«aus 2612»
, 
13.08.1771 Steinhagen, Germany, 
30.05.1827 Bremen, N: Osterthorwall 104, seine Frau überlebte ihn, [I5121], N: Da er den elterlichen Hof nicht erben durfte, reiste er zur Berufssuche nach Bremen., Kramer und Tabakfabrikant, Bürgereid Bremen 4.7.1796 , N: Aus den zahlkreichen Postkarten, die Heinz Poppe, 1896-1917, bis 1914 von der Firma Schabbehard verwendete, ging die Anschrift Osterthorwallstr. 104 aus dem vorgedruckten Absender hervor. CONT, Ein Johann Philipp Schabbehard war 1798 Briefbesteller in Bremen., ev.; Citizenship: 04.07.1796, Bremen, Bürgereid; Martin Heinrich Wilkens (1782-1869, Bremen), Goldschmied, Gründer der Wilkens Silberwarenfabrik 1810, schreibt in seinen ins englische übersetzten Erinnerungen:CONT
“ page 12: When my father still carried on the cooper trade (= Klimker, stellte Bottiche und Eimer her) he worked for a merchant in town (Bremen) named Schabbehard. There he came to know very well the wife of that man, a born Keitel from Braunschweig, so that later on he often went to see her as she liked to talk to him. When my turn came to go abroad, he (my father) told her that he had a son who wanted to become a goldsmith, had accomplished his 5 years apprentice years and would go off on his travels now. She (Johanna born Keitel) asked whether I already knew a place where I could find a job and when she got a negative answer to this, she offered to write to her brother in Braunschweig for whom it would not be difficult to find a steady position for me; thus, I had not to go off on a journey into the unknown.
CONT
... When I arrived in Braunschweig that evening (spring 1805), I turned to Mister Keitel at once. But this friendly man revealed to me that I would still have to wait 8 or 14 days until I could take up the job intended for me. In order not to have me lodged in an inn, he offered to move in with him and wait for the time to go by. I did as I was told, and then I was received in that family as if I was a member of it. The mentioned family was very numerous and consisted of 7 daughter and 3 sons. Both parents had died. The oldest son with whom I stayed, continued his father’s business as a soap-maker (Seifensieder) and lights manufaturer, a second son was a merchant and an apprentice at Schabbehard’s, his brother in law in Bremen, and the third one was a soap-maker in Wolfenbüttel. The 2 youngest daughters were twins. One was called Auguste, the other Sophie: The first one was married to a baker master Remme living there, and her twin sister was running her household whereas she attended to the bread selling. Her 2 years older sister Elise kept the house for her brother in Braunschweig; the others were differently married, among them one (Johanna) in Bremen.
.... I continued the contact with the friendly Keitel-house. (for the 9 months Wilkens stayed in Braunschweig)
CONT
p. 38, Dec. 1810: The delight at the happy reunification was great, and above this, I was pleased to find there again the cheerful and friendly Elise Keitel who had taken care of me for 14 days in Braunschweig with fare and lodge. She had accepted to run the household at the sugar baker Böse’s (Bremen, listed in this databank) whose wife was in poor health and often paid a visit to my parents and thus, the old acquaintance was soos established again in a quite natural way.
CONT
... Inspite of my purse being entirely empty, I felt very inclined to settle down and to marry, as my love to Elise Keitel grew more and more hearty, so that we became engaged, especially as my well-to-do future brother in law, Schabbehard, who knew about our relation, offered to advance 200 Thaler. With this little sum I started working in the name of God after having announced myself as a goldsmith several times in the weekly news.�
CONT
Dies geschah im Dezember 1810. Im Herbst 1809 war M.H. Wilkens nach Bremen zurückgekehrt nach 5-jähriger Wanderschaft - die Braunschweiger Episode am Anfang bezieht sich auf das Frühjahr 1805.
CONT
Quelle: Lena Fellmann, Bremen. Wilkens schrieb in überaus eigentümlicher deutscher Sprache, es wurde versucht, in der englischen Überetzung diese zu berücksichtigen.
CONT
Von ihm besteht noch eine Petschaft mit Wappen und Jahreszahl 1723.
Jun 1797 Bremen, N: #33
[F1904]
«aus 1791»
, um 1775 Braunschweig (Brunswick), Lower Saxony, Germany?, um 1835 Bremen, [I5122], Ihre Schwester Elise Keitel heiratete den Goldschmied Martin Heinrich Wilkens, 1782-1869, der in Braunschweig als Goldschmiedgeselle von 1805-1809 arbeitete und zeitweise im Hause Keitel wohnte. Nach seiner Rückkehr in Bremen finanzierte sein Schwager Schabbehard mit einem Darlehen von 200 Thalern1810 die Gründung der Wilkens Silberwarenfabrik. (Quelle: Lena Fellmann, MAUS Bremen)
, 17.06.1798 Bremen, um 1860 ?, [I6070], «4455»
, 06.11.1800 Bremen, 05.08.1874 Bremen, [I5049], «3229»