Hinrich Hellmers' Roots in Germany

Hinrich Hellmers' Roots in Germany

Hinrich Hellmers was born on Sunday, 13 July 1828 in Rekum, a tiny village then located in the Kingdom of Hannover [Königreich Hannover]. Rekum—and the other nearby places in which the Hellmers ancestors lived—were north of the Free City of Bremen in Germany. Rekum was in the church parish [Kirchspiel] of Neuenkirchen. Rekum was later incorporated within the modern German state of Bremen.

Neuenkirchen can be seen in the upper left of the map. Rekum (not shown on the map) is located about one mile south of Neuenkirchen and about 20 miles northwest of the center of Bremen.

The cross above the circle marking Neuenkirchen indicates that there was a church there.

Detail from 1856 map of Hannover, Braunschweig, Oldenburg
Geographisches Institut (Weimar, Germany)
David Rumsey Collection

Nearly a month after his birth, Hinrich was baptized at St. Michael's Evangelical Reformed Church in the nearby town of Neuenkirchen. The name given to him at his baptism was Jochim Hinrich Hellmers. (Even though he was given the name Jochim Hinrich, no record has been found of his using the name Jochim. Germans frequently went by their middle names.)

An image of Hinrich Hellmers' baptism record as found in the Neuenkirchen churchbooks can be seen here.

To the left is the church in Neuenkirchen in which Hinrich Hellmers' parents were married and in which he was baptized.

On Sunday, 21 May 1843, Hinrich was confirmed here. He was listed in the confirmation records as Joachim Hinrich Hellmers. At the time, he was 14 years, 10 months old.

Photo by Norman Hellmers, 2008

Hinrich was the son of Arend Hellmers (born 16 June 1792 in Platjenwerbe) and Adelheid Margarethe Timm (born 7 September 1799 in Rade). Hinrich's parents were married in the church in Neuenkirchen on 25 August 1822. Hinrich was the second of four children born to his parents, all baptized in the same church.

Little is known of Hinrich Hellmers' youth in Germany. He presumably had some education, since he could sign his name. His Hellmers grandfather worked a small farm, but his father, Arend Hellmers, was a merchant seaman. From the Bremen, Germany Sailors Registries, it appears that Arend served on ships as early as November 1822, six years before Hinrich was born. The records show that he eventually served on at least 24 voyages, primarily as a cook. A summary of Arend Hellmers' service as a seaman can be found here.

As a youth, Hinrich Hellmers lived with his family in the small village of Rekum, where he was born. Beginning in October 1843, when only 15 years old, Hinrich followed in his father's footsteps working as a merchant seaman. His first voyage was to La Guaira and Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, on the ship Herzog von Cambridge. He was a ship's boy [Schiffsjunge], earning a wage of 5 schillings per month. On later sailings he worked as an apprentice seaman [Lehrling] and by the time he was 22 years old, as an ordinary seaman [Matrose]. Upon his return from his first trip, he received a rating of "gut" (good), as he did for his next six sailings.

Between the years 1843-1852, Hinrich made a total of eight voyages. Based on crew lists of seamen sailing from Bremerhaven, his eight voyages were as follows:

Name of Seaman	Birth year	Date hired	Destinations	Ship	Remarks
Hinr Hellmers	1828	28 Okt 1843	La Guaira und Puerto Cabello, Venezuela	Herzog von Cambridge	Gut
Hinr Helmers	1828	25 Sep 1845	Galveston, Texas	Neptun	Gut
Hinr Hellmers	1828	11 Apr 1846	Galveston, Texas	Neptun	Gut
Hinr Hellmers	1828	2 Dez 1846	New Orleans, Louisiana	Leontine	Gut
Hinr Helmers	1828	16 Nov 1850	Charleston, South Carolina	Leontine	Gut
Hinr Hellmers	1828	6 Mai 1851	New York, New York	Itzstein and Welker	Gut
Hinr Hellmers	1828	9 Feb 1852	New York, New York	Schiller	Gut
Hinr Hellmers	1828	21 Aug 1852	New Orleans, Louisiana	Olbers	*

* See these remarks in the section on how Hinrich Hellmers came to live in New Orleans.

A summary of Hinrich Hellmers' service as a seaman can be found here.

The ships Hinrich sailed on left from Bremerhaven. This mid-19th-century view was painted by an unknown artist. The port of Bremerhaven was developed in 1827 at the mouth of the Weser River so as to avoid the long trip upriver to the city of Bremen.

Bremerhaven was severely bombed in World War II, and little of its glorious sailing days remains. The lighthouse seen in the upper left was completed in 1855. It still stands today.

Hinrich's older brother, Jürgen, was also a merchant seaman, as was his younger brother, Adolph. Summaries of Jürgen's service can be found here and Adolph's here. Both of his brothers eventually stayed in the United States: Jürgen in Philadelphia, and Adolph, also in New Orleans. Hinrich's younger sister, Elise Hellmers, married Henrich Kehlenbeck in 1830. She remained in Germany and raised seven children, one daughter and six sons, five of whom were also seamen; the other was a shoemaker.

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