The Ancestors of Johann "Hans" Adam Biebel
part 2
The work began with the research of a direct line from Hans Adam Biebel, working backward as far as possible. As I knew the cost of a complete genealogy would be prohibitive, I requested only the names of the direct ancestors. The work came to an end, with what seems to be the last intact records of my eighth great grandfather, Anton Biebel, who was a citizen of Goersdorf, and a municipal magistrate in the town of Wörth. He was born in Goersdorf, in 1611, and died there on March 30, 1665.
A recent communication to me from someone active on the Internet, told of the research done by a lady named Christina Wilson, who had also learned her own ancestor was Anton Biebel, with the same dates of birth and death. Her line seems to originate with a different son of Anton Biebel. Our line for Johann "Hans" Adam Biebel began with Hans Biebel, a municipal magistrate, and later mayor, of the village of Goersdorf. He was apparently the brother of "young" Anton Biebel, who lived between 1644 and 1697, and who was the ancestor of Christina Wilson.
Hans Biebel married Christina Oster, on November 18, 1661. She was born at Goersdorf in 1638 and died there on October 19, 1683. From that marriage our line descends through their son, Johann Matthis Biebel, who was born in Goersdorf on April 8, 1667 and died there on April 17, 1749. He married Anna Magdelena Fischer, who was born at Goersdorf in 1671 and died there on May 5, 1734. They were married on January 30, 1691. They were the parents of Hans Georg Biebel, who was born at Goersdorf on February 5, 1700 and died there on April 7, 1758. Hans Georg married Maria Eva Burckhardt, who was born at Preuschdorf on July 5, 1701, and died at Goersdorf on October 20, 1760. They were the parents of Johann "Hans" Adam Biebel, our previously identified 'immigrant' ancestor, who was born at Goersdorf on April 2, 1728 and who died in Rockingham County, Virginia in 1795. He married Maria Eva Müller on November 19, 1748. The birth of their first child, Johann Georg Biebel, took place at Goersdorf on April 22, 1749. (The pastor noted the bad timing of the birth only five months after the marriage, on the right-hand side of the baptismal record.) The child died within the year. No other children were born to this couple in Germany. The next child born was Johan Christian Biebel, who was born in Philadelphia County - now Montgomery County- Pennsylvania on January 7, 1752. This child, Christian Bible, was living in Greene County, Tennessee by the 1790s.
Soon after the death of their first child in Germany, Johann "Hans" Adam Biebel" and his wife, Maria Eva, left their Alsatian homeland for the "new land". From the research of M. Peter, we learn a bit of the background of their leaving, which may have been at night, as emigration was forbidden at the time; probably as a result of the severe depletion of the population during the Thirty Years' War. In any event, Johann "Hans" Adam Biebel, and his new wife, departed Goersdorf under less than ideal circumstances. Their whereabouts may not have been known by their families until much later. If anyone knew where they were, no one in either family revealed that they had emigrated.
From the May 1758 estate settlement of Hans Georg Biebel,2 the father of our Adam, we learn a little about the situation our Adam found himself in, prior to his emigration. It seems he was subject to be drafted into at least two different military organizations. Both a local Hussars regiment and the Regiment Alsace were seeking to put him into military service. A provision for buying one's way out of the service had been put into place by the government. Apparently, military service in either of the two regiments, required the draftee to furnish his own mount. According to information found in the estate settlement of Hans Georg Biebel, he had provided his son Hans Adam Biebel with two options. 3 He had furnished a horse to use for the military service, if he chose to join one of the regiments. He also gave Hans Adam money in the amount of 186 Gulden to pay for a substitute to serve in his place, as provided for under the law. (102 Gulden for release from the Hussars regiment and 84 Gulden for release from the Regiment Alsace)
While no details are available after the passage of nearly two hundred and fifty years, a few clues point in the direction of the choice made by Hans Adam Biebel. It appears as if the horse was sold, (probably after the ride to the Rhine) and the money added to the 186 Gulden already in hand. Young Hans Adam Biebel took this money and his new wife, and headed for the "new land", leaving both the local Hussars and the Regiment Alsace high and dry. It is not known if his family was aware of his plans, or if they only learned of them later. In the estate settlement of his father in 1758, it is noted that the whereabouts of son Hans Adam Biebel is unknown; and that his interests in the estate would be represented by one "Heinrich Tag", for the moment.
After the deductions for this advance payment, made by his father, were taken from his share of the estate, Hans Adam Biebel ended up about even with the world in Alsace. He owed the estate the sum of 2 Gulden and 5 schillings, to pay for the horse taken when he left. The estate inventory is over one hundred pages long and contains many contractual details. Due to the high cost of the tedious translations from the old Alsatian German, only a few of the more interesting parts were attempted. I feel that the items of most family interest, have been abstracted by M. Peter. One part is the description of the house of Hans Georg Biebel. It is as follows: "a house with two floors, a yard, a little garden, a cowshed, a wine and cider press, with all the rights that go with them." The property boundaries are as follows: "(Side 1) In dem Bockgässel (in the goat land, (Side 2) on the side of Philipp Schaffer's (Property) and part near Bastian Schneider, on the front for 48 feet of the allmendliessgass (main street) and behind for 52 feet of Michel Cuntz's (property). Value 200 Gulden."
M. Peter has furnished other information of interest, taken from the church records at Goersdorf. Some of those are as follows:
Birth of Johann Mathis Biebel, 1667, '8 April, Hans Biebel-Christina von Gerst (of Goersdorf), gebohrene Osterin' (born: Oster, feminine spelling), names of the parents
Birth of Hans Georg Biebel, 1700. 'Nat den 5ten' (born on 5th), 'renat den 7ten' (baptized on 7th). 'Matz (Mathias) Biebel-Magdelena von Goersdorf, gebohrene Fischerin', names of the parents.
Birth of Johann Adam Biebel, 1728.4 'Görsdorf den 2ten April - Hans Georg Biebel und Maria Eva', names of parents.
Death of Mathis Biebel, 1749, 'den 17 Aprilis 1749 gegen der Nacht entschlieff in den H and der zehrended Kranheit Mathis Biebel der gewesene alte bürger und Einwohner allheir dieses sein Leichnahm wurde den 19ten dito vormitag zwischen 10 und 11 Uhren ordentlich otatis 82 Jahre und 9 Tag ein solches bezeugen.'
LITERAL TRANSLATION:'April 17, 1749, when the night was coming, slept in the Lord, on the reason of tuberculosis, Mathis Biebel, old citizen and habitant from here and his body was buried on the 19th, in the morning between 10 and 11 o'clock, his age 82 years and 9 days. This is witnessed by Mathis Biebel, his son, and Hans Georg Biebel, as the son, etc.'
Marriage of Georg Biebel and Maria Eva Burckhardt, 1723
Goersdorf, May 11, were married in the church, Georg Biebel, son of Mathis Biebel, citizen of Goersdorf, and Maria Eva, daughter of the honest Christoph Burckhardt, citizen and horse-shoer (blacksmith) and municipal magistrate of Preuschdorf.
Marriage of Johann Biebel and Maria Eva Müller, 1748
Goersdorf, November 19, 1748 in the morning between 11 and 12 o'clock were married after the regular proclamation, Adam Biebel, the unmarried son of Hans Georg Biebel, citizen from here, and Maria Eva Müller, the oldest daughter of Otto Philipp Müller, the miller from the mill at Goersdorf.
Another observation made by M. Peter concerning the marriage record of Georg Biebel and Maria Eva Burckhardt on May 11, 1723, is that the Biebels and Burckhardts were Citizens (Bürgers), as opposed to being "Schirmer", or those who were under protection, having paid a protection tax. This was a social distinction, as Citizens had more rights, but had to pay taxes, when the Schirmer had less rights, but only had to pay a 'protection tax'.
The German Text of the marriage record of Johann "Hans" Adam and Maria Eva is as follows:
Görstorf, 11 Mayi, wureden bey ehel. Und christl. Kirchgang copuliert und eingeseegnet Georg Biebel, Matthis Biebel bürgers zu Görsdorf ehelicher Sohn und mit Ihm Maria Eva des ehr. Und bescheidenen miester Christoph Burckhardt, bürger u. Hufschmidt u. Gerichtsschöffe zu Preuschdorf ehl. Tochter.
"Gerichtsschöffe" means a municipal magistrate, in the sense of before the French Revolution.
Some of the contractual language in the estate settlement of Hans Georg Biebel deals with the following items. The translation and transcription were done by M. Daniel Peter, Archivist, Strasbourg, France.
Pages 1 & 2...... Introduction
3..............List of Children
4-13..........Copy of the marriage contract of Anna Maria Biebel, daughter of Hans Georg Biebel, and wife of Georg Freidrich Cuntz, April 4, 1758; the parents lived with the couple.
15-38.........Description of the house and partition of the personal property of Hans Georg Biebel.
16-26.........Description and division partition of the land, between the children. Adam got 85 acres.
27-30.........Description and partition of the vineyards.
31-32.........Description and partition of the meadows.
33-37.........Description and partition of the gardens
38.............Description and partition of the chestnut grove (very important for food at the time)
Items on pages 15 thru 38 applied to the property of the widow Maria Eva (Burckhardt) Biebel
44-45.........Description and partition of the land.
46.............Description and partition of the vineyards.
47.............Description and partition of the meadows
48.............Description and partition of the gardens.
53-56.........Description and partition of the common properties (land only)
59-69.........Description and partition of the other goods (most were given to the widow)
70-75.........Description of all debts owed to the estate.
76-80.........Description of the debt owed to the estate by Adam, mentioned earlier
82-90.........Final settlement with all heirs
92-100........Life contract with the widow.
The following information about Goersdorf and the Biebel family was sent to me by M.(onsieur) Daniel Peter:
"Goersdorf is an old village. It was mentioned for the first time in 693 A.D. The village belonged to the family Lichtenberg, who gave it the status of a town in 1348. After the death of the last member of that family, the city belonged to the counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1780-1736), and then the Hesse-Darmstadt. That administration was ended by the French Revolution in 1789.
"Goersdorf became Protestant in 1570. In 1626, fourteen families (about 70 people) lived in Goersdorf. After the Thirty Years' War, only three families survived and they were almost all called Biebel. Today, the population of the village (the status of 'town' disappeared with the French Revolution) is about 1,000 people. The occupation of the Biebels was almost always farming, but the land was small and the life very hard. That's why your ancestor left his country. The only solution consisted in leaving to go to Central Europe or America. Your ancestor belonged to one of the first groups which left Alsace at this time. (The first persons which left, did it by night in 1738, because it was strongly prohibited to emigrate)."
About the only other information I hope to be able to learn is the location of the old home of Hans Georg Biebel. M. Peter will work on that project as time permits. We both have hope of locating the actual house. The area of Goersdorf sustained only a little damage in World War II. The village appears to have remained pretty much intact. I will report the progress of this search to members of the Biebel (Bible) family, if and when it becomes available.
My hope is that the members of the Bible Family, wherever they are, will get as much pleasure from learning this new information as I have. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Peter family of the French Province of Alsace, for their professional dedication in the long hours of research necessary to produce these documents. My effort at reimbursement was only a token payment on the time required for the work.
At first, I thought about trying to put this information together in some sort of book, but the large unwieldy pages from the old record books of both civil and church records in Alsace seemed unmanageable. The cost of such a book would have been prohibitive; and the information worthless to almost everyone, because it cannot be read, even by most German speakers. I have attached the first and third pages of the Hans Georg Bible estate settlement, and two pages from the Goersdorf church records, so that others can see what the translator must deal with. I will not attempt to make copies of these documents for anyone, as they exceed 100 pages.
Earlier experience has taught me that the selling and mailing of books requires far more time than I have to devote, at this stage in my life. Even the volume of genealogical mail inquiries and telephone calls sometimes disrupt time that I prefer to spend with my family......or in doing research and writing. For that reason, I am making all Biebel (Bible) information known to me, readily available to anyone with computer access. The booklet entitled: THE QUEST FOR THE REAL HANS ADAM BIEBEL, is no longer available, but it may be possible to download portions of it (including photographs) from the Internet. Anyone may photocopy any portion of it, with my permission.
Donahue Bible
Mohawk, TN
April 1, 1998
