Age @83


PARENTS:
1650-1678 Fenstermacher, Johannes C
1658-_____ Hoffner, Johanneten Brictii

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[Hans is the diminutive form of Johannes]

Hans Matthias Fenstermacher,
"Germany, Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898"

name: Hans Matthias Fenstermacher
gender: Male
baptism/christening date: 26 Sep 1678
baptism/christening place:
Evangelisch, Thalfang, Rheinland, Prussia
birth date: 24 Sep 1678
father's name: Hans Conrad Fenstermacher
mother's name: Johanneten
indexing project (batch) #: C96365-1
system origin: Germany-EASY & ODM
source film number: 492999

[https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NJH7-XVS]


MIDDLE NAME VARIATIONS:
Mathes, Matheis, Mathais, Mattias...

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MARRIAGE: 10/25/1707 - Age 29
1689-1759 Ruppenthal, Anna Catharina


Johann Matheis Fenstermacher,
"Germany, Marriages, 1558-1929

groom's name: Johann Matheis Fenstermacher
bride's name: Anna Catharina Ruppenthals
marriage date: 25 Oct 1707
marriage place: Evangelisch-Lutherische,
Baumholder, Rheinland, Prussia
indexing project (batch) #: M99411-1
system origin: Germany-ODM
source film number: 493257

(https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JH7P-SMQ)


U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 about Mathias Fenstermacher

Name: Mathias Fenstermacher
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Gr
Birth Year: 1678
Spouse Name: Anna C Ruppenthal
Spouse Birth Year: 1689
Marriage State: of PA
Source number: 6417.003
Source type: Family group sheet
Number Pages: 1

[Yates Publishing Provo, UT, USA
Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.]

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CHILDREN: Fenstermacher
1) 1709-1798 Johann Jakob (Jacob) *
2) 1710-____ Maria Margaretha (Magred) *
3) 1713-1757 Johann Wilhelm (William)
4) 1713-1790 Johann Franz Phillip
5) 1718-____ Anna Maria
6) 1720-____ Maria Catharina *
7) 1723-____ Johann Matthias Jr
8) 1727-____ Maria Elizabeth (Mary) *

Most family trees list additional children that I have not included because their names do not appear on the ships Passenger List.

Due to the fact that maiden names are not documented in the U.S. Census, females are more difficult to locate once they marry.

I am unaware of any records documenting the marriages, or dates of death, for the daughters of this couple.

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* ALTERNATE / UNSOURCED DATES:

1) 1709-1798 Johann Jakob (Sr)

YEAR OF BIRTH is listed as 1708/1709, indicating either year, but I have never seen it used as DOB/DOD - because, unlike his sisters, his DOD is known.

2) 1710/1711 Maria Margred

YEAR OF BIRTH listed as 1710/1711 indicating either year - often used as DOB/DOD.

6) 1720-1728 Maria Catharina

YEAR OF DEATH listed as 1728 in family trees.

8) 1727/1728 Mary Elizabeth *

YEAR OF BIRTH listed as 1727/1728 indicating either year - often used as DOB/DOD.

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BIRTH PLACE VARIATIONS - GERMANY:
Brobach, Nohefelden, Rheinland-Pfalz
Palatinate, Rhenish, Bayern
Zweibrucken, Palatinate, Rhenish Bavaria

[Land borders have changed over the eras resulting in the multiple options for birth place locations.]

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IMMIGRATION: 09/09/1738
Age 59y 11m 16d

Ship: 1738 "Glasgow"
Philadelphia, Montgomery, PA, USA
Passenger & Immigration List Index,
1500s-1900s. Pgs 8, 116, 117, 123, 319.

Glasgow Passenger List #53:
1) Self:. Fenstermacher, MATHEIS
2) Wife: Fenstermacher, Anna Catharina
3) Son:. Fenstermacher, Johann Jakob
4) Dau:. Fenstermacher, Maria Margred
5) Son:. Fenstermacher, Johann Wilhelm
6) Dau:. Fenstermacher, Anna Maria
7) Dau:. Fenstermacher, Maria Catharina

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
1738 Ship Glasgow:

SHIP'S LIST #
13) Finstermacher, Mathias
14) Finstermacher, Wm.
63) Finstermacher, Jacob

OATH OF ALLEGIANCE #
25) Finstermacher, Wm. (Unsigned)
29) Finstermacher, Jacob
60) Finstermacher, Mathias

OATH OF ABJURATION
Finstermacher, Mathias
Fenstermacher, Wilhelm
Finstermacher, Jacob

[Son: Fenstermacher, Philip (age 20)
preceded the others by arriving at Philadelphia, PA. Aug. 30, 1737 aboard the ship "Samuel."]

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~ BIRTH/DEATH/MARRIAGE RECORDS ~

For those frustrated by LACK OF EXACT INFORMATION bear in mind these were PIONEERS.

Mass immigration occurred 30 or more years PRIOR to U.S. Independence. Most U.S. births, deaths and marriages occurred AT HOME, and may or may not have been documented by Church Records or the Family Bible, but were not a requirement of the BRITISH EMPIRE.

The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire.

Outside of the largest cities, there were no churches, schools, hospitals, stores, or CEMETERIES. Most pioneer graves occurred near where the individual died and were generally marked only by piles of stone or wooden crosses that disintegrate over time.

Early cemeteries did not bury families together – that is a modern day concept. Pioneer cemeteries originally buried people next to each other in the order of death, with separate locations for adults, children and ethnicity.

Foreigners who could not read or write in the native language where they live were functionally illiterate, but the backbone of this nation, building as they traveled.

Illiteracy was the norm, and only the wealthy were able to afford to send their progeny off to the city for several years to be educated.

During pioneer times quill and paper were not standard household items, blackboards and chalk were, which is why there are so few paper documents and the Bible used to document family history.

It isn't that we "FAILED" to find the documents; very few actually exist, and due to illiteracy and language barriers, their accuracy is highly questionable and information often conflicting.

I offer known, but unsubstantiated, optional dates in the files - not to confuse - but to reflect the diversity in record keeping of that era.

Be thankful we have the pre-independence records available, instead of critical of their inaccuracies.

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