52 Ancestors - Week 15: Röttger Horoch (1729-1816)

This is week 15 of the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge” by Amy Crow from No Story Too Small.  I am a bit behind but intend to catch up.

Today I am writing about the oldest Hork ancestor I have found, Röttger Horoch. Notice the spelling of Hork in the earlier times? I found the spelling in a variety of ways: Horrock, Horroch, Horock, and later in the 19th Century, it was spelled Hork. These were all from German church records.

I have two records found in church books about Röttger: the marriage record to Dorothea Voss and his death/burial record.

From the death record, he died on the 13th day of February in 1816.[1] He was approximately 87 years old. This would make him born about 1729 plus or minus a few years. There are church records going back that far in Kirchhundem. When I get better at reading the old handwriting, I will search for his birth/baptism record.

Here is the death record.

Don’t you love that old German handwriting? From the week long course on German handwriting I took last summer and the use of both Roger Minert’s book, Deciphering Handwriting in German Documents and the German Word List at the FamilySearch.org wiki,  I was able to transcribe most of the words.

1.        Im Jahr Christ 1816 den 13- Febr

2.        Nachmittags um vier Uhr starb an Al=

3.        tersschwäche Röttger Horock, Bürger

4.        und Schneider in dem zu dieser Pfar=

5.        rei gehöriger Filial Altenhundem ----

6.        alt ungefahr sieven und achtzig Jahr

7.        und wurde den 15-  D. M. Morgans

8.        zehn Uhr -----lichen gebrauche nach

9.        zur Erde bestattet in gegenwart

10.      Johann Ja-e- gt Hosen und Josefs

11.      Matte beide E--ger und Acker=

12.      leute von Altenhundem, welche gegen=

13.      wurtiges Pr----oll na—st mir dem

14.      Pfarrer unterschrieben haben.

15.      F. Schmitz Pfarrer

16.      Johannes Jog---- Hose

17.      Joseff Matter

Not bad, huh?  Of course it helped that I know a little German, too, when looking at the small words and vowel combinations.

The basic meaning of this document is:

On 13th February 1816 at 4 o’clock in the afternoon Röttger Horock, a citizen and tailor of this parish in Altenhundem, died of weakness of old age. He was approximately 87 years old and was buried at 10 o’clock in the morning of the 15th of the same month. Johann J. Hosen and Josefs Matte both ?? and farmers from Altenhundem, witnessed and subscribed below the Priest.  Father Schmitz, Priest.

So what do I know about Röttger from this document?

• He died in Altenhundem
• He lived to his 87th year of old age
• He was a tailor and citizen
• He died on Feb 13, 1816 in the afternoon and was buried two days later on Feb 15, 1816 in the morning.
• His record was in the Catholic parish book, so he most likely was Roman Catholic

There might be more information from those words I can't make out. I've sent the transcription to someone who can read this kind of writing and will make an update once I hear back.

Next, I have to work on transcribing the document on his marriage to Dorothea Voss.

---

[1] Church SS Peter & Paul, Kirchhundem, Westfalen, Kirchenbuch, Toten 1808-1826, pg 370, Death & Burial Record (Church) of Rottger Horoch, FHL film Intl 1257834.

Copyright © 2014 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past