Schwitzgebel Genealogy

According to his baptismal record¹, Nicolas Philippi was born 5 Dec 1762, in Reipertswiller, Bas-Rhin, France, and was the son of Laurent Philippi and Anna Regine Kirschwing.

Beyond these facts lies the brick wall:

• Estimating that Nicolas might have born sometime between when his mother was 20 and 40 years old would place her birth year in the 1722-1742 range. Unfortunately, there are no Catholic parish records on the Bas-Rhin Archives web site for Reipertswiller, and civil records don't begin until 1793.
• Since Nicolas was baptized in Lichtenberg, we look there for Laurent's and Anna Regine's baptismal records, or their marriage record. There, we find baptismal records for 1725-1756 (with gaps) and marriage records for 1722-1736. Searching these records - which are in Latin and often illegible - has uncovered no marriage record, but there is a baptismal record for Anna Regine KIRSCHWING, daughter of Peter Kirschwing and Rosaria Dürr, born 20 Jul 1744, in Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France. This Anna Regine would be 18 years old in 1862, when Nicolas PHILIPPI was born, so It's possible that she was his mother.
• I found a number of baptisms for children born from 1747 to 1755 in Reipertswiller², which named Laurent PHILIPPI and Anna Regine KIRSCHWING as their parents. Clearly, the Anna Regine KIRSCHWING mentioned above could not have been their mother. It seems unlikely that there were two pairs of Laurent PHILIPPI / Anna Regine KIRSCHWING, so I believe there must have been another Anna Regine KIRSCHWING who was born in the 1720s. An aunt, perhaps.

1. Conseil Général Bas-Rhin, "Parish and Civil Records," database, Conseil Général Bas-Rhin, Archives départementales du Bas-Rhin (http://etat-civil.bas-rhin.fr/adeloch/adeloch_accessible/: downloaded 31 October 2012), Nicolas Philippi baptism, Lichtenberg, Paroisse catholique, B, 1756-1788, 3 E 265/7 (image 38/174).
2. Francis Cristophor, 1747; Anton, 1749; Joseph Augustine, 1751; Philippe Laurent, 1753; Marguarite Cecilia, 1755; and Nicolas, 1762. There is also Joanne Georg, for whom I have no birth/baptism date, but whose marriage record (1791 to Maria Magdalena ENGEL) names Laurent Philippi and Anna Regine Kirschwing as his parents.