ALTEVOGT in GERMANY

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THE STATE OF WESTPHALIA GERMANY Westphalia , Ger. Westfalen, region and former province of Prussia, W Germany. Munster was the capital of the province. After 1945 the province was incorporated into the West German state of North Rhine Westphalia, now a state in reunified Germany. The region of Westphalia occupies, roughly, a triangle formed by a line drawn eastward from the Rhine River at the Dutch border to the Weser River at Minden, a line drawn from Minden southwestward to Siegen (near the border with Hesse), and a line drawn to the northwest from Siegen and parallel to the Rhine. The region is drained by the Ems, Weser, Ruhr, and Lippe rivers; it is hilly in the east and south and forms a low plain in the northwest. The land consists partly of fertile soil and partly of sandy tracts, moors, and heaths. The Ruhr valley, in the west, is part of the great Westphalian coal basin and of the Ruhr district, one of the world's most important industrial regions. The Ruhr district is connected with the Ems River by the Dortmund-Ems Canal and with the Elbe River by the Midland Canal
GERMAN NAMING PATTERNS OLD GERMAN The first name of each Daughter was usually the first name of the Mother The first name of the Son was usually the first name of the Father Often times the middle name of each child was the name of the baby's baptismal sponsor and they were usually called by his/her middle name 19th CENTURY GERMAN NAMING PATTERNS: At baptism, if two given names were given to the child, the first given name was a spiritual, saint's name, originally developed from Roman Catholic tradition and continued by the Protestants in their baptismal naming customs. The second given name was the secular or call name, which is the name the person was known by, both within the family and to this rest of the world. The spiritual name, usually to honor a favorite saint, was usually repeatedly given to all the children of that family of the same sex. Thus the boys would be Johan Adam Kerchner, Johan George Kerchner, etc., or Philip Peter Kerchner, Philip Jacob Kerchner, etc. Girls would be named Anna Barbara Kerchner, Anna Margaret Kerchner, etc., or Maria Elizabeth Kerchner, Maria Catherine Kerchner, etc. But after baptism, these people would not be known as John, Philip, Anna, or Maria, respectively. They would instead be known by what we would think of now as their middle name, which was their secular name. Thus these people would be known respectively as Adam, George, Peter, Jacob, Barbara, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Catherine in legal and secular records. For males, the saint's name Johan or John was particularly heavily used by many German families. The child's secular name was really John, if and only if, at baptism he was named only John, usually Johannes, with no second given name. Many researchers, new to German names, who find a baptism of an individual with a name such as Johan Adam Kerchner, thus mistakenly spend a lot of time looking for a John Kerchner, in legal and census records, when he was known after baptism, to the secular world, as Adam Kerchner
JOHN CLAUSING'S ALTEVOGT LINE A note from John: To those interested in my Altevogt connection, My Alrevogt ancestors are unrelated to your Friedrich, or at best an older generation, as he stemmed from Leeden, near Ladbergen. I have made no effort to connect them. I think it unlikely as a Vogt was like a head official of a small area. The Alte Vogt is really the old one, when there was a new one, but it became a family name. The name could arise in many places without the people being related. My earliest Altevogt ancestor is Engelbert Friedrich Alte Vogt (1662-1749). It was listed as two words. He was married 10 October 1694 (Leeden marriage entry#5) to Christina Elisabeth Staggemeyer. They had five children: Jan Friedrich was baptized 13 Sept 1695 Jan Everdt was baptized 4 Sept 1698 Jan Henrich was baptized 6 Nov 1701, died 27 Dec 1704 Anna Elisabeth was baptized 14 Sept 1704, died 17 Dec 1779 Cord Jacob was baptized 20 Oct 1710 My next generation Altevogt (one word) ancester was Anna Elisabeth Altevogt (1701-1779). She married Bernhold Heinrich Lindemann on 20 October 1730 From this point on the lineage is Lindeman rather than Altevogt. This couple had 4 children including my 4Xgreatgrandfather Cord Heinrich Lindemannn. John Clausing
MISCELLANEOUS ALTEVOGT - GERMANY INFORMATION ALTEVOGT LISTINGS IN GERMANY WHITE PAGES DIRECTORIES There are approximately 189 listings for individuals with the surname ALTEVOGT in the telephone white pages of Germany.
This from Barb Hays Clayton regarding an Altevogt family in Hagen Germany, with whom Barb corresponds: Herb Duttman's mother was Lisette Altevogt. Her lineage below: August and Lisette (Altevogt) Duttman. Lisette was born June 2, 1912 and died April 18, 1984. She was the daughter of Ernst Heinrich Wilhelm Altevogt and Lisette Bernadine Dolling. Ernst Heinrich Wilhelm Altevogt was born Nov 1, 1873, married Lisette Dolling April 21, 1899. Ernst died Sept 10, 1956 in Osnabrueck, Germany. He was the son of Adolph and Helene (Schmedt) Altevogt.
WHY GERMANS CAME TO AMERICA The reasons [the Germans had for coming to America] were varied. . . . Intolerable economic conditions in the German states and a desire for betterment in as short a time as possible was one of the primary causes for the coming of Germans to America. . . . Not only the poorer people were coming to America. There were many of the comparatively wealthy who also came . . . to better themselves economically. They had heard of how easy it was to increase one's wealth in America, and with a typical German interest in making the most of opportunities, some of the families embarked to seek a greater fortune in the new world. . . . A second significant reason for the coming of the Germans was the religious persecution of the Confessional Lutherans. While the Midwest received many liberal-minded Germans, it also received many of Germany's most enthusiastic conservatives. In 1817 King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia decreed a union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches in Prussia, and his action was followed by the rulers of several of the smaller German states. . . . Compared to previous persecutions the methods were comparatively mild, but the result was that entire congregations came to America, lock, stock, and barrel, in order that they could worship God without interference from the state. . . . Authoritarian German government was a third factor which caused many Germans to leave their native country. The governments of the German states were headed by princes who refused to be bound by democratic constitutions. . . . The revolutions in the various German states during 1848 proved to many of the liberal-minded Germans that change in their Fatherland was an impossibility at that time. . . . A fourth important cause for the German immigration was the requirement of long military service. During the first half of the nineteenth century, German young men were compelled to serve up to five years in the army for the handsome sum of four cents a day. The army was full of hardships for those who were not among the officers. In order to avoid military service, some peasants resorted to various methods, such as cutting off a finger or toe. Other young men preferred to leave home rather than to serve for so many years.
PRIMARY LOCATIONS OF ALTEVOGTS IN GERMANY IN THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES The Altevogt family in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries seem to have lived primarily in four cities. They were: Leeden, Lienen, Lengerich and Ladbergen. These cities all are in close proximity to each other and located south of Osnabruck in Northwest portion of the state of Westphalia