Wives of Hans Schnepp (1633-1701)
Johannes (Hans) Schnepp, born at Entzheim, Alsace, 24 Jan 1633, was married three times and his son Lorentz, b. 1669, was by the second wife, Maria, whose family name was unknown at the time the research on the Snapp ancestors was done in the 1980s. Records of the family were from the parish registers of Illkirch-Graffenstaden, dating back to the early 1600s but the records from 1661-1685 were not on microfilm at the time the original research was done. Lorentz was the father of Johannes Schnepp (John Snapp) the 1733 immigrant and ancestor of most of the Snapps of Virginia. Thus, there was a significant gap in the ancestral line. The missing records of Illkirch-Graffenstaden have since been microfilmed and more importantly, the Archives of the Department of Bas-Rhin at Strasbourg, France, has digitized all the parish records from the department and they can now be viewed online.
From these records we can now fill in that gap in the ancestry of Johannes Schnepp, the 1733 immigrant and pioneer ancestor of the Snapp family.
Hans Schnepp, the shepherd at Entzheim, first married Brigitta Schwing, 22 Sept. 1656 at Illkirch-Graffenstaden. Two daughters were born and we now know that Brigitta died at Entzheim, 5 December, 1663, age 33 years and 40 weeks.
Johannes (Hans) married Maria Ammel, daughter of Hans Ammel, fisherman at Illkirch-Graffenstaden, 16 May, 1664.
Maria was born 20 May 1645, daughter of Hans Ammel and Maria Roesch of Illkirch-Gravenstaden and her Ammel and Roesch lines have deep roots there. Her father, Hans Ammel, a fisherman, was born about 1616, son of another Hans Ammel and his wife Anna, and died at Illkirch, 26 June 1667, age 50. His wife, Maria Roesch, was born about 1616, daughter of Paul Roesch and Anna, and died 3 Mar. 1688.
Paul Roesch, was born at Illkirch 5 Jan. 1589, son of Hans Roesch and Catherina and died 24 Sept. 1642. His wife was named Anna but her family name has not been determined.
Hans Ammel, father of Hans, grandfather of Maria, was born in the 1580s but because of a gap in the records from about 1594-1620 a record of his marriage, which would have named his parents does not exist. He was deceased by 1633, when his wife, Anna was named as "widow of Hans Ammel". Anna died at Illkirch, 23 Sept. 1656, age 69.