page 1316
THE ANCESTRY OF ANNA KATHARINA WOLFHARDT, THE WIFE OF JOST SCHWAB
ANNA KATHARINA WOLFHARDT married Jost Schwab, 27 May 1681, in the
choir room of the Lutheran church in DUehren near Sinsheim in Baden. They
are the ances tors of many Schwabs, Swopes, Reams, and Meixels in the United
States. She came with her husband and some of her children in 1720 and
settled near Mill Creek in the Conestoga valley of Chester county (now
Lancaster county), Pennsylvania.
Her ancestry can be traced into the middle age on both the Wolfhardt
line and the lines of the women they married. They were a learned family
for the period in which they lived and would still be considered so in
this modern day. They studied at the universities in Heidelberg, Tuebingen,
and Wuerzburg, and were professional men holding positions as mayors, bailiffs,
judges, pastors, abbots, and even one chief captain in the imperial army.
The WOLFHARDT, WOLFAHRT, WOLFHART family was composed of theologians
and other learned men. A Conrad Wolfahrt, a famous philologist and historian,
was born in Rufach in Alsace and died as a deacan in Basel in 1561. The
city of Hanover, also, had a famous theologian of the Wolfahrt name. This
name goes back into dark antiquity in the records of Germany.
THOMAS WOLFAHRT, (p. 1323), third great-grandfather of Anna Katharina
Wolfhardt, lived in Waiblingen in the Rems valley, 1493-1560. He probably
was a brother of Simon Wolffhardt, who was pastor in 1525 at Korb, a town
near Waiblingen. Thomas Wolfahrt married BARBARA SCHOENWALTER, daughter
of R.. SCHOENWALTER and ANNA ROEMER. ANNA ROEMER was one of three sisters
of Johannes Roemer, pastor at Affalterbach, who left a legacy to the descendants
of his three sistere. The documents involved in the distribution of this
estate have been valuable in tracing the descendents in the early generations
of the family.
MICHAEL WOLFHARDT, (No. 1, p. 1324), eldest son of Thomas Wolfahrt and
Barbara SCHOENWALTER, was born in 1523 in Waiblingen and died in 1586.
He was an administrator of justice (Gerichts-Verwalter) in Waiblingen.
This Michael Wolfhardt was the second great-grandfather of Anna Katharina
Wolfhardt Schwab, through his first marriage to AGNES HUNN, daughter of
MICHAEL HUNN, mayor and justiciary of Marbach. Her brother, Johann Castolus
Hunn, was administrator of the Lutheran monastery at Maulbronn, and Nicolaus
Hunnius and Agidius Hunnius, the sons of her nephew, Agidius Hunnius (latinized
form of Hunn), were
page 1317
leading theologians of the Lutheran church.. (See page 1325). Michael
Wolfhardt had five children by his first wife, Agnes Hunn (page 1324) and
five children by his second wife.
ALEXANDER WOLFHARDT, (No. 1, page 1324) the great-grandfather of Anna
Katharina Wolfhardt Schwab, was born about 1556, the eldest son of Michael
Wolfhardt and Agnes Hunn. He was deacon in Cannstatt in 1579, pastor in
Struempfelbach 1583, deacon in Nuertingen 1585, prelate and abbot in Alpirsbach
in the Black Forest in 1609, where he died the 22 August 1622. He married
at St. Georgen, 7 December 1579, ELEANORE RENZ, the daughter of HEINRICH
RENZ (Renz family, page 1318) and MARIA GRAETER. In 1599 Heinrich Renz
and his wife retired from his work as abbot of the monastery of St. Georgen
to the home of their daughter, Eleanore, and son-in-law, Alexander Wolfhardt,
in Nuertingen, where Heinrich Renz died in 1601. His wife was living with
the Wolfhardts in the monastery at Alpirsbach when she died in 1620.
GEORG JOHANN WOLFHARDT, (No. 8, page 1329), grandfather of Anna Katharina
Wolfhardt Schwab, was born 15 December 1601 at Nuertingen, the son of Alexander
Wolfhardt and Eleanore Renz. He was pastor in Euchtersheim in 1626, in
Neydenstein in 1633, and in Duehren in 1637. He married first Anna, daughter
of Johann Allgayer in Enzweihingen. She died in 1637. On the 22 February
1638 he married ANNA, daughter of VEIT BURKHARDT in Kocherdorf. By this
marriage he had two sons, Johann Georg and Alexander Rudolf. These two
sons were born in the castle, and Fort of Steinsberg during the Thirty
Years War. The Romanesque ruin of this castle can still be seen near the
village of Weiler about four miles from Duehren. Alexander Rudolf Wolfhardt
was pastor at Ottsmarshausen in 1664, in the monastery at Suelzbach in
1667, and was city pastor in Weinsberg in 1693 and Gross Bottwar in 1703.
Georg Johann Wolfhardt died at Duehren, 4 November 1670. A diary written
by Pastor Wolfhardt of Duehren is still preserved in the archives of that
town.
JOHANN GEORG WOLFHARDT, (No. 1, page 1330), father of Anna Katharina
Wolfhardt Schwab, was born at the castle and fortress of Steinsberg, 31
December 1639, during the Thirty Years War, and was the son of Georg Johann
Wolfhardt and Anna Burckhardt. In 1657 he married ANNA, the daughter of
CONRAD HAAGEN, a citizen of Enzlingen bei Zurich, Switzerland, by whom
he had five children: Alexander, Agathe, Anna Katharina who married Jost
Schwab, Georg Heinrich, and Maria Catharina. Anna Haagen Wolfhardt died
14 July 1673. Johann Georg Wolfhardt, then, mar ried Maria Spleiss, the
daughter of Johan Jacob Spleiss of Schafhausen in Switzerland. They had
three daughters: Anna Maria, born 1677; Eleanore Esther, born 1679; and
Juliana Margaretha, born 1681.
ANNA KATHARINA WOLFHARD, (No. 3, page 1331), was born 9th of October
1663 at Duehren, was the daughter of Johann Georg Wolfhardt and Anna Haagen.
Her mother died when Anna Katharina was nine years old. When Anna Catharina
married Jost Schwab, son of Georg Schwab, councilor in
page 1318
Sinsheim, in the choir room of the Lutheran church in Duehren, she was
eighteen years old. Records of the births of eight of their children are
in the churchbook at Duehren; the other two are recorded in the churchbook
of Leimen and one stillborn child in the family record of Jost Schwab.
The marriage record of their daughter, Anna Maria, to the widower, Andreas
Meixel, appears in the churchbook of Leimen under the date 19 September
1719, and states that her father was Jost Schwab, citizen and baker at
Leimen. From this record we know that Jost Schwab had not yet gone to America
in the fall of 1719. The Ream Family Association states that Johan Eberhard
Riehm and his wife, Anna Elisabetha, daughter of Jost Schwab, migrated
to America in 1717. This 1719 marriage record shows that Jost Schwab DID NOT
migrate to America until after the fall of 1719, and it is presumed that
the spring of 1720 was the time of migration of this family.
THE
RENZ FAMILY
The Renz family of Ulm is an old patrician family whose records go back
in the middle ages. The first Renz mentioned in the documents of Ulm/Wuerttemberg
is Conradus Renz in 1237.
Our earliest known ancestor of this name was LUDWIG RENTZ or RENZ, who
was born in Ulm in 1450 and appeared in Wiesensteig near the end of the
15th century. He retained his citizenship rights in Ulm after he established
himself in Wiesensteig. Because of the frugality of the records and documents
of this period, the exact relationship of Ludwig RENZ to the patrician
family of Renz of Ulm cannot be established. In 1497-1513 Ludwig Renz was
a citizen and judge in Wiesensteig and an administrator (Vogt) and treasurer
(Kastenkeller) for Count Helfenstein. His wife, Walburga, who dies in Wiesensteig
between January and July 1513, bore him 3 daughters, names unknown. Three
sons, Ludwig (II), Johannes (Hans), and Ulrich (I).
Two of his sons, Ludwig and Ulrich, were in the imperial service during
the time of Emperor Maximilian I, after his first success against Hungary
in 1496, when he set up by public call a provincial army. They took the
place of the often unreliable and little qualified men of the feudal nobility.
George von Frundsberg, a Swabian, was the chief of the first troop and
regiment of German provincials in the emperor's service. They served chiefly
in maintaining the public peace in the interior of the empire and in combating
the enemies of the empire, especially France in the west and Upper Italy.
The Swabian provincials gained success in battle through their valiant
and daring spirit. Because of their loyal and useful service in this army,
the Emperor Maximilian I bestowed upon Ludwig and Ulrich by decree, July
13, 1513, an imperial coat-of-arms and patent of nobility to be used by
themselves and their descendants.
page 1319
Tradition says that Ludwig was commander at Olmuetz and fell in a battle
of the army of the empire in 1514. His brother, Johannes (Hans) studied
at the University of Heidelberg where he received a bachelor of arts degree
on January 14, 1488. In 1505 he was chief magistrate in Kuppenheim near
Rastatt.
Ulrich (I) RENZ - born between 1480 und 1590 in Ulm, the son of Ludwig
(I) and Walburga, moved with his father to Wiesensteig. He was chief captain
under Frundsberg and at the end of his military career became judge in
Wiesensteig. He had studied in Tuebingen and was appointed Magister there
in 1507. He had only one son, Ulrich II, who died Easter week 1547.
Ulrich (II) RENZ - born 1506 in Wiesensteig, was the only son of Ulrich
I and Agathe Doersch (Doersin). He married Anna Euphrosine Moegenhardt,
who was born in 1509, a daughter of bailiff (Vogt) Peter Moegenhardt of
Blaubeuren and Anna Bock, born 1485, daughter of Berthold Bock of Wildberg.
Ulrich II was reared near Weinsberg and was appointed in 1536 princely
bailiff of Wuerttemberg and spiritual administrator all in one person.
In 1520 Weinsberg was occupied by the Austrians and on May 21, 1525,
during the Peasants' War, was captured and burned by the Lord High Steward
from Waldburg. After this, Duke Ulrich of Wuerttemberg conquered his land
and established municipal law again in Weinsberg. Ulrich II Renz was acquired
great merit in his hard-pressed home city and in 1542 took over the guardianship
of the seminary at Oberstenfeld near Gross Bottwar. He retained this office
until 1552; in 1568 he took over the tutorship at the monastery Lichtenstern
near Weinsberg which he held until 1585. Two manuscripts of Ulrich Renz
from the monetary Lichtenstern are preserved in the Stuttgart archives.
1. Concerning the dispute between Count Ludwig of Loewenstein with the
citizens of Weinsberg on the Monday after Kiliani 1531. 2. August 19, 1564
to the Magistrate of the noble seminary of Oberstenfeld.
Ulrich II Renz is the ancestor of Swabian poet Hoelderin.
Ulrich dies September 19, 1585, highly esteemed and honored. His wife
died March 1, 1586. Their joint tomb still can be viewed in the choir of
the Church at Weinsberg. It bears the Renz lily and the Moegenhardt coat-of-arms
(wolf with a biscuit) with the following inscription:
"In 1585, September 19, died the honored and revered Ulrich Renz
aged and wise tutor at Lichtenstern, his age 79 years, and on March 1st,
page 1320 (not shown due to poor quality)
TOMBSTONE OF ULRICH (II) RENZ AND HIS WIFE
EUPHROSINE MOEGENHARDT IN WEINSBERG
(note- TheRenz Coat-of-Arms on the left, the Moegenhardt Coat-of-Arms
on the right)
page 1321
1586 died his faithful wife, the charitable and virtuous, Euphrosine
Moegenhardt, her age 77 years. They lived with one another in marriage
for 58 years. May God grant us all a joyous resurrection".
HEINRICH RENZ, eldest son of Ulrich Renz II and Anna Euphrosine MOEGENHARDT,
was born in Weinsberg on August 10, 1529.
As the first of the family that joined the evangelical church, he studied
theology in Wuerzburg. He had a prospect of an inheritance from the Canon
Moegenhardt, a relative of his mother's side. But in Wuerzburg, where he
had already been presented to the Bishop by his father, he turned to the
Lutheran faith, whereupon his father first sent him into the college near
Stuttgart and in 1547 to Tuebingen. Because of this faith-changing, his
mother was disinherited by the Canon Moegenhardt. Georgii wrote in the
Wuerttembergischen Dienerbuch concerning this, "by reason of this
zealous Ulrich Renz and his sons lost several thousand Gulden that was
left to an ordinary priest." Heinrich Renz received a cholarship from
Duke Ulrich of Wuerttemberg, a Bachelor of Arts in Feb. 1548, became a
Master of Arts on February 4, 1551, was appointed inspector of scholars
at the seminary of United Theological Studies in 1554, deacon in Brackenheim
in 1556, pastor in Lustnau in 1559, in Winnenden in 1556-1596, prelate
and abbot of the St. Georgen Monastry in the Black Forest with the title
"Princely Counselor". As such he corrected much of the abuse
and justifications "left from the popish time and cleansed the monatery
of popish leaven" and had through his zeal much success. In the year
1599, after 32 years of activity, he retired to Nuertingen to be with his
daugther Eleanore Wolfhardt and her husband, Alexander Wolfhardt, where
he died at age 72.
He married in Stuttgart, Maria Graeter, born 1532, daughter of Casper
Graeter (born abt. 1500 in Gundelsheim, died 1552), who was court chaplain
and a member of the consistorial court. Heinrich Renz died September 2,
1601. His wife died after him in Alpirsbach, June 3, 1620. His daughter,
Eleanore, married Alexander Wolfhardt, and was the great-grandmother of
Anna Katharina Wolfhardt, wife of Jost Schwab.
page 1322 coat of arms picture not shown due to poor quality
(see Renz file)
THE RENZ COAT OF ARMS
presented to Ludwig and Ulrich Renz, July 13th, 1513
The RENZ coat-of-arms consists of a red shield displaying a golden
lily; over the shield is a helmet of red and gold; another golden lily
stands between red and gold buffalo horns. The upper half of the buffalo
horn on the right side is red, the lower half gold; the one on the left
is reveresed. The helmet which stands straight on the shield has a blue
and red lining showing through the golden bars of the divided visor. The
open visor signifies the right of nobility. Around the neck of the helmet
hangs a golden chain with a gold medallion, the so-called insignia of royalty
(Kleinod). Scalloped leaf-shaped arabesque in red and gold twist tortuously
around both sides of the shield.
page 1323
Husband: WOLFAHRT or WOLFHARDT, Thomas
Born: 1493
Place: of Waiblingen, Neckar, Wuerttemberg
Died: 1560
Husbands' Father: Wolfahrt or Wolfhardt, Hans
Wife: SCHOENWALTER, Barbara
Born: about 1497
Place: of Waiblingen, Neckar, Wuerttemberg
Died: after 1563
Wife's Father: Schoenwalter, R.
Wife's Mother: Roemer, Anna
Children: When
born: Town: County: State:
Date of 1st
marr.: Died:
Ctry: To
Whom:
WOLFAHRT or WOLFHARDT
1. (M) Michael 1523 Waiblingen Neckar Wuertt. 1586 (1)
HUNN,
Agnes
2. (M) Josua " " "
3. (M) Elias " " " 3
Nov 1561
PFUEZEN,
Maria
4. (M) Solomon " " " 1567
...,
Appolonia
5. (M) Leonhardt " " " 1571
...,
Anna
page 1324
Husband: WOLFHARDT, Michel or Michael (administrator
of justice in Waiblingen (No. 1, page 1323)
Born: about 1523
Place: of Waiblingen, Neckar, Wuerttemberg
Died: 1586
Husbands' Father: Wolfahrt, Thomas
Husband's Mother: Schoenwalter, Barbara (1497-1563+)
Husband's other wifes: (2)
Wife: (1) HUNN, Agnes (No.
7 page 1325)
Born: about 1537
Place: of Marbach, Neckar, Wuerttemberg
Died: betw. Mar 1564 and Jan 1568
Wife's Father: Hunn, Michael (*abt 1505)
Wife's Mother: Demler, Anna
Children: When
born: Town: County:
State: Date
of 1st marr.: Died:
Ctry: To
Whom:
WOLFHARDT
1. (M) Alexander about
1556 Waiblingen Neckar Wuertt. 7
Dec 1579 22
Aug 1622
RENZ,
Eleanore
2. (M) Johannes 31
Aug 1558 " " "
3. (F) Agnes
30 Mar 1561 " " "
4. (F) Barbara
31 Jan 1563 " " "
5. (M) Johann Castolus 28 Mar 1564
" " " ...,