Dear Cousins, I thought you might be interested in the following. Best wishes, Cousin Duane 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. The witnesses to the boys' christenings were Johannes Jacob Limbach and wife Anna Maria from Wollstein (a village located 8 kilometers northeast from Fuerfeld) and Johannes Nicolaus Gatton and wife Catharina from Winterborn (a village about 4 kilometers to the south). The baptism of a third child, Johannes Petrus (Peter) Alwentz, born to Johannes and Maria Elizabetha Alwentz appears later on May 5, 1720. The baptism of Johannes Peter was witnessed by Johannes Peter Alwentz, his uncle (brother to Johannes the father of Peter, Jacob and Nicolaus) from Winnweiler (a town about 30 kilometers to the south). Notice the German Catholic custom of naming children for their godparents. To be continued Endnotes 1. The Palatinate was the name of two little countries in the old German empire, one of which (called the Upper Palatinate) became part of Bavaria and the other (called the Lower Palatinate) is now part of the Rhineland-Pfalz. The latter lies west of the Rhine River south of Bonn, bordering with Belgium, Luxembourg and France to the west. The capital city is Mainz, which is situated on the left bank of the Rhine where it is joined by the River Main. This fertile area has always been known for its agricultural products, especially its wine. The Palatinate was the origin of thousands of German immigrants to the American colonies during the 18th century. 2. Spelling variations in family surnames occur regularly in most genealogical records. I have spelled the names here exactly as I found them written in the Catholic church books. In the entries for the baptisms of Jacob and Nicolaus the family name is spelled "Aloenz" in both sets of church books. The entries for the baptism of Peter spell it "Alwentz." In virtually all of the later entries of baptisms for children of Peter and Georg the name is consistently spelled "Alweins." This latter spelling agrees with the way the name was written in some early Berks County documents, but in any event, I am convinced that the names "Aloenz," "Alwentz," and "Alweins" are pronounced alike and without any doubt refer to the same family. 3. I believe, for whatever reason, the summary by Helmut Schmahl is incomplete in a few crucial respects, particularly with reference to a) the appearance of Johannes Jacob in the Fuerfeld church book, and b) the record of August 8, 1717 as the date for his baptism as listed in both the Frei Laubersheim and Fuerfeld church books (see the Schmahl Report, 19 May 1989, pp. 1-2). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Duane F. Alwin Professor, Department of Sociology Senior Research Scientist & Program Director Survey Research Center Office: 4067 Institute for Social Research Phone: 734-764-6597 Fax: 734-647-4575 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~