John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 1609

In 1714, Henckel was dismissed from the parish in Daudenzell by Baron von Gemmingen.  Henckel applied to his friend Johann Melchoir von Festenburg for a position at Mönchzell and was accepted.  Two years later, the friendship had dissolved, and von Festenburg wrote to Prince Ernest Ludwig of Hesse:

“The Evangelical Lutheran pastor, Mr. Henckel, who had been dismissed already two years ago, by Baron von Gemmingen of Neckarzimmern, was appointed by me provisionally as pastor at Mönchzell, upon his own request, and out of commiseration for him, because he had no other place to go, however, without being called, presented to or installed in the parish.”
Apparently Henckel thought he had a permanent position, but von Festenburg said it was temporary.  Even worse for their friendship, Henckel began to sense that von Festenburg was not honest.  He was using the lands and tithes of the village for himself.  The villagers complained to Henckel that the land where the Church parsonage had stood was now a garden for the Baron.  And their complaints went on and on in this vein.

Henckel was in a bind, as he owed his friend some gratitude for being helpful, but at the same time he could see the dishonesty.  The Church and the pastor were being starved.

Henckel was helped by a call to the church at Neckargemünd, while keeping his job at Mönchzell.  Frau Henckel's brother and her sister died in 1714, and this involved the Henckels being away for about six weeks.  This upset the Baron.

Baron von Festenburg wrote to the Prince of Hesse that he had to relieve Henckel of his duties at Mönchzell because he was not fulfilling his duties.  The Baron brought in a theological student who was ordained, and Henckel attempted to upset this arrangement.  In the end, Henckel decided to report the actions of the Baron to Prince Ernst Ludwig of Hesse, who had jurisdiction of the church in Mönchzell.  The Baron learned of Henckel's plans and he, the Baron, rushed off a letter to the Prince (16 Nov 1716).  Henckel's letter covered a lot more ground than the Baron had anticipated and the Prince asked the Baron for a fuller response.

Seeing that he needed more ammunition, the Baron sought the opinions of as many other Barons who might know of Henckel's work.  In April of 1717, the Baron sent a packet of letters to the Prince.  One of the charges against Henckel was that he cut down trees in the forest and took them to the sawmill.  This was said to be inappropriate for a pastor.  While the exchange of letters was still going on, the Henckels left for Pennsylvania.  The Prince had, at first, accepted Baron von Festenburg's explanations, but five years later he acknowledged that the charges against Baron von Festenburg were true and attempted to correct the situation in Mönchzell.
(04 Mar 03)

We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.