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Towards the end of the 1720's and after the marriage of Hermannus Wesselinck and Anna Margaretha Brögberen our Wesselinck ancestors were Heuerleute in the Bauernschaft of Laxten, a section of the parish of Lingen. Succeeding generations remained in Laxten until circa 1820 when the family's Neubauerei was established. Several of these earlier generations were associated with Bömers Heuer and it is very likely that the first generation was connected with Brögbers Heuer. Although the precise origins of Hermannus Wesselinck and of Anna Margaretha Brögberen have been lost in time, there are some relevant facts by which one might deduce that our Wesselinck ancestors had been related to the Wesselinck family from the nearby Bauernschaft of Estringen, also in the parish of Lingen. But, before delving further into this topic, a review of some helpful background information is in order. The following facts are known:
Because Hermannus and his wife had settled in Laxten, where their children had been born, assume that:
Another factor to consider is the coincidences regarding the marriage dates - many having taken place in late January or in early February. How can the 2 sponsors named Wesselinck be of value in making a connection with Colon Wesselinck of Estringen? From as early as the 1555 a Wesselinck family had been residing in
Estringen and according to one document, there was a reference to "Ein
erve geheiten During the 1550's another Wesselinck family was known to have existed in the Bauerschaft of Heitel, which was situated in the parish of Plantlünne. Heitel is not very distant from Estringen. Moreover, as at a later time Estringen was included in the parish of Bramsche, its records were also researched. The Bramsche parish was located between the parishes of Lingen and Plantlünne. A book dealing with the history of Laxten indicated that "1565 übergab Herman Pedde seine Tochter Haeske die 'Brinkwonige'. Sie heiratete Jürgen Wesseling aus Plantlünne. 1595 starb Pedden Jürgen." At this time it cannot be determined if he had been related to our Wesselinck ancestors despite his being in Laxten from such an early date. Notice also that because he had adopted the surname of his wife their children would not have carried the Wesseling surname. The neighboring parishes of Schepsdorf and Emsbüren occupied areas on the opposite side of the Ems River and they, too, were given consideration as being places from where the Wesselincks of Laxten may have originated. The records for the parish of Klein Fullen near Meppen likewise revealed the existence of a Wesselink family from as early as 1690. For the most part, though, during the late 17th and early 18th centuries these last 3 parishes were assigned to the Diocese of Münster, whereas the others had been attached to the Diocese of Osnabrück (except for a very brief time when they were part of the Diocese of Utrecht in the Netherlands). Given the above information, the choice for the most likely place of origin might be reduced to selecting either Estringen or Heitel. Estringen has the advantage owing to the fact that the a parish record from Lingen indicated that the Wesselincks of Laxten were from Estringen. Yet, there are no other supporting documents. The preserved records from the parish of Plantlünne begin in 1700 even though that parish was formed much earlier. Since the preserved records from the Lingen parish start from 1619, the evidence will naturally be weighted in Estringen's favor. Thus, from our point of view the possibility that Heitel is the place of origin cannot be entirely eliminated. From an historical perspective, in the late 17th century century the political control over Lingen was exercised by the Dutch and during that time Roman Catholics were banned from practicing their faith in public services. Thus, there are no baptismal records for the Roman Catholcs for the years 1678 through 1703. Because of the gap in the parish records, an absolute claim that a connection between the Wesselincks of Laxten and those of Estringen cannot be firmly documented. One of the Protestant churches in Lingen did, however, maintain a register for the marriages of Roman Catholics. Further confusing this research is the fact that during the 17th century there was in Estringen a Wessels family concurrent with the Wesselinck family. So, there is a possibility that the surnames of Wessels and Wesselinck may have been written interchangeably. For example, a Hermannus Wessels was a sponsor at the christening on June 14, 1617 of Theodorus, the son of Theodorus Thÿens. On February 1, 1761 Johann Hindrick Wesseling married Anna Gesina Tyen. It is believed that her parents were from Estringen. From the Lingen parish's records it is known that Hermannus Wesselinck was married on a date unknown and that the name of his wife was Euphemia. It is not known if he had been a Colon, but in 1630 a Hermannus Wesselinck was "ein Erbe gehörig zu Gravenhorst".
During this early period of the 1620's a Johannes Wesselinck had been a baptismal sponsor on February 23, 1620 and in April and in June of 1620 an Elisabeth Wesselinck had a baptismal sponsor. It cannot be determined if or how these 2 Wesselincks were related to each other or to Hermannus. Also, because there was a Wessels family in Estringen at this time, there is a possibility that the surnames of Wesselinck and of Wessels had been confused with one another. At this point Hermannus has created at least 2 branches of Wesselincks in Estringen. On December 20, 1644 Wiggerus Wesseling and Gisberta Menecken were baptismal sponsors. Wichardus Wesselinck and Gisberta Ehncke were married on October 22, 1645 in Lingen. Neither the places of their origins nor their ages were recorded in the parish register. The witnesses were Albertus Wesselinck and Gerhardus Sandt. Wichardus may have died on or about January 2, 1673 in Estringen. (Although the parish's records spelled the bride's surname as indicated, it is my interpretation that she was the same person who had co-sponsored the 1644 baptism with "Wiggerus" Wesselinck. While Menecken was seen as a surname in a number of instances, there were no other references to "Ehnke" as a surname.)
At this point Wichardus has created 2 branches of Wesselincks with one those spreading from Estringen into Bramsche. Henricus, the oldest son and heir of Wichardus Wesselinck, married Johanna Over on November 2, 1676 in Lingen. Henricus may have died in 1729 in Estringen.
Assume that Joannes became the heir of Henricus Wesselinck and that at least another branch was created. Confusing matters slightly is the possibility that a Henricus Wesselinck was married around 1673 and in 1674 a son, Joannes, was born in Estringen and christened at Lingen. The parents of that Henricus are not known. More interestingly, Henricus Wesselinck, the widower of Johanna Over, married one more time on February 8, 1700 and the bride was Grethe Berckensmitt, the widow of a Jan Berents. She may have been born in Plantlünne parish, perhaps near Heitel, on a date unknown. At the time of the 1700 marriage Henricus would have been 52 years old. She may have died in 1729 as the Plantlünne parish's mentioned a Margaretha Berckenschmid with the comment, "etiam in alienis (terris)". Of the more curious observations regarding the Wesselincks of Estringen is the fact that during the latter half of the 17th century some had their life events recorded only at the Church of St. Bonifatius in Lingen while others had such events recorded at the Church of St. _______ in Bramsche. In a few instances an event was dually listed. The records of the Bramsche parish show that a marriage took place in 1681 involving Joes Wesselinck and Margaretha Over. A witness was Joes Nihoff. As stated above, a Joannes Wesselinck was born in 1652, so Joes could have been the same. If he were the brother of Henricus Wesselink, who had been married to Johanna Over, then we would have another example of the siblings from one family marrying the siblings of another. With that possibility in mind, assign an equal probability that Joes Wesselinck was the father of Hermannus Wesselinck, who was married in 1728, as well as a sponsor for the child of Hermannus who was born in 1730. Based on an "intuitive approach" to solving the question of family origins, a marriage took place on February 6, 1724 in Bramsche, where Henricus Wesseling from Estringen married Margaretha Wulffs. On November 18, 1725, their daughter, Maria, was christened in Bramsche and a sponsor was Hermann Wessling. The same Henricus may have married a second time on September 22, 1733 with that wife having been Aleid Brögber of Laxten. The first child of the second marriage was named Anna Marg.
All of the above mentioned parish registers are available in microfiche format through the Bistumsarchiv in Osnabrück. 1. The Lingen Kirchenbücher was the primary source of the data for this report. 2.3. 4. 5.
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Wichardus, may have
been born circa 1615, since it seems that he became the heir to the
property as early as circa 1660. Another child,
Gisberta may have been born circa 1616.
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