The Estermann family is one about whom I’ve written hardly a single word. Abraham Estermann and Anna Catharina (MNU), maybe Lind, are my husband’s 8X great grandparents.

I have to add the caveat that, while I’ve seen online information that Anna Catharina’s maiden name is Lind, I haven’t been able to verify it. I was extremely lucky when I visited the Family History Library – and this really was luck, as opposed to persistence – because a gentleman who helped me was born in Switzerland, spoke German and was an expert at reading the old script. 🙂 I can’t thank him enough.

I located the image of Abraham Estermann’s marriage to Anna Catharina. Here is a close up look at it:

I wonder if someone misread this entry, as it says Anna Catharina, widow Hans Conrad Wacker (Wacher?). The green arrow is pointing to Hans, but an inexperienced reader might have thought that said “Lind.” That might be the source for Anna Catharina’s possible maiden name, which means it is wrong!

I didn’t have time to search back for the record of Anna Catharina’s first marriage – these records are still on microfilm – to verify her maiden name. Lind, therefore, isn’t out of the question, I just wasn’t able to prove it right away. It’s on the list for the next visit!

Not a lot is known about Abraham and Anna Catharina because most of the German church records haven’t yet been indexed and few people seem to have gone hunting for them.

The Estermann surname isn’t terribly common, either, and few records are found online for them. Another question is whether Hestermann might be a variation of the same name. So far, in my searching, “my” family has always appeared as Esterman or Estermann.

Abraham and Anna Catharina married on 15 November 1682 in Mannheim, Baden, Germany. She was the widow of Conrad Wacker. Their first child, Anna Christina, was baptized in Mannheim on 3 August 1684, as was their second daughter, Maria Catharina, on 1 September 1688.

Sometime between 1688 and the summer of 1700, the family moved from Mannheim to the town of Barbelroth, Germany, just under 40 miles to the southwest.

Abraham’s and Anna Catharina’s third and last known child, Anna Ottilia, was baptized in Barbelroth on 14 August 1700.

Where were Abraham and Anna Catharina born? So far, their home towns remain a mystery. It is estimated that Abraham was born c1657, if he married around age 25, and Anna Catharina was born c1661, if she was 21 when married.

Anna Christina Estermann married Benedict Wittmer on 28 January 1706 in Barbelroth. She and Benedict lived their lives in Barbelroth and she died there on 7 July 1746.

There is also a marriage record for Anna Catharina Estermann, daughter of Abraham, marrying Hans Adam Gold, also on 28 January 1706 in Barbelroth. That opens the question whether the baptismal record of Maria Catharina was wrong and should read Anna Catharina, or if the marriage record is wrong and should read Maria Catharina. That is, unless Maria Catharina died young and Anna Catharina’s baptismal record hasn’t yet been found.

There are a lot of maybes about the bride. I tend to think since Maria Catharina would have only been 19 years old when she married that there wasn’t another younger sibling named Anna Catharina. However, as to a mistake in the records, I think Abraham’s daughter was Anna Catharina, as she and Hans Adams were mentioned by those names in the church books throughout the years.

With gaps in children’s births from 1688 to 1700, it appears that Abraham and Anna Catharina might have buried quite a few young children.

Children of Abraham and Anna Catharina:

1. Anna Christina, baptized 3 August 1684, Mannheim, Baden, Germany; died 7 July 1746, Barbelroth, Pfalz, Germany; married Benedict Wittmer, 28 January 1706, Barbelroth, Pfalz, Germany
2. Maria Catharina, baptized 1 September 1688, Mannheim, Baden, Germany
3. ?Anna Catharina (Is she the same as Maria above and she married the same day as the Wittmers); married Hans Adams Gold, 28 January 1706, Barbelroth, Pfalz, Germany
4. Anna Ottilia, baptized 14 August 1700, Barbelroth, Pfalz, Germany; no further record

Benedict Wittmer and Anna Christina Estermann were the parents of seven children, all baptized and buried in Barbelroth, Germany, unless noted:

1. Anna Susanna, baptized 4 November 1706; died 3 May 1747; unmarried.
2. Benedict, baptized 12 April 1708; no further record
3. Johannes, baptized 28 December 1710; died after 22 May 1764, probably Frederick County, Maryland; married Maria Elisabetha Holtz, 2 February 1740, Barbelroth, Germany.
4. Anna Maria, baptized 26 November 1713; died 18 January 1735/36; unmarried.
5. Anna Christina, baptized 15 December 1715; no further record
6. Johan Friederich, baptized 1 February 1719/20; married Susanna Catharina Schreyer, 19 April 1746.
7. Anna Margaretha, baptized 23 April 1724; died 23 August 1734; unmarried.

Hans Adam Gold and his wife Anna Catharina were the parents of seven children:

1. Anna Catharina, baptized 7 August 1707
2. Male, baptized 7 August 1707
3. Benedict, baptized 15 May 1715; died young
4. Margaretha Elisabetha, baptized 17 June 1716
5. Anna Appollonia, baptized 20 May 1720
6. Anna Maria, baptized 8 December 1723
7. Benedict, baptized 18 May 1727

Interestingly, there is one other Estermann family living in Barbelroth, that of Daniel Estermann (aka Hans Daniel and Johann Daniel) and his wife, Margaretha Ganderin, who married there on 17 May 1701.

If this is a first marriage for Daniel, then he was likely born c1675. If Abraham Estermann only married once, then he isn’t the father of Daniel. However, he might have married more than once or been a bit older than typical when he did marry because his wife was a widow when Abraham married. Because the name isn’t common and Barbelroth is a small place, they are almost certainly related. If not father and son, Daniel could be Abraham’s (much) younger brother or they could be cousins.

Daniel Estermann and his wife Margaretha were the parents of six children:

1. Anna Catharina, baptized 25 July 1702
2. Anna Christina, baptized 20 February 1705
3. Maria Elisabetha, baptized 1 May 1707
4. Margretha, baptized 2 November 1710
5. Anna Barbara, baptized 5 March 1713
6. Johannes, baptized 4 November 1714

There are also a couple of loose ends. First is Anna Catharina, born 1702 and died 18 August 1733 in Barbelroth, daughter of JACOB and Margaretha Estermann. Is this another clerical error and her father should be Hans Daniel or Daniel? Daniel and Margaretha’s daughter was born in 1702.

Second, Maria Barbara Estermann married Johan George Schiehler on 23 February 1734. She was the daughter of Johann Daniel Estermann. Is this yet another mistake, as Daniel’s daughter is named Anna Barbara?

If these are, indeed, mistakes, then the parish minister or clerk was a bit sloppy with their entries.

Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at possible origins for Abraham Estermann.