Pröger households of Michelbach parish, 1716–1800

Evidence: Hans Andreas Pröger, court member and farmer at Oberweiler, was buried on 20 November 1794 aged 80 years 3 months 7 days (Totenregister Bd 9, image 91), which counts back to about August 1714; Hans Michel Pröger’s son Hans Andreas was baptised on 11 June 1714 (Taufregister Bd 7), and Seibotenberg Prögers stood godparents to his children 1749–1757. Weak or missing: The burial names no parents; the tie rests on his age, about two months off the baptism, and on no rival Hans Andreas of that age in the parish. The burial entry spells the surname “K?röger”. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →

• Link: Probable confirm or correct → Son of Hans Michel Pröger Probable confirm or correct →: his burial on 20 November 1794, aged 80 years 3 months, points to mid-1714, about two months from the baptism of Hans Michel’s son Hans Andreas on 11 June 1714; no other Hans Andreas Pröger of that age is in the parish, and the Seibotenberg Prögers stand as godparents to his children.
• Wife Maria Apollonia (buried 4 May 1791, aged 69). Children baptised 1743–1760: Catharina (1743), Anna Barbara (1746, died 1748), Barbara (1749), Maria Margaretha (1752), Johann Georg (1755), twins Johann Andreas and Jörg Michel (1757, both died 1757) and Anna Maria (1760).

• Link: Confirmed Son of Hans Andreas of Oberweiler: godfather at Seibotenberg 1779–1789 as “Johann Georg Pröger of Oberweiler, son of Johann Andreas, court member”.
• Wife Anna Barbara. Children baptised 1785–1796: Catharina Barbara (1785, died of smallpox 1794), Johann Georg (1786), Elisabetha Barbara (1789), Johann Georg Michel (1794, died of smallpox 1794) and Maria Margaretha (1796). A Johann Georg buried in 1799 is probably the boy of 1786; the age in the burial entry is hard to read.

Evidence: “Jörg Pröger, son of Hans Michel Pröger, Seibotenberg” stood godfather in 1744, 1746 and 1748 (Taufregister Bd 7, images 91, 99, 106); a Jörg Michel / Hans Jörg / Johann Georg Pröger of Seibotenberg with wife Anna Barbara appears 1749–1783, and she was buried on 19 April 1772 aged 50 (Totenregister Bd 9, image 70). Weak or missing: That the different forenames and the wife’s varying names (Anna, Eva, Maria Barbara) are one couple rests on there being one Seibotenberg Jörg Pröger at a time and on repeated godmothers; his own baptism of 1729 is a doubtful read. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →

• Link: Probable confirm or correct → Named “Jörg Pröger, son of Hans Michel Pröger, Seibotenberg” as a godfather in 1744, 1746 and 1748, so a son of Hans Michel Pröger Confirmed. That the many spellings 1749–1783 are one man is Probable: there is only one Seibotenberg Jörg Pröger at a time and the godmothers repeat.
• Wife Anna Barbara (also written Eva Barbara and Maria Barbara), buried 19 April 1772, aged 50. Children baptised 1749–1760: Eva Maria (1749), Maria Barbara (1754), Eva Magdalena (1757) and Eva Catharina (1760).

Evidence: Jörg Andreas Pröger, son of Georg Christian, was baptised on 13 February 1722 (Taufregister Bd 7, image 42); the farmer Jörg Andreas Pröger of Elpershofen was buried on 29 January 1756 aged 34 (Totenregister Bd 9, image 42), which fits the baptism to the month. Weak or missing: The burial names no parents, the place is spelled four ways in the register, and his wife Clara Rosina Barbara was about twenty years older than him. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →

• Link: Probable confirm or correct → Son of Georg (Jörg) Christian Pröger Probable confirm or correct →: his burial age (34, on 29 January 1756) fits the baptism of Georg Christian’s son Jörg Andreas on 13 February 1722 to the month, but the burial names no parents.
• Wife Clara Rosina Barbara, buried 19 December 1756, aged 55; she was about twenty years older and was probably a widow when they married. The register spells the place four ways; Elpershofen near Gerabronn is the best reading.

• Link: Possible Possibly Hans Jörg Andreas, son of Georg (Jörg) Christian Pröger, baptised 1732, taking over his brother’s farm after both brother and sister-in-law died in 1756. Only the name and the timing support this.
• Wives Maria Barbara (1757–1761), then Anna Maria (1763–1775), taken as one man with two wives. Children baptised 1757–1768: Johann Georg (1757, died 1758), Maria Barbara (1759, died 1765), twins Johann Michel and Anna Maria (1761, both died young), Georg Philipp (1763, died 1767), Maria Margaretha (1766) and Maria Barbara (1768, died at three hours).

• Link: Confirmed Son of Andreas Pröger: baptised 29 December 1716, and his burial on 14 April 1786 gives an age that fits the baptism to the week.
• Wife Anna Maria, buried 19 December 1772, aged 48. Son Andreas (buried 1774, aged 15); daughters Anna Catharina and Maria Catharina, godmothers in 1764 and 1766. None of his children’s baptisms is in the Michelbach book; part of Hessenau may have used a neighbouring parish.

• Link: Possible Possibly Hans Andreas, son of Andreas Pröger, baptised 1725. The couple appear only as godparents, in 1754 and 1756.

• Link: Possible Parentage open. Possibly a son of Jörg Leonhard: the Hessenau farm passes from Andreas Pröger to Jörg Leonhard, and a son born about 1745–1750 fits, but his baptism is not in the Michelbach book.
• Children baptised 1774–1796, among them Hans Jörg (1774, died 1790), Maria Magdalena (1775), Maria Barbara (1781), Johann Michel (1787), Johann Melchior (1789), Johann Georg (1792) and Maria Catharina (1796); four infants died between 1773 and 1786.

• Link: Possible Kin of the Seibotenberg family: his son’s godfathers in 1756 were Jörg Michel Pröger of Ruppertshofen, Andreas Pröger of Hessenau and Hanß Jörg Pröger of Seibotenberg. His father is open; possibly Jörg Christian (baptised 1725), son of Georg (Jörg) Christian Pröger, or Hans Andreas (baptised 1725), son of Andreas Pröger.
• Wife Anna Maria. Children baptised 1756–1769: Johann Georg Michel (1756), Eva Maria Barbara (1759), Hanß Jörg (1760), Anna Maria (1762), Eva Maria (1764), Eva Margaretha (1766) and Jörg Michel (1769). He was buried on 15 May 1770, aged 45.

• Link: Possible Possibly a son of Johann of the Sonnhof (Hanß Jörg, 1760, or Johann Georg Michel, 1756): Joh. Michel Pröger, “son of the late Johann of the Sauerhof”, stands godfather to his children.
• Children baptised 1793–1799: Georg Michael (1793), Maria Barbara (1796), Johann Michel (1798, died at 24 days) and Maria Magdalena (1799).

• Link: Possible Origin open; possibly a line from Leonhart Bröger, son of Hans the elder, who married at Ruppertshofen in 1681. Whether the later Johann Michel of Ruppertshofen (wife Maria Rosina, 1779–1789) is the same man with a third wife or a son is open.
• Jörg Michel, godfather 1756–1769, wives Anna Apollonia (1759) and Anna Ursula (1762, 1764); daughter Anna Barbara, godmother 1773–1776.