Schenck line dead-end

Question

I've reached a dead-end in my Schenck line with my 4th great grandfather, Hindrich (Henric) Schenck. He was born about 1716, place unknown, and died 19 May 1783 in Kristianstad Stadsforsamling, Kristianstad, Sweden. It is possible he was born in Germany, as Schenck is a common German name. His son, Thomas Schenck (1756-1812) is my 3rd GGrandfather, followed by Isac Andreas Schenck (2nd GGrandfather) and Ludwig Schenck (GGrandfather). Any help appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi Richard,

I've been looking for his forebears too (Henric's daughter Anna is my ancestor), with no success and for quite some time.  I suspect the answer will be somewhere in Kristianstads Kämnärsrätt, Rådhusrätt, och Mantalslänger.  The name, as you say, sounds very German - on another branch of my tree I've got Schenk zu Schweinsberg, for instance.  But there's no indication whatsoever that those guys have anything to do with Henric.

For Henric, all I have is contained in the following sources:

Mention: Lindberg, O. (1918), Landsstaten i Malmöhus och Kristianstads län 1719-1917, Malmö: A.B. Lundgrens Söners Boktryckeri, p. 293.

Death and burial: Kristianstads stadsförsamling FI:2 (1767-1791), p. 99.

For his wife, Annica Norgren, you can read the estate inventory here: 

Kristianstads rådhurätt och magistrat FIa:181 (1780-1781), pp. 543-544.

Her birth: 

Kristianstads stadsförsamling CI:4 (1719-1749), p. 145.

Her death and burial:

Kristianstads stadsförsamling FI:2 (1767-1791), p. 77.

Comments

My cousin in Sweden did find a Johan Schenck who emigrated to Gothenburg from Husum, now in the Netherlands.  This Johan was apparently born in 1640 and came to Gothenburg when that city was being established.  Many of the first residents, particularly tradesmen were Dutch.  This Johan Schenck was a bookbinder, and he had three sons who were named Johan, Thomas and Hindrich; the same names that were repeated in the Schencks from Kristianstad.   Two of the sons died without children, according to the records in the German församling in Gothenburg, while the fate of the third son was not noted - could be that he left the area. He could be the father of Hindrich, but I haven't been able to find any more info. Johan Schenck, the bookbinder apparently did some minor work for the king, and there is some kind of invoice from him on file in the records in Stockholm.  There is a reference to it.  (The institution with these records is Kammarkollegiet in Stockholm but don’t think this would be on-line).

---

That's a very interesting lead - I never thought to check in Gothenburg (I was born there...!).  A quick search gives no evidence for a relationship with Henrik in Kristianstad, but it does throw up some interesting details on the Gothenburg Schenks.  The venerable Gothenburg researcher Olga Dahl produced a monumental work on the owners of property in Gothenburg between 1637 and 1807, and the Schenks appear on several properties.  We learn the following:

Property 2.22 was inherited by Christopher Geppert, cobbler from his father-in-law, the book-binder Johan Schenk (died 21 Sep 1675) and Susanna Kühn.  Johan Schenk the younger, Thomas Schenk, and Elisabeth Schenk wrote 2/11 1696 about the distribution of property between themselves and their step-father Gottfried Meissner (i.e. Susanna Kühn's second husband).  Christoffer Geppert was supposed to buy the property from the younger Schenks, but in three years time he had paid them only 100 dalers silver, amounting to only 6% interest.  The brother-in-law (i.e. Christopher Geppert) is told to pay them the cost of hte property or vacate so that they could get another buyer.  Thomas Schenk complains at the same time that the money is needed because he's struggling to make a living from his book-binding profession.  See: http://www.gbgtomter.se/Rote_3/3.58.pdf

Property 3.27 was inhabited by the bookbinder Johan Schenk between 1666 and 1671, and removed to a property on Kungsgatan (King's Street) which he'd bought from Gerhard Stallhoff, doctor of medicine. See: http://www.gbgtomter.se/Rote_3/3.27.pdf

Property 2.23 is the same bught from the doctor, and Johan Schenk lives here from 1672-1674 (the purchase being made on or after 25 March 1672), followed by his widow from 1675-1680. On the 25th May 1671 Johan announced that he had been unable to gain control of his nephew's inheritance in Gröningen (Groningen, Holland). Around Christmas 1670 he also appears to have had a run-in with the town watchmen according to a witness statement made by his brother-in-law Gustaf Fistulator.  Johan had not yet turned 40 when he died 21 Sep 1675, meaning that he would have been born on or after 1640.  He had married Susanna Kühn on 18 Oct 1663, and at one point also acquired the neighbouring property, 2.22.  Susanna re-married 27 Dec 1678 to the bookbinder Gottfried Meissner, and she died aged 49 and was buried in the German church 5 Aug 1690.  Her brother, Frans Kühn, and Hans Calmes (foster-parent to one of the daughters) became the guardians of the children.  Gottfried Meissner was forced to leave the property to his step-children in December 1693 - they being listed as Thomas, Johan, Agneta and Elisabeth.  They pawned it 14 Mar 1694.  On 2 Nov 1696 Johan and Thomas Schenk were granted, by the magistrate, that Christopher Geppert, married to Agneta, should remove from the property.  See: http://www.gbgtomter.se/Rote_2/2.23.pdf

In addition to this, see https://forum.genealogi.se/index.php?topic=73984.0 and the post that lists the annual journal "Årsskrift - Föreningen Gamla Christianstad", which, unfortunately doesn't seem to be available to purchase for the years where the Schenks are mentioned.  Perhaps we can track down a member of the association that publishes it or find someone who can check it out in a library.

---

Quick additional note to say that the Gothenburg Estate Inventories have records for Elisabet (1708:493) and Agneta (1731:603), but neither of these contain anything tying them, as far as I can see, to anyone in Kristianstad.

---

Aaaand the family in Gothenburg appears in Berg, W. (1939) Genealogiska anteckningar om Göteborgs-släkter, Ser. 2, vol. 9-10, p. 236. Unpublished manuscript at the County archives at Gothenburg with the following information:

Master book-binder Johan Schenk, b.5/1 1635, d. 21/9 1675. M. 18/10 1663 to Susanna Kuhn, b. 1641, buried 8/8 1690, daughter of the book-binder Thomas Kuhn and Elisabet, and re-married 27/12 1678 to Gottfried Meisner who d. 1695. The family must have come from Husum, at least in 1675 one of the sponsors of Henrik was a Mrs. Magdalena Schenk, m. to Mr. Peter at Husum.   [NB. There's a Husum in northern Sweden].

Children:

* Agneta, christened 10 May 1666, d. probably that year.

* Agneta, christened 17 June 1667.

* Thomas, christened 27 January 1669, d. before 1674.

* Johan, christened 5 July 1670, d. 1698, apprentice book-binder.

* Thomas, christened 3 June 1674.

* Henrik, christened 27 July 1675, d. 20 April 1677.

* Agneta, christened 8 October 1671, d. before 10 March 1733, m. 1:stly 12 Sep 1693 to cobbler Christoffer Geppert, b. 1671, d. bef 1726. M. 2:ndly to the leather-worker Lorens Holmberg (was dead bef. 1714?)

* Elisabet, christened 2 January 1673, d. 1707, buried 27 February. M. 4 February 1700 to girdlemaker Jurgen Geppert, b. 1668, d. 1719, buried 30 August, in his first marriage.

From this list of children, the only likely candidate as a father of Henrik Schenk of Kristianstad, would be Thomas, b. 1674 (who could easily have had a child in 1716).

---

You may already know that Henrik and Annicka had a whole host of children - 8 in total.  I've gone through their birth notices in Kristianstads stadsförsamling (L) CI:5 (1750-1766) in the hope that the witnesses or sponsors would provide a clue, however all, or at the very least most appear to be on the mother's side.  It doesn't, in other words, prove anything. The omission of witnesses from the father's side, however, is telling, and suggests that he's moved into the city from a location far away enough to pose a hindrance to his family members to attend, OR that he came from a small family with no surviving close relatives.

---

Yes, I've also gone through the children's birth records and found no connection to Hindrich's side. I came to the same conclusion that he probably came from a different area. I guess we need to get more info on Thomas Schenck (1674). It's interesting to note that our Hindrich Schenck had a son Thomas, although not his firstborn. I've noted many times that children were named in honor of their grandparent.

Answer 2

I am a descendant of Roelof Schenck (1619-1705) who immigrated from the Netherlands, and settled in the Flatlands of Nieu Amsfort (Brooklyn, NY) in the 17th Century. My ancestral line on familysearch shows all of Roelof's ancestors as living in the Netherlands, until Ludolphus Schenck, 1301, Westphalia, Germany. This will only matter to you, if you have any relationship to Roelof Schenck.

Comments

My second cousin has a DNA connection to a descendant of Roelof Schenck, so possibly there is a connection. Roelof was from Utrecht. I'm not sure if he had any siblings who didn't come to New York (New Netherlands) or possibly cousins who could be children of Marten Schenks' brothers.  I'll have to look into this.

---

I recently found a record for Henricus Schenck born 26 Dec 1714 in Utrecht, Netherlands to parents Henricus Schenck and Maria Verskuijl. This is all I know at this point. I am not familiar with researching Dutch records, so maybe someone from the Dutch Roots Project can help.