The River Running
"Immigrants: we get the job done" -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
The Fett Family of Freinsheim:
The Fetts were not one of the older Freinsheim families. The first record I have for them is dated 1755. Johanneta Margreta Fett was born 10 Oct 1755 and christened 11 Oct 1755. Her father was Johann Philipp Fett and her mother, Juliana Elisabetha.
Elisabetha Fett was born 01 May 1758 and christened 04 May 1758. Her father's name is given a Philipp Fett but her mother's name is Juliana Philippina.
I don't have any further records for either woman.
There's also a Juliana Fett born in or before 1759 who married Heinrich Biermann (Pirmann) in Freinsheim 12 Feb 1777. The marriage record doesn't include her father's name, and I can't find a birth record for her.
Johanna Sophia Becker and Georg Christoph Fett
Georg Christoph Fett was a baker by trade, born in or before 1762 to Johann Philipp Fett. Thus, he may be the brother or half-brother to Johanneta Margreta, Elisabeth, Juliana, any two of these or all three of them. He married Johanna Sophia Becker, the daughter of Heinrich Becker, on 18 Jan 1780. It's probably a coincidence that one possible origin of the surname Becker is baker.
Johanna Sophia and Georg Christoph had eight children that I know of. One son died young:
Georg Franz and Wilhelm Bernard seem to have married during the gap in Freinsheim's Protestant marriage records from July 1802 to December 1815. On the basis of christening and burial records, I would guess that Georg Franz married Barbara Harm and that Wilhelm Bernard married first Anna Margaretha Burckhardt, then Barbara Oestreiche.
The 1826 foreclosure record confirms that Susanna Margaretha born 1789 is the Susanna Margaretha Fett who married Christoph Heinrich Schik (or Schick) on 17 Mar 1812 in Weisenheim am Sand.
Information I received from the Verbandsgemeinde Freinsheim confirms that Juliana married Johann Jakob Werner some time before 1815.
I know that Georg Christoph Fett died by 30 Jun 1826 and that Johanna Sophia survived him. Volume 9 of the Intelligenzblatt des Rheinkreises includes a legal notice published 01 Jul 1826 of a foreclosure (Zwangs-Versteigerung, forced auction) to be held in Großkarlbach at 1 PM on 10 Oct 1826, apparently at a tavern called "The Oxen." The debtors were Philipp Eberle and his wife Anna Catharina née Mayer, farming folk living in Großkarlbach.
The creditors were the widow and heirs of the late Christoph Fett, a baker in Freinsheim. Besides Johanna née Becker, a widowed pensioner, the heirs included Georg Franz Fett, Valentin Fett, Wilhelm Fett, Juliana Fett married to Jacob Werner and Margaretha Fett, wife of Christoph Schick. Except for Georg Franz and Valentin, who were bakers, all of the children were farming folk. All except Margaretha lived in Freinsheim. Margaretha and her husband lived in Weisenheim am Sand.
I have no further information on Johanna Sophia.
Barbara Harm and Georg Franz Fett
Georg Franz seems to have married Barbara Harm sometime before 1819. They had three children, all of whom were born in Freinsheim and died young:
Barbara Harm died and was buried in Freinsheim on 18 Sep 1828.
Wilhelm Bernard Fett, Anna Margaretha Burckhardt and Barbara Oestreiche
Wilhelm Bernard seems to have married twice. He and Anna Margaretha Burckhardt had a daughter named Johanna Sophia who was christened in Freinsheim on 19 Nov 1819. Anna Margaretha then died and was buried on 18 Jul 1820. On 15 Apr 1821 Wilhelm Bernard married Barbara Oestreiche or Oestreicher, the daughter of Jacob Oestreiche and Barbara Bauman. The marriage took place in Eppstein, 10 km east of Freinsheim. Wilhelm Bernard and Barbara had a daughter named Juliana who was christened in Freinsheim on 18 Jun 1823 but died young. She was buried in Freinsheim on 21 Nov 1825.
Wilhelm Bernard died and was buried in Freinsheim on 28 Jan 1839. Johanna Sophia, his daughter from his first marriage, married Johannes II Ehrhardt, son of Susanna Erhardt, in Freinsheim on 04 Apr 1839.
Susanna Margaretha Fett and Christoph Heinrick Schik
Susanna Margaretha Fett married Chrisoph Heinrich Schik (or Schick) on 17 Mar 1812 in Weisenheim am Sand, 3 km ENE of Freinsheim. Christoph Heinrich was the son of Conrad Schik and Anna Juliana Hohl. The marriage record doesn't name the bride's parents, but the 1826 foreclosure notice confirms that this is "our" Susanna Margaretha.
Susanna Margaretha and Christoph Heinrich had seven children, of whom three died young. All of the births and deaths, as well as the marriages of the surviving children, took place in Weisenheim am Sand:
Note: Most of the information I have on the Werner, Engel and Sohn families in Freinsheim from the late 17th to the mid 19th centuries came to me in 2004 courtesy of Siegfried Barth, archivist with the Verbandsgemeinde Freinsheim (Freinsheim Community Association). Where possible I've supplemented it with church records available at FamilySearch.org. Many thanks to Herr Barth and also to my late granduncle Robert Werner, who made the first contact and then recruited my help because he and Herr Barth had no languages in common.