|
a.
|
Note: [Tracy2.FTW] The Story of Hans Jacob Allwein The text written below is information that I have seen from various Allwein/Alwine researchers during the course of my research. My disclaimer: I have not personally seen documentation of any of this information. Hans Jacob Allwein was born April 16, 1719 of a Mennonite family who moved from France (Alsace Lorraine) to Germany because of religious persecution. The family was granted asylum by the King of Wittgenstein, Germany, and they worked for him while living in Schwarzenau. At age 22, Hans Jacob left home with his shoe last and hammer and walked 60 miles to the Rhine River. He floated to Rotterdam and embarked for America on the ship "St. Andrew," under the command of Capt. Charles Stedman, with 103 men, 60 women and 60 children. They stopped in Plymouth, England to take on provisions and water, then sailed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, arriving on September 2, 1741. He lived in Berks County, Pa, and married Katrina (maiden name unknown). Hans, who went by the name Jacob, died in 1781; Katrina in 1790. The following was taken from Vol. XVI and New Series Vol. II, Part 2 of COLONIAL & REVOLUTIONARY FAMILIES OF PENNSYLVANIA, pages 555 & 556: The name Alwein is of great antiquity in the Netherlands where it was found spelled as Alewijn or Halewijn. The meaning is, literally, "ale-wine," and the original bearers were probably the owners of large vineyards or vintners, a profession highly esteemed in old and modern times. Bearers of the name held positions in the courts of the Holland nobility. Gerrit Alewijn was in charge of munitions under Willem III, Count of Holland, in 1332, and was appointed to the same post in 1342 under Willem IV. Jan Alewijn was a schepen, or magistrate, in Amsterdam in 1405 and another of the same name was a councillor in 1469 under Karl the Bold. Diedrick "de Halevin alias Alewijn" was made a knight by the French King, Francis I, at Pavia, in 1525. His grandson, of the same name, who was born in 1574, and died in Amsterdam in 1637, received a large estate in Beemster, thirteen miles north of Amsterdam. Many persons of the name served as burgomasters in their localities. Mr. William Alewijn of Amsterdam, born 1769, died 1835, was granted a coat of arms in 1815. Jacob Alewijn was mint-master in Zutphen, in the province of Gelderland, near Arnhern, and died in Harder, a locality about thiry miles east of Amsterdam, May 26, 1606. His name indicates that he may have been the progenitor of the family whose records follow: (J.B. Rietstap: "Wapenboek van den Nederlandischen Adel," Vol I, pp 6, 7. A.A. Vorsterman Van Oyen: "Stamen-Wapenboek van Aanzienlijke Nederlandischen Familien," Vol 1, p 7.) Hans Jacob Alwein, or Alwine as the name appears in early Pennsylvania records, was probably a descendant of Jacob Alewijn, a mint-master in Zutphen, as above mentioned. Hans Jacob Alwein was born about 1719 and died in Berks County, Pennsylvania; at an unknown date, he emigrated to Pennsylvania in the ship "St. Andrew" sailing from Rotterdam, and took the oath of allegiance required of foreigners in Philadelphia, October 2, 1741, being then twenty-two years old. April 24, 1748, Jacob Alwein, probably identical with Hans Jacob Alwein, above mentioned, and his wife, brought a son to be baptized at Hohn's Church, Heidelberg Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. The son's name was recorded as "Alwein" in the church records. (Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Vol V, p. 54. "Records of Hohn's Church." W.H. Egle: "Names of Foreigners Who Took the Oath of Allegiance to the Province and State of Pennsylvania 1725-75," p. 213) In the book, "Pennsylvania German Pioneers," by Ralph Beaver Strassburger (a book that published passenger lists from ships which arrived in Philadelphia, PA between the years of 1727 and 1775, primarily from the Palatinate), there is a Hans Jacob Alwine, age 22, listed on the ship roster for the ship "St. Andrew", which arrived in Philadelphia and was qualified on October 2, 1741. The ship, captained by Charles Stedman, sailed from Rotterdam. I do believe that this is our immigrant ancestor. I have seen several pieces of information that indicate a possibility that Hans Jacob Allwein's family was Catholic, rather than Mennonite, and that they lived in Furfeld, rather than Schwarzenau. Only further research will shed light on this subject. There is so much more we need to find out about our immigrant ancestor. Please contact me (carfpaige@@aol.com) if you have any information which will corroborate, contradict, or add to, any of the above. German Origins of Johannes Jacob Alweins -- Part I Duane F. Alwin I recently returned from a trip to Germany where I looked up some baptismal records in the "Dom- und Diozesanarchiv" in Mainz. I was following up on a report passed along to me last year by Christine and Nancy written by a German researcher by the name of Helmut Schmahl (hereafter referred to as the Schmahl Report), which addressed the question of Hans Jacob Allwein's German ancestry. I was in e-mail contact with Christine before, during and after my trip and acknowledge her encouragement and guidance. The Schmahl Report, consisting of two parts, dated 16 March, 1989 and 19 May, 1989, was commissioned by a member of the Allwein/Allwine/Alwine family in America. It is an excellent piece of genealogical research. The report suggests that Hans Jacob Allwein (I spell the family name as it appears in the Berks County estate records) may have come from the northern Palatinate, specifically from Fuerfeld, a small farming village in what is today the Federal State of Rheinland-Pfalz, and that he was baptized in the Roman Catholic parish there. [see Endnote #1] In an effort to check the authenticity of this account I examined the available records in the archive of the Diocese of Mainz. The Schmahl Report indicated that the Mainz archive holds among other things the original church books for two towns in the northern Palatinate, namely Frei Laubersheim and Fuerfeld, which are now part of the diocese of Mainz. These church books contain entries for the christening of a person, Johannes Jacob Aloenz (also spelled Alwentz and Alweins), who could be our common ancestor. [Endnote #2] The records are all written in Latin, but with the help of a trained archivist who translated the documents and who also provided considerable insight into their meaning, I was able to confirm the essential claims of the Schmahl Report. The villages of Frei Laubersheim and Fuerfeld, separated by a distance of about two kilometers, were served by the Benedictine order of the Roman Catholic church during the early 1700s. They were part of the same parish until about 1742, when a second parish was created at Fuerfeld. Baptisms that occurred in the town of Fuerfeld were kept in the Frei Laubersheim church book until the parish at Fuerfeld came into existence, at which time the Fuerfeld records for the earlier period were transcribed to the Fuerfeld church book. As a result, the baptisms of interest here appear in both books and for the most part contain identical information. According to both the Frei Laubersheim and Fuerfeld church books, two boys, "Jos (abbrev. for Johannes) Jacob Aloenz and Jos Nicolaus Aloenz, sons of the married couple Johannes and Maria Elizabetha Aloenz" were baptized on August 8, 1717 in Fuerfeld. [Endnote #3] There is no information given on their birth dates, nor an explanation of why there were two children baptized on the same day. Given high rates of infant mortality during those times, it was customary for parents to baptize their children almost immediately after they were born, so it may be that Johannes Jacob and Johannes Nicolaus were twins, although that is merely speculation. German Origins of Johannes Jacob Alweins -- Part II Duane F. Alwin According to the archivist in Mainz, Fuerfeld marriage entries begin in 1742, whereas those for Frei Laubersheim cover the years 1698-1707 and 1733-1761. There were no marriage records to be found for the parents Johannes and Maria Elizabetha Aloenz/Alwentz/Alweins in these church books, nor were there any further records for Johannes Jacob and Johannes Nicolaus. The exception is a marriage recorded on October 18, 1746 in Fuerfeld of "Johannes Alweins (son of Johannes and Maria Alweins) to Hanetta (abbrev. for Johanetta, the feminine counterpart to Johannes) Wehenkel (daughter of Peter and Catharina Wehenkel)," which might be Johannes Nicolaus. Except for the baptismal entries, there is no other mention of Johannes Jacob Alweins in these records. [Endnote #4] There are several different theories about the origins of Hans Jacob Allwein, our immigrant ancestor. One view is that he was the son of Mennonite parents and was born in Alsace-Lorraine in France, a German-speaking region on the eastern border of France with Germany. Another idea is that Hans Jacob originated from Munich, Bavaria. This view can be found in the notes of Monsignor Charles L. Allwein, noted church leader, family historian, and son of Jerome Allwein, an early family genealogist. Another view, sometimes coupled with other accounts, is that Hans Jacob Allwein immigrated to America from Schwarzenau, Germany. In fact someone has registered the name "Hans Jacob Alwine" with the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. on their "American Immigrant Wall of Honor [URL:http://www.ellisisland.org] certifying that he came to America from Schwarzenau, Germany. To my knowledge, there is little if any documentation for any of these theories, and they may rest as much on speculation as they do on available records. By contrast, I believe there is sufficient documentation in the Mainz Catholic archives to warrant serious consideration of the view that the Johannes Jacob Aloenz/Alwentz/Alweins listed in the Frei Laubersheim and Fuerfeld church books may be the same "Hans Jacob Alwine" who immigrated on the ship St. Andrew, which sailed from Rotterdam to the port of Philadelphia in October, 1741, and who settled in Bern Township of what would become Berks County, Pa. There are several things that are consistent with such a view. Obviously Hans is short for Johannes, so the names are the same. Rather than 1717, the date of birth of Johannes Jacob Alweins, many Allwein/Allwine/Alwine family genealogies give 1719 as the birth year of Hans Jacob Allwein. This is calculated from the age listed on the manifest of passengers on the St. Andrew, age 22. We do not know the actual source of this information, and there is considerable room for error in reports of age, even self-reports. This is certainly close enough, as he might just as easily have been 24 years of age (i.e. born in 1717). There is also no overlap in records such that the two names can be located in two different places at one time. There is also the fact that most if not all of Hans Jacob and Catharina Allwein's known children (Mary Elizabeth, John, Catharine, and Conrad) were Catholic, and except for the Mennonite descendants through Philip, son of Johannes (John) Allwein, virtually all of the first three or four generations of Allweins in America were Catholic. It is also interesting to note that Hans Jacob Allwein's eldest daughter was named "Mary Elisabeth" which is the same as the name of Johannes Jacob Alweins' mother, but this may just be a coincidence. These things do not offer proof of our claim, but they would lend support to other more convincing evidence of the timing and origin of Hans Jacob's immigration to America, such as might be found in German lists of legal emigration. Other German historical materials, like records of marriage, could also provide confirming support. There is more to the Schmahl Report, especially regarding the extended family of Johannes Alwentz/Alweins, the elder, father of Jos. Jacob, Jos. Nicolaus and Jos. Peter. His brother Johannes Peter Alwens, according the the Schmahl Report, was a merchant in Winnweiler and held an office in the Catholic church there in 1753. There is apparently considerable genealogical work that has been done on the Alwentz/Alwens family of Winnweiler and the Schmahl Report provides details on the origins of Johannes Peter Alwens, as well as several additional leads to follow. This all, of course, becomes of interest to us, only if Johannes Jacob Alweins is in fact our common ancestor. In any event, further research will be necessary to substantiate the claim advanced here that our ancester Hans Jacob Allwein is probably the same person who appears in the Fuerfeld and Frei Laubersheim baptismal records. Confirmation of this through the discovery of additional information, such as legal emigration lists, or marriage records, would take us much farther toward settling the issue of Hans Jacob Allwein's European origins and religious background. Endnotes 4. There are other baptisms recorded in the Fuerfeld church book beginning in August, 1741. Specifically, three children of Peter and Anna Eva Alweins, two children of Peter and Catharina (his 2nd wife) Alweins, three children of Georg and Maria Anna Alweins, and one child of Georg and Margaretha (his 2nd wife) Alweins. I do not know the origins of Georg Alweins, as I could find no baptismal records for him in the earlier period. One assumption that could be made is that he is a brother to Jacob, Nicolaus, and Peter, and that he was either baptized elsewhere or his baptism went unrecorded. Aloenz/Alwentz/Alweins Family Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths in the Fuerfeld Catholic Church Records Compiled by Duane F. Alwin May, 2001 August 8, 1717: Baptism of Johannes Jacob Aloenz, legitimate son (filius legitimus) of the married couple Johannes and Maria Elizabetha Aloenz in Fuerfeld. Witnessed by (Levantes) godparents Joh Jacob and Anna Maria Limbach from Woellstein, married couple. Baptized in Fuerfeld. August 8, 1717: Baptism of Johannes Nicolaus Aloenz, legitimate son (filius legitimus) of the married couple Johannes and Maria Elizabetha Aloenz in Fuerfeld. Witnessed by (Levantes) godparents Joh Nicolaus and Catharina Gatton from Winterborn. Baptized in Fuerfeld. May 5, 1720: Baptism of Johannes Petrus Alwentz, legitimate son (filius legitimus) of the married couple Johannes and Maria Elizabetha Alwentz in Fuerfeld. Witnessed by Johannes Petrus Alwentz from the province of Brabant and later a resident in Wynweyler (soluti ex Brabantia degentis in Wynweyler) and Johannes Jacobus Karsch from Fuerfeld. August 3, 1741: Baptism of Maria Barbara Alweins, legitimate daughter (filia legitima) of the married couple Peter and Anna Eva Alweins. Witnessed by (Levantes) godmother Maria Barbara Karst. October 29, 1742: Baptism of Catharina Alweins, legitimate daughter (filia legitima) of Georg and Maria Anna Alweins. Witnessed by (Levantes) godmother Catharina Wolf from Fuerfeld. October 13, 1743: Baptism of Anna Maria Alweins, legitimate daughter (filia legitima) of Georg and Maria Anna Alweins. Witnessed by (Levantes) godparents Anna Maria Karst from Fuerfeld and Mathias M|ller from Hausen. May 17, 1744: Baptism of Catharina Alweins, legitimate daughter (filia legitima) of Peter and Anna Eva Alweins. Witnessed by (Levantes) godparents Heinrich Lang and Catharina from Wendelsheim. May 25, 1746: Baptism of Maria Johannetta, legitimate daughter (filia legitima) of Peter and Anna Eva Alweins. Witnessed by (Levantes) godfather Johannes Alweins, brother of Peter, from Winnweyler and godmother Johanetta Wehenkel from Fuerfeld. July 17, 1746: Baptism of (unnamed) Alweins, son (filius legitimus) of Georg Alweins. October 18, 1746: Marriage of Johannes Alweins, son of Johannes and Maria Alweins, to Johanetta Wehenkel, daughter of Peter and Catharina Wehenkel. May 3, 1747: Death of Maria Anna Alweins, wife of George Alweins. September 22, 1747: Death of Anna Eva Alweins, wife of Peter Alweins. November 1, 1747: Marriage of Johann Georg Alweins, widower, to Margaretta Schreiber, widow. May 17, 1748: Marriage of Peter Alweins, widower, to Catharine Frank, widow. August 11, 1748: Baptism of Johanetta Alweins, legitimate daughter of the married couple Georg and Margaretha Alweins. Witnessed by (Levantes) godparents Johannes and Johanetta Alweins from Wonsheim. March 15, 1750: Baptism of (unnamed) Alweins, legitimate daughter (filia legitima) of the married couple Peter and Catharina Alweins. Witnessed by (Levantes) godmothers Maria Veit and Johanetta Alweins from Wonsheim. December 28, 1751: Baptism of Anna Margaretha Alweins, legitimate daughter (filia legitima) of the married couple Peter and Catharina Alweins. Witnessed by (Levantes) godparents Peter Pitz and his wife Anna Margaretta from Fuerfeld. May 10, 1764: Death of Margaretha Alweins, wife of Georg Alweins. November 2, 1765: Marriage of Georg Alweins, widower, to Elizabeth Raabe, widow from Marburg. Elizabeth was a member of the Reformed Church. May 6, 1771: Death of Elizabeth Raabe Alweins, recorded in the Lutheran church books for Fuerfeld. November 13, 1771: Marriage of Georg Alweins, widower, to Anna Maria Kailing, widow. April 25, 1772: Death of Maria Anna Alweins, wife of Georg. [Marital history: Maria Anna Martins married Carl Kailing from Neu Bamberg; after his death she married Georg Alweins]. Endnote In the German spelling of Furfeld there is an umlaut (two dots) over the u and it is conventional to write u-umlaut as "ue" when translating this to English in order to properly capture the correct pronunciation. Thus, I write it as Fuerfeld.
|
