My preferred technique for reading the German church records is to make print copies so that I can read the information at home and study it more leisurely. Because the scanner and printing process at the LDS Family History Center here in Wilmington is not the best, I scan the microfilm and download it onto a “memory stick”. I bring the memory stick home and plug it into my computer. Then I use an editing program to improve the image and then I print it.
We were up to 4 September 1664 when Quirinus Schoene and his wife Maria Barbara of Neuenbuerg brought Anna Barbara for baptism. The pastor forgot to make a timely recording in the church book and had to resort to an insert which was smaller than the usual space allotted. So I am uncertain about some of the details. There may have been four sponsors. One was Anna Catherina, the wife of Herr Philipp _____ the mayor of Neuenbuerg. Another was Barbara, the unmarried daughter of Jacob _____ a citizen of Oberoewisheim. The following two names have some uncertainties but they were probably also sponsors though not listed in the space normally used (i.e., the right-most block). If so, the third sponsor was von Herr Holster of Unteroewisheim and the fourth sponsor was Petra Friekerica but she may have been acting on behalf of Herr Holster. [Note that three different villages are mentioned, which suggests that one needs to look at the records for all three villages to get the full picture.]
[Baptisms for Neuenbuerg - 1665.]
On 6 August 1665 [note the gap of almost a year here from the previous] Joachimy Christoph Berger (Catholic) and his wife Anna (Evangelic) brought Maria Catharina. One sponsor was Jerg Steinmeyer, citizen of Neuenbuerg. The maiden Maria Catharina, the daughter of Herr Molitius Amtmees of Oberoewisheim, was the second sponsor. The third was Anna, the wife of Matthaus Fuerst. [The name Joachimy looks funny but this may be because the writer adds a flourish at the end of the name which I am reading as a “y”.]
Johannes Amueller (Evangelic) and his wife Elisabetha (Calvinist) brought Martin Mattheus on 10 November 1665. The sponsors were the familiar Mattheus Fuerst of Neuenbuerg, Martin _____ a citizen of Gochsheim, Frau Maria of Reich—, and Catharina the wife of Herr Philipp _____ the mayor. [Some points could be improved in the reading here.]
[Baptisms for Neuenbuerg - 1667.]
The time now jumps to 1667, when on 17 March Nicolaus Schaiblin and Catharina brought Hanss Jacob. The first sponsor was Hans Jacob Mochel, who was the barber and bathhouse operator in Unteroewisheim. He was joined by Catharina, the wife of Mattheus Fuerstin, lawyer of Neuenbuerg. [The “in” ending on the name is added because Catharina is a female. I don’t believe the modern practice would be to do this.]
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.