Hi - I have an ancestor who died by drowning and was given a Christian burial 6 days later by order of the royal consistory. I've learned that a consistory is a committee that makes decisions. I am wondering if this means there was a question of whether he drowned accidentally or committed suicide, where suicide would not allow him a Christian burial. But since he was given a Christian burial, the consistory decided it was accidental death. The church is Lutheran, in the village of Niedergemünden in 1734. He was 77 years old. I've included the translation in German and English in case that gives any clues: Conrad Wehrwein, den 28. December im Wasser rtrunken, alt 77 Jahr, 5 Monat,8 Tag, und den 3. Jan. auff Befehl des hochfürst(lichen) Consistorii mit christl. Ceremonien ehrelich begraben worden." = Conrad Wehrwein, drowned in water on December 28 at age 77 years, 5 months, and 8 days, was lawfully buried on January 3 with Christian(?) [ ] by order of the royal consistory. thanks, Anita

Hi, your interpretation - that there might have been disagreements about suicide or not - makes sense to me. But of course, you can't know for sure. Carl ----- Original Message ----- From: <anitagriffith@canada.com> To: <HESSE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2004 6:17 PM Subject: [HESSE] royal consistory question > Hi - I have an ancestor who died by drowning and was > given a Christian burial 6 days later by order of the > royal consistory. I've learned that a consistory is a > committee that makes decisions. > > I am wondering if this means there was a question of > whether he drowned accidentally or committed suicide, > where suicide would not allow him a Christian burial. > But since he was given a Christian burial, the > consistory decided it was accidental death. > > The church is Lutheran, in the village of > Niedergemünden in 1734. He was 77 years old. > > I've included the translation in German and English in > case that gives any clues: > Conrad Wehrwein, den 28. December im Wasser rtrunken, > alt 77 Jahr, 5 Monat,8 Tag, und den 3. Jan. auff Befehl > des hochfürst(lichen) Consistorii mit > christl. Ceremonien ehrelich begraben worden." = Conrad > Wehrwein, drowned in water on December 28 at age 77 > years, 5 months, and 8 days, was lawfully buried on > January 3 with Christian(?) [ ] by order of the royal > consistory. > > thanks, Anita > > > ==== HESSE Mailing List ==== > Postal Codes, How to Pay for Research, German Language > Letters, Archive Addresses, German Telephone directory, > http://members.cox.net/hessen/table.htm > >