Little boy lost
His full name was Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Nuckel.
But you know they didn’t call him that.
He was probably called Freddy or Friedl or Fritz, or possibly Willy, or something not even remotely like any one of his names.
He may even, for the entirety of his life, have been called, simply, the baby.
He was the younger brother of The Legal Genealogist‘s paternal grandmother, the fourth son born to Carsten Hinrich Wilhelm and Juliane Margarethe (Smidt) Nuckel.
And his name, by itself, is part of a story.
His father, my great grandfather, was born in Bremen in 1860.1 He was named for his maternal grandfather, Carsten Hinrich Wilhelm Sievers,2 and grew up and married Juliane in 1884.3
Their first son, Johann, was born in 1885.4 He was named after Carsten’s father, who died in 1870.5
Their second son, born in 1889, was named after Carsten himself, another Carsten Hinrich Wilhelm Nuckel.6 And that little boy was two years and nine months old when he died 24 January 1892.7 He was buried 28 January 1892 at Reichsburg Cemetery in Bremen.8
A third son was born on 30 July 1892, just six months after they buried little Carsten. This son was again given the name Carsten Hinrich Wilhelm Nuckel.9 He was one year and 20 days old when he died 19 August 1893. He was buried 22 August 1893 at Bunthenthor Cemetery.10
When their next son came along in May 1897, they didn’t try naming him after his father and his brothers. Instead he was named Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Nuckel, after an uncle.11 Perhaps they hoped a different name would give him a better chance for a different fate.
It didn’t happen. This little boy was 11 months and 12 days old when he died 22 April 1898. He was buried 122 years ago tomorrow — on 26 April 1898 — at Walle Cemetery.12
Freddy or Friedl or Fritz, or possibly Willy, or maybe even just the baby.
Laid to rest in a pauper’s grave, in a part of the cemetery where, the records show, “Kein weiteren Name in dieser Grabstelle, oder mehr als 50 Namen, was auf ein Gräberfeld schließen lässt!” (No other name in this grave site, but rather more than 50 names, which suggests a burial ground!)
Most likely the common area for the poor.
Poor, perhaps.
But not forgotten.
Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “But not forgotten…,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 256 Apr 2020).
SOURCES
Image: Walle Cemetery, Bremen, by Jürgen Howaldt, CC BY-SA 2.0 DE.
- Bremen Standesamt, Zivilstandsregister 1811-1875 (Bremen city registry office, civil status registers 1811-1875), Geburten (births) 1860, Reg. Nr. 1931 (13 Nov 1860), p. 973; FHL microfilm 1344170, Family History Library, Salt Lake City. ↩
- See ibid., Geburten 1820, p. 614, Nr. 1242 (7 Dec 1820); FHL Film 1344150. ↩
- Ibid., Heiraten 1884, nr. 713; copy from Standesamt. ↩
- Stammlisten, 1819-1931, Staatsarchiv Bremen, Bremen. ↩
- Ibid., Todten (Deaths) 1870, Reg. Nr. 607 (16 Mar 1870), p.306; FHL microfilm 1344237. ↩
- Bremen Standesamt, Zivilstandsregister, Geburten 1889, nr. 880 (28 March 1889); copy from Standesamt. ↩
- Ibid., Todten 1892, nr. 218 (24 Jan 1892); copy from Standesamt. ↩
- “Die Leichenbücher der Stadtgemeinde Bremen von 1875 – 1939” (The Funerary Records of the City of Bremen, 1875-1939), book 1892, page 59; online database, Die Maus – Family History and Genealogical Society of Bremen (https://die-maus-bremen.info/ : accessed 25 Apr 2020). ↩
- Ibid., Geburten 1892, nr. 2334 (30 July 1892); copy from Standesamt. ↩
- Bremen Funerary Records, book 1893, page 451. ↩
- Bremen Standesamt, Zivilstandsregister, Geburten 1897, nr. 1590 (10 May 1897); copy from Standesamt. ↩
- Bremen Funerary Records, book 1898, page 234. ↩
