Truth
Matters
Jacob of Wissembourg
A common problem for students of descendancy is to have people in their family tree simply disappear. Did they die without a death record? Did the researcher miss something? It's always possible, even probable, that they moved away, or emigrated to another country. But finding them can be a near impossibility, especially when they change their surname, as from Schmitt to Smith.
Jacob the Nail Signer's second son, Jacob, could very well have become one of these missing persons, had he not, in June 1772, traveled home to Hatten to witness the baptism of his sister's daughter Maria Magdalena Fuchs. Equally fortunately for researchers, the baptism was recorded by Pastor Christian Mall (tenure 1764-1774) who kept detailed records and wrote exceptionally neatly. On that day he took the time to record that Johann Jacob Schmitt was a "Nagelschmidt in Weissenburg" (the German spelling of Wissembourg). Jacob returned to Hatten a year later for the baptism of his sister's son, and Mall again recorded these details.
As discussed on our Bas-Rhin Archives page, knowing an ancestor's town in Alsace is the key to finding old vital records. Wissembourg is located about 17 km (10.5 miles) north of Hatten, only 20 minutes by car, but over 3 hours by foot. Assuming Jacob traveled by horse or wagon, it was still a significant trip.
Jacob's move to Wissembourg was probably necessitated by economics, as there was likely not enough nailsmithing work in Hatten for himself and his older brother, Michael. Today the population of Wissembourg is about four times that of Hatten. It was undoubtedly a larger community in the 18th century as well, as shown by the size and number of its churches. Throughout most of the century there were two Protestant churches, St. John's and St. Michael's, the former attended by Jacob and his family. During the French Revolution, St. Michael's was destroyed, but fortunately its records were saved.
As illustrated above, Jacob's handwriting was neater than Michael's, and shows unequivocally that he followed his brother's example in adopting the spelling "Schmitt".
Moved to the City
Family Group Sheet
Research Needed
We don't currently know whether Jacob of Wissembourg is likely to have living descendants named Schmitt. We know he had one son, Johannes, who lived to adulthood and married, and another son, Johann Adam, whose fate is uncertain. Jacob's remaining sons died in childhood. Future research into the records of St. John's, St. Michael's, and the town of Wissembourg will hopefully clarify this.
Vital Records
7 3 7