BENEDICT


Abraham
 Selke ( -1719)
 Bendet
(1671)
 		Jacob
(1723)
  Jacob BENEDICT
(1747-1818)

Hannele


Güttel


Löbl
 Pepi



Joachim
 Jetta "Judita" LEDERER
(1752-1800)


Moises
 Antonia


Löb
 Abraham
(1729-1788)
 Ester EHRMANN
(1759-1835)
Simon
 Ber
 Ezechiel KUH
( -1755)
 Buna
(1736-1808)
Jehuda
 Ozer
(1683-1753)
 Judes
(1712)
Abraham
 Shprintze
( -1764)
Herschmann (1772-1826)
Elizabeth HERSCHMANN ( -1856)
 Moises (1800), Eliakum (1806), Klara (1810)
Judith (1774-1803)
Abraham SCHWALB (1771-1855)
(Joachim Jonas & Anna Veit)
 Joachim (1798)
Joachim (1777-1846)
Sara KARPL ( -1854)
(Abraham & Anna)
 Rosel (1803), Moyses (1805), Löw (1807),
Baruch (1809)
Ester
Moises (1785-1837)
Dina KAHN ( -1871)
(Simon {Nathan} & Güttel {Eliezer, Scheinen})
 Judithe (1828), Jacques (1829), Nathan (1831),
Gertrude (1834), Babette (1836)
Ewa "Pauline" (1787-1820)
Abraham SCHWALB (1771-1855)
(Joachim Jonas & Anna Veit)
 Judita (1802), Eliakum (1804), Bernard (1807),
Rachel (1809), Rosetta (1813), Ester (1814),
Antonia (1816), Salomon (1817), Jakob (1819)
Lea (1791)
Israel "Gerschmann" (1795-1874)
Wilhelmina WOLFNER ( -1872)
(Hermann {Samuel, Anna} & Franziska)
 Juli (1833), Peppi (1834),  Jakob (1839),
Siegfried (1842), Amalia (1845)
Abraham (1804-1867)
Franziska LÖWENSTEIN (1806-1875)
(Falkmann {Emanuel, Pepi} & Margaretha {Herz, Rößel})
 Falkmann (1828), Mina (1830), Jakob (1833),
Herz (1835), Siegfried (1844)

Selke Abraham and wife Hannele appear in the 1674 census of Lichtenstadt with children: Jacob (1664), Rösl (1666), Salomon (1667), Bendet (1671), and Elkela (1673). Bendet married Güttel, received protection status in Lichtenstadt in 1689, and had children: Veith, Abraham (1701), Löb (1708), Salomon (1711), Schönel (1714), Selckel (1720), Rechele (1721), and Jacob (1723). Salomon had a daughter Perl "Pepi", who married Abraham PICK in 1770.[1] Jacob is theorized to have married Pepi Löbl and had a son, Jacob (1747). In 1786, the younger Jacob was recorded as Jacob Bendert (apparently after his father's patronymic name) and later Jacob BENEDICT.[2]

Jacob BENEDICT married Jetta "Judita" LEDERER, likely daughter of Joachim and Antonia, daughter of Moises,[3] in 1768, adopted the surname BENEDICT in Lichtenstadt,[4] and had children: Herschmann (1772), Judith (1774), Joachim (1777), Ester, Moises (1785), Ewa (1787), Lea (1791), and Israel (1795). After Jetti died in 1800, Jacob married Ester BISCHITZ nee EHRMANN (1759) from Muttersdorf, widow of Michael Selig BISCHITZ and daughter of Abraham and Buna nee KUH, in 1801 and had one son Abraham (1804). Jacob died in 1818 followed by Ester in 1835.

Research Notes

 1. Birth records of Jacob Pick and Joachim Eckstein list their grandparents as Abraham Pick and Fany born Benedikt from Lichtenstadt House No. 17 (parents of Benedikt Pick and Mary Eckstein nee Pick, respectively). At first, this seemed to suggest that Fany was a child of Jacob Benedikt, who resided in Lichtenstadt House No. 17. However, the Familiant record for Abraham Pick shows that his son Benedikt was born in 1782 and that he was the son of Abraham's first wife Pepi, whom he married in 1770. Thus, Pepi must correspond to Fany, since they are both the mother of Benedikt. Furthermore, the early date of marriage makes it highly unlikely that Pepi/Fany was a child of Jacob, who (according to his Familiant) was first married in 1768 and had children from this marriage in the timeframe of 1772-1795. The most logical explanation is that Jacob and Pepi/Fany are siblings and that House No. 17 is indicative of the prior, shared Benedict generation.

2. [This explanation is a work in progress] In the Familiant record, Jacob Benedict's father's name is recorded as also being Jacob. Since Ashkenazi Jews were not named after living relatives, the typical reason for such an occurence is that the father died during the pregnancy of the son, who was then named for the recently deceased father. However, while this did occasionally occur, it was not common (because of the narrow window of time for the death to occur) and suggests that there may be another possible explanation for the duplicate names. My hypothesis is that the father had the patronymic name Jacob Benedict (i.e., Jacob son of Benedict) and that his son, though having a different given name at birth, later assumed his father's name Jacob, after the father had died. Finally, the adopted surname Benedict derived from his father's patronymic.
There are a couple of key observations of Lichtenstadt Jewish families that help form this theory:

Son assumes father's name after his death
    In the Familiant record of Abraham Schwalb in Lichtenstadt (record), it lists his name as "Abraham sonst Joachim" (Abraham also known as Joachim) and his father's name as "Joachim Jonas". It also records him as having a son named Joachim born in 1797, presumably named after the deceased grandfather. Thus, we may presume that, by 1797, Joachim Jonas was deceased. However, in that same year, in the marriage index, Abraham is listed with the name Joachim Schwalb (this is confirmed by the marriage permission number 624, which matches that shown in the Familiant record). Therefore, it appears that Abraham Schwalb used his father's name Joachim, during a short period after his father was deceased. Furthermore, it appears that he stopped using the name once he had a son who he named Joachim and then reassumed the name Abraham. This important case indicates that a son could take on their deceased father's name, not only when the father died while the child was in utero, but even later in life.

Surname taken from grandfather's given name
    When Jews were required to adopt surnames in the late 1700s, there were at least three cases of Lichtenstadt Jews whose adopted surnames were the same as their grandfather's given names. Originally (in the presurname period) know as Hertz Simon, son of Simon Benedict, (1724-1812) he later adopted the name Hertz BENEDICT. Israel Lippmann, son of Lippmann Mayer, (1749-1813) became Israel MAYER. Lazar Sackl, son of Sackl Löwy, (1757-1809) became Lazar LÖWY.

In light of these observations, we can derive two hypotheses: (1) Jacob Benedict's father probably was named Jacob, as listed in the Familianten record, but the younger probably had a different name originally. He probably assumed the name Jacob in honor of his deceased father and, since he didn't have a son named Jacob, just retained the name (unlike Joachim Schwalb, described above, who reverted back to his original name Abraham after passing the grandfather's name to his son). (2) The surname Benedict likely derived from the elder Jacob's father's (his grandfather's) given name Benedict (Benedict > Jacob > "Jacob" BENEDICT).

    Jacob Benedict was born about 1747 and his father was probably at least around 25 years old at his birth (on average, if he were the first born). Thus, it is probable that his father, if he was from Lichtenstadt, would show up as a young child in the 1724 census there. Furthermore, since Jacob Benedict was a Familiant (had protection status) in Lichtenstadt, but was born after the Familiant laws had already been in place for some time (since 1726), it is probable that he received his protection status in Lichtenstadt from his father (i.e., that is father was also a Familiant in Lichtenstadt).

    The 1724 census of Lichtenstadt lists Bendet Selckel, settled in 1689, married to Güttel and having several children, including one year old Jacob. This Jacob, born about 1723, is hypothesized to be Jacob the elder (father of Jacob Benedict). His son, later known as Jacob is presumed to have later adopted surname Benedict derived from the grandfather's given name Bendet.

    It must be noted, however, that, at this point, no record has been found that confirms that the younger Jacob went by a different name in earlier times. Two key records which could possibly shed light on this mystery are the marriage permission applications for Jacob's two marriages (not yet found). The later one (1801) might include additional information about Jacob while the earlier one (1768), if confidently identified, could provide the best opportunity to determine whether his birth name was, in fact, Jacob. Since this record was from the pre-surname period, his name would likely be in patronymic form and, in the case that Jacob was actually his birth name, would have the improbable (though not impossible, as previously described) form of Jacob Jacob. More likely, the first name would be something else (perhaps Bendet) and, thus, provide the desired information.

Update: The Josephian Cadaster for Lichtenstadt (1785-1789) lists a number of Jewish residents with names in patronymic and toponymic form, as opposed to permanent surnames. One individual listed is Jakob Bendert of House No. 17, which is surely Jacob Benedict (born 1747) of later lists, who lived in House No. 17. The Bendert name is presumed to be a variant of the given name Bendet and provides further evidence that an ancestor with this name was the source of the later surname. My current theory, as described above, is that Bendet "Jacob" BENEDICT (1747) was the son of Jacob (1718), son of Bendet. As evidence for the plausibility of this scenario, we need look no further the other Benedict family in Lichtenstadt. In this case, Herz Benedict (1724), analogous to Jacob (1747), was the son of Simon Pinckas/Benedict. In his 1758 marriage record, he is recorded with his patronymic name Herz Simon, yet by 1779 (still before surnames were mandatory in Austria) he was using the name Herz Benedict (following his father's patronymic).

Update2: The 1770 marriage record of Abraham Moises (later adopting the surname PICK) and Berl [Perl], first identified in the Gubernium Trauung Register index, was obtained from the Czech archive. Although brief, it includes the important additional information that Berl was the daughter of deceased Lichtenstadt Jew, Salomon Benedict. This validates the Benedict maiden surname found in the birth records of a couple of their grandchildren which lists Abraham's wife as Fani (an apparent variation of Perl), born Bendict, from Lichtenstadt house no. 17. Also obtained from the archive were the marriage records: Löbl Bernardt Aaron and Rachel Ponti, daughter of Salomon Ponti of Lichtenstadt (1735); Selckes Benedix and Heil, daughter of Moises Marcus of Eidlitz (1741); and Bendet Salomon and Dwora, daughter of Marcus of Lichtenstadt (1765). We can't say definitively, but my theory is that all of these records are connected to the same family - Bendet Selckel of Lichtenstadt, probably born in the early 1670s, who, according to the 1724 Lichtenstadt census, was settled in 1689, married Güttel, and had children: Veith, Abrahamb 23, Löb 16, Salomon 13, Selckel 4, Jacob 1. My theory is that Berl's father Salomon Benedict was Salomon (born c. 1711), son of Bendet Selckel, and that his siblings were Löbl (born c. 1708), married in 1735,  Selckes Benedix (born c. 1720), married 1741, and... Jacob Benedict (born c. 1723), father of Jacob Benedict born c. 1747. If so, this would make Fani Pick and Jacob Benedict (the younger), whose origin is both recorded as House No. 17, first cousins, rather than siblings. Although, perhaps if this was the home of their grandfather Bendet Selckel, then it would make sense that the larger family came from there. Just a theory at this point.

In any case, the Perl/Fani nee Benedict's father's name being Salomon Benedict of Lichtenstadt is significant because it provides additional evidence that the origin of the Benedict family of Lichtenstadt house No. 17 was the family of Bendet Selckel. This is buttressed by the fact that Jacob Benedict c. 1720 (the father of Jacob Benedict according to the Familianten record), fits with this same family as a possible sibling of Salomon.

A theorized lineage for Jacob Benedict, based on this theory and the available records, is as follows:

alt Selckel [in 1618 census]
|
Veit (c. 1590)
|
Abraham (1614) [Abraham Veit (39) and Bendet Veit (61) in 1653 census]
|
Selke (c. 1645) = Hannele [Selke Abraham with son Bendet (3) in 1674 census]
|
Bendet Selckel (1671) [settled 1689] = Güttel
|
Jacob Bendet (1723) = Pepi Löbl [Bendet Selckel with son Jacob (1) in 1724 census]
|
Jacob Bendert/Benedict (1747-1818) = 1. Jetta Lederer, 2. Esther Bischitz

3. This surname is often spelled "Benedikt" (with a "k" rather than a "c") in Bohemian records. However, the oldest known record for this family in which the surname is listed (the 1793 census record for Jacob Benedict) lists the surname with the spelling "Benedict". The two spellings appear to be interchangeable.

4. Birth records of Jakob's grandchildren (children of Gerschmann "Gerson" Benedikt and Wilhemina), Peppi Benedikt (1834) and Jakob Benedikt (1839), list Gerson's mother as Judith nee Lederer from Lichtenstadt house No. 20. In the Familiant records, Wolf Lederer, son of Joachim and Antonia Moises, is listed for house No. 20. With an estimated birth year of 1750 (he died in 1827 at the age of 77), he appears to be of the same generation as Judith and was likely her brother. Furthermore, the only other Lederer listed in the Familiant records, Eliacim Lederer, is also listed with the same parent names, had an estimated birth year of 1747 (died in 1804 at age 57), and so was likely another sibling.

5. The names of the second and third children are difficult to discern in both the birth and death records, but are assessed to be Eliakum and Klara. If so, Eliakum was possibly named after Herschmann's uncle (mother's brother), Eliakum Lederer, who had recently died in 1804. Regarding Klara, the fact that she was named for the alternative name of the mother is strange but not unprecedented. Herschman had a sister named Judith, while their mother's name was Jetta "Judita." Perhaps in both cases, the alternative name comes from an older ancestor.

6. Paint-Era Magazine. Vol. 28, No. 6, p. 282 (June 1912).

7. Benedict International Education Group: The Bénédict Family


Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Paul King for his assistance in researching this family.