On 3 November 1813, my first cousin 5 times removed, Philippe Haehnel, was born in Butten, Alsace. He was the eldest child of Pierre and Caroline (Kurz) Haehnel. Younger siblings were Pierre (born and died in 1816), another Pierre (born and died in 1817), and Catherine (born in 1818 and died in 1819). There may be other siblings I haven’t found yet; I need to dig methodically through the Bas-Rhin Archives to be sure, since these aren’t currently indexed.
There could not have been many more siblings, regardless, as Philippe’s father Pierre died on 15 March 1821 at the age of 30. This left Caroline to raise her 7-year-old son. Her own father had died in 1803, but her brother André (my 4G-grandfather) was living in Butten and working as a potter; perhaps he was able to provide some assistance. André’s first wife, born Marguerithe Haehnel, was the sister of Caroline’s husband, though she had died in 1818 at age 22. The following year André had married my 4G-grandmother, Marguérithe Bauer. Caroline herself would die in 1839, aged 45.
Two years later in Butten, on 23 February 1841, Philippe would marry. The civil marriage record, mercifully in French during this period (I can usually make some sense of the French records, but my German is nonexistent; my comprehension varies based on who had control of the region), notes Philippe’s age as 27 and that he was the son of Pierre Haehnel and his wife Caroline Kurtz. The record then goes on to name Philippe’s wife: Marie Elisabethe…Haehnel (!). And notes she is the daughter of…who else? Pierre Haehnel!
Digging in further with my sketchy French, I can see that the record confirms that Philippe’s father Pierre did die in Butten on 15 March 1821, whereas Marie Elisabethe’s father Pierre was 60 years old and still living at the time of his daughter’s marriage. Marie Elisabethe’s mother was Marguérithe Dormeyer; she had died in 1817. I’m still ironing out exactly how the two fathers-in-law were related, but I am delighted by the fact that the marriage record contains signatures of both the bride and groom.
Philippe and Marie Elisabethe had at least seven children: Pierre (of course!), Jean Adam, Caroline, Philippe, Frédéric, Louis, and Marguérithe. Marie Elisabethe would die on 7 March 1881, and Philippe on 10 April 1887, both in Butten. Though by no means old when they died, the couple at least lived long enough to raise their children and continue the naming confusion.