Distant Cousin Connections
42
Daniel Oetjen and I corresponded about how we might be related. Daniel explored my Kirmse Family Tree on Ancestry looking for connections with his own family tree.
Letter
Daniel wrote the following[1]:
I found a connection. It seems we are 6th cousins [as will be noted later in this chapter, we eventually found that we are 7th cousins] and our first common ancestors are Jacob Cordes and Gerdruth Kracke.
Jacob Cordes and Gerdruth Kracke
Jacob Cordes was a farmer and shoemaker in Scheeßel, his farm had the number 25 and was called Uellerks. It was named after his grandfather Ölrich (form of Ulrich) Cordes, who probably founded the farm and was born around 1633. The name of the farm was used to identify people instead of a family name. Last names changed, but farm names always stayed the same, so Jacob Cordes was called Uellerks Jacob or Uellerks Vadder (father) when people talked about him.
Jacob Cordes married his 2nd cousin Gerdruth Kracke in 1741. Their first son Meinke Cordes took over the farm in 1775. The second son Johann Conrad Cordes, your gr.gr.gr.gr. grandfather, married Mette Ficken in 1776 and took over the farm number 3 in Helvesiek, called Bokels, from his father-in-law Peter Ficken. The youngest daughter Catharina Cordes, my gr.gr.gr.gr. grandmother married Dierck Meÿer in 1777 at the age of 17.
The old farmhouse of Uellerks is part of a local museum today. A new house was built outside of Scheeßel near the train station. The owner, Johann Götze, a descendant of the Cordes family married my father’s cousin Irmgard Oetjen. That’s why I know so much about it.
Wilhelm Kranz OFB Sittensen Database
A famous Scheeßel genealogist published his database and here’s the entry of Jacob Cordes and Gerdruth Kracke[2].
Translation
CORDES , “Jacob” Johann (Lutheran) – Parents: C., Meinke and MÜLLER, Gerdruth (1631.1).
Born in Scheeßel. Christened on 19 Dec 1712 in Scheeßel. Occupation: Farmer and shoemaker in Scheeßel. Farm name/number :: Üllerks, No. 25 Scheeßel. Died in Scheeßel. Buried on 21 Aug 1786 in Scheeßel.
Church Marriageon 23 Nov 1741 in Scheeßel.
With KRACKE, Gerdruth (Lutheran) – Parents:. K., Johann and MÜLLER, Gerdrut Anna (4584.4)
Born in Wohlsdorf. Christened on 14 May 1718 in Scheeßel. Died in Scheeßel. Buried on 04 Nov 1769 in Scheeßel.
Children:
1. Meinke (Lutheran) Born on 07 Dec 1742 in Scheeßel. Christened on 09 Dec 1742 in Scheeßel. Occupation: Farmer in Scheeßel. Farm name/number :: Üllerks, No. 25 Scheeßel. Died on 16 Feb 1808 in Scheeßel. Buried on 19 Feb 1808 in Scheeßel. Church Marriage on 19 Nov 1775 in Scheeßel with Maria MEYER (1632)
2. Gerdruth Anna (Lutheran) Born on 19 Feb 1745 in Scheeßel. Christened on 21 Feb 1745 in Scheeßel.
3. “Johann” Conrad (Lutheran) Born on 26 Nov 1747 in Scheeßel. Christened on 28 Nov 1747 in Scheeßel. Occupation: Halbhöfner in Helvesiek. Farm name/number :: Bokels, No. 3 Helvesiek. Died before 1811 in Helvesiek. Buried before 1811 in Scheeßel. Church Marr