The ancestry of Anna Maria Christina Wolfe (1828-1908)

by Conrad Terrill, 6 May 2017, updated 17 Mar. 2018

In April of 2016 a hint concerning the ancestry of Mary (Wolfe) Ells came to our attention, courtesy of Ancestry.com. The hint was based on information that we had provided to our Ancestry.com public member tree. From information in census and death records and obituaries we knew that her maiden name was Anna Maria Christina Wolfe, that she was born about 1827, that she was a daughter of John Arnold Wolfe and Christania Heiltz, and that she was from that part of Germany which was called Prussia as early as 1860. She came to America around 1850, married Conrad Ells (Ehls, Hiltz) that same year, and was living with him in Shrewsbury, PA, at the time of that year’s U.S. Census (17 Dec. 1850). From family stories we’ve heard that Conrad Ells had gone to meet someone at a port, and when he saw Mary coming off the ship he declared to whomever that she was the one he would marry. He was about 33 years old at that time, and she was about 23. We did not know anything more about her or the family from which she came.

The hint from Ancestry.com was a baptism record for an Anna Maria Sophia Christina Wolf born 31 Jan. 1828, daughter of Johann Arnold Wolf and Christina Hüls, of Sabbenhausen, a hamlet in the parish of Frankenhagen and principality of Lippe, in the North Rhine – Westphalia region of Germany, territory which was gained or regained by Prussia in 1815. My best guess is that "Hüls" is pronounced "Huels" (rhymes with "fuels").

As good a hint as it is (and it seems pretty good), we’d like to find a little more confirmation. The following is all based on trusting that this baptism record is indeed that for the Anna Maria Christina Wolfe who married Conrad Ells in Pennsylvania in 1850.

New development, March 2018:  We now know that Anna Maria Christina Wolf emigrated to the US in 1848, greatly confirming our identification of her as Mary (Wolfe) Ells. Read more ...

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Anna Maria Sophia Christina Wolf was born 31 Jan. 1828 in Sabbenhausen, a hamlet in the parish of Falkenhagen, in Lippe-Detmold, a member state of the German Confederation (created in 1815). She was a daughter of Johann Arnd Wolf and Christine Hüls/Moseke, baptized on 5 Feb. 1828 at Saint Michael’s Roman Catholic Church, in Falkenhagen. It was required that her baptism also be recorded in the Protestant register, but her name is given there as Anna Maria Sophia Wilhelmine Wolf.

Johan Arnd Wolf, who lived his entire life in Sabbenhausen house number 2, married Chistine Hüls (whose surname was on occasion given as Moseke) on 1 Jun. 1824 at Saint Michael’s. He was 33 years old and she was 19. This marriage required a dispensation since Johan and Christine were "related" in the first degree of affinity. Johan had first married Christine’s older sister, Anna Maria Hüls/Moseke, on 30 May 1815 at Saint Michaels, at which time he became related by marriage, according to Catholic Canon Law, to everyone in Anna Maria’s family. This familial relationship did not end, in the eyes of the Church, with Anna Maria’s death on 2 June 1823.

The children of Johan Arnd Wolf and Anna Maria Hüls/Moseke (all baptized at Saint Michael’s):
   Dorothea Anna Maria Friederica Wolf, b. 29 Aug. 1816, bapt. 1 Sep.
   Johan Arnd Christophor Antonius Wolf, b. 11 Jul. 1818, bapt. (5 Jul)?, d. 20 Oct. 1902 {Re-examine}
   Christian Hermann Wolf, b. 26 Feb. 1820, bapt. 28 Feb.
   Anna Maria Elisabetha Wolf, b. 11 Mar. 1821, bapt. 16 Mar., d. 3 (or 7) May 1824
   Christina Elisabetha Wolf, b. 19 Feb. 1823, bap. 23 Feb.

The children of Johan Arnd Wolf and Christine Hüls/Moseke (all baptized at Saint Michael’s):
   Anna Maria Elisabetha Wolf, b. 13 Jan., bapt. 18 Sep. 1825
   (a son), b. & d. 24 Nov. 1826 (died at birth)
   Anna Maria Sophia Christina Wolf, b. 31 Jan. 1828, bapt. 5 Feb.
   Freidrica Wolf, b. 27 May 1829, bapt. 31 May
   Christina Ludowica (Luise) Wolf, b. 13 Feb. 1831, bapt. 17 Feb.; d. 26 Apr. 1891 {d. 14 Mar. 1832}
   Ludowica Wolf, bapt. 28 Sept. 1832
   Friedrica Wolf, b. & bapt. 16 Apr. 1834, died same day, at age ½ day

Christine (Hüls/Moseke) Wolf died 20 Apr. 1834, at age 27, in Sabbenhausen house no. 2, four days after the birth and death of Friedrica.  Johan Arnd Wolf married a third time, to Elisabeth Menze, on 10 Nov. 1835.

The children of Johan Arnd Wolf and Elisabeth Menze (all baptized at Saint Michael’s):
   Joanna Sophia Wolf, b. 2 Jun., bp. 10 June 1838
   Johannes Henricus Wolf, b. 7 Apr., bp. 12 Apr. 1840

Johan Arnd Wolf died 12 Feb. 1850, at age 60, in Sabbenhausen house no. 2. We know nothing of what he did for a living. We also do not know if any family members other than Anna Maria Christina emigrated to America.

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It’s possible to trace the ancestry of Anna Maria Christina Sophia Christina Wolf much further, using the Falkenhagen Protestant (Calvinist) records. Many of her ancestors may have been Catholic, tended to by the Jesuits of Falkenhagen, but Catholicism was suppressed in Land Lippe until 1854. The Falkenhagen Catholic parish records, however, start from 1793.

Johan Arnd Wolf was christened "Johan Arnd Christoph Wulf" on 20 June 1790. He was the son of Hermann and Dorothea (Marx) Wulf, of Sabbenhausen house no. 2. He appears to have been named after his relatives (uncles?) Arnd Marx and Christoph Marx (witnesses at the baptism).

Christine Hüls/Moseke was born 15 Dec. 1805, and christened "Christina Wilhelmina Moseke," named after Christina Hüls of Henkenbrink, apparently. She was the daughter of Johan Arnd Hüls, a native of Henkenbrink ("born Hüls, now Moseke"), and Anna Maria Busse/Moseke of Sabbenhausen. The family lived in Sabbenhausen.

We’ll present the rest of the ancestry below, in tree form. You can find a great deal more information in our "Records history – ancestry of Mary Wolfe Ells."

Click here to view a PDF version of this tree.