The Mystery of RIEß Sisters - Part 1

The record that broke the brick wall in our Menge/Rieß research and allowed us to make the leap from Philadelpia to Södel, Germany was the following burial record from the St. Michaels and Zion German Lutheran church in Philadelphia:

3 Sep 1773, Anna Cathar. Kilmann(in); b. 23 May 1732 at Sodel?, dau.of the late Joh. Ernst Krainder? and wife Elisabeth Ries(in),? (both of a noble class). (Godparents were Ernst Menge? and wife Anna Catharina);. Immigrated in 1752 with her sister. She mar. Mr . Adolf Kilmann in 1754; had 7 children, of whom 2 sons and 4 daus. survive... (¼-page obit).

This record connected our Ernst Menge with Södel where we subsequently found a Familenbuch that recorded many Menge and Rieß families. The above burial record states that the mother of Anna Catharina Killman (Gillman) was Elisabeth Ries, and we already knew that Ernst Menge had married Anna Catharina Ries, so the thought was that the two Rieß women must have been sisters.

This thought was furthered by finding the baptism record for Anna Catharina Kreuter, born 23 May 1732 in Södel. Not only was the godmother listed as the wife of Ernst Menge, but she was further noted as being the father's sister-in-law. This seems like plenty to confirm that Elisabeth and Anna Catharina Rieß were sisters.

Except not. The previously mentioned Familienbuch states that Elisabeth was the daughter of Hans Marten Rieß and Anna Catharina was the daughter of Marten's brother, Joh. Clemens Rieß. These two brothers did not share the same wife, so how could these two women share the same parents and thus be siblings? More digging has been required.

What I have found is a wide inconsistency in the names associated with the mother of Anna Catharina Kreuter. All of these records supposedly point to the same person:

1. Södel Familenbuch.  This sources lists Hans Marten Riess as having TWO daughters named Anna Elisabeth. First AE, born 1685, married Joh. Ernst Klein in 1705. Second AE, born 1692, married JEC Kreuter in 1714. I suspect the Familenbuch is incorrect about the name of the second AE, and I plan to send an inquiry to the book's author about the source of this information.
2. Baptism record.  On 17 Apr 1692, Martin Riess christened a daughter named Catharina.
3. Marriage record.  The marriage record for JEC Kreuter lists the name of the bride as Elisabetha Catharina.  It should be noted that this record does not give any indication as to the bride's family of origin.
4. Death record.  On 23 Nov 1749, the widow of JEC Kreuter died. Her name is listed as Anna Elisabeth, and her occupation is listed as a midwife.
5. Baptism record of AC Kreuter lists the godmother as the wife of Ernst Menge, and the sister-in-law of JEC Kreuter.  While this record does not list the mother's name, we know that Ernst Menge married Anna Catharina Riess, thus the child was given the name Anna Catharina. This record furthermore appears to establish the wives of JEC Kreuter and Ernst Menge as sisters.
6. Obituary of AC Kreuter Gillman in PHL lists her mother as Elisabeth Riessin.

It is entirely worth noting that there was another girl born in Södel on 5 April 1692, named Anna Catharina Elisabetha. If you visit familysearch.org, you will see that they associated the surname Ries with this child. However, in looking at the original church record, there is mention of the wife and the daughter of the then mayor (Schultheiß) of Södel, Johannes Rieß.  The second wife of Johannes Rieß was named Elisabetha, and the only daughters of Herr Rieß had from his previous marriage who might still have been alive at this time were named Anna Margretha and Ursula. With that in mind, I consulted with the author of the Familienbuch to assist in the transcription and translation of the baptism record of the girl born 5 April 1692. Essentially, the girl was the child of a foreign soldier and his wife had the child in transit. Because there were no godparents for the child in Södel, the wife of the Södel mayor (Johannes Rieß), as well as his daughter stood in to sponsor the child for baptism. So the bottom line appears to be that the child born 5 Apr 1692 was apparently not a Rieß child, and thus was probably NOT the future wife of Joh. Ernst Christian Kreuter nor the sister of Anna Catharina Rieß.

So where to go next with this mystery? I have a theory, so stay tuned for an update on this topic.

(Note: in order to help search matching, I include the following spellings in this article: Ries, Riess, Kreider, Sodel, Soedel)