Peter Nicholas Cochems, Winzer.

by Lois Jones - December 2002

We do not know when Peter Nicholas son of Cochems/Hyeronimi moved to the town of Cochem but it was sometime prior to his marriage to Anna Margaret Friderichs on October 23, 1769. When they married he was 31 and she was 24. The Ediger marriage record was written as follows: "honesti adolescentes Petrus Nicolaus Cochem civis de Cochem origine ex Ellentz et Anna Margaretha Friderichs virgo de Ediger filia Jacobi Friderichs civis hujates." Like Peter Nicolaus' father, Anna Margaret's father Jacob Friderichs was a Church Councilman. Anna Margaret's mother, Maria Susanna Schenck, was born in Cochem in 1715. Anna Margaret's Great Grandfather was Franz Kayser a Church Councilman and Jurist in Ediger. The above information about Anna Margaret Friderichs and her ancestors was obtained from Fred Nicholson's, Ediger/Eller Family Book.

The children of Peter Nicholas and Anna Margaret were all born in Cochem as follows:
 

  Born  
Johann Joseph Jan. 14, 1771 Died Jan. 31, 1836, Elbigen Alp, Germany
Johann Peter Sep. 23, 1773 Married Anna Catharina Zenzen 
on Sep. 6, 1798 in Cochem.
Peter Joseph Jan. 6, 1777 Married Gertrud Heuschen 
on March 2, 1802 in Cochem.
Anna Gertrud Sep. 2, 1782 Married Peter Joseph Pauli in Cochem circa 1804.

Johann Joseph, the oldest child, died January 31, 1836, in Elbigen Alp, Germany. I could not find a marriage record for him.

Johann Peter (child #2) was a mason as well as a winzer. He married Anna Catharina Zenzen on September 6, 1798 in Cochem. They had at least four children. Two of the children were Peter Joseph (mar. 1841, Elisabeth Heingen) and Albert (mar. 1838, Catharina Michels and mar. 2nd 1841, Christina Keip). Descendants of these two men were still living in Cochem at the end of the Twentieth Century.

The only girl, Anna Gertrud (child #4) married circa 1804 Peter Joseph Pauli, a baker by profession. Anna Gertrud died on June 7, 1810. She was only 27 years old.

Anna Margaret Friderichs Cochems died in Cochem, December 26, 1804, the day after Christmas. Her civil death record was written in French. Witnesses signing her civil death certificate were her son Johann Peter Cochems, profession, mason, and Johann Wilhelm Rinck profession, cooper. Wilhelm Rinck was married to Maria Magdalena Muller, daughter of Wilhelmina Cochems Muller (Peter Nicholas's sister) and therefore Anna Margaret's nephew by marriage.

I could not find a death date for Peter Nicholas in either civil or church records. He probably died between 1802 and 1804.

Peter Joseph Cochems, Baker. Twenty-five year old Peter Joseph Cochems (son of Cochems/Friderichs) married 20 year old Anna Gertrud Heuschen on March 2, 1802 in Cochem. Gertrud was the daughter of Jacob Heuschen and Anna Catharina Burgard. The civil marriage certificate was in German and listed the groom's profession as baker. There was no space provided to record the bride's occupation. Both the bride and groom signed the certificate. Signing as witnesses were Herbert Gerhartz, Winzer, Johann Peter Cochems, Winzer (groom's brother), Jacob Heuschen, baker (bride's father), and Wilhelm Rinck, Winzer (groom's cousin). Peter Joseph Cochems married into a family of bakers as Gertrude's father, Jacob Heuschen and grandfather, Johann Peter Heuschen were bakers in Cochem.

The Cochems/Heuschen children, all born in Cochem, were:
 

  Born  
Jacobus Feb. 17, 1803 Married Anna Margaret Boos 
on May 11, 1838 in Cochem
Margaret Aug. 26, 1805 Died May 22, 1808
2 years, 9 months old
Henry Aug. 18, 1807 Married Anna Maria Goebel 
On March 15, 1831 in Cochem
Peter Joseph Nov. 5, 1809 Died January 19, 1811
14 months old
Conrad May 1, 1812 Died November 22, 1815
3 1/2 years old
Margaret Mar. 25, 1815 Married Aloysius Fridericks 
on February 20, 1840 in Cochem
Joseph Jul. 29, 1817 To America in 1845?
Gertrud Sep. 11, 1820 Married Lorenz Stephany 
on March 1, 1847 in Cochem

These children were born into a world that was undergoing tremendous political change. Henry (child #3) was born on August 18, 1807 and his Catholic Baptism record was as usual in Latin. However Henry's civil birth record was in French and his father was identified as Pierre Joseph Cochems, boulanger (baker). Since 1794 Cochem was controlled by France. After Napoleon and the French were expelled Cochem became part of the Prussian State in 1815. Prussia's borders at that time extended from France on the west to Russia on the east but it was not a contiguous whole since there were many independent states in between. It would take several more wars before all of Germany was finally united in 1871.

However some things had not changed. Children were still dying at a very young age. Three of Henry's siblings died before the age of four, Margaret at age 2 years, 9 months, Peter Joseph at age 14 months, and Conrad at age 3 1/2.

Jacob (child #1) was a baker like his father. In 1838, at the age of 35, Jacob married Margaret Boos, age 33. Their first child died at birth in 1840. In 1841 Margaret died four days after giving birth to their second child, a daughter. The baby girl died less than three months later. I have no death date for Jacob and do not know what became of him after losing his wife and children.

Margaret (child #6) married Aloysius Fridericks on February 20, 1840 in Cochem.

Gertrud (child #8) married Lorenz Stephany on March 1, 1847, in Cochem. Gerturd died on July 5, 1912 at the age of 92 in Trier.

I don't really know what happened to Joseph (child #7). In the Cochemer Familienchronik, there is an entry in the Remarks Column next to Joseph's name and the words America and 1845. There are several other words but I could not read them. I could find no record of this Joseph in the United States.

Peter Joseph Cochems, Baker, died on January 24, 1842 in Cochem. I do not know when Anna Gertrud Heuschen his wife died. The Cochemer Familienchronik does not have a death date for her. Perhaps she died in another town in the home of a relative.

Henry Cochems, Locksmith/Winzer. Henry was born on August 18, 1807 in Cochem, Germany to Peter Joseph Cochems and Gertrude Heuschen. The German world Henry was born into would be politically very different than the world his ancestors had known. Henry's Catholic Baptism record was as usual in Latin. However the civil record of Henry's birth was in French. Since 1794 this German land west of the Rhine River was controlled by France. After the French were expelled, this land along the Mosel became part of the Prussian State in 1815. Although Prussia at that time extended from France on the west to Russia on the east it was not a contiguous whole as there were many independent states in between. It would take several more wars before Germany was united in 1871. Henry himself plays a pivotal roll in this family history since it is his children that emigrated to the United States.

In the family history written by Adeline Cochem Walker she relates that Henry Cochems (b. 1862) described his Grandfather as follows: "Grandfather Henry Cochems lived in the town...of Kochem (or Cochem) on the Moselle River in Germany, a tributary ...of the Rhine River. He was of the Catholic Faith, attended the village school and was religious to a high degree. He was of spare build, fair haired, 5 feet 10 inches tall and wore no hair on his face. Born to him and his wife...were 3 girls and 5 boys....The home was a 2-story stone house built on a 30 x 60 foot lot approximately 600 feet from the banks of the Moselle River. There were 3 bedrooms in the second story. The first floor, besides living rooms and kitchen, contained instruments for wine-making and barrels. Wine for the family needs was produced annually. He was a locksmith and blacksmith by trade."

Henry Cochems at the age of 23 married (March 15, 1831 in Cochem) Anna Maria Goebel (Anna I), age 25. Anna Goebel was the daughter of Theodor Goebel a Church Councilman, Jurist and Winzer in Valwig. Theodor Goebel was the Great Grandson of Nicolaus Steuer a teacher in the village of Pommern. On Henry and Anna's civil marriage certificate the groom's profession was listed as schlosser (locksmith) and the bride's occupation was listed as dienstmagd (servant). The bride and groom signed the marriage certificate as well as the groom's parents Peter Joseph and Gertrud Cochems, and the bride's father Theodor Goebel. Anna's mother, Maria Gertrud Zenz, died when Anna was 5 years old. The witnesses to the marriage were Conrad Fritsch, tuch scherern (cloth shearer or someone who cuts the superfluous nap off of woolen cloth) uncle of the groom; Johann Joseph Lenz, locksmith and neighbor; Herman Heinrich Esser, police sergeant and acquaintance; and John Longard, tabacks spinner (tobacco spinner, I believe this was someone who rolled cigars or cigarettes) and acquaintance. All the witnesses signed the certificate except Conrad Fritsch who could not write.

The Cochems/Goebel children, all born in Cochem, were:
 

  Born  
Gertrud July 4, 1831 Married Michael Thielmann 
on November 26, 1863 in Cochem
Peter Joseph Nov. 1, 1833 Married Gertrud Stolz 
on July 25, 1861 in Cochem
Margaret Jan. 4, 1836 Married William Faber 
Sept. 12, 1864 in Cochem
Henry Feb. 18, 1838 Married Amelia, died Easton, PA
Anna Maria Jan. 26, 1840 Married Franz Joseph Zenz 
on Feb. 21, 1865 in Cochem
Johann Feb. 14, 1843 Died July 9, 1851 in Cochem
Peter Feb. 28, 1845 Married Anna Lavan about 1874 
in Chicago, Illinois, USA
Anton Nov. 21, 1847 ?

Although I have all the baptism records for the above children, the only civil birth record I have is Anna Maria's (Anna II). It states that Anna II was born on January 26, 1840. Her father's professions was listed as locksmith and her mother's profession was listed as locksmith as well. The family resided in Cochem on Bern Street, House 298. This is probably the same home that was described above.

Both men and women worked in order to save enough money to marry and raise a family. The only occupation usually open to women was dienstmagd which was the job Anna I held before she married. Though dienstmagd literally translates to servant girl, the work was not that of someone in an underclass or servile position but rather that of household help. In 1840, on the birth certificate of her fifth child, Anna I's profession was listed as schlosser (locksmith). In 1865 when Anna II married her profession was listed as schlosser (locksmith). The fact that mother and daughter were locksmiths probably does not mean there were more job opportunities available to women; but rather since women were expected to work, a locksmith was a profession women could do in the home with their husband or father. The primary definition for scholsser is locksmith but it can also mean metalworker.

Johann (child #6) died on July 9, 1851, at 11:30 at night in Cochem. He was eight years old when he died.

Gertrud (child #1) at the age of 32 married Michael Thielman on November 26, 1863 in Cochem. On October 11, 1866, Gertrud gave birth to a child that died the same day. Seven months after the death of her baby, Gerturd died on May 16, 1867. Less than four years later she died on May 16, 1867. Four months after her death her widowed husband Michael Thielman remarried.

Margaret (child #3) married William Faber on September 12, 1864 in Cochem. The Fabers had five children: William (1865-1867), Michael (1867-1870), Maria Anna (1870-1879), August (1873- ) and Peter (1876- ). Margaret died Nov. 20, 1884 in Cochem. Her husband William Faber died three months later leaving their children August and Peter orphans at the ages of 12 and 9. According to the Cochemer Familienchronik August Faber emigrated to America in 1892. His brother Peter became a clock maker and came to America in 1895 but returned to Germany where he was living in 1903.

There is simply no further record for Anton (child #7). Since the Cochemer Familienchronik does not give a marriage or death date for this child, I assume that Anton died as a child and the record lost or that he left the Cochem area.

According to the civil death certificate, Henry's wife, Anna I died at 4:30 in the afternoon on August 31, 1862 at the age of 57. On her death record she was listed as having no occupation. Henry, her husband, was listed as both a locksmith and a Winzer. Matthias Kaiser, an innkeeper and acquaintance attested to the death.

Henry Cochems died on October 2, 1881, at 4:30 in the afternoon. When he was born in 1807, the City of Cochem was occupied by the French. When he died, Henry was living in a united Germany. On his civil death record Henry was described as a Winzer and a Catholic residing on Bernstrasse, House #312. This was probably was the same house where Anna II, his daughter was born. Houses in Cochem were numbered not by street and location but by the number of homes in the town. In the 1800's houses in Cochem were renumbered several times. Wilhelm Faber, Henry's son-in-law reported the death to the authorities. Although Henry sired five sons there were no sons in the Cochem area at the time of his death. This left the task of reporting Henry's death to a son-in-law.

Margaret Cochems Faber (child #3) died three years after her father on November 20, 1884 in Cochem. The last sibling in the Cochem area, Anna Maria Cochems Zenz (child #5) emigrated to the United States in 1886.

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