The Werner Family of Freinsheim

Anna Christine and Hans Jakob Werner

Hans or Johann Jakob Werner was born in or around 1671 in the Pfalz, possibly in Freinsheim. The record I received from the Verbandsgemeinde Freinsheim says that he was a "Gerichtsverw." Gerichts means a court of law. Gerichtsverw. is probably an abbreviation for Gerichtsverwandter, meaning a juror or a member of a local law court.

On November 12, 1698, 14 months after the end of the Nine Years' War, Hans Jakob married Anna Christine, who'd been born in or around 1675. The marriage took place in the "evangelisch" church in Freinsheim. ("Evangelisch" here doesn't mean evangelical in the North American sense. It's a more general synonym for Protestant.)

I've been able to find 37 individuals with the last name Werner born in Freinsheim 1700-1853. Of these 32 individuals are or appear to be descendants of Hans Jakob and Anna Christine. (Click here to read more about the other five.)

The couple had ten children, all born in Freinsheim. Their four youngest children died when quite young. Note that the children's birth years span the War of the Spanish Succession:

• Johann Ambrosius born 27 Sep 1700, christened 03 Oct 1700;
• Anna Catharina born 13 Jul 1702, christened 16 Jul 1702. Probably the Anna Catharina Werner, daughter of Jacob Werner, who married Johann Henrich Osswald in Freinsheim 03 Dec 1720. The couple had three children. Their daughter Catharina Magdalena married Johann Jacob Hohl;
• Anna Margaretha christened 10 Aug 1704;
• Johann Jakob christened 17 Nov 1706. See below for more information;
• Anna Maria christened 30 Dec 1708. On 17 May 1729 she married Johannes Drussel in Freinsheim. They settled in Bad Dürkheim - was Johannes from there? - where they had seven children. (Bad Dürkheim is 7 km SW of Freinsheim);
• Katherina Elisabeth christened 01 Nov 1711. On 09 Apr 1730 she married a cooper named Johann Peter Weilbrunner or Weilbrenner in Freinsheim. Katherina Elisabeth died and was buried in Freinsheim on 25 May 1791;
• Maria Christina christened 08 Jul 1714. She died in Freinsheim on 28 Jul 1717;
• Maria Sophia christened 11 Oct 1716. She died in Freinsheim on 08 Aug 1717;
• Susanna christened 04 Nov 1718. She died in Freinsheim on 11 Mar 1719; and
• Maria Sophia christened 04 Nov 1718, thus after the first Maria Sophia's death. The recycling of deceased siblings' names was not unusual at the time. The second Maria Sophia died in Freinsheim on 16 Apr 1720.

Hans Jakob died in Freinsheim on 03 Apr 1732. Anna Christine survived him by eight years. She died and was buried in Freinsheim on 25 Feb 1740.

Anna Gertraud Reck and Johann Jakob Werner

Johann Jakob Werner married Anna Gertraud Reck in Freinsheim on 03 Feb 1733. Anna was the daughter of Hans Jakob Reck and Susanna Messinger, christened in Freinsheim on 26 Jun 1707. They had seven children, all born in Freinsheim. Four died young:

• Johannes born 09 Apr 1734, christened 15 Apr 1734. See below for more information;
• Johann Peter born 12 Feb 1736, christened 19 Feb 1736. He died in Freinsheim on 05 Mar 1737;
• Georg Daniel born 04 Oct 1739, christened 11 Oct 1739. He was a soldier. He married Maria Gertrud Klump sometime after ("nach") 1764. Maria Gertrud may have been Catholic, as the couple had two children baptized at the Catholic church in Freinsheim, Johannes Adamus on 09 Jul 1764 and Elisabetha Cath[erina?] on 28 Feb 1766;
• Susanna Margaretha born 01 Jan 1743, christened 06 Jan 1743. She died in Freinsheim on 01 Mar 1744;
• Rosina Catharina born 20 Nov 1744, christened 22 Nov 1744. She died in Freinsheim on 07 Oct 1746;
• Johann Jakob born 24 Jul 1746, christened 31 Jul 1746; and
• Johann Adam born 20 Jul 1748, christened 21 Jul 1748. He died in Freinsheim on 02 Sep 1751.

Anna Gertraud died and was buried in Freinsheim on 24 May 1764. Her husband Johann Jakob died and was buried in Freinsheim on 28 Aug 1778.

Anna Barbara and Johannes Werner

Johannes Werner married Anna Barbara some time before 1774. I don't know her last name or where she was born, only that she was born some time before 1754. They had seven children, at least six of whom were born in Freinsheim. Three died relatively young, one five days after birth, one (I think) at the age of eight and one at 15:

• Anna Maria born 04 Apr 1774, christened 05 Apr 1774. On 04 Feb 1794 she married Christian Friedrich in Freinsheim. A legal notice published 14 Dec 1819 and included in volume 2 of Intelligenz des Rheinkreises refers to Christian as a Handelsmann, a merchant. The notice had to do with a complaint regarding Gütertrennung, separation of property within a marriage. Anna Maria was the plaintiff, but the details eluded me. Anna Maria and Christian may possibly have been the parents of Barbara Friedrich;
• Johann Jakob born 18 Jul 1777, christened 19 Jul 1777;
• Georg Daniel born 12 Nov 1779, christened 13 Nov 1779. He died and was buried in Freinsheim on 11 Aug 1794;
• Anna Elisabetha born 24 Jul 1782, christened 25 Jul 1782;
• Georg Franz listed in the Verbandsgemeinde Freinsheim records as being born before 1791, with some uncertainty as to his birth place. I suspect that this is the Georg Franz Werner, son of Johannes Werner and Anna Barbara, who was christened in Erpolzheim on 03 Jul 1785. Erpolzheim is about 2 km SSE of Freinsheim. "Our" Georg Franz died and was buried in Freinsheim on 17 May 1793;
• Maria Barbara born 30 Nov 1789, christened 01 Dec 1789. She died and was buried in Freinsheim on 05 Dec 1789; and
• Barbara born 10 Jan 1793, christened 11 Jan 1793.

I don't have death or burial dates for either Johannes or Anna Barbara.

In 1792, some months before the birth of Johannes and Anna Barbara's youngest daughter, the French Revolutionary Army of the Rhine invaded. That changed things in the Palatinate and in Freinsheim.

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.