Sometime after my great-grandfather, Conrad Tobias Rödiger, arrived in Ohio, he met Anna Christina Weifenbach, who was a lifelong resident of Washington Twp., Auglaize Co. Ohio. Christina lived with her parents, Conrad Weifenbach and Christena Diegel and her 8 siblings in the brick farmhouse on the corner of Wiefenbach Rd. (named after her family, but is misspelled) and Bay Rd.
This is about 2 miles south of old Rt 33. Her parents had been married in 1866 by Christian Wessling, Minister of the Gospel.
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| Conrad and Anna Christina (Diegel) Weifenbach |
My great-grandfather, Conrad Tobias Roediger, had purchased land about 1 mile north of old Rt 33, on the west side of Bay Rd and on the north and south sides of Kruse Rd. I believe that he attended the Weifenbach Church and that my grandfather, Alfred Tobias Roediger, was baptized there.
In 1889, Conrad Tobias Roediger and Anna Christina Weifenbach were married and subsequently raised three daughters and my grandfather, Alfred Tobias.
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| Top: Carrie and Bertha; Bottom: Anna Christina (Weifenbach), Alfred Tobias, Conrad Tobias and Mamie Roediger |
ANCESTRAL HOME
Up until this year, all I knew about the Weifenbach German origins I had gleaned from record of the ship "Atlas" on which Anna Christina's grandparents and family had traveled to America.
Joh. Weiffenbach, age 37, male, peasant
Catharine Weiffenbach, age 32, female
Christine Weiffenbach, age 17, male
Anna Gela Weiffenbach, age 5, female
Conrad Weiffenbach, age 3, male
Catharine Weiffenbach, age 1
All were listed as being "from Nieder Aula, with destination being Ohio"
At the time that they immigrated in 1846, ship records typically were content to only provide the name of the country of origin. Since Germany didn't become a nation until 1871, the most I would have expected to find was that they were from one of the 39 sovereign states formed after the downfall of Napoleon. A few of the major states included Prussia, Bavaria and Hesse. So, imagine my surprise when their place of origin was given as Nieder Aula, a very specific village. And imagine my delight when I discovered that there appears to only be one village by the name Niederaula in all of Germany. The name derives from the fact that it was situated on the Aula river. Nieder is a German adjective which means "low" or "lower". There is also a village named Oberaula. Ober means "upper". So Niederaula is down the Aula river and Oberaula is up.
And here is the Kicker. When I Google-mapped Niederaula I discovered that it is only 13 miles from Tann. Tann to Niederaula map link. This makes me wonder if my great-grandparents realized how close their home villages were to each other. Déjàvu--this is the same question I asked in regard to the Diegels in my last Blog Post.
This is the "Wappen" (Coat of Arms) of Niederaula:
As you can see from the ship record, questions immediately arise about "Christine" who is listed as a male and is of an age which makes me seriously doubt that she is one of their children. Being 17, she (or he) would have been born about 1828 or 1829 and Johannes and Katherine were not married until 1841. The other difficulty I faced concerning Christine, was that of the six Weiffenbachs on the Atlas, she was the only one I could not find a baptismal record for.
So, now that I established where they were from, I began searching in earnest for the records for this family. Just recently the church records for Niederaula were digitized and posted on Archion.de, so I have been busy researching the Weifenbach and Berlet families in Niederaula. And what I found is on the whole AMAZING. On the Weifenbach side I have been able to to get birth, marriage and death records back to my 4G Grandparents. Additionally, I have learned the names of my Weifenbach 5G and 6G great-grandfathers. Unfortunately there is a 19 year gap in the records between 1754 and 1773. And there is a generational jump that takes place in the Weifenbach family during that time period that prevents me from connecting the dots any further back with any certainty.
However, on the Berlet side I have been able to find birth and marriage and most death records back to the Berlet 6G grandparents and know the name of my 7G grandfather. In addition, my 6G grandfather, Johann Caspar Berlet married Elisabeth Baum in 1747 in Niederaula and I have learned that her parents, Johann George Baum and Anna Catharina Eicheberg were married in 1722 in Niederaula and her father, Jost Eicheberg would be my 8G grandfather. This means that I have made it back into the late 1600s with this family. This is very exciting since I really had no record of the Weifenbach part of my family in Germany until very recently! So much progress in so little time. You can find the Ancestor Tree of Conrad Weifenbach HERE and then choose the file "Conrad Weifenbach Ancestors as of 20191107.pdf"
As I mentioned earlier, of the six Weiffenbachs on that boat, I have only found birth records for Johannes and his wife and the three youngest Weiffenbachs.
So, for now, I will share the birth records I found for the five I have found and throw in Johannes Weiffenbach and Catharina Berlet's marriage record for good measure.
Johannes Weiffenbach Baptismal Record:
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| März 11 [1810]--Johannes, des Ackermanns, Philipp Weifenbach, daher, und deßen Ehefrau, Anna Maria, geboren Hofmann, Sohn; gebohren am 5ten ejus der Morgens zwischen drei under Uhr. Gevatter, Johannes Sippel, Ackermann in ?Friedlos?, Schwager des Vaters vom Kinde. |
Catharina Elisabetha Berlet Baptismal Record:
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| Am 28ten April [1815], Catharina Elisabetha, des Johannes Berlet hiesigen Einwohners und Ackermanns und deßen Ehefrau, Barbara Elisabetha gebh. Fink, ehel. Tochter, gebohren am 23ten l. M. Mittags 12 Uhr. Gevatter: Catharina Elisabeth des Johann Valentin Berlet Ehefrau. |
Johannes Weifenbach and Katharina Elisabeth Berlet Marriage Record (I have captured this in two parts, the first being the information about the groom and bride, and the second pertaining to the dates:
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| Johannes Weiffenbach, Ortsbürger und Landbauer in Kirchheim, des weil. Einwoh. und Landbauers zu Nieder Aula, Philipp Weiffenbach, und deßen Ehefrau, Jakobina Maria, geb. Hofmann, jetzt Witwe von Adam Kurz; ehe. lediger Sohn, geb. März 5, 1810, reform. Konfeßion. Katharine Elisabeth Berlet, des hiesigen Auszugers und Kirchenältesten, Johannes Berlet und deßen Ehefr. Barbe Elisabeth, geb. Fink; eheliche Tochter, geboren April 23, 1815 |
Johannes Weiffenbach, born 5 March 1810, citizen and farmer in Kirchheim, legitimate son of the resident and farmer of Nieder Aula, Philipp Weiffenbach and his wife, Jakobina Maria Hofmann (who is now the widow of Adam Kurz)
Katharine Elisabeth Berlet, born 23 April 1815, legitimate daughter of Johannes Berlet, who lives outside of the village, and his wife, Barbe Elisabeth, neé Fink.
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| Place and Date of Civil Registration: Nieder Aula, November 13, 1841 Dates of Church Banns: November 14, 21 and 28 Place and Date of Wedding: Nieder Aula, Dezember 5, 1841 |
CHILDREN:
1) Angelica Weiffenbach (and again I divide this record in two parts because it stretches across two pages in the original document):
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| #429--Nieder Aula, [Geburt:] Januar Sieben, 5. Uhr, morgen. [Taufe:] Niederaula im Pfarrhaus, Jan. 23. [Geschecht und Namen des Kindes:] Mädchen, Angelica (vulgo: Anna Gela) Weiffenbach |
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| [Namen und Stand der Eltern:] Johannes Weiffenbach, Landbauer; Katharina Elisabeth, geb. Berlet, deßen Ehefrau [Namen und Stand der Taufpaten:] Angelica Berlet, der Mutter eheles. Schwester |
This child, Anna Gela Weiffenbach, married Johann Conrad (Conrad John) Eichenauer, the youngest son of Johann Konrad Eichenauer and Anna Katharina Jacob, and brother of Anna Margaretha and Johann Friedrich Eichenauer in Auglaize Co, Ohio. Just so I don't lose anybody here, Johann Friedrich was the father of all of the Eichenauers who immigrated to Auglaize Co. and Mercer Co., Ohio; and Anna Margaretha was the mother of George and Conrad Tobias Rödiger who immigrated to the same area. Hope that helps.
2) Conrad Weiffenbach:
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| #429--Kirchheim, [Geburt:] Zehnten Julius, des Morgens um sechs Uhr. [Taufe:] am 23 Julius dahier [Geschecht und Namen des Kindes:] ein Knabe, Conrad Weiffenbach |
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| [Namen und Stand der Eltern:] Johannes Weiffenbach, Tagelöhner dahier, gebürtig aus Niederaula; et. ux: Catharina Elisabetha, geborene Berlet, gebürtig aus Niederaula [Namen und Stand der Taufpaten:] Conrad ?Stürz?, Schneider zu Mengshausen, in Amt. Niederaula |
3) Anna Catharina Weiffenbach:
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| #429--Kirchheim, [Geburt:] vierzehnten Julius, des Mittags um zweÿ Uhr. [Taufe:] am 27 Julius dahier [Geschecht und Namen des Kindes:] ein Mädchen, Anna Catharina Weiffenbach |
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| [Namen und Stand der Eltern:] Johannes Weiffenbach, Tagelöhner dahier, gebürtig aus Niederaula; et. ux: Catharina Elisabetha, geborene Berlet, gebürtig aus Niederaula [Namen und Stand der Taufpaten:] Anna Catharina, des Christoph Stanges und dessen Ehefrau Anna Elisabeth, geboren Müller, eheliche Tochter, zu Lingelbach im Amte Oberaula |
From the above, I have learned that the parents, Johannes and Anna Catharina (Berlet) Weiffenbach were both born in Niederaula. They were married in Niederaula, but Johannes is said in the marriage record to be from Kirchheim, which is just a stones throw (3 miles) to the northwest. Their first child was baptized in the pastor's house in Niederaula, and although the child's birth has been recorded as taking place in Niederaula, there seems enough scratching out and adding in of information to make me wonder whether that is correct. After all, her father was living in Kirchheim when married, and the rest of her siblings were born in House 27 in Kirchheim.
Here is a google map showing the driving distance between the two villages:
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| Forested and cultivated land lies between the two villages which lie next to the Aula, which appears to be just a creek. |
I have been unable to determine where the Weifenbachs lived between 1846 (when they arrived in New York) and 13 August 1866 (when Anna Gela, the oldest daughter married Johann Conrad Eichenauer in Auglaize Co). That is 20 years unaccounted for!
In 1870, the Weifenbachs who came on the "Atlas" appeared in the Census in Washington Twp, Auglaize County except for Christine (or is it Christian?) and Anna Catharina (the child listed as 1 year old on the ship record). So what happened to those two girls? Either or both could easily have married or died or both during that 20 year period.
According to the ship record, their destination was Ohio. But, I have yet to find them in the 1850 or 1860 Census. This is not surprising as the indexing on Ancestry.com for those years is mediocre at best. Names are horribly misspelled. Even in the 1870 census the Weifenbach family was listed as "Viepenbeck". I am sure they were not listed in Washington Twp in the 1850 census because I have looked through those records with a fine tooth comb, but haven't had the time (nor inclination frankly) to go page by page through all of Auglaize and Mercer Counties. So, next stop is the Recorder of Deeds Office in Auglaize Co to see when the Weifenbachs bought land.
So, as usual, the more questions that get answered, the more questions that arise. But, as soon as the opportunity presents itself, I WILL follow up.
Stephen Roediger
(Roediger-Eichenauer Family Historian)
Stephen Roediger
(Roediger-Eichenauer Family Historian)
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