26. Januar 2023

Preliminary statement

In my line of argument, it is very often necessary to argue with the “non-existing”. Facts in a strict sense which could prove my story do not exist.

In general, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to prove that something does NOT exist.

I can use the “non-exiting” as argument in my story only because my research has been very thorough.

In the late 1970s I began with family research. My first research field was the Nahe river region where the family group lived, I belong to. In the course of time I investigated all Cörper/Körper occurrences west of the Rhine.

Meanwhile, I am quite sure that I cannot have overseen any of them.

Therefore, I can assess, as an example, where there is a Nicolaus who can have gone to America. I can say that there is only one Andreas in this period. The latter will be a very important argument in my story.

Now let us focus on Weinsheim.

Today, Weinsheim is a village in the Kreis Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate. The church books are available in Ancestry. The entries of interest for us are in the volume 1660-1839.

Let us first look at a text written on July 7, 1701. You find it on picture 78. Below the text are several signatures. The downmost one is: “Hanß Wilem Cörper”

“Hanß” is an old form of “Hans”. “Wilem” is the dialect form of Wilhelm. In allday’s life the village people called the man “Wilem”.

“Cörper”, however, cannot be dialect. It reveals a long tradition. The surname had been written in this way for generations.

Therefore, I believe that “Cörper” is the valid spelling of his name. Where there are different spellings in the church book, I regard them as misspellings.

In the following text, numbers in brackets are the numbers of the pictures containing the entries discussed.

Hans Wilhelm Cörper, as I want to call him now, was married twice. Both marriages are in the church book. The first one was in 1694 [100], the second one in 1712 [114]. His first wife had died shortly before 1712. Her burial cannot be found in the church book because the burials before 1725 are missing.

The first wife gave birth to six children, three sons and three daughters. The second wife had seven children, six sons and one daughter.

I could clear up the fate of most of these children with the exception of one daughter and three sons. The son Andreas is a special case.

In our context it is sufficient to focus on the sons. The church book says the following about them:

1. Andreas

born in 1698  [94], confirmed in 1711 [132]

2. Johann Nickel (Nicolaus)

born in 1704 [103], confirmed in 1717 [133]

3. Johann Georg

born in 1713 [110], confirmed in 1727 [78*]

4. Johann Philipp

born in 1720 [123], confirmed in 1733 [79*]

([*] These entries are in the volume 1725-1798.)

These data prove that none of them had died as a child. All of them reached the age of at least 13 or 14 years. In those times this meant that they had good chances to marry and set house.

With respect to Johann Georg, I never found any sign that he had ever seen America. It is probable that he died in Europe at an unknown place. We can neglect him in our further discussion.

The sons Johann Nickel and Johann Philipp disappear completely from the German records. Only Andreas makes a difference. But this is another story. I will deal with it when we look into the Gensingen church books.

Now we have two “disappeared” sons, Johann Nickel and Johann Philipp, and additionally Andreas whom I believe to have married to Gensingen.

These three men are the subject of my emigration-immigration story.