Genealogy Is An Adventure

Tag: Sickel

  • The Paternal Ancestors of Maria Becker 1885-1975

    Last year I wrote about my paternal Grandmother, Maria Johanna Becker.

    Lets see how far I can take back her paternal line. When I first researched Maria’s ancestry I had a tough time finding any information at all. All my ancestors were born in Germany, so I have no way of using census records. My Dad died in 2006 and the only information I had from him was her birth and death dates and locations, which is not bad at all to get started. Oma (Grandma) was born in Hamminkeln outside of Wesel. I ordered her birth certificate from the city archive hoping to find the names of her parents.

    Twenty years ago, I had to send a letter to the archive in Hamminkeln, Germany and request a copy of the birth certificate. I would receive a letter back with the copy and then had to pay the archive. They would not allow cash. We had to instruct our bank here in the USA to pay them via theirs in Germany. It was complicated but it worked. In the end I received the birth certificate and the names of Oma’s parents, the day laborer Johann Heinrich Becker and his wife Johanna Görtzen. There was also a Randvermerk (side note) on the left lower side which gave the information about her death certificate and where to order it.

    After I found Oma’s parents I wanted to find their ancestors. How was I going to do that? There was not much online about Hamminkeln and Wesel. Oma was catholic so I had to look into church records. There was no catholic church in Hamminkeln, however there was one in Wesel. Wesel belongs to the diocese Münster. I emailed the diocese about the parents marriage record. They did not send me a copy however they gave me the wedding date and the birth years. These days the church book is online. I looked up the wedding record for Johann Heinrich Becker and Gertruda Görtzen.

    Johann and Johanna were married 6 May 1884 in Wesel and I found out that both of them were born in the year 1861 in Hamminkeln. This wedding record did not mention the parents names only the witnesses. I wrote back to the dioceses and they gave me their names. Many years later I found the baptism records online. Johannes was baptized 6 December 1861. His parents were Franz Becker and Maria Sickel. Gertruda was baptized 13 October 1861 also in the same church. Her parents were Mathias Görzen and Maria Anna Spelleken.

    1. Johann Heinrich Becker Baptism

    2. Gertruda Görtzen Baptism

    Finding the next generations of the Becker family proved difficult again. Franz Becker was working for the railroad, that’s all I found in the baptism record of his son Johann. No location of where Franz was from. Was he from Hamminkeln or somewhere else? It took another five or six year to find that information.

    In the year 2021, death certificates started coming online for North Rhine-Westphalia. I was lucky as the website My Heritage published some of them on their website. I found Franz’s death certificate.

    New information I found in Franz’s death certificate. He died in 1907, he had another son named Theodor, who was the informant on the certificate. Number two is that Franz was born in Messinghausen. Number three is that the parents of Franz were unknown. He was 80 years old when he died in 1907. That meant that Franz was born about 1827.

    Messinghausen postcard from my personal collection.

    Franz was born in Messinghausen, however he was baptized in the catholic church in Thülen. I found his baptismal record on the website Familysearch.

    NameFranz Joseph Egidius Becker
    GenderMale
    Baptism Age0
    Birth Date30 Aug 1827
    Baptism Date01 Sep 1827 (1 Sep 1827)
    Baptism PlaceSankt Dionysius Katholisch, Thuelen, Westfalen, Prussia
    Residence PlaceThülen, Westfalen, Preußen, Germany
    FatherJohann Becker
    MotherChristine Muenster
    FHL Film Number1056008

    I also found the original record in the church book. This record verified that the parents lived in Messinghausen. I circled the location.

    Finding this location in the baptismal record was important, because there a tons of Becker families in the area. Anytime you have a very common name one has to be careful with finding the right ancestors.

    Two new names, Johann Becker and Christine Münster/Muenster. I found their marriage just a couple of years before Franz was born.

    NameJohann Becker
    GenderMale
    Marriage Date25 Jan 1825
    Marriage PlaceThülen, Westfalen, Preussen, Germany
    SpouseChristine Muenster
    FHL Film Number1056007

    I found the original church record online. Johann was a farmer in Messinghausen and Christine was from Weiberg, however no parents, only the witnesses are mentioned.

    Once again I was stuck for a couple of years until church records from Weiberg came online. It was quite common for catholic couples to get married twice. Johann and Christine also tied the knot in her church in Weiberg.

    The top part is Johann’s and the bottom part is for Christine. Johann was born in Messinghausen, his parents are Johann Michael Becker and Maria Gertrud Schröder. Christina was born in Weiberg and her parents are Joannes Caspar Münster and Anna Catharina Maria Dören.

    Johann Michael Becker and Maria Gertrud Schröder got married in Thülen.

    NameJoannes Michael Becker
    GenderMale
    Marriage Date10 Feb 1779
    Marriage PlaceThülen, Westfalen, Preussen, Germany
    FatherCaspari Becker
    MotherAnnae Elisabethae Wuerminghausen
    SpouseGedrud Schroeder
    FHL Film Number1056007

    I found the original entry in the Thülen church book.

    I also found Johann’s baptismal record.

    NameJoannes Michael Becker
    GenderMale
    Baptism Age0
    Birth Date28 Feb 1750
    Birth PlaceOlsberg
    Baptism Date01 Mär 1750 (1 Mar 1750)
    Baptism PlaceSankt Martin Roemisch-Katholische, Bigge, Westfalen, Prussia
    Residence PlaceBigge, Westfalen, Preussen
    FatherCaspar Henrich Becker
    MotherAnna Elisabetha Wuerminghausen
    FHL Film Number1051950

    Found the original record in the church book in Bigge. Johann was born 28 February and baptized on the first of March, 1750.

    Johann’s parents Caspar Henrich Becker and Anna Elisabetha Würminghausen married 18 November 1747 in the same church in Bigge.

    NameCasparus Henricus Becker
    GenderMale
    Marriage Date18 Nov 1747
    Marriage PlaceSankt Martin Roemisch-Katholische, Bigge, Westfalen, Prussia
    SpouseElisabetha Wuerminghausen
    FHL Film Number1051950

    I found the marriage in the church book.

    The word behind his Mother Elisabetha Würminghausen is vidua, which means, she was already a widow. So at this point I don’t know if Würminghausen is her maiden or married name. Original records are very important. Most likely Johann had half siblings.

    Let’s see if I can take the Becker line back another generation. I need to find Caspar’s parents and baptism.

    NameCasparus Henricus Becker
    GenderMale
    Baptism Date07 Apr 1733 (7 Apr 1733)
    Baptism PlaceThülen, Westfalen, Preussen, Germany
    Residence PlacePreußen, Germany
    FatherJoannes Henricus Becker
    MotherMaria Catharina Wiessen
    FHL Film Number1056007

    Voilà! I found them, thanks to the Family Search website and here is the original entry from the church book.

    It’s possible that I eventually can find a marriage for Joannes Henricus Becker and Maria Catharina Wiessen, but for now this is the end of the Becker line.

    Here is timeline I created for Maria’s paternal Becker line

    Maria’s was born in Hamminkeln, however her direct paternal line came from Messinghausen and surrounding villages.

    Finding your ancestors can be very tricky and difficult at times. It takes a lot of time, patience and money. In the end the reward is priceless. No matter how long you have waited for a record to be published. Finally you can go back one more generations. I found my 6th Becker Great-Grandparents. It will take me some time to go through more of the church books backwards to hopefully find their marriage and may be even their parents.

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  • Johann Heinrich Becker 1861-1945

    Johann Heinrich Becker, my paternal Great Grandfather, was born 6 December 1861 in Hamminkeln and baptized in the Sankt Martini Church in Wesel, Germany. The church was destroyed during WW2. Pictures below were shared with me by the city archive in Wesel.

    Martinikirche

    Johann’s parents were the railroad worker, Franz Joseph Egidius Becker (1827-1907) and his wife Maria Sickel (1823-1908). Johann was also a rail road worker and later became a police officer.

    He married my Great Grandmother, Gertruda Johanna Görtzen (1861-?), 6 May 1884 in the same church. A picture of their marriage certificate is below.

    If you have followed my blog for a while, you know that I always talk about the side notes on birth, marriage and death certificates. They are called Randvermerke in German. They can be of utmost importance for further research. This particular side note explained that my Great Grandfather died 17 February 1945, however he was not declared dead until 1953. Wesel was attacked by the British Royal Airforce with impact and air burst weapons February 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th, 1945. The city was pretty much destroyed after these attacks. I can’t even imagine what that was like. My Great Grandfather was killed during one of these attacks and his body probably was never identified.

    December 6th is a special day in our family. It’s my brother’s and my wedding anniversary, and no it was not intended that way. My husband and I had planned on getting married the end of November. A winter storm got in the way and we couldn’t get over the mountains, so we ended up getting married December 6th. That’s the only day my husband had off from work. On the drive back, I realized that it was also my brother’s wedding anniversary. My brother’s Granddaughter was also born on December 6th.

    In Germany Sankt Nicolaus is also celebrated that day. Children will put their shoes outside their room the night before. In the morning of the 6th, they will find them filled with chocolates, nuts and other goodies.

    Sankt Nicolaus very often will also visit preschools and elementary schools. The children will sing, recite poems and receive small gifts. You can read about Nicolaus here.

    I always include a map. Johann was born in Hamminkeln and he died in Wesel, Germany. Please see below.

  • Franz Joseph Edgidius Becker 1827-1907

    Franz was my paternal second Great Grandfather. He was born 30 August 1827 in Messinghausen and died 21 May 1907 in Hamminkeln, Germany. He was baptized in the catholic St. Dionysius Church in Thülen 1 September 1827. His parents were Johann Becker and Christine Münster. Below is a postcard from my collection of Messinghausen from the 1950’s.

    Franz was married to my second Great Grandmother Maria Sickel. To this date I have been unable to find their marriage. Franz was a signalman and worked for the railroad. Him and Maria had only two children that we know of. My Great Grandfather, Johann Heinrich Becker 1861-1945 and his brother, Theodor Becker born in 1863. Franz and Maria lived and died in Hamminkeln.

    Franz died in 1907. His death certificate above, states that his son, Theodor, gave this information to the registrar. It states that he died in Hamminkeln and that his son had no further information about Franz’s parents.

    I found this old image from the Hamminkeln train station circa 1914. In the 19th century, it was pretty common for people to move to areas where they could work for the railroad. I have another ancestor who also moved and worked for the railroad at the time time.

    From the map you can see that Messinghausen was far away. 191 km or 118 miles. It would have taken Franz probably several days if not weeks to get to Hamminkeln.

    Sources:

    Picture of Hamminkeln train station

    Google Maps

    Death Certificate

    Familysearch