Louisa Prelle 1822 - Aft. 1879 My 2nd Great Grandmother on My Mother's Side

Market Church where Louisa
was baptized

Louisa Prelle was born Johanna Louisa Wilhelmina Christiane Prelle on March 9, 1822. She was the daughter of Johann Christoff Andreas Prelle and Johanna Elisabeth Carolina Henriette Kratzenstein. She was one of five children. She had an older sister Henriette Prelle born December 26, 1817 and an older brother Fritz Christoph Prelle born October 25, 1819. She also had two younger sisters Johanna Henritta Prelle born September 22, 1823 and Johanna Christiane Caroline Prelle born August 19, 1825.

Louisa and her family lived at 777 Goslar in Germany. She was baptized at Market Church in Goslar on March 21, 1822. Strangely, the only witness listed on her birth record was a man named Theuerkauf. Traditionally the baby is named after the persons present at his or her birth but this was not the case for Louisa.

Louisa married Heinrich Christian Menge on October 27, 1840 when she was 18, and gave birth to 12 children. They Were: 

Johanna Sophia Christianne Menge, who was born April 2, 1841. Johanne Christoph Prelle, her maternal grandfather, and Johanna Sophia Menge (who was likely her paternal grandmother though she was not identified as such) were present at her birth.  It was the custom at that time for the new child to be given the names of the witnesses. This explains the multiple names for each child. Sophia was baptized on April 25, 1841, in Market Church in Goslar. This is the town’s Catholic church. She married Johanne Friedrich Carl Eilmann. 

This screenshot from Google Earth shows the location of
Market Church at one end of Breite and Market Streets
on the left and Stephans Church at the other end

Louise Henrietta Menge, born August 27, 1842, and baptized on September 11, 1842, at Market Church. The only witness recorded at her birth was her father, which was very unusual in Germany at that time.

Anna Frederika Menge was born on May 20, 1844. One of the two witnesses at her birth was Friedrich Menge, who was probably an uncle, but I don’t know that for certain.  Sadly, Anna died six months later, on November 15.

A detail shot of Goslar from Thomas Henze's
Facebook page

Anna Henrietta Christianne Menge, born in 1845. Two witnesses were listed at Henrietta’s birth, but I don’t know who they are yet. One was Mrs. Joh. Christiane Brönnecke, nee Dammayer. Brönnecke is a family name on Henrietta’s maternal side of the family. The other witness was Mrs. Sophia Henrietta Bach, nee Rosenkranz. Both were probably aunts. Henrietta was baptized at Market Church on July 21, 1845.

Heinrich Gottlieb Otto Menge was born on November 22, 1847. His father and August Gottlieb Menge, a white tanner from Alfeld, were listed as witnesses. August Gottlieb may have been an uncle, a brother of his father. Gottlieb was baptized on Christmas day in 1847.

Christian Hermann Menge was born on May 20, 1849, and baptized on August 6, 1849. The only witness at his baptism was Christian Menge, identified as a master miller from Alfeld, so he was likely another brother of Heinrich Christian Menge and an uncle to Hermann. The baptism was performed by Pastor Ernst Bendeler, the same pastor who performed some of the ceremonies for the other children.

Heinrich Friedrich (Henry) Menge, my great grandfather was the next child. You can read his biography on this blog. I posted it July 20, 2014.

A daughter was born in June of 1854. Unfortunately, her first names are not legible on the birth or baptism records. She was christened on September 11, 1854, by Pastor Bendeler. Two witnesses are listed, but only one name is legible — that of Karl Prelle, her uncle on her maternal side.

The town of Goslar from Thomas Henze

Emma Marie Hermine Menge was born on July 3, 1856, and baptized on September 15, 1856. The two baptism witnesses were Hermann Becker from Vienenburg and Marie Cassebaum. There were also two “representatives,” a Karl (?) Prelle, Miller from Goslar, and Christian Müller. A small cross marked on the original record, indicates that Emma Marie died young.

The tenth child was August Heinrich Albert Menge, who was born on July 15, 1858, and baptized on September 9, 1858. His witnesses were August Menge from Alfeld; Anton Menge, a cooper from Goslar; and a third witness that is not legible. The priest who performed the baptism was Father Lohmann. This child also died young, on January 25, 1860.

Johanna Ottilia Alwina Menge came into this world on April 4, 1862, and was baptized by Father Siever on April 28. Heinrich Becker from Vienenburg and her older brother Heinrich Otto Gottlieb Menge were present at her birth. Unfortunately, this child also died young, when she was two months and fourteen days old, on June 19, 1862.

The last child born to Louisa Menge was another son, who lived only six days, from October 2nd to the 8^th in 1862. He was not baptized. Louisa would have been 41 when he was born.

A copy of the original church record of Louisa's birth
and baptism, 1822. Found by Thomas Henze

She died sometime after 1862 but I have not yet found a record of her death. A marriage record for her son Heinrich Menge, my great grandfather, includes a reference to both of his parents noting that they were living in Goslar, Germany. This note, in the present tense, suggests that Louisa was living at that time, August 15, 1879, when she would have been 57 years old.

Sources for this Post: Heinrich Menge’s journal and his marriage record; baptism and marriage records for Louisa found by Thomas Henze; Google; FamilySearch and Ancestry