The Children of Willhelmus/Wilhelm and Maria Petesch Bentz

 

When looking for the birth record of my 2^nd great grandfather John Bentz in Luxembourg I also found records for his parents (Willhelmus Bintz and Maria Petesch) and siblings.  What did his family unit look like in Luxembourg and what new information can I find?

After searching and getting the records I found translated (see post The Birth of Jacob Hamman for translations in Luxembourg) I can now put together a fairly good idea of John’s parents and siblings, their family unit:

Parents:  Wilhelmus Bintz and Paria Petesch

Children:

1814 Peter Birth

No birth record found.  Birth year based on age at time of death.

     1816 Peter Death

1816/7 Maria Birth

Birth based on year of birth (1817) stated in 1871 census.  At her marriage in 1852 she was 36 years of age putting her birth year about 1816.  According to her death record Maria was 80 (information given by son-in-law) at time of death in 1906 which would have made her birth year 1826, the same year sister Ana was born?  My guess is 1817 for her birth.

     1906 Maria Death

1819 Catherine Birth

1820 Pierre Birth

      1821 Pierre Death

1822 Michel Birth

     1825 Michel Death

1824 Catherine Birth

1826 Anna Birth

1828 Johan Birth- my 2^nd great grandfather (see blog post The Birth of Johan Bintz)

Thoughts:

• I believe this is a fairly accurate record of the family unit based on the information I was able to locate  
• Eight children were born to Wilhelm and Maria
• Four of eight children died at a young age
• All were born in Weiler-la-Tour, Bettemboug, Luxembourg
• Only one son lived to adulthood
• My ancestor Johan was the only son to grow to adulthood and was the last child born
• Wilhelm’s occupation was listed as a day laborer from 1816 until 1826 when his occupation became that on a linen weaver
• Wilhelm's age listed on each record is not consistent with what I would expect them to be based on his birth year of 1782.  The records may have been difficult to read, there could have been a transcription error or Wilhelm might have given the incorrect age at the time of the record.
• I wonder if there were other children I was unable to find records for?

 

Now that I have a good idea of John’s family, I wonder if any of his sisters also came to America?  If they stayed behind in Luxembourg, will I be able to trace them to descendants still living there?  I hope to take a research trip to Luxembourg and would love to meet descendants of Wilhelm and Maria.

If you have any corrections or additions or stories to share, I look forward to hearing them.

Enjoy the journey,

Debby