Katherine,
you are right, there have been a lot of Cordes. In the 18th and 19th century
Schroeder, Meyer and Cordes seemed to be the most spreaded names over the
nothern part of Hannover.
For instance, in my tree there are 3 different families Cordes without being
related, namely in:
parish Brockel and Sottrum
parish Kirchwalsede
parish Ahlerstedt.
Unfortunately, your Berend Cordes nor Jacob Cordes are not among them.
Albin