APRIL 1997 NEWSLETTER
BRILL RESEARCH REPORT by Trudy Schenk: 24 FEB 1997
Searched the parish Abterode once more concentrating on sponsors and confirmations. Abterode and Wellingerode are one parish kept in separate sections. Again I compared the ship list of 22 Oct 1754 with names that show in Abterode. It is a fact that Johannes Koch, and Johannes Bachmann are recorded in the parish Abterode, section Wellingerode. In the same area is Michael Bubach/Poobagh and Christofel Cheil/Keil. Johann Jost Koch was born in Eschwege.
The confirmation records of Abterode show Martin Brill in 1736, son of Johannes, one Johannes Brill, a blacksmith in 1733, son of Johannes and several of Hermann's children. Conrad Heinrich, son of Hermann Breul was confirmed in 1744.
In Wellingerode was confirmed Johannes Bachmann in 1731, son of Peter and in 1745 Johannes Koch, son of the blacksmith Jacob Koch. Johannes Koch and Johannes Brill are both blacksmiths.
Neither of these men are married nor died in Abterode as I had previously found. When Hermann Breul gets remarried in 1742, his wife is listed as Anna Catharina Windemuth from Nentershausen. This is the only time her given names are listed. She could have been the Catharina Barbara in America or she could have died at sea and Hermann remarried. As I searched all the marriages in Abterode parishes again, I found that some of Hermann Breul's children were married in Abterode. Hermann's daughter Anna Margaretha married a Henrich Fischer, a widower. He could be Martin's mothers younger brother and this makes Hermann and Martin related.
Hermann has a son George who married Anna Martha Schroeter in 1745. Since Hermann's 2nd wife is from Nentershausen, I looked into this town's records, the library happens to have civil marriages before 1750 on microfilm. When checking this film I found nothing, her marriage was not recorded.
Now considering your recent e-mail letter, I once again checked into the emigrant book, "Hessische Auswanderer" from the Hanau district. This small book contains lists of 18th century emigrants to Pennsylvania. I copied the page showing the letters BO-CH. There is no Brill, no Bachmann and the place Markoebel is included in this district. (see copy)
I had already checked the book which lists all emigrants to the Eastern countries, which includes Buedingen district and I had checked Buedingen and the area once before. There is no Martin, Hermann or Heinrich Brill born there. I found one Carl Brill listed.
At this point I went back to the records in Pennsylvania, Springfield Lutheran Church on film #019633 to check the communion records again. The Bachmanns are there with the Brills/Priels, so are the Brauns and the Keils. I wonder if the Kressler name is actually Kreisler, also a Hessen name and listed in Springfield.
Johann Koch is listed in the communion record with a son, Joh. Jacob. Remember his father is Joh. Jacob, a blacksmith in Wellingerode, parish Abterode.
There is also a Zangmeister family (Zagmeister). I searched the IGI for this new spelling, they are in the Pfalz. I also checked the Nockamixon church records again and I can only say the patterns repeat with the names.
Martin could not have been 81 when he died. I have seen so many mistakes on ages when people die in the daily research I do, that Martin's age of 81 could not be correct. It should be more like 71 years. Hermann has to be the older, he could be 24 years older than Martin. A mistake could have been made with the age of the two men.
The Herman who died in 1811, could have been another Herman, not the emigrant of 1754.
Well, I guess the only way to prove my theory is to find Martin's marriage and the children who were born in Germany. I just feel very strongly that I am on the right track.
One of the towns I had no records for in Eschwege is Reichensachsen, just south of Eschwege. I'm sending a letter off to the parish for a search of the marriage and christening records, 1740-1754.
There is a book of emigrants from Hesse-Kassel district, although it is not the time period we need, I still checked it and made copies of some pages so you can see how many Brills came to America from the towns I checked last year in Germany. There are just as many Bachmann, Koch, Braun, some Keil all from Hesse-Kassel, as well as many Renn names. By the way, the name Reuss is also in Abterode, one of the Brills married a Russ in 1774 in Pennsylvania.