Bernard

Bernard Wilhelm Möllers - Part 1

I (Terry Alve) believe that Bernard Möllers (1829- ) is my great great grandfather. Below is part of my paternal ancesty chart that begins with my father Valentine Alve. His grandmother was Maria Theresia Möllers who with her husband Carl Ave emigrated from Germany to Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand in 1875-76.
My records suggest that Maria Theresia's parents Bernhard Wilhelm Möllers (1829-) and Catharina Elisabeth Spahr (1825-) were married in Sankt Stephan Katholisch, Beckum Stadt, Westfalen, Prussia on October 24 1848. Beckum is highlighted in yellow on the right side of the image. We understand that Bernhard was born north of Munster at Bevergern near Hörstel, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany - about 70km north west of Beckum as the crow flies. It is suggested that he was a weaver.
My record suggests that Bernard and Catharina had at least five chidren: Gerhard Heinrich (1849-), Maria Catharina (1853-), Maria Theresia (1856-), Johann Adolph (1859-) and Anna Margaretha (1861-). It seems Anna;s birth was registered with surname Spahr - her mother's birth surname.
We akso know that Catharina and Theresia spent time at the ADJC Catholic orphanage in Gelsenkirchen prior to Theresia's marriage to Carl Alve in Feb. 1874.
What hapened to this family that disrupted their family life during the 1860's?

Part of Terry Alve's paternal ancestry chart from his father Valentine Alve

Bernard Wilhelm Möllers - Part 2

In MyHeritage Cousin Finder (and in other places I have sighted) I am linked with a supposed third cousin Laura Drievold, as indicated in the image. Laura's associated family tree is also indicated below.
I can dismiss this link on the basis of this information:

Bernard Moellers emigrated from Germany to USA in 1854. Johanna turned 16 that year. They may have emigrated together (perhaps unlikely) or met in the USA sometime before the birth of their first child. They began their family in 1864 - 1883 when Mary Balk was born and Johnna died either soon afterwards, or in childbirth.

https://www.myheritage.com/profile-364738211-1502183/bernard-joseph-franz-moellers

Mindful that my great gran M. Theresia Möllers was born in Beckum, Germany in 1856 and her younger brother Johann Adolph in 1859, I have to reject this Bernard Moellers as her father.

Bernard Wilhelm Möllers - Part 3
What Happened to the Beckum/Gelsenkirchen Möllers Family?

Between 1859 when Johann Adolph Möllers was born and the birth of Anna Margaretha Spahr in 1861 it seems that Bernard and Catharina Möllers were separated. Indicators of this are:

Our BDM records for Bernard and Catharina end;
The assertion by some that our Bernard Möllers is the same as the Bernard Moellers who emigrated to the USA in 1854 is unsubstantiated and I would suggest, unfounded;
Anna Margaretha is named Spahr suggesting Bernard was no longer around in 1861;

Germany, Births and Baptisms 1558-1898
Anna Margaretha Spahr;
Gender: Female;
Birth: May 29 1861;
Christening: May 31 1861 - Sankt Stephan Katholisch, Beckum Stadt, Westfalen, Prussia;
Mother: Catharina Spahr;
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C99045-6<
System Origin: Germany-ODM;
GS Film number: 1044981

What happened to him so that two of his daughters Catherina and Theresia ended up in the ADJC Catholic orphanage prior to Theresia's marriage in Feb. 1874, possibly for 10+ years?
Did he die perhaps from a local epidemic associated with tthe rapid population growth in the Ruhr Valley? If son his post death baby likely would have been named Möllers.
Did he otherwise desert his family?
Naming Traditions: Babies were often given the mother's surname if the father was unknown or absent. May explain surname Spahr given to Anna Margaretha when her father was Möllers. Possibility Catharina nee Spahr died in childbirth? In this case was Anna Margaretha given surname Spahr to honour her mother?
Conversely was it that Catharina died or was unable to continue the care of all/some of her children. Grandmother died 1842 so absent.

Whatever transpired, a consequence was that Catherina (USA) and Theresia (Aotearoa NZ) emigrated as young women each with children in 1881 and 1875/6 respectively, Perhaps a third (Rudolph?) also emigrated: oral tradition has him travelling to the Middle East and dying there.

The records left are for Gerhard Heinrich who married Theresia Moenninghof and had children before dying in 1926 in Germany, and Anna Margaretha Spahr b.1861. I suspect that one of these two is the ancestor of Nora Bethlehem whom I discuss in the next section.

Bernard Wilhelm Möllers - Part 5
A New Development May 2025

My Uncle Ivan Alve has a DNA match with Wolfgang Ziegler. As I explored this match I noticed it was in the same ancestral line as others that have an ancestor in the Spahr=Witting line. When I explored further the same Wolfgang Ziegler also has a match with my sister Margaret Weir's DNA - a fifth cousin according to the MyHeritage alogorithm to Margaret (therefore to me), and a 4th cousin's child for Uncle Ivan.

Wolfgang Ziegler also had an available family tree that gave a connection with several Wittings. Tracing back by entering these relatives suggested that the most recent common ancestors for our two families (Wolfgang's and mine) are the couple Wilhelm Antonius Witting (1769-1845) and Anna Maria Margaretha Tiedeken (1776-1839)

These ancestral lines are indicated in the relationship report diagram attached.

In this report Adelheid Witting appears when she is not acknowledged in Wolfgang Ziegler's family tree. I have assumed that she is an eldest sister amongst the children of Wilhelm and Anna Maria Witting. In making this assumption I am aware that her mother would have been barely 15 in 1791 if Adelheid was born that year as my record suggests; the next child indicated is a brother Diederich born four years later in 1795.

Adelheid Witting's, parents and grandparents are indicated below. Wolfgang Ziegler's family tree includes Witting ancestors for a futher three generations back from Arnold=Catharina Elisabeth to Wilcke Witting (1627-1678). Interestingly he is also married to a Tiedeken (Garberich).

To be clear, Adelheid Witting is Catharina Spahr's mother and Bernard Mollers mother-in-law; and Maria Theresia Alve's grandmother. That is established.

The Witting's lived for several generations in the north of Prussia at Freisoythe which is 180km by road from Beckum where Adelheid Heinrich Spahr married in 1814 and died in 1842.

While this link, of Adelheid as elder sister to Witting chidren 1800-1817, would be a tidy solution it is not correct for the following reasons:

The fact that Anna MM Tiedeken would have been 14-15 when Adelheid was born according to dates given;
Existing family trees do not have Adelheid in this family;
The Wittings all have a BDM link to 'Friesoythe, Cloppenburg, Niedersachsen, Deutschland' when Adelheid's marriage (1814) and death (1842) records link her with Beckum;
While Wolfgang Ziegler has a DNA link with Ivan Alve, he is a 4th cousins son which places the MRCA at the level of Whilhelm Witting=Anne Tiedeken, it does not mean these are Adelheid's parents;
It was tempting to make this link but I now need to ask; how does Adelheid link to her Witting ancestry in the absence of any other evidence to suggest her ancestry?
My earlier assumption is most likely wrong. So, given the DNA match with Wolfgang Ziegler's ancestors in particular, where does Adelheid fit in the Witting clan?

Friesoythe to Beckum 180+ km

A Probable Solution

The discussion above regarding which Witting to link Adelaide to narrows down to accepting that our MRCA (Wolfgang's and mine) is Arnold Witting, not his son Wilhelm Antonius whom I had as Adelheid's father above. I have now linked her with his next eldest brother JFA Witting but it could be any of his other three eldest brothers above: WHF, JJ or WAC Witting. I suspect that WAC died before 1769 and that the youngest, WA Witting, was given his name. That would make the choiuce as to who Adelheid's father is: WHF, JJ or JFA Witting. For the moment , in order toconnect her to the Witting family, I have her father as JFA Witting.

Bernard Wilhelm Möllers - Part 6
Cousin Link with N0ra Bethlehem and her children Jasper & Lasser Hinsen

I believe one of the coloured areas belongs to either

Gerhard Heinrich, or
Anna Margaretha

See my reasoning at: https://www.alve.nz/nora.html Pass: Alve123Road

My Relationship with AM Spahr. GH Möllers could also sit in her box above.

Bethlehem Places: Lives Bielefeld; Born Gütersloh; Spahr from Beckum; Alve=Möllers lived Gelsenkirchen

MRCA with Hans-Georg Selbach: Spahr=Witting

MÖllers-Spahr-Witting