The oldest Schachenmeyers ever

As promised, I'd like to compare the oldest Schochenmaiers with the oldest Schachenmayrs. It could be a clue!

Sorry for anticipating, but my results, I think so, can even complicate our research. I am not sure that we progress)))

Let's have a look. I have stumbled upon a very interesting family: Sara Schachenmeyerin, born in 1662 in Gingen, to Isaac Schachenmeyer and Agnes Kohnin, married to Michaeel Hummel (Michael Hommel) on 12th April 1692 in Gingen and died on 30th November 1742 in Gingen as well.

1. Why the family name is changed?

As you can see, Isaak's last name is Schachenmeyer, while Sara's name is Schachenmeyerin. It's not a problem at all. In the Southern Germany until the 18th century (and in the Bavarian dialect till now!) the female family names got ending -in. That's why Sara's mum is called Kohnin, if so, her dad was just Kohn. Linguistically, it's not proven if such an ending is originally Germanic or likely Slavic (Bavaria was earlier inhabited by proto-Czech people). In Russian, for example, Mr. Putin's wife should be named "Putina".

2. Are these Hebrew names? 

I must confess that in the post on the oldest Schochenmaiers, I didn't notice that Leopold (1620s-1630s) sounded pretty Jewish, although his daughter (1652) Maria's name is to be neutralized. I have found the following information:

Secular names (Adolf, Albert, Alexandra, Benno, Elisabeth, Fritz, Leopold)

All of the above names are legal names;  in accord with the laws of Hilchot Gitin, rabbis would normally require that the La'az (Yiddish or secular) names be used in a Get together with the Hebrew (Primary) name with which they normally form a Hebrew double name. All names are called Legal names, regardless of their origin, and are frequently called "Hebrew-equivalent" names.

If Leopold was really Jewish name, then it was already secularized in the Enlightenment (17th century) ...

But here, with Isaac and Sara, it's more than obvious that both of them sound very Jewish and it cannot be accidentally. We have no idea if the Schochenmeyers and the Schachenmeyers had been realtives to each other, but the last ones were ethnically more Jewish. If the first ones had been of Jewish origin too, then we should take up a question that two families of the Schochs and of the Maiers could be Jews. I think it's worth of the whole new post on our blog, I will notice it for me to discuss it later.

By the way, if Sara Schachenmeyerin was born in 1662, then her father Isaac Schachenmeyer should be born between 1630s-1640s. Almost no difference to Maria (1652) and her father Leopold (1620s-1630s). So, we may conclude, that the oldest SchOchenmeyers and the oldest SchAchenmeyers appear in the available archives at the same time period. It's, however, impressive!!! 

The time is OK, but what about the place?


3. Where is Gingen?

Today Gingen is called Gingen an der Fils (Gingen on the Fils, where Fils is a river near to Bavaria!). Here's the map:

Gingen an der Fils is a town in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.

A bit closer:

I know what you think of, Gingen is not far from Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg, Heilbronn, Kornwestheim and Neckarsulm where we will meet lots of Schochenmaiers during 18th and 19th centuries... Maybe it's the answer)))

But from Britzingen, where Maria had been born to Leopold in 1652, to Gingen, where Sara had been born to Isaac in 1662, it's about 260 km (160 miles). I think we shouldn't lose sight of this fact, it's pretty much even for the 17th century. The gap could be explained by the Thirty Years War. From Kornwestheim to Gingen there are only 60 km... 

 






Sara Hummel (nee Schachenmeyerin) got children as follows:

Georg (1695-1696)
Michael (1697-1697)
Michael (1698-????)
Johannes (1701-1768)
Agnes (1705-????),

Geographically, we observe one center in Britzingen in the 17th century with Leopold and Maria and the second center around Stuttgart-Heilbronn (Kornwestheim, Neckarsulm, Gingen an der Fils, Ludwigsburg) in the 17th-19th centuries.

I am only frightened of one thing... What if there had been a small spelling mistake in any records and now we trip over ourselves? I mean the SchAchenmeyers were actually the SchOchenmeyers. What if the Schochenmeyers were from the Schochs+Maiers origin and the Schachenmayrs were of professional or topographic origin? And we had been two different families... But how can we differentiate who was who?

I have no idea ))) As for the New World, lots of Schachenmeyers are to be found in Nebraska, U.S. What does it mean? Are they our relatives?

Show must go on! In the next post I will present the second oldest SchAchenmaiers.

The second oldest Schochenmaiers

You've got to know when and where the oldest Schochenmaiers are to be found. But in such a subtle analysis we need a sort of continuity or so to say a context. Let's map and define the next generation(s) of the Schochenmaiers.

It's interesting to see that the next generation possesses 4 (four) different spelling of our family name! Below I will present the first of them.

Chronologically, the second mention on the oldest known Schochenmaiers refers to Johanna Christina Schochenmajer born on September 19, 1716 in Kornwestheim to Johann Schochenmajer and Anna Maria Schochenmajer.

If so, Johann Schochenmajer should be born in 1680s-1690s. 

Let's compare the location of Johanna Christina's birth to that of Maria from 1652. 

What do we know about Kornwestheim?

Kornwestheim is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about 10 kilometres (6 miles) north of Stuttgart, and 5 kilometres (3 miles) south of Ludwigsburg:

That town is a lot older; Ludwigsburg was only founded in 1704, while Kornwestheim is, as far as I know, more than 1.200 years old, and while Ludwigsburg was carefully planned by the duke of Württemberg's court architects, Kornwestheim is a place that grew naturally, starting out as an Alemannic settlement with farms and not much else. 

Here some pictires of the downtown:

From Britzingen (where Marie and Leopold Schochenmeyer lived in 1652) to Kornwestheim (where Johanna Christina and Johann Schochenmajer lived in 1716) it takes about 230 km. So, it's 140 miles for 65 years... 

I can't realize if it too much or not. I am just thinking that there could be a sort of relocation (if two families were related at all!) because of the Thirty Years' War. I quote from Wikipedia:

"The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) was a series of wars principally fought in Central Europe (primarily present-day Germany), involving most of the European countries. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history, and one of the longest continuous wars in modern history.

Europe after the Peace of Westphalia, 1648.

So great was the devastation brought about by the war that estimates put the reduction of population in the German states at about 25% to 40%. Some regions were affected much more than others. For example, Württemberg lost three-quarters of its population during the war. The male population of the German states was reduced by almost half. Much of the destruction of civilian lives and property was caused by the cruelty and greed of mercenary soldiers. Villages were especially easy prey to the marauding armies. Those that survived, like the small village of Drais near Mainz, would take almost a hundred years to recover. The Swedish armies alone may have destroyed up to 2,000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500 towns in Germany, one-third of all German towns.

Soldiers plundering a farm during the thirty years' war by Sebastian Vrancx.

The war caused serious dislocations to both the economies and populations of central Europe, but may have done no more than seriously exacerbate changes that had begun earlier.

Pestilence of several kinds raged among combatants and civilians in Germany and surrounding lands from 1618 to 1648. Many features of the war spread disease. These included troop movements, the influx of soldiers from foreign countries, and the shifting locations of battle fronts. In addition, the displacement of civilian populations and the overcrowding of refugees into cities led to both disease and famine. Information about numerous epidemics is generally found in local chronicles, such as parish registers and tax records, that are often incomplete and may be exaggerated."

Who knows, maybe our Schochenmaiers had seen something like that with their own eyes...

In the next posting I will take up the question of the oldest Schachenmayrs. Let's compare the most ancient mentions on the Schochenmaiers and the Schachenmayrs.

The oldest Schochenmaiers ever

In order to find out when two different families (very possibly the Schochs and the Maiers) could, according to Jacob Schochenmaier, found their joint wagon and buggy company in Germany, we should search for the very first mention of Schochenmaiers in the history.

I will present my first results for both the Schochenmaiers and the Schachenmayrs.

Let's start with the very first mention of Schochenmaiers that means the oldest ones which can be found anywhere.

The oldest notice on the FamilySearch refer to Maria Schochenmeyer born on the 2nd March (baptized on the 7th March) 1652 in the family of Leopold Schochenmeyer and Anna Seueber at the Britzingen village (Lörrach area, in Baden):

  If the information is right, then Leopold Schochenmeyer should be born between 1620s-1630s, it's the beginning of the 17 century. So, we may suggest that the company had been found earlier, maybe between late 16th - early 17th century, or during the 16th century. The production of the company might look like that:



There is no information about Leopold himself, he's mentioned as father of Maria.


On the place

Britzingen is indicated as place of birth. Today it's an administrative part of Müllheim:

Britzingen with his district Dattingen and the romantic villages Güttigheim and Muggardt is located in the heart of Markgräferland, in the foothills of the southern Black Forest, on the edge of the Rhine valley.

Here you can see Britzingen between French Mulhouse, Swiss Basel and German Freiburg (where I am living!)

In 1526 Britzingen as part of Markgraf (Margrave) became Protestant following the actions of the German monk Martin Luther. It's evangelical:

The two villages, Britzingen and Muggardt, belong together. Britzingen is a well known wine- and vacation resort with lots of private places to stay and some good restaurants.



The Winzergenossenschaft Britzingen, a local wine cartel, and the private wine cellars of the Behringer family, produce a fine wine.

They have customers as far away as Japan.  Wine cellar tours and wine tasting are being held regularly during the summer months.

Here you can see even a house of the 17th century:

 

On the time

1620-1650s - was time when Britzingen had been a part of the Baden-Durlach within Margraviate of Baden:

It's highlighted with whity-brown on the left at the bottom (where is Müllheim). 

The name translates to Margraves' Land, in reference to the Margraves of Baden. They ruled the area from the 12th century as a margraviate of the Holy Roman Empire until its elevation to the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1806, following the Empire's dissolution. Markgräflerland is the combination of three duchies: Badenweiler, Rötteln and Sausenburg.The river Rhine marks the frontier to France in the west and Switzerland in the south.

Before his death, the prince Christopher I divided the Margraviate between his three sons. Philip succeeded him in 1515 but died childless in 1533, and his share went to his brothers, Bernard and Ernest. In 1535, they made a fresh division of their inheritance. It would be the first of several partitions, establishing the two main lines of the House of Baden – Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach (Baden-Pforzheim until 1565) – which would last until 1771. However, the relations between the two lines were not peaceful, and the constant fragmentation did not help.

During the Reformation, several branches, led by Baden-Baden, remained on the side of the Catholics, the others joining with Baden-Durlach on the Protestant side. The Thirty Years War made matters worse for all the branches. Many of them were exiled to other countries. Baden suffered severely during the war. The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia restored the branches and their churches to their own lands. Gradually the rivalry subsided. During the wars of Louis XIV, the "Sun King" of France, the two Margraviates were ravaged by the French troops. The forces of the Holy Roman Empire, led by the Margrave of Baden-Baden, “Turk” Louis William (reigned 1677-1707) fought against France. 

So far for today. Now we know the names of the first Schochenmaiers ever! But where had been the second ones? 

First theory on the origins of the Schochenmaiers' family name

Where do the family names come from?

http://forebears.co.uk/surnames

Surnames and family names have arisen throughout history as civilisations advance and become increasingly useful to distinguish people when they are recorded in written records, particularly tax records.

The earliest surnames in Western Europe grew out of existing methods of distinguishing people. Thus, a noble ruling from Savoy may have been known as Umberto de Savoy, a blacksmith may have been known as John le Smith and a bald man may be known as William the Bald; much in the same way we refer to people in similar ways today, such as John the Gob or Rachel the Bean Counter. These names were not necessarily hereditary, but were dictated by circumstance. The son of the noble, Umberto de Savoy, may rule at Lorraine and be known as Lothair de Lorraine, the son of John le Smith may be a cheese-maker and known as Dominic Cheeseman and the son of William the Bald may have a head shaped like an onion and known as Darren Onionhead. Surnames only arose when families decided they were going to stick to a 'pseudo-surname''. This change occurred at different periods in different regions. For example, surnames were largely adopted between the 11th and 16th centuries in England, between the 16th and 19th centuries in Wales and between the 11th and 19th centuries in Scotland. Each family has to be taken on a case by case basis. Though it is not possible to prove the origin of most surnames, it is possible to make educated guesses in some cases.

A surname's origin is influenced by the progenitor's social class and the culture they lived in. Those of higher social status often took surnames that are uncommon today; whereas people of lower social status often took what are today common surnames. It is also clear that people of lower social status had less control over their surnames, no doubt handed to them by aldermen, lords and other authorities. Thus we find numerous insulting surnames, such as 'Tew', Welsh for fat; Tardiff, meaning sluggish and Dullard, meaning a hard and conceited man. 

Types of family names

 There are four general types of family names:

Patronymic Surnames

The majority of surnames are derived from the name of a male ancestor. These evolved from pre-existing non-permanent naming customs whereby an individual was identified by reference to a male ancestor or ancestors. Some example are: Bedo ap Batho ap Heylin (Welsh: Bedo, son of Batho, son of Heylin), which would become Bedo Batho; Lars Andersen (Scandianvian), Andrew MacDonald (Scottish: Andrew son of Donald) and Henry fil. Grimbald (English: Henry son of Grimbald). Such names are essentially the name of the father, sometimes with a suffix or prefix to denote the name as a patronym. 

      Occupational Surnames

Surnames derived from the occupation of an ancestor are also common, with Smith being the most common surname in the UK. This category of surnames is divided into two groups: standard occupations and titular occupations, such as Stewart, derived from an ancient clan title in Scotland.

Topographical Surnames

Topographical surnames can be derived from features of a landscape (Hill, Ford) or from place names (London, Aston, Eaton, Molyneux). Those surnames derived from place names were initially adopted by families that held land. However, later such adoptions of surnames derived from place names occurred when people moved from one place to another.

Descriptive Surnames

Descriptive surnames are less common, partly as they were often derived from unflattering characteristics such as: stupidity, girth, baldness and sometimes outright insults like Blackinthemouth. Many of these surnames have disappeared. There is on the other hand good survival of surnames derived from positive or neutral characteristics; Trow & Triggs (meaning trustworthy), Young, White and Good.

What about the Schochenmaiers? What aren't we all?

1. Our family name doesn't come from any patronym. There is no first name related to "Schochenmaier".

2. Our family name doesn't come from any common word. That is why it's not descriptive surname.

3. All in all, we may have either topographic or occupational origin, additionally thereto we can be either of mixed origin or of any specific emergence based on any special events.


First theory of Schochenmaier's origin

According to the Occam's razor, which states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected, we should start with the theory advocated by the Schochenmaiers themselves. To my knowledge, there is only one story put into writing, that of Jacob Schochenmaier (1861-1923). The scan of the story can be found on Facebook page of Janet Schochenmaier:

Transcript of it:

"In Germany, many years ago, there was a wagon and buggy company formed. There were two families involved in this company, the Schoch's and the Mair's, and in some way, these two names were rolled into one, and that is the way that the name Schochenmaier came into being. 

When Jacob reached early manhood he became a wheelwright in the company. This trade, for the rest of his life, didn't appeal to him and after his marriage to Barbara Ellen Martin, they made their home on their first homestead in Odessa, U.S.S.R. From Odessa they traveled on a sailing ship to America..."

It was noticed by Clarence Schochenmaier (1920) - grandson of Jacob. As we can see, the familial tradition gives over such an interesting version of the Schochenmaier's origin. One the one hand, it's reliable: the Germans were keeping their traditions and stories for many years. But, on the other hand, it could be a sort of interpretation, a legend or a myth, a pop etymology like eggcorn or something like that. As for me, I do believe in this legend. Only one question is then arisen: what time in the history is it about? If Jacob meant the beginning of the 19 century, then we may consider the story being historically true. However, if it's about 16 or 17 century, then I would be very careful in determining the likelihood ratio... We must confess that we have no idea what Jacob meant by "many years ago"...

By the way, how do you understand this text?

First: Jacob became a wheelwright in the company... but he was born in Russia in 1861 (St. Petersburg Archives under the name of "Jacob Schochenmeier"). Does it mean that they re-founded their company in the Russian Rohrbach?

Second: "after his marriage ..., they made their home on their first homestead in Odessa". I don't get the chronology of these events. Both of them were born in Ukraine, but it's after the marriage that they made their first homestead in Odessa... Why "after"? If "first homestead" means Russia after Germany, then where had they been before?

So, my opinion is that it's a bit mixed up, but it doesn't trouble the theory of the Schochenmaiers' origin)))

In order to define the time period, let's find out what's the first mention of the Schochenmaiers at all. It will be our next post.