concordia-memories.org Forum Index concordia-memories.org
Recalling Concordia's Past
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Peter Kappelmann’s Two Marriages

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    concordia-memories.org Forum Index -> Kappelman family
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
roger.pape
Site Admin


Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Posts: 414
Location: Liverpool, NY

PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:27 pm    Post subject: Peter Kappelmann’s Two Marriages Reply with quote

While digging through the old German church records from Borgholzhausen, I was puzzled by the two marriage entries for my great-great grandfather Peter Heinrich Kappelmann to Marie Elisabeth Beste(n), one on Dec. 5, 1830 and the second on Dec. 21, 1834. Excerpts of those two entries are shown below.

The parents of both the bride and groom are the same in both cases. [Peter’s father Johann Heinrich was sometimes also known as Peter Heinrich.] Peter’s date of birth is the same in both. Marie’s date of birth was two years earlier in the second entry but I had thought that that could be an error in the entry. [Note. One often finds an ‘n’ appended to surnames that end in the letter ‘e’, particularly for females. So the difference between ‘Beste’ and ‘Besten’ was not that unusual. The father’s name is spelled ‘Beste’ in both cases.]

I recently received some Kappelmann family history from Roger Morgan that shed some light on the issue. According to his records, the two brides were sisters. The older sister was named Marie Elisabeth and the younger sister was named Marie Elisabeth Franziren Charlotte. Apparently, the younger sister was called “Franziren Charlotte”, but on her marriage record she had her name listed as “Marie Elisabeth”. What I had overlooked was the column just before the brides name. That column in the records was used to indicate whether or not the groom was previously married. Usually, it contains the word “nein”. While it is difficult to read in the second entry, it says “ja, ??? ??? Tod ??? 1 Sept. 1834 ??? ??? ???: Marie Elisab. Beste”. The first wife had died on Sept. 1, 1834 and, by December of the same year, Peter had married the older sister. I rechecked the church records for 1834 but, for some unexplained reason, the younger sister’s death could not be found in those books.

Another interesting entry was found while searching through these church records. The birth of Catherine Wilhelmine Kappelmann is listed as Nov. 1, 1830, just one month before the wedding. The mother’s name is listed as Franziren Charlotte, while the father’s name is listed as Casper Heinrich (not Peter). The home of the parents is listed as Casum which was Peter's home town. Out-of-wedlock births were relatively common in those days such that the church records had a separate column to indicate whether the birth was legitimate or not. This entry had “ehelich”, i.e. legitimate. A person at the Family History Center told me that he had seen cases where the entry ‘illegitimate’ was crossed out and changed to ‘legitimate’ if the biological parents were married within a reasonable time after the birth. In this case, there was no cross-out; but I should note that the records I was looking at were labeled as Duplikat. These were duplicate copies of the original set of books made at the end of a year by the church for the state archives to serve as civil registrations. After Peter and Marie were married, the birth would have been deemed legitimate. When the records were transcribed, the final entry was probably used. Catherine Wilhelmine shows up in the 1845 Mississippi passenger ship manifest in the Peter Kappelmann family when they emigrated to the U.S.

So, was Peter’s first marriage a “shotgun wedding”? He was just under 21 years old at the time which was relatively young for a man to marry.



1830Kappelmann&Beste.jpg
 Description:
Peter Kappelmann's first marriage
 Filesize:  131.9 KB
 Viewed:  7004 Time(s)

1830Kappelmann&Beste.jpg



1834Kappelmann&Besten.jpg
 Description:
Peter Kappelmann's second marriage
 Filesize:  99.72 KB
 Viewed:  7004 Time(s)

1834Kappelmann&Besten.jpg


Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    concordia-memories.org Forum Index -> Kappelman family All times are GMT - 6 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group