I spent Friday afternoon studying the Baptismal Lists from Gemmingen. I have slight handicaps in that I do not read German script all that well, nor do I understand the German. One of the tactics that I was trying was to compose a list of the names I encountered, most of which I could not read with any certainty. By not laboring too long on any one name, I went on the theory that I might meet up with the name again when it would be better written. And often it was.
Gemmingen is where the Clores, Weavers, and Smiths were from. Or in German, the usual names would be Klar, Weber, and Schmid(t). By now, these names are easy to spot so if I were looking only for them it would not be much of a problem. What I was hoping to do was to be able to read the sponsors where I have found in the German Lutheran Church in the Robinson River Valley of Virginia that so much information was hidden.
In Gemmingen, though, the rules seem to be different. I have yet to encounter a sponsor whose surname was the same as the father's surname. This probably means that they did not choose the sponsors from relatives. You will remember that when we discussing baptisms in different churches that some churches had a rule that the spiritual parents (i.e., the sponsors or witnesses) could not be related to the parents. The two must be kept separate. So far, that seems to be the rule in Gemmingen.
Quite a few of the parents were Reformed. If this was known to the pastor he would enter one of two comments after the name of the person, "Relig Ref", or "Calv". The Baptismal Records start in April of 1694. Probably there were earlier records but the French had invaded, which upset the normal routines. In some cases the Church books were lost. In other cases there are gaps. In the case of Gemmingen, it seems as though they started anew. In the first year there were only a handful of baptisms, namely 5. In the next year there were 11, and in the next 18.
Quite a large number were soldiers, perhaps who been engaged in the war with the French. All of the men were identified by occupation, and by where they lived. All of the women were described by the man they were attached to, either as a wife or as a daughter. Several of the sponsors were from out of Gemmingen.
I had been hoping to find several things, including a pattern of possible relationships between the sponsors and the parents which might furnish more clues about the ancestry of the parents. This does not look as if it will be successful. I am still hoping to improve my skills by the old "practice makes perfect". (I will never be perfect but I do hope to be better.) As a bonus, I may encounter some names that have been overlooked. Later, I may also be able to tackle some of the Church books that have been overlooked.
(06 Sep 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.