Help understanding German baptism records

Question

I've got the birth records of two of my German ancestors (Schmidt-17176 and Schmidt-17178), which is great. The trouble comes when I try to read them! Luckily, they've been indexed by someone who apparently can decipher these things. I have two questions:

- I'm unsure that I'm correctly understanding which churches these records relate to. I've tried to narrow both related records down to a specific church (links to churches in source area of each record), but my confidence level is low. Can anyone confirm or deny, and better yet, explain to me how I can confidently classify the baptism records I've yet to handle?

- The indexing for the baptism record for Schmidt-17178 (https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/LTWB-GQN) lists the name as Schmitt, with two Ts, not a DT. Since I can't actually decipher the record myself, I'm unsure how to enter this into wikitree. I know for certain that this family called itself Schmidt in Amerca, but perhaps he was born as Schmitt. I had no idea.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hi Sarah,

I will first have a look at the baptizm of Schmidt-17176.

You are right, it is not easy to understand, since the indexing is wrong. That's why it is always essential to have a look at the original. The book in question is the churchbook of the catholic church "St. Johannes der Täufer" (= St. John the Baptist) in Kefferhausen. In this book are also included the records of the branch church "St. Sergius and Bacchus" in Kreuzebra closeby, since at the time in question there was only one priest for both churches. The nowadays village of Kreuzebra in former times was called "Kreuzeber", so don't get confused by that. All of this of course has NOTHING to do with Kindelbrück. That is just wrong indexing.

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Transcription:

Kind: Nr. 23; Johannes Schmidt

geboren: neunzehnt 19./7. [1856], 7. Uhr Morgens; ehelich

Vater: Franz Schmidt, Wagner

Mutter: Christina Haase

Wohnort: desgl.[eichen] (=Kreuzeber)

getauft: 20. Juli, ders.[elbe]; (=Hartmann, Kaplan)

Taufzeuge: Johannes Schmidt, Jungesell.

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Translation:

child: No. 23; Johannes Schmidt

born: 19th of July [1856], at 7 p.m. in the morning; legitimate

father: Franz Schmidt, wainwright

Mutter: Christina, [neé] Haase

residence: the same (=Kreuzeber)

baptized: 20th of July, by the same (=Hartmann, chaplain)

godparent: Johannes Schmidt, bachelor.

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And now the other birthrecord for Schmidt-17178:

Here you have the same problem. The book in question is from the catholic church "St. Sergius and Bacchus" in Kreuzebra. The indexing is wrong, it has NOTHING to do with the village of Kleinwerther !!

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Transcription:

Kind: Nr. 14; Franz

geboren: den zehnten, 10. Juny [1828], drei 3 Uhr Nachmittags; ehelich

Vater: Franz Schmitt, Wagner

Mutter: Doroth.[ea] Elisabeth, geb. Freund

Wohnort: Xeber (=Kreuzeber)

getauft: 11. Juny; derselbe (=Johann Digmann)

Taufzeuge: Franz Schmitt, avus.

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Translation:

child: No. 14; Franz

born: 10th of June [1828], at 3 p.m.; legitimate

father: Franz Schmitt, wainwright

mother: Doroth.[ea] Elisabeth, neé Freund

residence: Xeber (=Kreuzeber)

baptized: 11th of June; by the same (=Johann Digmann)

godparent: Franz Schmitt, the grandfather

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So the family alwas lived in Kreuzeber (nowadays Kreuzebra) and all the children are born there. The residence name of Xeber is just short for Kreuzeber, since Kreuz meening "cross" in german.

The names Schmidt, Schmitt, Schmit and even Schmied are always the same (meening "smith"), the different writing is due to local and personal customs of the writer. For German surnames the spelling "Schmidt" nowadays is the most "right" one.

Comments

Thank you so much! This is super helpful. I'm embarrassed that I thought the dad's name was "Wagner Franz Schmidt." I had no idea Wagner was a title, not a name. I'm sure they're all rolling over in their graves...

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no problem, Wagner also can be a surname, but in this case Schmidt is the surname an Wagner the occupation.

I edited the answer to also include the second birthrecord now.

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Can you perhaps help me again? I've encountered something odd that makes me really wish I could understand the record.

I suspect that lines 18 and 20 on this record are the father of husband Schmidt-17185 and mother of wife Freund-1004. I'm quite sure record 20 is Freund's mother but I'm unsure about Schmidt's father. Anyway, it seems like a big coincidence that they're on the same page in the record book. Maybe it's just a small town and they happened to die a month apart, but it makes me want to know what else it says! Anything to indicate what the dead people's parents' names were would, of course, be very handy to know. Thanks a bunch in advance, and no worries if you don't have the time or inclination to look.

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Hey sarah, you are completely right. I did a quick check and came to the same conclution. It is just coincidence the they died so close after each other and landed on the same page. The book by the way again is from Kreuzebra, you have to change the location of death, the indexing is not precise. Here is what the entrys say:

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#18. Franz Schmidt, Wagner u. Schöppe, verheirathet; Alter: 77 Jahr, 8 Monat; hinterläßt: die Frau und 3 majorenne Kinder; gestorben: den 30. Juli [1834], Ein Uhr Nachmittags, An Altersschwäche; begraben: von demselben (= Pfarrer Johann Digmann, Dechant und Assessor), am 2. August, auf dem Kirchhof in Kreuzeber.

#20. Anna Margaretha Freund, geb. Rümenap, Frau des Schmidts Lorenz Freund; Alter: 59 Jahr, 6 Monat; hinterläßt: den Mann u. 5 Töchter, wovon 2 minorenn sind; gestorben: den 25. August [1834], Sechs Uhr Abends, An Auszehrung; begraben: von demselbem, am 28. August auf dem Kirchhof in Kreuzeber.

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Translation:

#18. Franz Schmidt, cartwright and alderman, married; 77 years and 8 months old, left behind his wife and 3 grown up children, died on July 30th 1834 at 1 p.m. on old age and was burried by the priest Johann Digmann on August 1st at the cemetery in Kreuzebra.

#20. Anna Margaretha Freund, neé Rümenap, wife of the smith Lorenz Freund; 59 years and 6 months old, left behind her husband and 5 daughters of whom two have not jet reached adulthood; died on August 25th 1834 at 6 p.m. on Tuberculosis and was burried by the same priest on August 28th at the cemetery in Kreuzebra.

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note: the term "Schmidt" in entry #20 is not a family name but in this case an occupation nowadays spelled Schmied = smith.

To be really sure you could try and find the other children left behind and look if the count fits. Anyways you might find other usefull information in this entrys.

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Thanks so much!

Answer 2

Go to the beginning of the film, or of the item if there are multiple items on the film. That should identify exactly where the records are from. It will give a location, and sometimes the actual name of the church