The Sohn Family of Freinsheim

Anna Margaretha and Christoph Sohn

Christoph or Christoffel Sohn, was born in or around 1667 in Hering in the Odenwald in Hesse, 71 km northeast of Freinsheim. His father's name was also Christoph. He married Anna Margaretha some time before 1696. The couple may have lived in Freinsheim by 1696. They were certainly there by 1698. Thus, they were roughly contemporaneous with Hans Jakob and Anna Christina Werner.

They had at least nine children, possibly more:

• Maria Barbara listed in her marriage record as being 29 years old, which means she was born in or around 1696, possibly in Freinsheim. (Keep in mind that the surviving christening records in Freinsheim don't start until June 1698.) She married Johann Hartmann Elgert in Freinsheim on 12 Jan 1724. Their son Johann Thomas was christened in Freinsheim on 01 Oct 1724. Maria Barbara died nine months later, on 12 Jul 1725;
• Johannes christened 28 Dec 1698 in Freinsheim. He married Anna Catharina Reich, the daughter of Georg Reich, in Freinsheim on 02 Feb 1723. They had four children. All of Johannes' subsequent siblings were born in Freinsheim;
• Susanne Elisabeth per the Verbandsgemeinde Freinsheim record, listed as Susanna in her christening record. She was born 17 Dec 1700 and christened 22 Dec 1700. She died in Freinsheim on 21 May 1745;
• Susanne Elisabeth per the Verbandsgemeinde Freinsheim record, listed as Elisabeth in her christening record. She was christened 03 Sep 1702. According to the Verbandsgemeinde record, she married Simon Schantz on 05 Nov 1726. However, there's also a record dated 06 Nov 1726 for the marriage of Simon Schanz and Elisabetha Sohn at the Catholic church in Dackenheim, 3 km northwest of Freinsheim. Did the couple have two weddings to satisfy the requirements of their different religions? Simon was a Hofmann by trade. The literal meaning is "yard man." Apparently it could refer to anyone from the owner of an estate to a peasant or servant (de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hoffmann). I haven't found records showing that Simon and Elisabeth had any children. Elisabeth died and was buried in Freinsheim on 05 Jul 1768;
• Johann Philipp christened 01 Feb 1705. He died in Freinsheim on 09 Aug 1728;
• Johann Jakob christened 10 Jul 1707. He married Anna Christine Neunzehnhölzer, daughter of Arnoldt Neunzehnhölzer, in Freinsheim on 13 Sep 1740. They had 12 children. ;
• Anna Margaretha. The Verbandsgemeinde Freinsheim records list two Anna Margarethas, one born in Freinsheim on 17 Mar 1708 and the other christened in Freinsheim exactly a year later on 17 Mar 1709. I don't know if there were really two infants or if one of the records has the wrong year. Certainly there was an Anna Margaretha Sohn who married Johann Jakob Engel, son of Johann Philip Engel, in Freinsheim on 12 Nov 1748;
• Anna Katherina christened 03 Jul 1712. She married Johannes Ferckel, son of Johann Nicolai Ferckel, in Freinsheim on 15 Oct 1736. Johannes was a brickmaker by trade. They had one daughter, Elisabeth, born 04 Jul 1737 and christened 07 Jul 1737. Anna Katherina died in Freinsheim on 02 Dec 1743. Johannes subsequently married Anna Elisabetha Schantz on 22 Sep 1744. She was the daughter of Conradt Schantz and Anna Catharina Rasp and, as far as I can tell, no direct relation to the Simon Schantz mentioned above; and
• Valentin. The Verbandsgemeinde Freinsheim records list two Valentins, one christened 09 May 1715 and one born 09 Jun 1715. However, according to the church records there was a Valentin Sohn christened 09 Jun 1715, which sounds to me as if the 09 May 1715 date is in error. Valentin died in Freinsheim on 24 Aug 1719.

We're not quite done yet. I think there might be one more possible child of Christoph Sohn and Anna Margaretha. On 03 May 1711 Conradt Sohn, son of "Christofel" Sohn, married Maria Anna Seebaldt, daughter on Bernhardt Seebaldt, in Freinsheim. Based on typical marriage ages at the time, I don't think Conradt could have been born later than 1693 or thereabouts. I haven't been able to find a birth record for him, nor have I been able to find birth records for any children born to him and Maria Anna.

The mother of this crew, Anna Margaretha, died in Freinsheim on 28 Dec 1719. Her husband Christoph died in Freinsheim on 13 Oct 1737.

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.