German Walbys

Sebastian Walby was born on September 18, 1841 in the town of Urspringen, Germany (red star on map).  Urspringen is a small community in the Main-Spessart district of Lower Franconia (German:  Unterfranken) in the Wurzburg region, in Bavaria (German: Bayern), Germany.²  The closest major city is Frankfurt am Main approximately 60 miles due west.  Even by today’s standards, Urspringen is a very small town (less than 2,000 residents) in a predominantly rural setting.  The area is noted for rich farmland and vineyards. 

Sebastian Walby’s parents were Anton “Anthony” Wallpe and Anna Maria “Mary” Riedmann.  Anton and Mary formally announced their betrothal in 1827.  During the six years of engagement prior to the wedding, Anton would have completed either indentured service or an apprenticeship.  He likely purchased a farm, or was awarded land as a “bride price.”   The couple was married on November 26, 1833.  Sebastian was the fifth child of six as follows:  Johann Evangelista Riedmann Wallpe (1824-1912); Martin Joseph Wallpe (1827-1890); Elizabeth Wallpe Pontius (1830-after 1880); John Michael Wallpe (1835-after 1867); Sebastian Wallpe (1841-1907); and Apollonia Wallpe LeJeune (1842-after 1910).

 

The Wallpes had a long-standing reputation as top-notch bricklayers – going back more than 100 years.  In fact, Sebastian’s uncle Nikolaus lived in town and laid the “timber framing” for homes in Urspringen.  One can imagine Sebastian following his uncle around.  You can just picture a young boy mixing mortar or handing up bricks as a wall rose.  Likely, he watched his brother Martin Joseph grow from apprentice to an experienced mason. 

 

Other details about Sebastian’s early life are sketchy.  Chances are, Anton owned a farm just outside of Urspringen.  Sebastian very possibly worked as a farmhand.  In the mid 19^th century, crops included barley and oats.  Half of the year would have been caring for the fields; the remaining months, spent in school.  Play time may have been spent fishing in the river or running through the cobbled streets of Urspringen.  Harvest and religious festivals filled seasonal leisure time.  Catholic (German: Katholisch) church was the center of life for this family – as it was also the focal point of the town’s landscape.  To the right is the landscape as it would have appeared in 1856 after completion of the steeple on the local “Kirche.”

 

Very likely, both Anton and Anna Maria’s parents arranged the marriage when the two were children.  Both came from established lines in Urspringen going back to the 17^th century.  In fact, the families had intermingled several times as far back as 1691 – when Balthasar Walte married Kunigunde Riedmann.  Our earliest known ancestor, Balthasar Walte, was born during 1665 to unknown parents.   In spring 1691, at the age of 26, Balthasar moved to Urspringen – about 220 miles due north of his hometown of Bregenz am Bodensee, Austria. 

 

Six children were born to Balthasar and Kunigunde’s marriage.¹⁴  The three daughters were:  Maria in 1692, Anna in 1695 and Margaretha in 1710.  Nothing more is known about these female offspring.  The given name of all three sons was Johann – presumably, distinguished by their middle names.  The eldest, Johann Michael was born in 1697 and married Margaret Tremer at the age of 27 – producing three grandchildren for Balthasar.  This eldest son continued in the father’s occupation – becoming a bricklayer in Urspringen.  The youngest son, also known as Johann “The Youngest” with no documented middle name, was born in 1702.  His fate is unknown.  It is the middle child, Johann “The Younger” born in 1700, who continues the family line toward Sebastian Walby with two wives and six children.  He, too, follows his father as a bricklayer.

  

150 years later, Sebastian Walby left Urspringen, Germany for America.  Likewise, Sebastian’s brothers, sisters and a number of uncles did the same.  But, some Wallpes stayed – continuing the German line.  In fact, Karl Otto Walpe is memorialized as a casualty of World War I on October 13, 1915, and he is accompanied by another relative, Vincenz Riedmann.  Amazingly, Walpes still live in the village of Urspringen even today – more than 300 years after Balthasar’s emigration from Austria to Gemany.