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. All the best, Duane ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~