Children of Anna Catharina Engle and Gottfried Bock

Johann Georg Gottfried Bock was born 1737; confirmed 1752 at Dürkheim at age 15; married, ca. 1764, Catharina (maiden name unknown); immigrated to America in 1765; died in Pennsylvania in 1817. No issue. Although no record of his birth or baptism has been found, Johann Georg Bock’s confirmation at Dürkheim verifies that he was born in 1737. He was much beloved by his half-brothers, Jacob and Carl Christlieb.

Johanna Susanna Elisabetha Bock, born June 9, 1740; baptized three days later in the Schlosskirche at Dürkheim on June 12, 1740. Her baptismal entry follows:

“Den 9. Juni ward Gottfried Bocken, Salzwäger auf der Saline zu Schönfelden, und seiner ehl. Haußfrau, Annae Catharinae, ein Töchterlein geboren, welches den 12. ejudem, ward Dominica Trinitatis, getaufft und Johanna Susanna Elisabetha genennet worden. Die Gevattern sind Johann August bock Gastgerber zum Weißen Bären in Mannheim, und seine ehl. Haußrau, Maria Susanna, wie auch H. Johann Philipp Büttner, bei Ihro Excellenz, Hn. Gehembden Rath von Beusten in Diensten, wie auch Jungfer Susanna Elisabetha Bruchin, Hn. Johann Caspar Bruchen, wohlverordneten Bürgers und Handelsmanns zu Wachenheim, erwachsene ledige Tochter.” Dürkheimer Taufregister, 1740, Nr. 29, Seite 313.

Translated, the entry reads:

“On 9 June there was born a little daughter to Gottfried Bock a salt-weigher at the salt distillery at Schönfelden and his lawful wedded wife, Anna Catharina, who was baptized on the 12^th of the same month…Trinity Sunday, and christened Johanna Susanna Elisabetha. The sponsors are Johann August Bock, Innkeeper at the White Bear Inn in Mannheim and his lawful wedded wife, Maria Susanna, as well as Herr Johann Phillipp Büttner, in service with your Excellency, Lord Privy Chamberlain von Beusten, as well as Fraulein Susanna Elisabetha Bruch, adult unmarried daughter of the well-situated citizen and merchant at Wachenheim, Herr. Johann Caspar Bruch.” Dürkheim Baptismal Register, 1740, Nr. 29, p. 313.

It is obvious that Johann August Bock and his wife, Susanna, represented Gottfried’s side of the family. Uncertainty of familial relationship rests with the infant’s sponsor and namesake, Susanna Elizabetha Bruch, who could have been from either side of the family. It may be that the child’s first name, Johanna, was drawn from the third sponsor, Johann Phillip Büttner, who was employed at the saltworks near Dürkheim.

Nothing further is known of Johanna Susanna Elizabetha Bock. Her name does not appear among marriages or deaths in the Dürkheim church register. Assuming she lived into adulthood, she would have been about 25 years old when the family departed for America in 1765.

The abovementioned Caspar Bruch is said to have been a founder of the Lutheran Church at Wachenheim. There is the possibility that Jacob Christlieb may have been baptized at Wachenheim in 1749, as residents of Grethen were permitted to worship in that community or at Dürkheim. Unfortunately, the Wachenheim church records are incomplete for this time period, so this supposition cannot be proven.

Death of Gottfried Bock

Anna Catharina’s husband Johann Gottfried Bock died at Dürkheim on February 17, 1742. Shown here is a copy of his death entry.

“Den 17 Febr. starb und ward den 18. Eiusdem begraben Gottfried Bock, Salzsieder auf der Saline zu Schönfelden, ward bey 30 Jahr alt.” Dürkheimer Sterberegister, 1742, Nr. 17: Seite 516.

A translation reads:

“On 7 February [1742] there died and on the 10^th of the same month and there was buried Gottfried Bock, salt-refiner at the salt distillery at Schönfelden, who became nearly 30 years old.” Dürkheim Schloßkirche Death Register, 1742, p. 516.

Although all attempts to learn more about Gottfried Bock have been met with disappointment, certain inferences can be drawn from the church records.

The Dielkirchen marriage entry states that Gottfried resided at Cölln and was employed as a miner. It is supposed that he worked in the mines at Stahlberg, a settlement located a few miles west of Dielkirchen. The mines there yielded silver and quicksilver until the 19th century.

As mentioned earlier, church records at Dürkheim reveal that at some time between 1736 and 1740, Gottfried and Anna Catharina Bock removed to the vicinity of Dürkheim, where Gottfried was employed at the salt distillery at nearby Schönfeld.

The church entries at Dürkheim reveal that Gottfried Bock held two titled positions at the saltworks: that of “salt-refiner” and “salt-weigher.” His appointment to the post of saltweigher denotes a position of importance, one that would have involved bookkeeping and other accountabilities necessary for the financial success of the salt distillery.

Reflecting again on Gottfried and Anna Catharina’s daughter’s baptismal entry, we learn that Johanna Susanna Elizabetha’s sponsors were personages of importance, reflecting Gottfried Bock’s standing in the community. One of his daughter’s God-sponsors was “Johann Phillipp Büttner, in service with your Excellency, Lord Privy Chamberlain von Beusten.” Two of the sponsors at the baptism of Johanna Susanna Elizabetha Bock – Johann August and Susannah Bock – are thought to have been the infant girl’s aunt and uncle.

Johanna Suzanna Elizabetha Bock's God-Sponsors

Johann August Bock’s death record shows that he died on September 9, 1768 at age 57, thus placing the year of his birth in 1711, a year before the birth of Anna Catharina’s husband, Johann Gottfried Bock (1712-1742). Johann August and his wife, Maria Susanna, “widow of the late Gottfried Neuer,” were married in Mannheim on July 8, 1737. Johann August Bock, who married at age 27, is identified as the “Host of the White Bear Inn,” as was the aforementioned Gottfried Neuer. The marriage record identifies the father of the groom as having been the “late Christoph Bock, who had been manager [possibly of a farm] in Raschau.”

Johann August Bock may have been the well-to-do uncle in Germany to which Georg Bock made reference in later years in America. If Johann August Bock was, indeed, Georg Bock’s uncle, the abovementioned Christoph Bock would have been his grandfather.

It is apparent that Gottfried and Anna Catharina’s infant daughter was named after the remaining sponsor, Susanna Elizabetha Bruch from Wachenheim, daughter of Johann Caspar Bruch (1680–1765) and his wife, Maria (1682–1770). Susanna Elizabetha Bruch was obviously closely liked with the Bock family. It is plausible that her mother, Maria Juliana, may have been a sister of the aforementioned Christoph Bock. If this were the case, Susanna Elizabetha Bruch would have been a first cousin of Anna Catharina’s husband, Johann Gottfried Bock and perhaps to Johann August Bock as well. Although based upon conjecture, the following should be helpful in considering suppositions.

It should be mentioned that Johann Caspar Bruch was a principle founder of the Lutheran Church at Wachenheim, built ca. 1746. Prior to that time, Lutherans in that community worshipped at Dürkheim. This may explain what may have become a reciprocal agreement that allowed citizens of one community to worship at the other.

After a marriage of five years and ten months Gottfried Bock, died on February 7, 1742, at age 30. Nothing is known of the circumstances surrounding his death, nor is anything known, beyond conjecture, pertaining to his association with Friedrich Carl Christlieb, whose marriage to his widow, Anna Catharina, took place within a few months after Gottfried Bock’s death.

Important Dates Pertaining to Anna Catharina

The following dates mark important events in the lives of persons connected with Anna Catharina Engel.

• 1668 – Birth of Johann Peter Engel.
• 1710 – Approximate year of Anna Catharina’s birth.
• 1712 – Birth of Johann Gottfried Bock.
• 1712 – Approximate year of Friedrich Carl Christlieb’s birth.
• 1736 – April 17^th – Marriage of Gottfried Bock and Anna Catharina Engel.
• 1737 – Birth of son, Johann Georg Bock.
• 1740 – June 9^th – Birth of their daughter, Johanna Susanna Elizabetha Bock.
• 1742 – February 7^th – Death of Gottfried Bock.
• 1742 – May 20^th – Conversion of Simon aus Frankenstein to Christianity.
• 1742 – July 22^nd – Marriage of Anna Catharina to Friedrich Carl Christlieb.