Unwed Mothers - Surprise!

Probably the biggest genealogical surprise for me, was the discovery of many un-wed mothers throughout all of the generations.  Being a Baby Boomer myself, I saw the creation of the first birth control pill, signaling the beginning of the “Sexual Revolution”, Previous generations led us to believe they had “refrained until marriage.”  There had been a few “mistakes”, but those were relatively rare.

Wow!  Through family research, I found that this was just not the case.  The old saying that the first baby doesn’t necessarily take nine months, is true.  While I am not going to make a list of these children, or their mothers, you too might have already located this type of information. 

However, the example that shocked me, and may never be explained is in the story of Julie Ernestine Louise Ambellan, my husband’s gr-grandmother. In her US records, Ernestine always listed herself as a widow with the married name of Ambellan.  Her immigration records, census records and her death record list her as a widow. Even the 1913 Buffalo City Directory has her listed as the widow of Frederick Ambellan. For 20 years, I did not know her maiden name.  The family story was that their father was in the military and away at war, and not really around the family, so they did not know him well.

I first noticed that when five of her children who were born in Hardenbeck, Brandenburg, Germany between 1870-1886 registered to marry in Buffalo, New York, they listed various names for their parents. (Marie married in New York City, so I do not have her information.) 

Emilie listed Frederick and Ernestine Ambellan (no maiden name)

Bertha listed Frederick Ambellan and Ernestina Keppel
Herman listed Herman Ambellan and Ernestine Koppen
Anna listed unknown father and Ernestine Ambellan
Helen listed unknown father and Ernestine Ambellan

How could these children not know the name of their father and mother correctly?  Even if he was away in the military, I was surprised that they did not know even his name.

When the Hardenbeck records became available there was clarification and a surprise.

Ernestine’s children’s baptism records of show that she never married the father of her children.  Ambellan is her maiden name!

Each record for five of her six children, (unable to find Marie's) states that Ernestine's father, Johann Friedrich Ambellan came to the church to deliver the news that his unmarried daughter, Ernestine, had delivered a(nother) child.  This must have been very difficult for her father. 

In the late 1800's, being an unwed mother was not uncommon. In this case, there are several possibilities.  It may have been the same father. Many times, couples did not marry until the father completed his military commitment and the couple had enough money to pay a tax that was needed to marry.  OR, perhaps there were different fathers. (Sadly, there could be 6 different men.) 

However, the surname Koeppen frequently appears in Hardenbeck records during that time period.    (Koeppel not at all).  A man with surname Koeppen probably did father one or more of the children.  I do not have pictures of all of Ernestine’s children, so have not been able to see if there are resemblances.  DNA?  Nothing yet.  This mystery may never be solved. 

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