c1660 Johannes Oberholtzer was born about this time. [1]
1683 Johannes Oberholtzer, son of Jacob, farmer and Widertauffer at the Immenhauser Hoff, married Anna Frey, daughter of Felix Frey, former (deceased) farmer and Widertauffer, on March 13 at the Immenhausenhoff, Birckenhoff. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Johannes Oberholtzer, Jacob Oberholtzer, Hoffbauern und Widertäuffers auff dem Immenhaußer Hoff Sohn.
Anna Felix Freyen geweßenin hoffbauer & widertauffer auf den birckenhoff hinderlaßen tochter
… post trinam proclamen … den 13th Martÿ copulati ImmerHaußenhoff.
The farm at Immelhausen had to pay tithes to the Stift at Sinsheim. The Stift employed accountants whose books are archived at Karlsruhe. The accounts record the family name but no personal details. The farm at Immelhausen became a hereditary tenancy in 1704, it was auctioned off and Hans Jacob Kendig and Martin Frey got it. Before that it was a temporary tenancy, last held by Oberholtzer. [8]
A genealogy report about the Bernese Anabaptist Binkele family included the following [9]:
On Monday, November 7th, 2022, Elisabeth Kludas reported on the Bernese Anabaptist Binkele family, which has lived on the Immelhäuserhof since 1728, i.e. 285 years. Previously, the Zurich Anabaptist Oberholtzer family had been tenants on the farm since around 1650. She probably came with the large group of Zurich Anabaptists who were brought from Alsace to Kraichgau in 1650 by the Imperial Knights of Venningen. They should help rebuild the country devastated and depopulated by the Thirty Years' War and in return enjoy religious freedom. However, they were not allowed to proselytize, which would shape the Mennonites for 200 years.
In 1671/72, 700 persecuted Anabaptists fled the canton of Bern and were stranded in Alsace and the entire Palatinate. Also in the municipality of Immelhausen. Dutch baptismalists helped in an unprecedented action. On April 6, 1672, when Max Oberholtzer was the tenant, the list of relief goods distribution was completed at the Immelhäuserhof. It is in the archives in Amsterdam.
Samuel Oberholtzer acquired the leasehold as the highest bidder and passed it on to his sons-in-law Jakob Kendig and Martin Frey in 1704. Jakob Kendig, in turn, passed on his half of the leasehold to his son-in-law Christian Binkele. Jakob himself moved to Mutterstadt and became a co-tenant with Vinzenz Möllinger, the father of the famous David Möllinger. The marriage to the unnamed Kendig daughter made Christian Binkele (1705-1775) the hereditary tenant of half of the Immelhäuserhof. He was a preacher and later an elder in the Immelhäuserhof Mennonite community. He is mentioned in the so-called peace letter from 1762 and in the minutes of a meeting of servants and elders at the Immelhäuserhof in 1770. Both times the aim was to settle a dispute over the Mennonite preacher Peter Weber (1731-1781) from Kindenheim near Bad Dürkheim. He was oriented toward pietism and maintained lively correspondence with many Mennonites as far away as America. The letters are in the Mennonite Research Center in Weierhof.
Christian Binkele was married three times. His sons Christian from his second marriage to Barbara Herr and Heinrich from his third marriage to Christina Frey continued the leasehold. Their grandsons Christian (Isaak's son) and Jakob built a new prayer house in 1857. The Immelhäuserhof has a cemetery because initially Protestant and Catholic priests refused to allow Anabaptists to be buried in their churchyards. Three gravestones have been preserved.
Despite many moves and emigration, up to 7 tenant families lived on the Immelhäuserhof in the 19th century. When the owner, the Sinsheim Abbey, sold the farm in 1855, they had to borrow money and in the following years war taxes, military billetings and poor returns due to cheap imports depressed the farm. Sales and forced auctions brought a period of suffering to the Mennonites at Immelhäuserhof. Only one family was able to stay on the farm, but their descendants are still there today.
The lecture is available at Elisabeth.Kludas@t-online.de
Research Notes:
There have been conflicting reports about the parents of Anna Frey. Felix Frey, son of Jacob Frey and Barbara Hoffstetter, with wives Anna Sidler and Anna Schandler has also been reported as the father of this Anna Frey. We seek documentation regarding her ancestors.
Geneanet. [10]
Parish records at Ottenbach, Zürich, Switzerland suggest that Anna Frey, daughter of Felix Frey [11] and Elisabeth Stirelin, married Heinrich Meier on May 13, 1671 at Ottenbach, Zürich, Switzerland. Her link to Johannes Oberholtzer is uncertain or incorrect. https://suche.staatsarchiv.djiktzh.ch/detail.aspx?id=2036174 entry
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/171800762/person/302227884750/facts
https://suche.staatsarchiv.djiktzh.ch/archivplansuche.aspx?ID=308230 book listing
https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008014328?cat=370406 private film
1651 Anna Frey, daughter of Felix Frey, was baptized on February 16, at Ottenbach, Zürich, Switzerland. [12]
[1] Jane Evans Best, "Swiss Origins of Groff, Hess, Weber, Landis, and Oberholtzer Families," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 13 (April, 1990), 9-25, at 24, person OA2615.
[2] Germany, Baden, Hilsbach-Weiler, Taufen, Heiraten, Tote, Kommunikanten, Konfirmanden 1655-1730, right side, [FamilySearchImage], [FamilySearchRecord].
[3] Germany, Baden, Hilsbach, Mischbuch 1655-1730 1730 Febr 1732, image 100, [ArchionImage].
[4] Annette Kunselman Burgert, Eighteenth Century Emigrants From German-Speaking Lands to North America, Vol. 1: The Northern Kraichgau (1983), 427.
[5] John L. Overholt, "The Marcus Oberholtzer (1664-1725) Family," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 9 (October 1986), 26-40, at 27, family V4.
[6] Jane Evans Best, "Swiss Origins of Groff, Hess, Weber, Landis, and Oberholtzer Families," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 13 (April, 1990), 9-25, at 24, person OA2615.
[7] Baden, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985, [AncestryRecord].
[8] Personal communication.
[9] Anabaptist stories from Immelshäuserhof, [URL].
[10] Geneanet Community Trees Index, [AncestryRecord].
[11] Janet and Robert Wolfe, Genealogy Page for Felix Frey of Knonau, Zurich, Switzerland, [JRWolfeGenealogy].
[12] Jane Evans Best, "Swiss Origins of Groff, Hess, Weber, Landis, and Oberholtzer Families," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 13 (April, 1990), 9-25, at 24, person OA2615.