The Leins Family of Pforzheim

"Immigrants: we get the job done" -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Like Fischbach, Leins wasn't a common or long-lived name in Pforzheim or its surrounding villages. Between 1612 and 1628 there were seven children christened there with the last name Leins. All but one were the children of Veit and Maria Leins. One was the daughter of Hans Martin and Anna Leins. None of the children married in Pforzheim. I have no idea what happened to them.

More than two centuries later, on 17 Oct 1858, Franz Leins married Christina Hutmacher in Büchenbronn, a village 6 km southwest of Pforzheim. Christina was the daughter of Georg Jacob Hutmacher and Barbara Koehler, born in Büchenbronn 18 Apr 1831. She was christened as a Protestant, and her wedding with Franz was Protestant as well.

Franz, on the other hand, was born in Hirrlingen, near Rottenburg and 62 km SSE of Büchenbronn. The Leins family had been in been present in Hirrlingen since at least the late 1600s, and they were solidly Catholic. Karl Leins and Walburga Waller (Walter, Welter) were married 01 Feb 1820 and had ten children, all baptized as Catholics. Their sixth child was Helena, born 13 May 1825. Franz, born 03 Oct 1831, was the ninth child.

While most of Walburga and Karl's children seem to have stayed in Hirrlingen, by December 1851 Helena had either moved north to Ersingen and met Anton Weber or vice versa. Ersingen's 11 km NNW of Büchenbronn. Anton Weber was born there 14 Feb 1826 and baptized as a Catholic. He and Helena had a daughter Maria born in Ersingen 31 Dec 1851, also baptized as a Catholic. (They didn't marry until 23 Apr 1865, still in Ersingen.)

Three years later, Franz Leins and Christina Hutmacher had their first child, born in Büchenbronn and baptized as a Protestant. Altogether, Christina and Franz had at least 12 children, of whom four sons lived past childhood:

Sometime between 1874 and 1892, Christina died. Franz, now 61 years old, remarried 22-year-old Karoline Gottliebin Ehmann in Büchenbronn on 01 Dec 1892. Karoline had been born 02 Jun 1870 in Spielberg, the daughter of Johann Jakob Ehmann and Gottliebin Koch. Spielberg's a village 36 km northeast of Büchenbronn. It's such a small village that Karoline's parents had to take her and her siblings to the neighbouring village of Ochsenbach for christening.

I don't have any further information on Eugenie or Arthur Leo, but it's pretty obvious that Arthur Leo was too young to be the father of Arthur Fischbach (later Leins) born 26 Nov 1908. Nor is Anna Martha Leins likely to be the Anna Fischbach who was Arthur Fischbach's mother. First Anna would have had to have a child at 14 (unusual in those days, especially as girls entered puberty later than they do now). Then Herbert Straub would have had to die, Anna would have had to remarry someone named Fischbach and this hypothetical Fischbach would have had to adopt Anna's son. I think we can allow Occam's razor to slice this idea to bits.

If we're looking for Arthur Fischbach's parents, we need to look to the four surviving sons of Franz Lein and Christina Hutmacher. We also need to look for Arthur's aunt Meta Leins and her sister, Ida Leins Reuther. Here we're in luck, because when Ida Emilie Leins married Frank Reuther in the Bronx 09 Mar 1918, the marriage record included the information that she was born in Pforzheim in 1886 to Karl Leins and Karoline Heinz.

Karl Wilhelm Leins, born 16 Sep 1859, was the second oldest of Christina Hutmacher and Franz Lein's surviving sons. On 12 Nov 1882 he married Karolina Heinz in Büchenbronn. Karolina was born 17 Apr 1858, the daughter of Ruepprecht Heinz and Dorothea Dittus. I don't know where she was born.

Karolina and Karl had six children that I know of. I know that the first four were christened in Büchenbronn. The last two gave their place of birth as Pforzheim on US records. This may indicate that the family had moved from Büchenbronn to Pforzheim, but not necessarily. Often people from villages that no one would recognize gave the names of larger towns or cities nearby. Here are the children:

Of the five who emigrated, Willy was the only one whom I know for sure married and/or had children before leaving Germany. According to his US naturalization records, he and his wife Mina Paulina Epple were married in Pforzheim 16 Jun 1917. Mina was the daughter of Paul Epple and Katharina Stark, born in Eutingen (10 km NE of Büchenbronn) on 25 Sep 1893. Mina and Willy's son Willy Arthur was born in Pforzheim on 03 Nov 1912, almost five years before the marriage. Mina and Willy Arthur emigrated a few months after Willy in order to join him.

Could any of Meta's brothers have been Arthur Fischbach's father? Not Karl Albert, who left Germany three years before Arthur was born and - as far as I know - never returned. Willy is neither impossible nor likely, as he would have been 15 years old at the time Arthur was born. This leaves Arthur Eugen, who left Germany when Arthur was a toddler.

As Willy's example shows, it wasn't unknown for couples to have a child before marriage. Willy's paternal grandparents had three. This worked out well as long as both parties had the same intentions. In villages and small towns, social pressure probably played a role. Everyone knew who the child's parents were and expected that neither would abandon the child. This mechanism might not have worked as well in larger places such as Pforzheim. And it wouldn't have worked at all in cases where the man emigrated, even if his original intention was to send for his child(ren) and their mother once he'd gotten settled. I don't think we can discount the possibility that Arthur Eugen Leins may have been Arthur Fischbach's father.

However, I also don't think we can assume that Meta Leins was Arthur Fischbach's "aunt" in the strictest sense of the word. Immigrants often used "aunt" and "uncle" to describe older cousins, "niece" and "nephew" to describe younger ones. So we also have to look at Meta's cousins, the children of her father's three brothers.

Franz Leins, born 02 May 1856, was the oldest of Christina Hutmacher and Franz Lein's surviving sons. On 31 Oct 1880 he married Emilie Wilhelmine Seyfert (Seyffert, Seifert) in Büchenbronn. Emilie Wilhelmine was born 19 Dec 1857, the daughter of Johann Seyfert and Christina Graf. I don't know where she was born.

Franz and Emilie Wilhelmine only had two children that I know of, both born in Büchenbronn. Karl Wilhelm was born 09 May 1881, christened 26 May 1881. I have no further information about him. Oscar was born 20 Jun 1882, christened 25 Jul 1882. He emigrated to the States in 1906.

Jacob Leins, born 21 May 1860, was the third oldest of Christina Hutmacher and Franz Lein's surviving sons. On 26 Apr 1885 he married Friedericka Haug in Büchenbronn. Friedericka was born in Büchenbronn 03 May 1863, the daughter of Johann Georg Haug and Margaretha Rittmann.

Friedericka and Jacob had seven children, one of whom died young. All were born in Büchenbronn:

Franz Robert married twice, both times in Büchenbronn. His first marriage, on 12 Feb 1911, was to Frieda Nonnenmann, the daughter of Karl Nonnenmann and Anna Barbara Faas. Frieda was born 28 May 1886 in Unterreichenbach, 6 km southeast of Büchenbronn. Frieda was apparently deceased by June 1919, because on 07 Jun 1919 Franz Robert married Amalie Beffert, the daughter of Karl Beffert and Magdalena Sickinger. Amalie was born in Büchenbronn 24 Aug 1885, although her marriage record says 24 Jul 1885. I don't know anything further about Franz Robert, Frieda or Amalie.

Richard Berthold married Wilhelmine ("Mina") Kling in Büchenbronn on 17 Nov 1912. Mina was born in Büchenbronn 09 Oct 1888, the daughter of Georg Friedrich Kling and Luise Wilhelmina Heinz. (I was not able to establish a relationship between Luise and Richard Berthold's aunt by marriage, Karolina Heinz.) They had three children: Richard Emil born 08 Mar 1910, Mina Frieda born 28 Aug 1913 and Eugen born 10 Mar 1915. Richard Berthold emigrated to the States in March 1928. Richard Emil followed later that year. Mina Frieda followed in 1929, then the older Mina in 1930. Eugen was left with his grandmother, Luise Kling, until 1935, when his mother Mina brought him to the States.

Interestingly, Richard Berthold's birth record in Büchenbronn includes the information that he died 28 Mar 1958. I don't know if this means that he died in Germany or if the information was reported back to Büchenbronn from his family in the States.

Alfons Eugen died 23 Oct 1914 and Hermann Emil, 10 Mar 1916. According to The World Remembers both deaths were WWI military deaths.

Ferdinand Hugo died 06 Apr 1940. Elvira Emilie died 10 Dec 1955. I have no further information about either of them.

Robert Leins, born 16 Sep 1868, was the youngest of Christina Hutmacher and Franz Lein's surviving sons. On 05 Feb 1893 he married Emilie Bertha Walz in Büchenbronn. Emilie Bertha was born in Salmbach, 4 km south of Büchenbronn, on 06 Jan 1872. Her parents were Michael Walz and Barbara Kusterer.

Emilie and Robert had four children that I know of, all born in Büchenbronn. Two of them died young:

I have no further information on Adeline. Robert Franz married Maria Brenner in Pforzheim on 23 Sep 1922. Marie was born 23 May 1897, the daughter of Ernst Wilhelm Brenner and Maria Kappler. I don't know where she was born. I have no further information on her and Robert Franz.

None of Meta Leins' female first cousins were named Anna and might have been Anna Fischbach.

Among the male first cousins, none of them stands out to me as being more or less likely to be the father of Arthur Fischbach born 1908. Certainly there are some possibilities:

Although it seems to have been reasonably acceptable to have a child first and marry later, I'm not sure that this was true of having a child with one person first and then marrying a different person later. This would suggest that neither Franz Robert nor Richard Berthold was Arthur's father. However, marrying someone else may have been more feasible if the Arthur's mother Anna lived in the city of Pforzheim proper rather than in the village of Büchenbronn.

We don't have enough information on any of the others to rule them out, except that Alfons Eugen is on the young side by the standards of the time.

Home

Comments and Questions

In memory of Janet A Werner, 1931-2015