Friedrichstal, Baden, Land Records - Samples From Prior Trips

From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman):

Our last post showed a land document from 1819 in Friedrichstal located in what is now Baden-Württemberg. The document is from Grundbuch Band 1, 1811–1830.

Grundbuch – Analysis

 

After transcribing and then translating the record, the next step is to understand the record and its implications. 

 

From reviewing the record, we glean the following:

 

·      Record dated 14 April 1819

·      There was a public auction on 4 March 1817

·      The seller was Magdalena (Terraß) Demarez, widow of Jacob

·      Magdalena was assisted by Heinrich Füßler

·      The terms of the sale were 

o   No measurement will be granted.

o   Purchase price paid in two installments; ½ in 14 days and the other ½ on Candlemas 1818 [2 February].

o   The buyer must bear all costs alone.

o   Ownership will be retained until the purchase price is fully paid.

·      Two tracts of arable land were inherited by Jacob Demarez’s children from Catharina Walter and the approval of the guardian was required before it could be finalized. The official permit was just received as shown in Appendix 1332. The two lots that were sold were

o   No. 23: 1-1/2 viertel in Gottsackerfeld, on one side Conrad on the other Johann Gorenflo. The bidder was Heinrich Füßler on behalf of the widow – 143 florin

o   No. 24: 2-1/2 viertel in Zwingenfeld, on one side Heinrich Hornung, on the other the buyer himself. The bidder was Friedrich Demarez, carpenter – 256 florin

 

Public Auction

 

This record was a recording of the results of a public auction held on 4 March 1817. It took over two years to get recorded. The reason stated in the record was that the transaction required the approval of the guardian. The land was inherited by Jacob Demarez’s children from Catharina Walter. Perhaps there may be additional records detailing the auction. Also, there may be guardian records available.

 

Jacob Demarez & Magdalena (Teraß) Demarez

Fortuitously for researchers, the church records have been published.[1] While that makes researching easier, the information should be confirmed with the original records. 

 

On 13 August 1795, Jacob Demarez, citizen and widower, married Magdalena Teraß, the unmarried daughter of citizen Jean Pierre Teraß, after three repeated public announcements of marriage.[2] Jacob Demarez was noted as a widow at his marriage to Magdalena Teraß. 

 

Jacob married Teraß sisters. His first marriage occurred on 25 August 1791 when he married Katharina Teraß. Jacob was the unmarried son of Jacob Demarez, a judge. Katharina was the unmarried daughter of Joh. Peter Teraß. They were married after three proclamations, and both were of the Reformed faith.[3] Katharina Margaretha, wife of Jacob Demarez, died of typhus on 9 March 1795 at the age of 21.[4] After Katharina’s death, Jacob married Magdalena Teraß. The Friedrichstal church records are in both German and English. In Katharina’s marriage record, her father’s name is Joh. Peter Teraß [German], in Magdalena’s marriage record the name is rendered as Jean Pierre Teraß [French].

 

Jacob Demarez died in 1816.[5] By 4 March 1817, Magdalena, with the assistance of Heinrich Füßler, proceeded with the auction of the two tracts of arable land.

 

Land

 

A viertel was a unit of measure meaning a quarter.[6] In 1817, the term may have varied as to the size of a tract of land throughout Baden. The terms Gottsackerfeld and Zwingenfeld are still being researched. A Gottsacker is a cemetery, but that may not make sense in this context. The payment for the land was required to be paid in cash in two equal installments of one half in 14 days after the auction and the other half to be paid on Candlemas in 1818; February 2nd. 

 

The bidder for Lot no. 23 was Heinrich Füßler, apparently on behalf of the widow, for 143 florin. Magdalena (Teraß) Demarez was purchasing the property. The other lot, no. 24, was purchased by Friedrich Demarez, carpenter, for 256 florin. It is not known if Friedrich Demarez was any relation to Jacob Demarez at this point.

 

Remaining Question

 

There is still more research to be undertaken, and one question is who was Catharina Walter and what was her relationship to Jacob Demarez’s children as they inherited the land from her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The surname Terraß is spelled “Terraß” in the auction record and as “Teraß” in the church records.

[1] Dippo, Cathryn S. Friedrichstal Church Records, 1698–1812. Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2005.

[2] Cathryn S. Dippo, Friedrichstal Church Records, 1698–1812 (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2005), 291.

[3] Cathryn S. Dippo, Friedrichstal Church Records, 1698–1812 (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2005), 290.

[4] Cathryn S. Dippo, Friedrichstal Church Records, 1698–1812 (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2005), 351.

[5] “Jacob Demarez,” ID no. 2CBB-DVG, Family Tree, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 10 March 2026).

[6] Ernest Thode, German-English Genealogical Dictionary (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992), 267.

Friedrichstal, Baden, Land Records - Samples From Prior Trips

From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman):

Our last post began to highlight some of our findings to demonstrate how your hard work can pay off. We started by looking at land documents and this week we look at another land document from 1819.  The land record is for Friedrichstal located in what is now Baden-Württemberg. The document is from Grundbuch Band 1, 1811–1830.

 

Grundbuch – Land Records

 

Friedrichstal is a small town located 16 km north of Karlsruhe in Baden-Württemberg. It was founded in 1699 by Protestant refugees, including Huguenots. In 1975, Friedrichstal merged with nearby villages to form the town of Stutensee. With that merger, Blankenloch became the overseer of the town’s records.[1] Information on records for that town was in an online finding aid found on the website of the Grundbuchzentralarchiv – Kornwestheim. The finding aid directs researchers to the Stutensee StadtArchiv.  However, there is no full-time archivist and the records for the different municipalities, including Friedrichstal, are not centrally located in a repository. When we arrived at the Blankenloch Rathaus, we were blessed with a wonderful person who retrieved the Friedrichstal records during her lunch break and allowed us to review them in her office. 

 

We reviewed the several volumes searching for records pertaining to the Demarez and Braun families.

 

This example is from 1819.[2]  Anytime we are dealing with old documents, we need to understand the terminology. In this record, we see the abbreviation “fl.” used as well as the term “gulden.” At this time in Baden, Germany, the Gulden and florin were fundamentally the same currency unit with “gulden” being the German term and “florin” (often abbreviated as fl.) serving as the Latin/international equivalent.[3] Latin terms are something to keep in mind as you transcribe and translate German documents. This land record contains other Latin terms, such as “Actum” for act.

 

The land record captures the following sale.

At Friedrichstal on 14 April 1819. According to the auction record of 4 March 1817. Sold at public auction by Jacob Demarez’s widow Magdalena, née Terraß, with assistance from Heinrich Füßler, the following fields under the stated conditions:

 

1.     No measurement will be granted.

2.     The purchase price must be paid in two installments; one half in 14 days, the other half on Candlemas on the 18^th. [In 1818, Candlemas was on 2 February.]

3.     The buyer must bear all costs alone.

4.     Ownership will be retained until the purchase price is fully paid.

The property is:

·      No. 23:  1-1/2 viertel in the Gottsackerfeld, on one side Conrad on the other Johann Gorenflo.  Bidder Heinrich Füßler on behalf of the widow -  143 fl.

·      No. 24: 2-1/2 viertel in Zwingenfeld, on the one hand Heinrich Hornung, on the other hand the buyer himself. Bidder Friedrich Demarez, carpenter, for 256 fl.

Document signatures below. Two tracts of arable land have been inherited by Jacob Demarez’s children from Catharina Walter, therefore, the approval of the guardian had to be granted before it could be given. This official permit has only just been received, as can be seen from Appendix 1332. Done at Friedrichsthal on 14 April 1819.

 

Sellers

Magdalena Demarz                            Vogt Gorenflo

the children’s guardian                       Heinrich Hornung

T. Johan Lacroix[?[                            Philipp Goranflo

Jung Peter Herlan

                                                            [extracted]

                                                            Gorenflo

 

More work is required to fully research this document and the relationships among the individuals, but there are some tantalizing clues already!

 

 

 

 

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[1] “Friedrichstal (Stutensee),” Wikipedia.de (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrichstal_(Stutensee) : accessed 2025).

[2] Friedrichstal, Baden, Grundbuch, Band 1, 1811–1830, nos. 23 & 24, 14 April 1819, Jacob Demarez; Signatur B21, Stutensee Stadtarchiv, Blankenloch, Baden-Württemberg.

[3] “South German gulden,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_German_gulden  : accessed 2026).

Gen 1: Mary Jane Beal - Hypothesized Parentage - Cont'd

What are the origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl?

 

We continued our Biehl research project with the end goal of identifying the German origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl. I continued research on the first generation, which is Mary Jane Beal. You can find that post here.

 

Hypothesized Parentage of Mary Jane Beal

Last week we discussed Mary Jane Beal’s hypothesized parentage from the evidence gathered to date. Continuing with that research, if Peter & Elizabeth (Painter) Beal were Mary Jane’s parents, then Peter Beal’s households in 1830 and 1840 would include a female of the right age. When Eliza Henry—Mary Jane’s likely younger sister—died in 1893, her obituary stated she was born in Hawkins [County] Tennessee in 1837 and noted that her father moved to Arkansas when she was a young girl.[1] With that information, I located the 1830 and 1840 censuses for Peter Beal in Hawkins County, Tennessee as noted below.

 

1830 U.S. Census

1 JUNE 1830 [OFFICIAL DATE]

Names of Heads of Families	Age Category & Born Between Years	Potential Identification
Peter Beal[2]	FWM, 5 & Under (0–4) [1826–1830]
	FWM, 5 & Under 10 (5–9) [1821–1825]
	FWM, 10 & Under 15 (10–14) [1816–1820]
	FWM, 15 & Under 20 (15–19) [1811–1815]
	FWM, 20 & Under 30 (20–29) [1801–1810]	1 – Peter Beal (b. 1801–4)
	FWM, 30 & Under 40 (30–39) [1791–1800]
	FWM, 40 & Under 50 (40–49) [1781–1790]
	FWM, 50 & Under 60 (50–59) [1771–1780]
	FWM, 60 & Under 70 (60–69) [1761–1770]
	FWM, 70 & Under 80 (70–79) [1751–1760]
	FWM, 80 & Under 90 (80­–89) [1741–1750]
	FWM, 90 & Under 100 (90–99) [1731–1740]
	FWM, 100+ [1730 & before]
	FWF, 5 & Under (0–4) [1826–1830]	2 – [Unknown & Mary Jane Beal (b. 1828)]
	FWF, 5 & Under 10 (5–9) [1821–1825]
	FWF, 10 & Under 15 (10–14) [1816–1820]
	FWF, 15 & Under 20 (15–19) [1811–1815]
	FWF, 20 & Under 30 (20–29) [1801–1810]	1 – [Elizabeth (Painter) Beal]
	FWF, 30 & Under 40 (30–39) [1791–1800]
	FWF, 40 & Under 50 (40–49) [1781–1790]
	FWF, 50 & Under 60 (50–59) [1771–1780]
	FWF, 60 & Under 70 (60–69) [1761–1770]
	FWF, 70 & Under 80 (70–79) [1751–1760]
	FWF, 80 & Under 90 (80­–89) [1741–1750]
	FWF, 90 & Under 100 (90–99) [1731–1740]
	FWF, 100+ [1730 & before]
	TOTAL IN HOUSEHOLD	4

 

Analysis: Peter Beal is aged 20 to 29 years old and is head of a young household; containing 4 people. Peter’s age is consistent with other census entries which provide a calculated birth year range from 1801 to 1804. There is a female of the right age to be his wife Elizabeth Painter and there are two young girls under 5 that are likely their children and one would be the right age to be Mary Jane Beal, who was born in 1828. Looking at the neighbors, Martin Beal is enumerated adjacent to Peter. Jacob Beal is 7 households down and Frederick Beal is 16 households down at the bottom of the page. All these Beal households need to be analyzed and correlated. There are no Painter households on this page. Peter Beal owned no slaves and had no free colored persons in his household. No one was noted as being deaf, dumb, and blind, nor an alien (foreigners not naturalized).

 

1840 U.S. Census

Peter Beal was also found in Hawkins County, Tennessee, in 1840.

 

1 JUNE 1840 [OFFICIAL DATE]

Names of Heads of Families	Age Category & Born Between Years	Potential Identification
Peter Beal[3]	FWM, 5 & Under (0–4) [1836–1840]
	FWM, 5 & Under 10 (5–9) [1831–1835]	1 – [Unknown]
	FWM, 10 & Under 15 (10–14) [1826–1830]
	FWM, 15 & Under 20 (15–19) [1821–1825]
	FWM, 20 & Under 30 (20–29) [1811–1820]
	FWM, 30 & Under 40 (30–39) [1801–1810]	1 – Peter Beal (b. 1801–4)
	FWM, 40 & Under 50 (40–49) [1791–1800]
	FWM, 50 & Under 60 (50–59) [1781–1790]
	FWM, 60 & Under 70 (60–69) [1771–1780]
	FWM, 70 & Under 80 (70–79) [1761–1770]
	FWM, 80 & Under 90 (80­–89) [1751–1760]
	FWM, 90 & Under 100 (90–99) [1741–1750]
	FWM, 100+ [1740 & before]
	FWF, 5 & Under (0–4) [1836–1840]	3 – [Unknown]
	FWF, 5 & Under 10 (5–9) [1831–1835]
	FWF, 10 & Under 15 (10–14) [1826–1830]	2 – [Unknown & Mary Jane Beal (b. 1828)]
	FWF, 15 & Under 20 (15–19) [1821–1825]
	FWF, 20 & Under 30 (20–29) [1811–1820]	1 – [Elizabeth (Painter) Beal]
	FWF, 30 & Under 40 (30–39) [1801–1810]
	FWF, 40 & Under 50 (40–49) [1791–1800]
	FWF, 50 & Under 60 (50–59) [1781–1790]
	FWF, 60 & Under 70 (60–69) [1771–1780]
	FWF, 70 & Under 80 (70–79) [1761–1770]
	FWF 80 & Under 90 (80­–89) [1751–1760]
	FWF, 90 & Under 100 (90–99) [1741–1750]
	FWF, 100+ [1740 & before]
	No. Persons Employed in Mining; Agriculture; Commerce; Manufacture & Trade; Navigation of the Ocean; Navigation of Canals, Lakes, and Rivers; and Learned Professional Engineers	1 - Agriculture
	WP, 20+ [1820 & Before], Could Not Read & Write	1
	TOTAL IN HOUSEHOLD	8

 

Analysis: Peter Beal is aged 30 to 39 years old and is head of the household; containing 8 people. Peter’s age is consistent with other census entries which provide a calculated birth year range from 1801 to 1804. There is a female of the right age to be his wife Elizabeth Painter and there are five young girls under 14 that are likely their children and one would be the right age to be Mary Jane Beal, who was born in 1828. There is one male aged 5 through 9. Looking at the neighbors, Peter Beal is the only Beal enumerated on this page. There are no Painter households on this page. Peter Beal owned no slaves and had no free colored persons in his household. No one was noted as being deaf, dumb, and blind, nor an alien (foreigners not naturalized). There were no Rev War pensioners enumerated in the household. No persons were noted as deaf, dumb, blind, insane, or idiots.

 

These censuses will be further analyzed, and a more in-depth review of the neighbors will be completed to get an idea of the neighborhood in Hawkins County, Tennessee. However, it answered the question that Peter Beal had a female of the right age in his 1830 and 1840 household to be Mary Jane Beal providing further support for the hypothesized parentage.

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[1] Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 2025), memorial 44977126, Eliza Henry (15 Jun 1837–16 Jul 1893), maintained by contributor 46510018, Rosa Cline; citing Friendship Cemetery, Springdale, Washington County, Arkansas, USA.

[2] 1830 U.S. census, Hawkins County, Tennessee, population schedule, Taney Town, p. 17 (penned & stamped), line 9, Peter Beal; digital image, Ancestry(https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 March 2026).

[3] 1840 U.S. census, Hawkins County, Tennessee, population schedule, p. 255 (stamped), line 5, Peter Beal; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 March 2026).