Maria Agnes Götzen was my paternal second Great Grandmother. She was born 23 August 1813 in Heerdt and died 15 March 1863 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Her parents were Joannes Petrus Wilhelm Götzen and Helene Catharina Mühlensieb. Her baptismal record from the Sankt Benediktus church in Heerdt is below. It gives her baptized name, parents’ names and the godparents. Church book entries for this time frame were written in Latin.
Maria married my second great grandfather, the shoemaker, Andreas Daniel Joseph Krings, 12 August 1835 in the Sankt Martinus church in Düsseldorf.
The church book entry states the groom and the bride and their parents and the witnesses.
The marriage was also mentioned in the newspaper.
Maria and Andreas had five children together. One of them is my Great Grandfather, Wilhelm Hubert Krings 1840-1909.
Maria had her own grocery store. I found her right underneath her husband in a 1855 Düsseldorf address book.
It states: Krings, Andreas, shoemaker Duisburger Street 71 and Krings, Andreas, wife, store owner, Duisburger Street 71 I think that’s pretty amazing to see that my female ancestor had her own business in 1855.
Maria was only 49 years old when she died. Her name was mentioned in the newspaper.
The name is under “Gestorbene” which means “The Deceased”. Agnes Götzen, wife, 57 years old.
The map shows where Maria grew up and where she lived and died. Heerdt and Bilk are now part of Düsseldorf.
Sources:
Zeitpunkt NRW (old newspaper from North Rhine-Westphalia)
Church Books Düsseldorf and Heerdt
Contact: yscholz64@gmail.com
Genealogy Is An Adventure 
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