Research Highlights
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[CLIENT] HeitzBecker1711 BT1602105 13 April 2018 Research Highlights GOALS Locate the death records for Jean/Johann Heitz and his wife, Francoise/Francisca Becker, both after 1826 in Steinbourg, Bas-Rhin, France. Acquire the birth records for Jean/Johann Heitz and his siblings. Locate their parents’ marriage. Obtain the birth records for Francoise/Francisca Becker and her siblings. Locate their parents’ marriage. If time allows, identify the birth records for the siblings of Madeline Esch in Steinbourg. Locate their parents’ marriage. PROGRESS Discovered the 1848 death registration for Francoise Brocker [sic], wife of Jean Heitz. Her age suggested a 1779 birth date in Steinbourg. Her parents were listed as Jean Brocker and Marie Anne Schmitt, both deceased. Obtained the 1852 death registration for Jean Heitz. His age suggested a birth year of 1776 in Steinbourg. His wife was listed as Francoise Brucker; his parents were Antoine Heitz and Barbe Keiser, both deceased. Located the 1778 baptism of Jean Stephan Heitz, along with those of eight siblings between 1776 and 1787. Learned that his mother, Barbe Keiser, died in 1788. Her husband remarried later that year to Anne Marie Ehemann. Discovered three children born to this couple between 1789 and 1792. In order to complete this family group, it will be necessary to search the Steinbourg civil registration birth records from 1793 forward. Searched the Steinbourg Catholic records for a baptism of Francoise Becker/Brucker during the years 1777-1781 and 1785-1789 (two years on either side of her reported birth dates/ages). No record was found. Located baptisms of two siblings in the late 1780s, prompting a search of the Catholic records for her parents’ marriage. Unearthed the 1774 marriage of Francoise’s parents, Jean Brugger [sic] and Anne Marie Schmitt. Finally found Francoise Brucker’s baptism in 1783, along with five siblings born between 1775 and 1789. Searching the birth and baptism records from 1790-1802 revealed that this was the complete family group. Located three additional children born to Antoine Heitz and Anne Marie Ehrmann. The youngest child was born in 1801. Identified the deaths of Antoine Heitz and Anne Marie Ehrmann in 1826 and 1833, respectively. Her death record included the names of her parents, Michel Ehrmann and Catherine Zimmenau[?]. Discovered the marriage of Jean Georges Esch and Catherine Vierling in 1776 in Steinbourg. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Search the Steinbourg birth and baptism records for the children of Jean Georges Esch and Catherine Vierling, circa 1776 and later. a. Locate the baptism records for Jean Georges Esch and his siblings. Identify their parents’ marriage. b. Locate the baptism records for Catherine Vierling and her siblings. Identify their parents’ marriage. 2. Identify the baptism of Francois Christ, circa 12 February 1776 in Longeville-les-St. Avold, Moselle, France. a. Locate the baptisms of Francois Christ’s siblings. Identify their parents’ marriage. 3. Search for the marriage of Anne Marie Ehrmann to Michel Gries between 1775 and 1788 in Steinbourg. a. Identify the death record for Michel Gries before 1788. b. Locate any children born to this couple between 1775 and 1788. c. Obtain the baptism record for Anne Marie Ehrmann, circa 1757 in Steinbourg. d. Identify the baptisms of her siblings and the marriage of her parents, Michel Ehrmann and Catherine Zimmenau[?]. e. Locate the death records for Michel Ehrmann and Catherine Zimmenau[?] before 1833 in Steinbourg. 4. Search for the baptism of Barbe Keiser, the first wife of Antoine Heitz, before 1758. She was probably born in Hultehouse, Moselle, France, her father’s reported death place. a. Identify the death records of her parents, Jacob Kaiser and Marie Catherine Stempffer, in Hultehouse. b. Locate baptisms of any other children born to this couple. 5. Identify the Catholic marriage record for Jacob Kaiser and Marie Catherine Stempffer. 6. Obtain the baptism record for Antoine Heitz, circa 1750 in Steinbourg. a. Identify the baptisms of his siblings and the marriage of his parents, Antoine Heitz and Catherine Ritter. 7. Locate the death records for Antoine Heitz [Sr.] and Catherine Ritter before 1826 in Steinbourg. Antoine Heitz [Sr.] may have died on 16 Vendimare year VI (1797/8), or before 1793. The later deaths for this name have already been reviewed. 2 Research Report The purpose of this research session was to continue extending the client’s Heitz ancestry (and related lines) in Steinbourg, Bas-Rhin, France. The client’s goals included first locating the death records for Jean Heitz and his wife Francoise Becker. The second goal was to locate records of the births or baptisms of this same couple. This would be followed by finding each of their siblings’ baptisms and their parents’ marriages. We were to spend any remaining time locating baptism records for the siblings of Madeline Esch, as well as finding her parents’ marriage. Deaths of Jean Heitz and Francoise Becker In order to locate the death records for Jean Heitz and his wife, Francoise, the 10-year civil registration indexes were searched. Since the couple’s youngest child was born in 1826, the search began there. It was common for a woman to be listed in these records under her maiden name, but she could also appear under her married surname. Thus, both the Heitz and Becker/Brucker surnames were checked. The indexes for the years 1823-1832 and 1833-1842, revealed no matches for the ancestral Jean and Francoise. However, the third index from 1843-1852, while not including any possible records for Jean Heitz, showed two possible matches for Francoise, one under each surname. The 1852 death record for a Francoise Heitz was for the daughter of Antoine Heitz, which proved that she was not the ancestor. However, the 1848 death of Francoise Brocker [sic] indicated that she was the wife of Jean Heitz:1 1 Steinbourg - Etat civil - Registre de décès 1848 - 4 E 478/9, death of Francoise Brocker, 4 May 1848, http://archives.bas-rhin.fr, accessed January 2018. DOCUMENT 1. 3 Steinbourg, Bas-Rhin, Civil Registration, Deaths, 1848, Entry no. 19 Decedent: Francoise Brocker, 70 years old, no profession, resident of Steinbourg, legitimate Died: 4 May 1848 in Steinbourg at 3 o’clock at night Born: Steinbourg Spouse: Jean Heitz Parents: Jean Brocker, died in Steinbourg, and Marie Anne Schmitt, died in Steinbourg Witnesses: Jean Heitz, 69 years old, husband of deceased; and Antoine Heitz, 42 years old, weaver, son of deceased 1848 death of Francoise Brocker, wife of Jean Heitz. DOCUMENT 1. Francoise’s age in this record suggested that she was born around 1778. This was nine years earlier than the 1787 birth year that her marriage record suggested. This record also included the names of both of her parents, Jean Brocker and Marie Anne Schmitt, stating that both were already deceased. Now that Francoise’s death record had been identified, the index search continued forward. The index for the years 1853-1862 was searched for Jean Heitz. His death was successfully 4 located in the year 1854.2 It was a surprise to find that his parents were not Wendelin Heitz and [Miss] Fischer, as his marriage record had suggested. Instead, his parents were listed as the deceased couple, Antoine Heitz and Barbe Keiser. Steinbourg, Bas-Rhin, Civil Registration, Deaths, 1854, Entry no. 16 Decedent: Jean Heitz, 76 years old, farmer, resident of Steinbourg, legitimate Died: 15 August 1854 in Steinbourg at 8 o’clock in the morning Born: Steinbourg Spouse: Francoise Brucker Parents: Antoine Heitz, died in Steinbourg, and Barbe Keiser, died in Steinbourg Witnesses: Jean Heitz, 43 years old, tailor, resident of Saverne, son of the deceased; and Ignace Heitz, 30 years old, farmer, resident of Steinbourg, son of deceased 1854 death of Jean Heitz. DOCUMENT 2. Baptism of Jean Heitz When the search began for the baptism of Jean Heitz, it was important to keep in mind both possible sets of parents. His birthdate had been reported as 20 December 1779, but no baptism record was found on or around that date. Ultimately, his baptism was identified 2 Steinbourg - Etat civil - Registre de décès 1854 - 4 E 478/10, death of Jean Heitz, 15 August 1854, entry no. 16, http://archives.bas-rhin.fr, accessed January 2018. DOCUMENT 2. 5 one year earlier—Jean Stephan Heitz was born on 26 December 1778 and was baptized one day later.3 His parents were confirmed to be Antoine Heitz and Barbe Kayser. Steinbourg, Bas-Rhin, Catholic Church, Baptism Register, 1778 Baptized: 27 December 1778 in Steinbourg Born: 26 December 1778 in Steinbourg Child: Jean Stephan, male Parents: Antoine Heitz, local citizen, shoemaker, and Barbe Kayser, married couple Godparents: Joseph Minni, local citizen; and Marie Anne Weber, wife of Pierre Gruner, local citizen. 1778 baptism of Jean Stephan Heitz. DOCUMENT 3. Once this record was identified, the baptisms were searched from 1768 through 1792. These records were not indexed at all, so this was a page-by-page search of the entire baptism register from Steinbourg. The search ended in 1792 because this was the last year of available church records. From that point forward, it would be necessary to search the civil registration records. Due to time constraints, only the church records were searched in 3 Steinbourg - Paroisse catholique (Avant 1793) - Registre de baptêmes 1761-1787 - 3 E 478/4, baptism of Joannes Stephanus Heitz, 27 December 1778, http://archives.bas-rhin.fr, accessed January 2018. DOCUMENT 3. 6 this session. It will be necessary to continue searching for additional children in the civil records during the next research session. The following table shows each of the children born to Antoine Heitz and Barbe Keiser.