problems with this theory, however. For this relationship to work, Barbara, mother of Eva, would have to subsequently marry Hans Georg Straub of Kessenach, which would make him Eva's stepfather rather than her father. Hans Wilhelm would have had to die sometime in 1673 or 1674, after which Barbara marries Hans Georg Straub early enough to have a child with him in 1674 - or Hans Georg Straub had two wives named Barbara, the first of which had the child in 1674. Furthermore, there are no Wilhelms as baptismal witnesses in Soultz-­sous-­Forêts between 1684 and 1689, indicating the family had died or moved by then.
      2. Hans Georg Straub and his wife Barbara had three children baptized in Kessenach, the first of which was an unnamed daughter between August and December 1674.12 Based on the death record of Hans Georg Straub in 1683, and a subsequent baptism of a Straub child in 1684, it seems likely that there were two Hans Georg Straubs, probably father and son, both millers in Kessenach, living in Kessenach at the same time. The miller Hans Georg Straub of Keffenach (uncertain of which of the two) appears first in the parish as a baptismal witness on 20 October 1667.13 Barbara, wife of Hans Georg Straub, miller of Keffenach, shows up first as a baptismal sponsor on 21 December 1668.14 She witnesses two more baptisms, but does not appear as a witness between 1672 and 1683.15 Baptismal records in Birlenbach are spotty in the 1660s, with only one appearing in 1664, but seem fairly complete after August 1667. It is possible that Eva was born in Keffenach in 1666 or early 1667, during the gap, and that the family had difficulty having children, with one child born in 1673 and two in short succession in 1683 and 1684. It is also possible that Barbara, the witness of the three baptisms in 1668­1672, was the wife of the earlier Hans Georg Straub. A search through the baptismal sponsors in Birlenbach through 1689 failed to show any Straubs, other than Hans Georg Straub the miller and Barbara, as witnesses. Nor was the marriage of Johannes Stähle and Eva found in the parish.
      Conclusion
      Through careful analysis of the records, the family of Eva Stähle was successfully identified in the parish of Soultz-­sous-­Forêts. A second marriage was identified for her father, Johannes. Descendants were found to be living in the town through the 1790s but were not researched. Due to missing records, there is some question about the identity of Eva Stähle's mother, Eva. Both theories were evaluated, and it seems likelier that Eva was born Eva Straub, the daughter of Hans Georg and Barbara Straub of the town of Keffenach.
      Recommendations
      • Search death records of Soultz­-les­-Forêts for information on the Wilhelm and Straub families.
      • Continue searching earlier records of Schwabwiller for the Straub family.
      • Contact city archives in Soultz­-les­-Forêts to identify potential record sets that may help in identifying the origin of Johannes Stähle.
      • Search for additional descendants of Johannes Stähle for further clues that may show up in the baptismal sponsors.
      Footnotes:
      1. Registres Paroissiaux de Soultz-­sous-­Forêts, B. 1684­1712, image 63; Archives departementales du Bas­ Rhin, http://etat­civil.bas­rhin.fr/adeloch/adeloch_flash/adeloch_flash.php <http://etat/>.
      2. Ibid., image 19.
      3 Registres Paroissiaux de Soultz-­sous-­Forêts, S. 1686­1728, image 24; Archives departementales du Bas­ Rhin, http://etat­civil.bas­rhin.fr/adeloch/adeloch_flash/adeloch_flash.php <http://etat/>.
      4. Ibid.
      5. Registres Paroissiaux de Soultz-­sous-­Forêts, B. 1684­1712, image 102.
      6. Registres Paroissiaux de Soultz-­sous-­Forêts, S. 1687­1728, image 61.
      7. Ibid., image 24.
      8. Evangelische Kirche Birlenbach, Taufen 1667­1745, FHL Film 721154, item 1, page 83. No name given.
      9. Ibid., page 93.
      10. Ibid., page 97.
      11. Registres Paroissiaux de Birlenbach, MS. 1614­1706 image 55; Archives departementales du Bas­Rhin, http://etat­civil.bas­rhin.fr/adeloch/adeloch_flash/adeloch_flash.php <http://etat/>.
      12. Evangelische Kirche Birlenbach, Taufen 1667­1745, FHL Film 721154, item 1, page 83.
      13. Ibid., page 63.
      14. Ibid., page 66.
      15. Ibid., page 75, where she witnesses the baptism of Wendel Finck on 25 January 1672."
      The same report was accompanied by a research calendar of sources searched arranged by Call Number and Source Description:
      "1. FHL INTL Book 944.3835/S7 K29s; Soultz-sous-Forêts, printed parish registers - found several spellings of Stähle; two Hans and Eva Stähle families having children at the same time.
      2. www.etat-civil.bas-rhin.fr <http://www.etat-civil.bas-rhin.fr>; Bas-Rhin Archives online; Evangelische Kirche Soultz-sous-Forêts. Found the following documents: Baptism of Eva Stähle (1693) Death of Eva [Straub] Stähle (1699) Death of Johannes Stähle (1719)
      3. FHL Film 1761549 item 3; Evangelische Kirche Birlenbach, record indexes. Found entries for Straub family.
      4. www.etat-civil.bas-rhin.fr <http://www.etat-civil.bas-rhin.fr>; Bas-Rhin Archives online; Evangelische Kirche Birlenbach. Found: Death of Hans Georg Straub (1683)
      5. FHL Film 0721154; Evangelische Kirche Birlenbach, baptisms. No baptism for Eva Straub, but found other records; added to PAF.
      6. www.etat-civil.bas-rhin.fr <http://www.etat-civil.bas-rhin.fr>; Evangelische Kirche Oberbetschdorf - looked through 1665-1681. No people with surname Straub."

      MARRIAGE:
      1. Marriage is not found in the church records for Soultz-Sous-Forêts, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France.