The River Running
"Immigrants: we get the job done" -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Magdalena Schäfer and Philipp Engel
Magdalena Schäfer and Philipp Engel married in Freinsheim 10 Jul 1836. They seem to be closely associated with Dackenheim, so I would assume that at least one of them was born there. However, both appear to have been born during the records gap.
If Philipp was born in Dackenheim, then he would have to be the grandson or perhaps great-grandson of Anna Clara Oberliesin and Johann Jacob Engel. They had a son named Johann Philipp born in 1747 who died when he was not quite 18. It's entirely possible that one of their other sons or grandsons chose to use this name.
One frustrating clue to Philipp's family comes from the 1836 edition of the Amts- und Intelligenzblatt des Königlich Bayerischen Rheinkreises. A legal notice published 15 Jul 1836 states that on 02 Aug 1836 at 2 PM at the Schlotthauer Inn in Dackenheim, there's going to be an auction of a residence house and its equipment located at the Röhrbrunnen (pipe fountain?). The auction is being held according to the wishes of those involved: Philipp Engel, farmer, resident in Dackenheim; Magdalena Engel, married to Thomas Siegmayer, a blacksmith resident in Herxheim am Berg; Jacob Engel and Katharina Engel, both minors with professions domiciled with their chief guardian Johannes Engel, farmer, reisdent in Dackenheim. The Siegmayers hold secondary guardianship.
It seems clear enough: Philipp, Magdalena, Jacob and Katharina are siblings who've inherited a property and now want to divide it. The division may have been occasioned by Philipp's marriage five days before the notice was published. It's also worth noting that Magdalena Engel and Thomas Siegmayer's children born 1831-1836 were all christened in Herxheim, but their children born 1838-1848 were christened in either Freinsheim only or both Freinsheim and Dackenheim. In other words, they moved to Dackenheim within two years of this notice.
Johannes Engel seems to be a close relative but not a sibling. He's not listed among those "involved." He may be the Johannes Engel who married Anna Maria Spielmann in 1832 or he may be the Johannes Engel born in 1773.
Who were the parents of the four siblings? It ought to be easy. Jacob and Katharina were born after 1815. There ought to be christening records available with their parents' names. Each of them either married or died while single in or after 1836. There ought to be marriage or burial records which might show their parents' names. Their parents died between 1815 and 1836. Where are the parents' burial records?
And yet I can't identify any of this. Specifically, I can't identify a Jacob and a Katharina who don't have other surviving siblings besides Philipp and Magdalena in 1836. As I said, it's frustrating.
Okay, enough about Philipp. What about Magdalena? The name Schäfer is not common in Dackenheim. The only couple having children christened there with the last name Schäfer in the late 1700s was Catharina Margaretha Kröther and Leonhard Conrad Schäfer. Leonhard Conrad was apparently born in Großkarlbach. Certainly he and Catharina Margaretha married there and had their first two children christened there before moving to Dackenheim and having three more children 1785-1789. If Magdalena was born in Dackenheim, she might be their daughter or she might be the daughter of one of their two sons, Anton born in 1778 and Johann Christian born in 1780.
Magdalena and Philipp had eight children, most of whom were christened in both Dackenheim and Freinsheim. Three died young:
Magdalena narried Adam Wendel, son of Elisabetha Bender and Peter II Wendel, 03 May 1866. The marriage was recorded both in Dackenheim and Freinsheim. The only christening records I have for the Wendel children are from Freinsheim:
Johannes may be the Johannes Engel who married Christina Barbara Sippel by 1869.
I have no further information on Magdalena Schäfer, Philipp Engel or their other three surviving children, Thomas, Philipp born 1844 and Jacob.