Johann Christoph
Wilmerding
* 21.06.1711 Braunschweig
+ 03.11.1784 		Christina Elisabeth
to der Horst
* 26.12.1741 Braunschweig
* 25.01.1821 Braunschweig

Christian Wilhelm
Wilmerding

* 22.01.1762 Braunschweig
+ 19.07.1832 Moscow (NY)


Kinder mit Catherine von Falkenhahn (* 03.04.1766 + 31.12.1839 Moscow. NY, USA) (oo 27.09.1785 New York City):

Elizabeth
Wilmerding
* 10.08.1786 New York City
+ 11.06.1858 		Henrietta Magdalena
Wilmerding
* 07.11.1788 New York City
+ 25.12.1873 Beechwood, Reigate, England 		Augusta Catherine
Wilmerding
* 01.10.1790 New York City
+ 18.07.1793 New York City
Catherine Augusta
Wilmerding
* 18.08.1793 New York City
+ 2106.1870 		Johann Christoph
Wilmerding
* 01.05.1796 Braunschweig
+ 1797 Braunschweig
Charlotte
Wilmerding
* 20.06.1799 (1798?) New York City
+ 13.06.1832 (06.1831?)
William Edward
Wilmerding
* 08.09.1799 New York City
+ 11.04.1860 New York City 		Henry Augustus
Wilmerding
* 27.06.1802 New York City
+ 03.02.1870 New York City
Theodore Charles
Wilmerding
* 1805 New York City
+ 09.04.1829
oo Catherine Ripley
Julia Caroline
Wilmerding
* 07.11.1807 New York City
+ 26.01.1859 Moscow, Livingston County, New York
oo Horatio Jones 		? ?

Quellen:
- Manuskript: Stam-Buch der to der Horstischen Familie in Braunschweig und Hamburg: "Seit 1785 Etablirt in NeyYorck in America" und oo Falckenhahn
- Seine Seite bei Pumyea/Venedam:
- A. Munsell Bradhurst: "My forefathers, their history from records & traditions": "John Christopher married Christine Elizabeth Tho der Horst Had five children
[1:] Christian William married Catherine von Falkenhahn Ancestor of the Wilmerdings in America
[2:] Charles Augustus Ancestor of the Wilmerdings of Flensburg, and of F. C, Becker of Brunswick, and of R. Henneberg, the painter
... William Wilmerding's two sons, John Henry, and John Christopher, founded two distinct branches of the family. From John Henry, the elder, was descended the family of Wilmerding of Brunswick, whose last male representative died in 1848; and John Christopher, the younger brother, was the father of Christian Wilhelm Wilmerding, who settled in New York towards the close of the Eighteenth century....
... CHAPTER III
THE WILMERDINGS IN AMERICA— THO DER HORST, AND FALKENHAHN
John Christopher Wilmerding — from whom the American family of Wilmerding is descended — was born in Brunswick, 21st June, 1711, and was the younger son of William Wilmerding by Magdalena Elizabeth Hageman. He was a merchant of some importance, and, having succeeded to his father's business, became as influential in commerce as his brother and his nephew — the two John Henry Wilmerdings — were in the politics of Brunswick,
His first wife, Minna Agnes Luttich, having died 4th October, 1757, without issue, he married secondly Christine Elizabeth Tho der Horst, by whom he had Christian William and two other sons, and two daughters.
John Christopher showed his enlightenment by being the first person in Brunswick to have his children vaccinated, ist December, 1767 : and he proved his commercial prosperity by building, in 1763, the imposing family mansion in the Breite Strasse, next to the old " Stadt-haus." This old Wilmerding mansion could still be seen in the Nineteenth century, bearing witness to the position of its late owners. The site, which is of some consequence in the annals of Brunswick, had been purchased by Mr. Wilmerding from the family of vonWalbeck; it had previously, as far back as 1322, been the property of the family of de Domo, or von dem Hans — so called because they lived near the " Altstadtrathaus."
Mr. Wilmerding also possessed a country seat near Brunswick, which was eventually purchased by his great-grandson, Rudolph Frederick Henneberg, the artist.
A portrait of John Christopher was in the possession of his great- grandson, the late John Christopher Wilmerding, at " Beau Sejour," and another is the property of Lucius K. Wilmerding, of New York —
28o THE WILMERDING FAMILY
likewise a great-grandson — who also possesses a portrait of John Christopher's wife, Christine Elizabeth Tho der Horst, who was born in Brunswick in 1742, and died there 25th January, 1821. By her John Christopher had five children. He died 3rd November, 1784, his second son, Julius Frederick, having predeceased him ten years previously.
Of the four surviving children. Christian William, the eldest, founded the present family of Wilmerding in America; Charles Augustus, whose male line is extinct, had an only son, living at Flensberg, Germany;' and the two daughters, Dorothea Henrietta and Christine Elizabeth, married respectively J. H. Tho der Horst, the senator, and John Louis Tho der Horst. The double marriage of these two sisters was the theme of several poems of congratulation, w^hich are preserved in the Library of Brunswick, for not only were the bridegrooms of the same name, but the mother of the brides was also, it will be remembered, of the family of Tho der Horst. This surname is sometimes (incorrectly) written Toderhorst; ^ and it was probably a son of one of these two sisters who was the " George Ferdinand Toderhorst," whose papers, partly burned, were saved from the fire on the premises of Messrs. Bradhurst & Field.' From these documents it seems that he was possessed of some means, and was in business in New York, and had numerous transactions with that firm. He appears to have had a lawsuit in Westphalia. He died in 1804, in New York, having appointed as his executor John Maunsell Brad- hurst, whose wife was a daughter of Christian William Wilmerding. Whether George Ferdinand "Toderhorst" was indeed the son of one of the two sisters above-mentioned cannot be positively stated, but that he was related to them and to their brother, Christian William, and therefore also to Mrs, John Maunsell Bradhurst, appears to be almost beyond doubt.
Christian William Wilmerding, the eldest son of John Christopher Wilmerding by Christine Elizabeth Tho der Horst, was born in ... Brunswick, 22nd January, 1762, and confirmed in St. Martin's Church 15th April, 1776. He was only a year old when his father built the family mansion in the Breite Strasse, and it was there that he grew up as the heir of a wealthy and influential house, connected with many of the leading families in Brunswick. He was about twenty-one years of age when he first visited America, where now there are so many of his descendants, who, so far as is known, are sole bearers of the name of Wilmerding. It was about the year 1783, at the close of the American Revolution, that he crossed the ocean, his father having sent him to visit foreign lands and to " see the world." It was with no thought of settling in the newly emancipated Colonies that he came, but merely as the son of a wealthy German sent on his travels — as a traveller piqued with curiosity. As a German he had many of the prejudices and exaggerated ideas of America which at that time per- vaded Europe, but as a Brunswicker he had imbibed some of the traditions of that old town of the Hansa League, which found a sym- pathetic chord in the Independence of the New Republic.
However sanguine his expectations may have been, he certainly does not seem to have been disappointed in America, for he not only immediately lost his heart, but eventually returned and settled there.
It is said that on the first Sunday after his landing in New York, he was so struck by the appearance of a young lady coming out of the Lutheran Church, that he not only inquired her name, but then and there vowed to a friend that he would woo and win her ! Her name was Catharine von Falkehahn, and she was then scarcely eighteen, being some four years his junior. But the oft-repeated quotation anent " the course of true love " — (and what could have been more romantic than young Wilmerding's love at first sight on coming to a strange land?) — would seem to have been applicable in this case, for their courtship was cut short by the death of his father in Bruns- wick. At least, the tradition of his falling in love and the dates of occurrences suggest this conclusion. His father, John Christopher, died 3rd November, 1784, but whether the son had returned to Germany from his travels before that date, or whether he did so soon afterwards, does not seem clear. At all events, the impression he had received in America was sufficiently deep to bring him back, and he 2 o
282 THE WILMERDING FAMILY
married Catherine von Falkenhahn in St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, New York, on the 27th September, 1785.'
The name of Falkenhahn — which is also spelt Falkenhan, Falken- hagen, Falkenhayn, Falkenhain, and Falkenhein — is one which is frequently to be found in Brandenburg, Pomerania, Silesia, Posen, Elsass, West Prussia, Bohemia, and Lower Austria ; various branches, all of the same family, write it differently, and some of them have been ennobled as Barons and Counts. The latter, who now call themselves Falkenhayn, were formerly Falkenhagen, and were created Counts in Bohemia in 1689, in Silesia in 1694, and in Prussia in 1741. That Catharine von Falkenhahn was entitled to the prefix "von " (which, in Germany, is of some importance) is beyond all doubt ; moreover, her sister's husband, Baron George Frederick Schilling von Canstadt, repeatedly wrote the name in that manner — " von Falkenhahn " — although he himself thought so little of this sign of nobility that he sometimes omitted it in writing his own.
The father of Catherine von Falkenhahn is said to have been a German officer belonging to one of the ennobled branches of that family, who served and died in America. There is a tradition that he was a political refugee, and had been a nobleman of some weight in Poland during the troubles through which that country was then passing. His widow, Justina Magdalena von Falkenhahn, was living in New York in 1786, when she was Godmother to her eldest grand- child, Elizabeth Wilmerding.^
Catherine von Falkenhahn had two brothers, John and Samuel, and two sisters ; of the former very little is known, except that they were witnesses to her marriage to Christian William Wilmerding, in 1785, and that there was a monument erected to the memory of Samuel von Falkenhahn, which bore a long epitaph, in German, praising him in all the eulogistic terms in vogue at that period.^ ...
Both brothers are supposed to have died unmarried in America. Of Catherine's two sisters, the name of Elizabeth Falkenhahn appears as Godmother, in 1790, to her niece, Augusta Catherine Wilmerding;' and the youngest sister, Magdalena von Falkenhahn, became the wife of Baron George Frederick Schilhng von Canstadt. At the time> however, of Mr. Wilmerding's marriage to Catherine von Falkenhahn, her sister, Magdalena, was not yet married, for it was not until some two years later that Baron von Schilling came to America.
...
CHAPTER IV THE WILMERDINGS IN AMERICA— CHRISTIAN WILLIAM
Soon after his marriage Christian WiUiam Wilmerding became a member of the German Society of New York, and as its Secretary, in 1788, he certified that his brother-in-law. Baron George Frederick Schilling von Canstadt, had been elected an honorary member of that Society.'
Two years later, in 1790, Mr. Wilmerding identified himself with the country of his adoption by becoming an Ensign in Colonel Rutger's Militia. In 1792 he was one of the original subscribers to the famous Tontine Society, of whom it has been said that " they were the founders of our great commercial City, and their names should be honoured as long as the City endures." ^ Another original subscriber was Thomas Buchanan, whose granddaughter, Mary Pearsall, eventually married Mr. Wilmerding's grandson, Samuel Stillwell Bradhurst. Mr. Wilmer- ding's eldest daughter, Elizabeth (Mrs. John Maunsell Bradhurst), became through him one of the celebrated nominees of the Tontine.
In 1795 he returned to Germany to visit his mother and relatives in Brunswick. During these, the first ten years of his marriage, his four eldest daughters were born, and he recorded these events in a Bible which had been presented to him in Brunswick on his con- firmation, as appears from the following inscription (in German) therein :
"On the Sunday, Quasimodogeniti, 1776, Monsieur Christian Wilhelm Wilmerding was confirmed by me at St: Martin's Church. ...
townsfolk of Brunswick, where his name was so well known and his family had been for so long conspicuous and esteemed. Rumours of all sorts were soon spread, and the fact that his wife was of the noble family of Falkenhahn, was entirely overlooked by many of the old neighbours and friends who were curious to see the young Mrs. Wil- merding from America. The news of his return had reached the Ducal Court, and the Duke, who happened to be passing through the Breite Strasse, looked up with some curiosity at the Wilmerding mansion, and fixing his eyes on one of the windows bowed, then paused, and smiling, bowed again and again, all his courtiers following suit. The Wilmerdings, watching the procession from another part of the house, were surprised to find that these marks of princely favour were not directed to them, and, on going to discover the cause, found that it was the negress who had attracted so much attention, as standing conspicuously with one child in her arms, and another by her side, she continued curtsying and grinning, while the Duke and his friends mistook her for young Wilmerding's American wife!
The mirth of the Duke and his courtiers on learning their mistake can well be fancied, and Mr. Wilmerding and his family considered it a huge joke; but the feelings of the indignant lady, for whom her dusky maid was thus mistaken, can only be imagined, especially as she not only prided herself on her Falkenhahn connections, but is also said to have been considered of comely mien !
Christian William Wilmerding and his family remained in Bruns- wick about two years, and, indeed, it does not appear that they had at this time any intention of returning to America. His cousin, John Henry, the Burgomaster — after whom Wilmerding Strasse is named — was then at the height of his reputation and influence, and the family name was never held in more esteem than at this period. Christian William, although of a younger branch, was the possessor of the imposing Wilmerding house ; his wife — about whose complexion there were now no more mistakes — was much admired, and his business undertakings prospered. A year passed, and his prosperity was crowned by the birth of his first son, 1st May, 1796, named John Christopher.
Another year, and in 1797 the child died; and a well-known business house with which Mr. Wilmerding was connected failed.
290 THE WILMERDING FAMILY
An accumulation of sorrows and calamities compelled him to leave the home of his forefathers, and return to America, never again to see his native land. His other children were all born in New York ; the daughter Charlotte (afterwards Mrs. Dwight) being, in 1798, the first one born after the final departure of her parents from Germany. Mr, Wilmerding's eldest surviving son, William Edward, was born in 1799; in 1802, his second surviving son, Henry Augustus; in 1805, the youngest son, Theodore Charles, and in 1807, the youngest daughter, Julia Caroline, were born.
Some time after his return to New York Mr. Wilmerding occupied a country place known as "The Front House," which was part of Samuel Bradhurst's property, and which derived its name from its position on the Pinehurst estate. This old house, although not so large nor of such historic importance as the mansion of Pinehurst, was yet regarded with some interest in later years, as being one of the old land-marks so quickly vanishing with the growth of modern New York. "The Front House" was finally demolished about the year 1872, to make way for the opening of the St. Nicholas Avenue. It was while he was living there that Mr. Wilmerding's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was married to John Maunsell Bradhurst, on 26th April, 1806. She and her sisters were noted for the many accomplishments in which they vied with one another, each excelling according to her Muse. Elizabeth was the artist, Henrietta the most witty and literary, and Catherine Augusta the most musical of the family. The eldest, too, developed considerable business ability, and her descendants, it is said, owe much to the sound judgment and clear foresight with which she advised Mr. Bradhurst in later years.
Mr. Wilmerding's second daughter, Henrietta Magdalena (sub- sequently Mrs. Felix Tracy), wrote several plays, one of which was successfully produced on the stage of a New York theatre.
Mr. Wilmerding remained in New York City until about the year 1820, when he went to live at Moscow, Livingston County, New York. He was Vice-President, and then President, of the German Society, and was one of the first officers of Holland Lodge. In 1821 he received the news of his mother's death in Brunswick, and thus the strongest remaining link which bound him to his native city was broken. He died at Moscow (New York) on the 19th of July, 1832,
THE WILMERDINGS IN AMERICA 291
aged seventy, and his wife, Catherine (von Falkenhahn) survived him until 31st December, 1839. They are both buried in the family burial ground of the Wilmerdings at Moscow.
He was the first of his family to come to America, and, so far as is known, his descendants are the sole bearers of the old and noted Brunswick name. A few years later, in 1848, his cousin, John Henry Wilmerding — son of the famous Burgomaster — died in Brunswick, whereupon the male line of the senior branch became extinct, and the representation of the family devolved on the sons of Christian William Wilmerding in America.


[Maltes Genealogie HOME]