Johannes Engel: A Tale of Two Johns

There are two men named Johannes Engel who were the fathers of children christened in Freinsheim and whom I'm unable to account for.

Elisabetha Linz and Johannes Engel

One Johannes Engel married Elisabetha Linz. He may be the Johannes Engel who married Elisabetha "Linzen" in Großkarlbach 17 Feb 1863. I couldn't find a definitive birth record for Elisabetha. Elisabetha and Johannes had two children that I know of, Anna Margaretha christened 24 Apr 1864 and Katharina born 19 Feb 1869, christened 28 Feb 1869. Both girls were christened as Protestants.

All of the men I could find named Johannes Engel who were christened in Freinsheim between 1816 and 1845 were already accounted for. They either died young or married other people. I also found three more distant possibilities, which I've ranked in order of likelihood:

• Johann Engel, son of Magdalena Engel, born 24 Feb 1843, christened as a Protestant 26 Feb 1843 in Großbach, 4 km NNE of Freinsheim;
• Joannes Engel, son of Franciscae Mone and Joannis Engel, born 15 Feb 1837, baptized as a Catholic 16 Feb 1837 in Grüstadt, 8 km NNW of Freinsheim; and
• Joannes Engel, son of Felicitate Geli and Georgio Michaele Engel, born 03 Sep 1814, baptized as a Catholic 08 Sep 1814 in Elmstein, 33 km southwest of Freinsheim.

There may, of course, be other possibilities for whom I simply don't have records.

Magdalena Engel of Großbach is interesting in and of herself. There are four records for children born to Magdalena Engel, no father's name given, in Großbach:

• Barbara born 26 Dec 1837, christened more than five years later on 26 Feb 1843;
• Jacob born 13 Jun 1840, christened 17 Jun 1840;
• Johann (mentioned above) born 24 Feb 1843, christened the same day as Barbara; and
• Magdalena born 10 Jun 1845, christened 15 Jun 1845.

It was pretty common for women to be already pregnant when they married and even for couples to have a child before marriage, but it was rather less common for one woman - if the mother is the same Magdalena Engel in all cases - to have four child on her own over the course of eight years. Was the father someone whom, for whatever reason, she couldn't marry?

A woman named Magdalena Engel did marry a man named Johannes Schoelles or Schelles in Großkarlbach on 04 Sep 1846. The same Magdalena Engel? I can't tell. They had three children, all christened in Bad Dürkheim, of whom one died young:

• Dorothea christened 18 Oct 1846;
• Johannes born 14 Aug 1848, christened 20 Aug 1848; and
• Peter born 26 May 1850, christened 02 Jun 1850 and died 14 Dec 1850.

The other man married Christina Barbara Sippel. I can't find a marriage record, but Christina Barbara may be the daughter of Anna Maria Guttermann and Johannes Sippel christened in Freinsheim 26 Feb or Mar 1848. Christina Barbara and Johannes had three children, all christened in Freinsheim:

• Johannes born 12 Dec 1869, christened 19 Dec 1869;
• Jacob born 15 Jan 1872, christened 04 Feb 1872; and
• Magdalena born 05 Oct 1873, christened 19 Oct 1873.

I can't find further records on either of the families.

It's physically possible for the two men to have been one and the same, but it seems to me unlikely. Elisabetha Linz's last child was born 19 Feb 1869. Even assuming that she died in childbirth, it would be very fast work for her widower to remarry and have another child born ten months later on 12 Dec 1869.

Where did these two men - or this one man - come from? All of the men named Johannes Engel who were born