In July 2019, we discovered the oldest record on Schochenmaiers in the Russian Empire, thanks to which we found out that Christian Schochenmaier, father of Michael (1859-1937) and Jacob (1861-1923) Schochenmaier, the Founding Fathers of the American and Canadian Schochenmaiers,
- was called Christian Franz Samuel
- was born on the 1st September 1837
- was baptized on the 1st October 1844 by Johannes Doll (1797–1857)
- lived in New Danzig (South Russia)
So the last question to be answered: who were parents of Christian Schochenmaier?
As you can see, the Christian's parents' names were Carl Schochenmaier (Colonist) and Barbara Hochhalter (both Evangelical Lutherian Confession).
There is no evidence regarding Carl Schochenmaier in the Southern Russia. It seems to be that he passed away shortly after this baptism in 1844. However, the Hochhalters' family is well-known. On many websites (WikiTree + website on the Hochhalters), you may find that Georg Ludwig Hochhalter (1758-1816) had emigrated from Germany to Rohrbach in 1809. It's a good news as we know that our ancestors had lived in Rohrbach. The second good news is that Georg Hochhalter was born in Eppingen (Heilbronn District). Taking into account that our Schochenmaier had been living in Ludwigsburg, it can be viewed as a positive proof because there are only 46 km inbetween.
Now, the most important question is: Did he have a daughter named Barbara?... Well, he had got 11 children. Here are they:
- Elisabetha Hochhalter (1784 - abt. 1787),
- Johann Andreas Hochhalter (1786 - 1861 died in Rohrbach),
- Elisabetha Hochhalter (1788-????),
- Johann Jacob Hochhalter (1790-????),
- Eva Rosina Hochhalter (1792-????),
- Maria Magdalena Hochhalter (1796-1797),
- Anna Barbara Hochhalter (1798-1800),
- Johann Georg Ludwig Hochhalter (1801-1801),
- Johannes Hochhalter (1802-1803),
- Elisabetha Barbara Hochhalter (1803-1855) and
- Johann Michael Hochhalter (1804-????).
You may spot two Barbaras, but one of them passed away when she was 2 years old and another Elisabetha Barbara Hochhalter actually fits our requirements. She was born in 1803 and died in 1855. The most interesting is the fact that sie passed away in 1855 in New Danzig!!! OMG, it's the same place where Christian Schochenmaier had been baptized in 1844.
However, on the internet, you may find that she was wife of any Michael Wagner. I decided to check what year they got married and I was wonderstruck that it was in 1847. Can you imagine the woman in the 19th century got married only when she was 44 years old. It could be possible with a disabled person but she wasn't. So my theory is that it was her second mariage. What if she married our Carl Schochenmaier before? If she married Michael in 1847, so we may figure out that Carl Schochenmaier passed away in 1846 or so.
According to various family trees, Barbara Wagner gave birth to Christina Wagner in 1848 and died in Neu Danzig in 1855. Her "new" husband Michael Wagner (1796-1866) passed away in Neu Danzig 11 years later in 1866.
No other Barbara has been spotted by me in that area...
And now only one question may shed light on our history: can be Carl Schochenmaier a missing link between our today's Schochenmaiers and the historical ones from the Ludwigsburg-Stuttgart area? Let us see!
