Wilhelmina Schmidt (1757-1832)

Wilhelmina Schmidt was born on 26 Mar 1757 in Aldenbringsback, Germany, a place I have not been able to locate as of yet. In a statement dated 1815, she states that she was born in 1767, but that seems unlikely, as she had her first child in 1776. Most likely this is an error of the transcriber/typist. She was the daughter of Johan Heinrich Schmidt and Eleanora, and is my son-in-law’s paternal 4th great-grandmother.

She also states that her father was a personal attendant to King Frederick of Sweden, her mother’s father is described as Chief of the Foresters of King Frederick. This is most likely King Adolph Frederick, who was King of Sweden from 1751 to his death in 1771.

Her father’s service must have been after 1757, as Wilhelmina was born in Germany. She also states that after her father’s death they moved back to Germany, but she does not say when her father died. Her mother died  when Wilhelmina was 14, so in 1771; her mother’s father died in 1757.

Wilhelmina married Johan Fredrick Seidler, a pastor at Elben, Kurshessen (now prob. Elbenberg near Naumburg), c. 1775, and they had ten children together. At some point (I have no birth places for any of the children) they (or the next generation) moved to Großenenglis (now a part of Borken in Hesse-Kassel, Germany), where at least two of the children died as adults. The eldest child (Wilhelm Frederick) of their youngest son was born in Ziegenhain (now part of Schwalmstadt). The birthplace of his siblings is not provided in the abstracts in the Seidler papers.

Wilhelm Frederick Seidler immigrated into the US in 1852; he married a nice German girl in Newark, and has quite a few descendants.

Now if we could just figure out who was the Chief of the Foresters to the Swedish King before 1757.