Katherina Engel, Jakob Werner and Ludwig Schaefer

Katherina Engel and Jakob Werner

Jakob Werner was born in Freinsheim on 06 Dec 1815, the son of Juliane Fett and Johann Jakob Werner.

Katherina Engel was born in Freinsheim on 10 Apr 1814, the daughter of Johann Jakob Engel and Maria Elisabetha Hohl.

One way to look at this dates is in comparison to Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. Katherina was born 14 months before, Jakob six months after. In 1816 the Congress of Vienna handed the west bank of the Palatinate, including Freinsheim, over to the Kingdom of Bavaria. Thus both children grew up under a social and legal system that was far less egalitarian than the one their parents had enjoyed for two decades under the French.

Jakob and Katherina married in Freinsheim on 18 Jul 1837. Jakob was a farmer - the German word used in the Verbandsgemeinde Freinsheim records is Landwirt, a very general term for farmer.

Their oldest daughter, also named Catherina, was christened in Freinsheim on 15 Nov 1837. A second daughter, Anna Maria, was christened on 14 Apr 1839. However, she died and was buried on 09 Nov 1839. Finally a son, Jakob, was born 04 Jul 1845 and christened 13 Jul 1845.

The older Jakob died and was buried in Freinsheim on 17 Oct 1848. Thus, the Palatine Uprising of May and June 1849 found Katherina a widow with two children ages 11 and not quite 4 years old.

Katherina Engel and Ludwig Schaefer

On 12 Mar 1850, Katherina remarried, her second husband being Ludwig Schaefer, a farmer ("Ackermann"). Ludwig had been born in Freinsheim 10 Dec 1819, the son of Barbara Friedrich and Jakob Schaefer. What's interesting here is that Ludwig was related to Katherina's first husband twice over. Barbara Friedrich was the daughter of Christian Friedrich and Anna Maria Werner, Jakob Werner's paternal aunt. Jakob Schaefer was the son of Eva Catharina Weilbrenner and thus the great-grandson of Catharina Elizabeth Werner, the sister of Jakob Werner's great-grandfather.

Ludwig was thus both Jakob Werner's first cousin once removed and third cousin once removed. I didn't think much about this until some of the descendants of Ludwig's sister Regina showed up as my "matches" after I took a DNA test. Jakob Werner's son Jakob born 04 Jul 1845 was my great-great-grandfather.

Like Katherina and Jakob, Katherina and Ludwig also had three children. Their son Ludwig Phillip was born 13 May 1851 and christened 25 May 1851, but died 15 Jan 1852. Georg was born 13 Jun 1852 and christened 07 Jul 1852, but died 04 Dec 1852. Finally Elisabetha was born 26 Jul 1853 and christened 12 Aug 1853.

The following year, Katherina, Ludwig and the three remaining children, Catherina, Jakob and Elisabetha, left Freinsheim for the United States.

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.