Someone recently mentioned the possibility that there might be a living descendent of Bessler's who might have inherited some information about the wheel. I'm not convinced that there is a chance that this might be possible, but I don't like to rule it out. So what follows is the only information I have to date on his parents, brother, wives and children. It may be that someone might be more familiar with ancestry research than I, and find the limited information below of use in their research.
Elias Bessler, (he assumed the other names Johann Ernst at a later date) was the son of the day-labourer Andreas Bessler, and his wife Maria, née Maucke. He was baptised in Zittau on 6th May 1681; his parents having been married in Zittau on 11th February 1680. Customarily, baptism took place no more than three days after birth.
His brother, Gottfried, was baptised in Zittau on 26th May 1688. There were three other children who all died early or were still born.
Elias Bessler, (he assumed the other names Johann Ernst at a later date) was the son of the day-labourer Andreas Bessler, and his wife Maria, née Maucke. He was baptised in Zittau on 6th May 1681; his parents having been married in Zittau on 11th February 1680. Customarily, baptism took place no more than three days after birth.
His brother, Gottfried, was baptised in Zittau on 26th May 1688. There were three other children who all died early or were still born.
Dr. Christian Schumann, the mayor and physician of Annaberg,was persuaded to ask Bessler to heal his desperately ill daughter. The girl recovered and became Orffyreus’s wife. Her name was Barbara Elisabeth Bessler née Schumann. She died 10.05.1726 at the age of 40 from tuberculosis
Bessler had four children with Barbara Schumann, they were;
1. Name unknown, died before 1726.
1. Name unknown, died before 1726.
2. Maria Barbara
Elisabeth, born 5.1.23, married George Conrad Gercke in 1735. He was a widowed preacher.
3. Johanna Maria
Christina, born 9.12.23, died 4.2.24 - aged just three weeks.
4. Carl
Friedrich, born 6.10.25. His Godfather was the Landgrave, but he wasn't present at
the baptizing. Died 5.5.26 aged seven months.
Infant mortality rate was high in those days regardless of class. Karl and his wife Amelie, had
seventeen children, fourteen of whom lived long enough to have names, but only nine reached twenty years of age or more.
On January 31st in 1731 Orffyreus married Catharina Elisabeth Krone (born in 1713)
They had five children only one of which survived to adulthood.as below
1. Johanna Magdalena
Elisabeth, born 6.4.31
2. Johanna
Wohlradina [very strange name] Sybilla, born 15.7.34, died 16.09.43
3. Catharina
Conradina 30.10.37
4. Magdalena
Catharina, 25.11.39
5 Margaretha
Maria, 25.7.45, married Amtmann Kurtzbube in Fürstenberg.
Catharina
Elisabeth Krone was the daughter of Castle blacksmith, Johann Adam Krone, who died 14.6.50
in the age of 76.
Besslers father, Andreas,
died 19.6.27 in the age of 87, he lived with Bessler for his remailng years as did his mother, Maria.
His brother Gottfried,
died 3.5.65 and was buried in "Orffyreischen Begräbnishaus"
(Bessler's crypt)
'docfeelsgood', a well known and respected forum member of Besslerwheel forum, sadly no longer with us, was convinced that the court blacksmith, Adam Krone might have passed on the secret of the wheel's construction to his children because there is a letter in which, in return for his daugjhter's hand in marriage, Bessler would share everything about his wheel. There is no evidence that he did so, but just in case there is such a possibility the only potential source might be Margaretha Maria, who married Amtmann Kurtzbube in Fürstenberg. I do not know whether Adam krone had any other children, but that is also a possble avenue of research.
I think the following explains that 'Amtmann' is a title. '
The Amtmann was usually a member of the nobility or a cleric. In towns, he was also often a member of the wealthy classes amongst the citizenship. He resided in an Amthaus or Amtshaus and collected taxes from the district (Amtsbezirk), administered justice and maintained law and order with a small, armed unit. [wikipedia]
Alternatively a search for any descendants of his first daughter’s marriage to George Conrad Gercke might be worth researching.
'docfeelsgood', a well known and respected forum member of Besslerwheel forum, sadly no longer with us, was convinced that the court blacksmith, Adam Krone might have passed on the secret of the wheel's construction to his children because there is a letter in which, in return for his daugjhter's hand in marriage, Bessler would share everything about his wheel. There is no evidence that he did so, but just in case there is such a possibility the only potential source might be Margaretha Maria, who married Amtmann Kurtzbube in Fürstenberg. I do not know whether Adam krone had any other children, but that is also a possble avenue of research.
I think the following explains that 'Amtmann' is a title. '
The Amtmann was usually a member of the nobility or a cleric. In towns, he was also often a member of the wealthy classes amongst the citizenship. He resided in an Amthaus or Amtshaus and collected taxes from the district (Amtsbezirk), administered justice and maintained law and order with a small, armed unit. [wikipedia]
Alternatively a search for any descendants of his first daughter’s marriage to George Conrad Gercke might be worth researching.
Good luck to anyone who wishes to take on this task, please share anything you discover even if it results in a dead end.
EDIT - Some additional informationhas come in from a similar post I made on BW forum. 'Helmholtz' posted the following.
"1. There was another daughter called Dorothea Christina Sophie who married Emanuel Christian Wolff.
2. One of her sisters married Johann Georg Musi, Hofgeismar, who still lived in 1792.
3. Not Gottfried but his widow died in 1765 and was burried in Carlshaven. I think it would be more interesting if one could trace Gottfried, not Crone, because Gottfried was familiar to Bessler, not Crone.
It was one of Besslers "Privilegia" that he himself as well as his descendants & compagnons should be remitted from paying taxes. When Bessler impregnated Crone's 17-year-old daughter, it might have been a good compensation to call him a compagnon not to share any secrets (why should he?) but the exemption of taxes."
JC
