Maria Anna Abendschön

Every now and then, I buy old photographs that have enough information on the back to potentially identify the person on that photograph. As it’s more useful to put those out there than keep them in a drawer, that’s what I want to do. In this series, I want to identify who the person on the photo was, and find out more about the life of this person. The photo I currently have, is the photo of “Grossmütter Maria Anna Schneider geb. Abendschön”.

So what does the recto of the photo tell us? The photo is taken at “Atelier Chr. Meess Karlsruhe, Werderstr. 31”. The verso tells us that “Grossmütter Maria Anna Schneider geb. Abendschön” died “der 28e April 1908”. That is a lot of information to go on: we have her maiden name, married name, and a death date. We also know that she had grandchildren, and that she was in Karlsruhe when her photograph was taken.

Finding the death record

With that information the hunt is on. In the “Germany, Deaths, 1870-1951” collection at Ancestry.com we find a “Maria Anna Schneider” who died on the 28th of April 1908 in Karlsruhe¹. This death record gives us more information about her.

Nr. 688

Karlsruhe am 28. April 1908.

Vor dem unterzeichneten Standesbeamten erschien heute, der Persönlichkeit nach bekannt, Franz Xaver Schneider, Obsthändler, wohnhaft in Karlsruhe Rüppurrer Straße No. 20, und zeigte an, daß Maria Anna Schneider geborene Abendschön, ohne Gewerbe, 84 Jahr alt, katholischer Religion, wohnhaft in Karlsruhe bei ihm, geboren zu Freidsheim Amt Rastatt Wittwe des Landwirts Franz Xaver Schneider, de /:weitere Personalien der Verstorbenen sind dem Anzeigenden unbekannt:/ _ zu Karlsruhe in der Wohnung des Anzeigende{r} am achtundzwanzigsten April des Jahres tausend neunhundert und acht Nachmittags um ein Uhr verstorben sei.

Vorgelesen, genehmigt und unterschrieben

[Autograph] Franz Xaver Schneider

Der Standesbeamte

[Autograph]

Transcription of Death record 688, Karlsruhe, 1908.

This death record tells us that the photograph I have is of Maria Anna Abendschön, who is born in Freidsheim in Amt Rastatt around 1824. Her death record tells us that she died on the 28th of April 1908 at 13:00, while she was living with her son Franz Xaver Schneider at Rüppurrer Straße 20 in Karlsruhe. She was the widow of the farmer Franz Xaver Schneider.

Finding the family

Maria Anna Abenschön married to Xaver Schneider on the 25th of May 1846 in the Roman catholic church in Moosbronn, Rastatt². The marriage record shows that the parents of Maria Anna were Sebastian Abendschön and Gertrud Schäfer, and that the parents of Xaver were Matthaus Schneider and Maria Anna Laub.

Children

• Joseph Schneider, born on the 2nd of April 1847 in Moosbronn.³ He married to Flora Fitscher on December 6th 1869 in Moosbronn.⁴
• Stephanus Schneider, born on the 26th of December 1852 in Moosbronn.⁵ He died on the 17th of June 1853.⁶
• Maria Anna Schneider, born on the 22nd of October 1854 in Moosbronn.⁷
• Matthaeus Schneider, born around 1856. He died on the 8th of July 1892 in Moosbronn.⁸
• Stephanie Schneider, born on the 28th of April 1858 in Moosbronn.⁹
• Amalia Schneider, born on the 9th of October 1860 in Moosbronn.¹⁰
• Krescentia Schneider, born on the 25th of March 1863 in Moosbronn.¹¹ She was buried on the 4th of November 1864.¹²

Finding the birth record

Based on information in the marriage record, we know that the parents of Maria Anna were Sebastian Abendschön and Gertrud Schäfer. Using that information, we can locate her baptism record.¹³ This baptism record shows that she was baptised in Moosborn on the 15th of January 1824. This means that she “Grossmütter Maria Anna Schneider geb. Abendschön” was 84 years old when she died.

This means that the photograph shows us Maria Anna Abendschön, who was born on the 15th of January 1824 and died on the 28th of April 1908 at 13:00. She lived in Moosbronn most of her life, but lived at her sons house in Karlsruhe during her final years. She had more children, and was married to the farmer Xaver Schneider. At the time, Moosbronn was just a little hamlet deep in the Black Forest. She would probably have known most of the people in her village, where agriculture was defining the way of living.

Are you a descendant of Maria Anna Abendschön, and do you wish to have the physical copy of the photograph? Please contact me. Do you know more about Moosbronn during the 19th century? Feel free to share more information!

References

1. Civil Registration (Karlsruhe), death record 1908 no. 688, Maria Anna Schneider (26 April 1908); “Germany, Deaths, 1870-1951,” index and images, Ancestry (http://ancestry.com/ : 1 June 2019).
2. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), marriage records, Schneider – Abendschön (25 May 1846); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).
3. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), birth and baptism records, Joseph Schneider (2 April 1847); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).
4. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), marriage records, Schneider – Abendschön (6 December 1869); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).
5. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), birth and baptism records, Stephanus Schneider (26 December 1852); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).
6. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), death and burial records, Stefan Schneider (17 June 1853); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).
7. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), birth and baptismrecords, Maria Anna Schneider (22 October 1854); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).
8. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), death and burial records, Matthaeus Schneider (8 July 1892); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).
9. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), birth and baptism records, Stephanie Schneider (28 April 1858); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).
10. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), birth and baptism records, Amalia Schneider (9 October 1860); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).
11. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), birth and baptism records, Krescentia Schneider (25 March 1863); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).
12. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), death and burial records, Creszenz Schneider (4 November 1864); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).
13. Roman Catholic Parish (Moosbronn), birth and baptism records, Maria Anna Abendschoen (15 January 1824); “Search Historical Records,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ : 16 May 2021).