Amanuensis Monday: Barbara THINES’ death certificate

On 9 June 1890, Peter STROESSER, accompanied by his neighbor Johann PUNSCH, appeared before the Burgermeister for the sad task of reporting the death of his wife. Barbara THINES had passed away the previous evening, leaving Peter alone to raise their six children, ranging in age from five to sixteen.

This image has been trimmed from the original at FamilySearch.

Transcription (the italicized parts were handwritten on the record):

Im Jahre tausend acht hundert neunzig den neunten

des Monats Juni um fünf Uhr vor mittags sind vor Uns

Glesener Michel, Bürgermeister, Beamten des Civilstandes

der Gemeinde Folscheid , im Kanton Redingen , Großherzog=

thum Luxemburg, erschienen Stroesser Peter, Eisenhändler,

alt fünfzig fünf Jahre, Ehemann der Verstorbenen,

wohnhaft zu Schwiedelbruch

und Punsch Johann, , alt vierzig fünf Jahre,

Handarbeiter, wohnhaft zu Schwiedelbruch,

Nachbar der Verstorbenen.

Diese haben Uns erklärt, daß Thinnes Barbara

alt vierzig fünf Jahre, Haushälterin,

geboren zu Helzingen , wohnhaft zu Schwiedel=

bruch; Ehefrau des Erst=deklaranten Stroesser

Peter;

verschieden ist gestern um acht Uhr nach mittags,

zu Schwiedelbruch,

und haben beide Anzeiger gegenwärtige Urkunde, nachdem sie ihnen vorgelesen worden,

mit Uns unterschrieben.

Line by line Translation:

In the Year one thousand eight hundred ninety, the ninth

of the Month of June at five o’clock before noon have before Us

Glesener Michel, Burgermeister, Officials of the Civil State

of the Commune of Folschette , in the Canton Redange , Grand-

duchy of Luxembourg, appeared Stroesser Peter, Ironmonger,

aged fifty five Years, Husband of the Deceased,

residing in Schwiedelbrouch

and Punsch Johann, , aged forty five Years,

Manual Laborer residing in Schwiedelbrouch,

Neighbor of the Deceased.

This has been declared to Us, that Thinnes Barbara

aged forty five Years, Housekeeper,

born in Hachiville , residing in Schwiedel-

brouch; Wife of the First-declarer Stroesser

Peter;

deceased is yesterday at eight o’clock after noon,

in Schwiedelbrouch,

and have both Informants the present deed, having been read to them,

with Us signed.

Source:

Folschette, Redange, Luxembourg, death certificate no. 28 (1890), Barbara Thinnes; digital image #135 of 142, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, "Décès 1879-1889," FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 21 Nov 2014).

Amanuensis Monday: Peter STROESSER and Barbara THINES’ marriage certificate

Helzerklaus, the hermitage chapel
Johnny Chicago at lb.wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Not far outside the village of Hachiville stands a little hermitage chapel dedicated to St. Thomas. The ancient whitewashed building, known to the locals as Helzer Klaus, is tucked snugly among the trees, and a mineral spring ripples narby. Since the Middle Ages it has stood in its grove and witnessed pilgrimages, processions, and a few less pious rituals. For through the years curious young people surely have attempted to divine the identity of their future mates by following the dictates of tradition: thrice circling the hermitage unseen, twice beating their heads against a birch, then jumping barefoot into the stream. Following this interesting formula, popular belief claims the young person could hear the name of their spouse in the bubbling of the brook.

If during her young maidenhood Barbara THINES ever slipped away to that lonely grove and performed the magic rites, and if they were successful, the name she would have heard the creek whisper was “Peter.”

She and Peter STROESSER, a blacksmith living in Heispelt, were married on 4 Aug 1871, when Peter was 37 and Barbara was 27.

This image has been trimmed from the original at FamilySearch.

Transcription (the italicized parts were handwritten on the record):

Im Jahre tausend achthundert ein und siebenzig, den neunten des Monats August

um Drei Uhr Nach mittags, sind vor Uns Wilhelm Jacques

Bürgermeister Beamten des Civilstandes der Gemeinde Wahl

im Kanton Redingen im Großherzogthum Luxemburg, erschienen Stroesser

Peter Huffschmied, alt dreißig sieben Jahre, geboren zu

Ettelbruck, den vierten Juni achtzehn hundert

vier und dreißig wohnhaft zu Heispelt im Dieser

Gemeinde. groß jähriger Sohn des zu gesagten Heispelt am

zehnten April, achtzehn hundart sechzig, verschiedenen Peter Stroesser und

der hier gegenwärtig und in diese Heirath einwilligenden Anna Maria

Mertz Haushalterin wohnhaft zu Heispelt einer=Vorstehendes erhellt

aus beiliegendem Aus zug aus dem Civilregister der Gemeinde Ettelbruck

und aus dem Civil=Register dieser Gemeinde

und Barbara Thines, ohne Stand, alt zwanzig sieben Jahre

geboren zu Heltzingen den

fünften Mai achtzehn hundert vier und vierzig wohnhaft

– groß jährige Zochter

der hier gegenwartigen und in diese Heirath einwilligenden

Michel Thines und Anna Maria Schmidt, Ehe= und Ackersleute

wohnhaft zu Heltzingen andrerseits. Vorstehendes Geburts=Daten

erhellt aus beiliegendem Aus zug aus dem Civil=Register Per Geburts=

Urkunden der Gemeinde Heltzingen

Welche uns ersucht haben, zu der unter ihnen übereingekommenen Vollziehung ihrer Heirath zu schreiten und dere Verkündigungen vor

den Gemein den Häusern von Wahl und Heltzingen ein den

Sonntagen neunten und sechzehnten des verflossenen Monats

Juli um die Mittagsstunde

Statt gehabt haben.

Da und kein Widerspruch gegen gedachte Heirath verkündet worden ist, so lassen wir ihrem Begehren Recht widerfahren; und nachdem wir alle

obenerwähnten Akten und das 6. Kapitel des Civil=Gesetzbuches, von der Heirath betitelt, vorgelesen, haben wir den Bräutigam und die Braut

gefragt, ob sie sich zum Mann und zur Frau nehmen wollen; de beide, jedes besonders und bejahend, geantwortet haben, so erklären wir im Namen

des Gesetzes, daß Peter Stroesser und Barbara Thines

durch die Heirath vereinigt sind

Von allem diesem haben wir diese Urkunde errichtet, und zwar in Gegenwart des Jacques

Nicolas Ackerer alt zwanzig sieben Jahre,

wohnhaft zu Wahl, nicht verwandt,

Des Jacques Franz, Ackerer alt sechzig ein Jahre,

wohnhaft zu Arsdorff, nicht verwandt

Des Jacques Falentin Ackerer alt sechzig Jahre,

wohnhaft zu Wahl, nicht verwandt,

Und des Becker Leonard, Schuster alt dreißig zwei Jahre,

wohnhaft zu Wahl, nicht verwandt

Welche, nachdem sie ihnen vorgelesen worden ist, dieselbe mit uns unterschrieben haben. Mit—

Aus nich ein der Mutter der Braut und der, des Bräutigams

die sich ein Schreiben (erklärt) lese, unerfahren erklärt haben.

Line by line Translation:

In the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy one, the ninth of the Month of August

at Three O’Clock After noon, before Us Wilhelm Jacques

Burgermeister Officials of the Civil State of the Commune of Wahl

in the Canton of Redange in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, appeared Stroesser

Peter Blacksmith, age thirty seven Years, born in

Ettelbruck, on the fourth of June eighteen hundred

thirty four residing in Heispelt in This

Commune of age Son of the aforesaid Heispelt on the

tenth of April, eighteen hundred sixty, distinct Peter Stroesser and

the currently present and in this Marriage consenting Anna Maria

Mertz Housekeeper residing in Heispelt single-Above evident

from enclosed extract from the Civil Registry of the Commune of Ettelbruck

and of the Civil-Register of this Commune

and Barbara Thines, without Occupation, age twenty seven Years

born in Hachiville on the

fifth of May eighteen hundred forty four residing

– of age Daughter

the currently present and in this Marriage consenting

Michel Thines and Anna Maria Schmidt, Married- and Farmer couple

residing in Hachiville on the other hand. The foregoing Birth-Dates

evident from the enclosed extract of the Civil-Register By Birth-

Deeds of the Commune of Hachiville

Which have requested us, to proceed to the Completion of their Marriage and particular Announcements as agreed among them before

the Common Houses of Wahl and Hachiville on the

Sundays the ninth and sixteenth of the past Month

July at Noon

Have been held.

Since no contradiction to the intended marriage has been announced, we can honor their desire; and after we all

the above document and the 6^th chapter of the Civil Code, of the Marriage titled, read, we have the Groom and the Bride

questioned, whether it be that they want to take one another for Man and Wife; because both, each particularly and affirming, have responded, as we explained in the Name

of the Law, that Peter Stroesser and Barbara Thines

are united in Marriage.

From all this we have made this Certificate, and in the Presence of Jacques

Nicolas Farmer age twenty seven Years,

residing in Wahl, not related,

Of Jacques Franz, Farmer age sixty one Years,

residing in Arsdorf, not related

Of Jacques Falentin Farmer age sixty Years,

residing in Wahl, not related,

And of Becker Leonard, Cobbler age thirty two Years,

residing in Wahl, not related

Who, after having it read to them, have undersigned. With—

Not from the Mother of the Bride and which, the Groom

which a letter (declared) reading, have declared inexperienced.

(Those last couple of handwritten lines have proved confusing to me; the clumsy translation above is the best I have been able to manage. If you have a better understanding of what is being said, please enlighten me!)

This marriage produced eight children, whose vital records—or at least the ones produced in Luxembourg—have already been presented:

1. Michel “Mike” STROESSER (1873-1937)

m. Regina STOMP (1898)

2. Baltasar STROESSER (1875-1939)

m. Anna KAYSER (1907)

3. Anna STROESSER (1876-1946)

m. Peter HEYMANS (1898)

4. Johann “Harry” STROESSER (1878-1964)

m. Mary Josephine CRAIG (1915)

5. Johann-Nicolas “Nick” STROESSER (1880-?)

m. Rosa FRANKS (1915)

6. Johann STROESSER (1881-1882)

7. Catharina STROESSER (1883-1884)

8. Clara STROESSER (1885-1921)

m. Nicholas FANCK (1905)

Sources:

“Hachiville, Paroisse Et Ancienne Commune.” Luxroots. Web. Accessed 29 Oct 2012. (In French.)

“Luxemburg: Volksglauben International.” Wandermagazin. W&A Marketing & Verlag GmbH, Mar.-Apr. 2008. Web. Accessed 29 Oct 2012. (In German.)

Wahl, Redange, Luxembourg marriage certificate (1871), Stroesser-Thines; digital image #1145 of 1475, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, “Naissances 1867-1890 Mariages 1796-1797, 1800-1804, 1805-1823, 1796-1803, 1805-1890 Décès 1797-1803, 1805-1828,” FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 14 Apr 2011).

Amanuensis Monday: Barbara THINES’ birth certificate

Since there are still so many records to present in my Luxembourg record project, I think it good policy to post two at a time whenever possible. Therefore, today will see the birth of both my great-great-grandparents, Peter STROESSER and Barbara THINES.

I have already summarized the life of my great-great grandmother Barbara THINES, but as this project is intended more as a presentation of my sources, here is her birth certificate.

This image has been trimmed from the original at FamilySearch.

 

Transcription (the italicized parts were handwritten on the record):

Im Jahre tausend achthundert vier und vierzig, den sechsten Tag des

Monats Maÿ , um zwei Uhr des Nachtmittags ist,

vor uns Jean francois Laporte Burgemeister , Beamter des Civilstandes des Gemeinde

von Heltzingen , Kanton von Clerff , im Groß=Herzogthum

Lutzemburg, erschienen Michel Thines oder Theines Ackerer wohnhaft zu Heltzingen

alt dreyßig sieben Jahre, vater des Kindes

wohnhaft in dieser Gemeinde, welcher uns erklart hat dass seine ehfrau anne marie

Schmidt ohnegewerb alt dreyßig sechs Jahre wohnhaft zu Heltzingen, gestern

um eilf Uhr des vormittags ein Kind gebohren hat vom weiblichen

geschlecht und welches er uns vengezeigt hat.

und welchem er des Vornamen Barbara

geben zu wollen erklärt hat.

Welche Erklärung und Vorstellung in Gegenwart des Phillippe schmitz Ackerer,

alt vierzig drei Jahre, vun Weiler

und des Peter Thull feldhuter, alt vierzig vier

Jahre, von Hoffelt die in dieser Gemeinde wohnhaft sind, Statt gehabt haben;

und haben zeugen mit dem vater und mit mir

den gegenwärtigen Geburts=Akt, nachdem er ihnen vorher vorgelesen worden ist, mit uns unterschrieben.

Line by line Translation:

In the Year one thousand eight hundred and forty-four, the sixth Day of the

Month of May at two o'clock in the Afternoon is

before us Jean francois Laporte Mayor Officials of the Civil State of the Commune

of Hachiville , Canton of Clervaux , in the Grand-Duchy

Luxembourg, appeared Michel Thines otherwise Theines Farmer residing in Hachiville

aged thirty-seven Years, father of the Child

residing in this Commune, which to us has declared that his wife anne marie

Schmidt without occupation aged thirty-six Years residing in Hachiville, yesterday

at eleven O’clock in the before-noon had a Child of the female

gender and which he has shown before us.

and which he the First Name Barbara

has declared to want to give.

Which Statement and Presentation in the Presence of Phillippe schmitz Farmer,

aged forty three Years, of Weiler

and Peter Thull field watchman, aged forty-four

Years, of Hoffelt residing in this Commune, Instead have had;

and have testified to the father and to me

the current Birth-Deed, after having been previously read to them, with us signed.

Source:

Hachiville, Clervaux, Luxembourg, birth certificate no. 8 (1844), Barbara Thines; digital image #131, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, “Naissances 1828-1844,” FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 27 Jun 2010).

Mathernus Thines: A Chronology

As the days go by, and the weeks, I begin to realize that I have too long been silent here, not even keeping up with my regular task of transcribing Aunt Elsie’s manuscript. My mood lately has not been for transcription, and my recent research hasn’t coalesced into any sort of complete form, but still I have not been idle.

My thoughts for the past month or so have returned to the Luxembourg branch of my family tree, and specifically to the THINES family of Hachiville. I don’t know why that particular limb fascinates me when I have so many others to choose from: the STROESSER family of Heispelt and Ettelbruck—with whom I ought to be entranced because they were blacksmiths, a profession I have dreamed of following—or the MERTZ family of Keispelt, for example. But whatever the reason, it is the THINES family that most interests me at the moment.

I have been researching the man who seems to have founded my Hachiville branch, Mathernus THINES. In the multilingual and phonetic nature of the era’s records, his first name is alternately Materne, Matherne, Maternus, etc. and his surname sees variations such as THINNES, THIENES, THÜNES, or most surprisingly HANSEN. I have chosen the spelling “Mathernus THINES” because that is the way he consistently signed his name on documents, regardless of what the clerk may have written. That he wrote his own name is significant in a time when most of his contemporaries signed with a cross. I hope someday to discover the source and reason for his education.

As yet, I have not been able to put together much in the way of a life story for him, being ignorant of many of the social forces that formed him, but I have been putting together a rough chronology, which follows, with comments.

He was born about the year 1737 in or near the tiny village of Stockem, which is only about two miles from Hachiville. The name Mathernus derives from St. Materne, who is credited with Christianizing Alsace, but he was more likely named after his godfather in the Luxembourgish manner, who was in turn named after his godfather and so on until we finally reach one back in the mists of time who really was named for the saint. I do not mean to imply that St. Materne was the godfather of one of my relations, only that naming practices have undergone change and that the practice of naming a child after its godparent must have had its start at some point, and children received names in a different manner before that point.

The only document I have run across naming Mathernus’ parents is his death certificate. It names them as Nicolas THINES and Hanna THINES. Family trees at Rootsfinder and Deltgen also identify them as Nicolas THINES and Anna or Hanna.

Mathernus probably married his wife Anne Marie SCHMITZ in about 1760, basing my guess on the approximate birthdates of their children. The pair had three known children, all daughters: Marguerite, Anna Maria, and Susanna. Once again deferring to the genealogist at Rootsfinder, their dates of birth were about 1761, 1762, and 1765 respectively.

The earliest document in which I have seen the name of Mathernus THINES is the 1771 baptism of Joannes Maternus TOLLER, a son of Philippi TOLLER and Maria PEDERCH. The relationship between the TOLLERs and Mathernus THINES is unknown, but Mathernus served as the child’s godfather. He is identified as “Joes Maternus Thines ex Stockem”; the “Joes” is an abbreviation for Joannes. This record is the one and only time I have seen Mathernus’ name prefaced by Joannes. It also appears that he was still residing in Stockem at this time.

The next time he appears in the records, serving again as a godfather, is in 1775. This time he is identified as living in Hachiville. Once again his godchild is of unknown relationship: Maternus KOIL, the son of Hubert KOIL and Maria VILMES. However, Mathernus often appears on documents also containing the WILMES (VILMES) name. No doubt they were closely allied, at least by 1780. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Once again he appears as the godfather of a child of unknown relationship in 1776. This time the child is a girl, Anna BOURG, the daughter of Friderici BOURG and Susanna ETSCHET. 

When we arrive at 23 Jan 1780, we see the alliance of the WILMES and THINES families. Although I have accessed this marriage certificate and have a fair amount of experience in reading these old documents, I am no expert. At best I am a persistent amateur. But the irregularities in the document’s form combined with the difficult handwriting and foreign language have me stumped in this case. I can tell that it is a marriage record for Joannis WILHMS and Anna Maria THÜNES and that the groom’s parents are Henrici WILHMS and Elisabetha WELTERS. The bride’s parents appear to be Nicolai COOS and Anna THÜNES, but the additional words before the introduction of their names make me question that. The witnesses to the ceremony are Mathernus THINES (in this case called Materni THÜNES) and Nicolai SCHMITZ. All indications regarding the closeness of the two families would suggest that the bride is Mathernus’ sister, however if that is so, there is a fairly considerable age difference. Mathernus would have been about 43 years old, and Anna Maria, although the record does not explicitly state it, was clearly of childbearing age, as subsequent records prove. She gave birth up until twelve years after this marriage. I would guess her to be at least ten years younger than her possible brother. The tree at Deltgen bears out this hypothesis. Incidentally, Nicolai SCHMITZ may be my 5great-grandfather through a nearby twig on the family tree.

 

Just over a year later, on 4 Feb 1781, Mathernus attended another wedding, but this time as the father of the bride. His daughter Anna Maria married Henricus Josephus HERMAN. Oddly, she is not named on the certificate except where she made her mark at the bottom. Evidently she did not have the benefit of her father’s education.

A few months after that, on 5 Apr 1781, Mathernus served as the godfather for what was possibly his niece, the daughter of “Joannis WILLEM” and “Annee Maria THINUS.” Her name was Elisabeta.

On 3 Jan 1785, his daughter Susanna married Henricus KILLEN. This is the record in which we learn of the HANSEN alias. Surnames were still in flux, and often people would take on the name of the house they occupied, so it was not unusual to find a person recorded in multiple ways. Fortunately, the documents sometimes identified them using both surnames, separated by “modo,” “sive,” or “alias.” In this case, the bride is identified as “Susanna HANSEN,” whereas her father is called “Materni THINES modo HANSEN.” Unfortunately, I did not make this discovery until after going through all the earlier records, and may have missed some in the process by not knowing that the HANSEN name was relevant. I have not yet reviewed them to see if there are any that I missed.

Later that year, on 17 Oct, Mathernus served as a witness at the wedding of Michael PATZ and Anna Maria KAISERS. This is another case of unknown connection. Since this is a wedding rather than a baptism, it seems more possible that they may have just been friends and not related. I may be wrong, but it seems that baptisms generally required a relative to act as sponsor. In marriages I have frequently seen a witness described as an acquaintance.

About two weeks after the wedding, on 29 Oct 1785, Mathernus became the godfather for what may very well have been his first grandson. The child, unsurprisingly named Maternus, was the son of Joseph HERMAN and Anna Maria THINES, or, as she is styled in the record, THIENES. The child was the second born to the couple, the first one being a girl named Margaritha, born two years previous. Her grandfather Mathernus was surely present at her baptism, but, not being a sponsor, he does not appear on the record.

10 Feb 1787 saw the baptism of Anna Maria WILMES, the daughter of Joannes WILMES and Anna Maria THINES (THIENES in this record), and therefore possibly Mathernus’ niece. The official godfather of the child was someone named Simon THIENES of “Stockheim,” that is, Stockem, but apparently he was unable to be there. Mathernus stood in for him. Working on the theory that Anna Maria THINES was Mathernus’ sister, Simon becomes another candidate for a sibling. The circumstantial evidence is consistent with probability; Simon is described as being born and still residing in Stockem.

The last of Mathernus’ known daughters from his marriage to Anna Maria SCHMITZ, Margareta, was married to Joannes RATHS on 30 Dec 1787.

By 1789, Mathernus’ son-in-law Henricus KILLEN has apparently begun to prefer his alternate surname of SCHMITZ. He appears in his son’s baptismal record using only that name, and it is not until the birth of his next child in 1791 that we see the telltale “modo” verifying that it is indeed the same man. Henricus’ and Susanna’s 1789 son is named Maternus SCHMITZ, and it is obvious just by glancing at his Christian name who his godfather was.

Mathernus sponsored another grandchild on 15 July 1790, this time the daughter of Joannis RATZ (RATHS) and Margaretha THINES. The child’s name was Anna Chatarina. I wonder if the birth was a difficult one, because the mother passed away only two months later, on 30 Sept.

Mathernus’ wife Anne Marie SCHMITZ passed away at some point after 1765, although I have seen no record to pinpoint just when. Mathernus was now about 53 years old, his daughters all married and one buried at the Hachiville Cemetery, so apparently the time was right to begin another family. Anne Catherine CREMER (or CREMERS, as she appears in the marriage record) was more than twenty years his junior—in fact not much older than his daughter Margaretha, had she lived—and the two of them founded the branch of the THINES family from which I am descended.

The marriage is one on which I wish I could shed some light. The great age difference makes me curious as to what kind of feelings they had for one another. Although one does occasionally see great age disparities in the marriage records, the vast majority of marriages took place between couples more nearly matched. What sort of pressures might there have been both for and against the marriage? I want, above all, to know if it was a love-match, but no amount of research is likely ever to yield that answer.

What I do know is that they were married on 18 Nov 1790 in Anna Catherine’s hometown of Basbellain. Basbellain, like Hachiville, was the seat of the commune of the same name. (Both communes have since been reorganized: Hachiville into Wincrange and Basbellain into Troisvierges.) It is about four and a half miles from Hachiville, and is one of those unusual towns whose names in the three local languages bear no resemblance to one another. In French it is called Basbellain, but in German it is known as Niederbesslingen, and in Luxembourgish it is Kiirchen. All three names appear in the records. The bride’s parents are identified as Joannis CREMERS and Barbara SCHLEIDGES, but the groom’s parents go unidentified, presumably because of his age.

Their first daughter, Anna Maria, was born shortly after their first anniversary, on 25 Nov 1791. Her godmother was “Anna Maria THINES ex Helzingen,” which could refer to her possible aunt, the wife of Joannes WILMES. The “ex Helzingen” means only that she was residing in Hachiville at the time, not that she was necessarily born there. If we could be sure that this is the same Anna Maria THINES, it would be another layer of circumstantial evidence to indicate that she and Mathernus were siblings. However, since only the name and place of residence are indicated, it could also refer to Mathernus’ daughter Anna Maria from his first marriage. The child’s godfather was Nicolas CREMERS of Kirchen (Basbellain), who I presume to be an uncle on her mother’s side. I will leave that research to another time.

On 13 Oct 1792 the WILMES household makes another appearance in Mathernus’ timeline. This time he is the godfather of their daughter Elisabetha.

Mathernus’ and Anne Catherine’s second child, Anna Chatarina, was baptized on 10 Aug 1793. This time both the sponsors were from the CREMERS side of the family, which will be of interest when I get around to researching that part of the tree, but says nothing about the THINES family.

The next four children appear in the trees at Rootsfinder and Deltgen, but I have not yet seen the original documents. According to those trees, Elisabeth or Elise came next, born on 14 Aug 1795, followed by Susanne on 20 Sept 1797, a stillbirth on 7 Aug 1798, and Jean on either 17 or 19 Feb 1800.

In 1795, Luxembourg came under the rule of the newly formed French Republic, and within the following years eventually became obliged to follow its decrees, including the establishment of a new calendar. The French Republican calendar was a metric calendar, believe it or not, with ten days in a week. Thus, the records from this time seem to have the most extraordinary dates. The next child for which I have a birth certificate—and now they really are birth certificates in the modern sense, not baptismal records—was Nicolas, born on 23 Messidor X. Years in the French Republican calendar are conventionally written in Roman numerals, and are dated from the proclamation of the French Republic. This particular date translates to 12 July 1802. The text regarding the parents and witnesses begins to be very informative to genealogists. On this certificate, the text regarding Mathernus translates to “Mathernus Thines born in Stockem and residing in Hachiville aged sixty-four years, farmer.” Henceforward we will seldom have any doubt as to just whom any record refers.

On 15 Prairial XI (4 June 1803), Mathernus witnessed for the birth of Margretha SCHMITZ, the daughter of Michel SCHMITZ and Anna Maria GLOT alias JEAN PIERRE. Given the name of the child, we can deduce that in addition to being his witness in civil records, our Mathernus was also his godfather. Just what relationship the two families bore one another is unknown, but I suspect that Michel was some sort of relative to Mathernus’ first wife. There is, of course, the added possibility that Michel was a relative of Mathernus’ son-in-law Henricus KILLEN alias SCHMITZ, but the first possibility appears to be much more likely in my opinion. Naturally, there is always the possibility of coincidence, given the commonness of the name, but standing as a sponsor for a child’s baptism does seem to imply some sort of familial relationship.

Mathernus and Anne Catherine had their next child, Anna Margretha, on 14 Thermidor XII (2 Aug 1804). At the end of the following year, much to the relief of confused genealogists, the government of the French Republic abandoned their experiment with a metric calendar and reverted to the familiar Gregorian calendar.

In 1806, Mathernus was a witness on several birth records. First, on 20 Apr 1806, for  Catharina GRAIMAN, the daughter of Jean GRAIMAN and Margretha BREŸER; second, on 6 May 1806, for Mathernus SCHMITZ, the son of Michel SCHMITZ and Marie JEAN PIERRE; and third, on 10 Oct 1806, for Jean Pierre STEMPELS, the son of Nicolas STEMPELS and Lisabetha MERTENS. The GRAIMAN, BREŸER, STEMPELS, and MERTENS surnames are unfamiliar in their relationship to the THINES family, but SCHMITZ has clearly been seen before.

Near the end of that year, on 16 Dec 1806 to be exact, Anne Catherine gave birth to the couple’s last child: Michel. This is the child from whom I am descended, and the father of Barbara THINES mentioned in a previouspost. Mathernus was, at the time of the birth of this final son, sixty-nine years old.

Here I have a ten-year gap in the chronology. It takes a great deal of time and effort to go page by page through the record books, and I have not completed the task. The next record I have that concerns Mathernus is the record of his death.

He died at 10 p.m. on 26 Mar 1816 in his house called Hansen. He was seventy-nine years old. His death was reported to the authorities the following day by Pierre ZEIMES and Jean Pierre WENER. Pierre ZEIMES was his son-in-law, having married his daughter, the second Anna Maria THINES, on 23 Dec 1811. Jean Pierre WENER is identified as a neighbor of the deceased.

Here, of course, ends the chronology. It does not give us much of a picture of Mathernus as a person, but it is something to build upon. I often make these chronologies for members of my family tree. They not only give a picture of a person’s migration (if any) and major life events, but they help to point out leads to other possible relationships and to highlight areas which require more research.

Sources:

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