Blogged Down?

Considerable additions have been made to the Rödiger Family tree on Ancestry in the last couple of weeks. I will describe just one segment today.

I have been working on filling in the blanks pertaining to the children of Johann Henrich Rödiger and Anna Sidonia Schneider who married in 1788. According to Johann Henrich's death record, when he died on 15. July 1824 in Tann, he and Sidonia had had 12 children. 6 preceded him in death and 6 outlived him.

I have managed to track down 11 of the 12. The twelfth remains at large. I have scoured the birth/baptism and death records from Tann (where the other 11 were all born) and found no indication that there ever was a twelfth child. Perhaps the recorder got it wrong when he was trying to add it up. So, for now, I am going to present the eleven that I know about. Five died before their father and six outlived him.

You can visit my tree to see the particular info on each of the children. I also have found the spouses of the children who married and in some cases, I have already found some information on the grandchildren. Here is the link to Johann Henrich Rödiger's Fact Page. This should open for you in a new window. If you don't have an Ancestry.com account, please see my last post for info on what happens when you click the link above.

To summarize for those of you that don't have an account, here is a Family Group Sheet that I screen shot from my AncesTree which just skims the surface:

As you can see, all of Johann Henrich and Anna Sidonia's children were born in Tann, and most also died there. However, two of the daughters required a bit of investigative work. Barbara Elisabeth (3) died in Hainrode, about 9 miles NW of Tann. That is because she married a native of Hainrode, Johannes Pfeiffer and moved there after their marriage which took place in Beenhausen, halfway between Tann and Hainrode.

Another daughter, Anna Dorothea (which I just realized should be marked as Anna Dorothea (2)--more about that in a moment) married a native of Rohrbach, which lies less than a mile SE of Tann on the Rohrbach creek which also runs through Tann. If you stand on the hill above Tann you can easily see Rohrbach. They were married in the Lutheran Church in Rohrbach and resided there for the rest of their lives.

I was going to pull a photo out to illustrate the proximity of Tann to Rohrbach, but, the laptop that had a brain transplant a few months back, up and died on me last week. I think it is beyond saving this time. Fortunately, this time everything was backed up. Unfortunately, I won't have access to my photos until the new laptop arrives next week.

Now about all those Barbara Elisabeths and Anna Dorotheas.

As you can see, the first two Barbara Elisabeths died quite young. In the Lutheran Church in Germany, there was always what they called Gevattern or Gehalten. A rough translation would be godparents, people who were to be supportive to the parents in the raising of the child in the Lutheran faith. Usually the child was named after their godparent, but not always. And usually this godparent was a relative, but again, not always. In the case of the three Barbara Elisabeths, BE (1) and BE (3) were named after their paternal grandmother, Barbara Elisabeth (Bettenhausen) Rödiger. However, BE (2) was named after Barbara Elisabeth Brill from Gerterode and to my present knowledge, was not related.

As for Anna Dorothea (1) and (2), they were both named after their father's sister. AD (1)'s record says "the fathers's sister, Anna Dorothea, the wife of the church treasurer (Kastenmeister), Johann Tobias Hoßfeld" while AD (2)'s baptismal record says simply "the father's sister, Anna Dorothea Röddiger". But, as luck would have it, the father, Johann Henrich had two sisters that I know of.

And both are named Anna Dorothea. And both of his sisters were alive and well when both of Johann Henrich's daughters were born. You can see my dilemma. I know which aunt was AD (1)'s godparent, but it isn't clear which was AD (2)'s. Well, it really isn't that important in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure they knew who was what. But it does point out that it wasn't always the case that a "duplicate" name was used in situations where the first had already died. Both of Johann Henrich's sisters married. At least one had children. I have't researched the other yet. I just thought you might find this all interesting.

And speaking of Anna Dorothea, wife of the Kastenmeister, Johann Tobias Hoßfeld. Her family will be the subject of my next blog post.

Steve

Link to my "Rödiger Family" tree

As promised, I have added a link to my family tree on Ancestry.com. This eliminates one frustration I have with sharing information through this blog--CONTEXT. By accessing the tree you can search for any individual and see the person and his/her family in the context of the whole tree. I think that will help all of us immensely.

Sorry, no pictures this time. But--
If you have an Ancestry.com account (even a free one), when you click on the newly added link "Rödiger Family" in the menu on the right of the Blog page, you will arrive at the Facts page for Johann Konrad Eichenauer. I chose him as the jumping on place because all Rödigers and Eichenauers who came to Auglaize or Mercer County in Ohio in the mid to late 1800s descend from he and his wife, Anna Katharina Jacob. From there, you can explore whatever and whenever.

If you do not have an account, I believe that when you click on the link, you will be directed to a page where you can sign up for a free account, or a paid account (Please correct me if I am wrong). The advantage of the paid account is that you will then have unlimited access to all records which ancestry.com holds and hints for said records are provided for anyone that you add to your own tree and any records I have cited will also be visible to you when viewing my tree. Once you have an account you can come back to the link provided on my Blog Home page for my Rödiger Family tree and join the fun.

What you will not see in my tree, whether you have a paid or free account are the details about persons that I have marked as "living". This is, of course, for privacy reasons. If you want to send a birthday card to all of your nieces and nephews, my ancestry.com tree will not help you figure out their birthdates. You will have to find out the old fashioned way--call their mom or dad ;)

Also, from now on, whenever I deem it appropriate, I will provide a link to the specific subject of any future Blog posts. Say, for instance, that the subject of a post was Johannes Weifenbach (which could very well happen soon. I could create a link like this: Johannes Weifenbach (Rödiger Family tree) which would take you to his Fact page in my Tree. This will save you from having to do a search from Johann Konrad Eichenauer's page each time and from having to endure lengthy background descriptions from me. It is a win-win.

Just a reminder for those who mostly just read the email of the Blog posts. At the very end of each email is a link to the full Blog page, including the menu on the side. The Link to "Rödiger Family" tree, as described in the first two paragraphs, won't show up in the email version so to access my ancestry.com tree you will have to click that Link.

Hope that you find this helpful,
Stephen Roediger

Great News! Archion.de has just released digitized records for a number of villages significant to the Roediger and Eichenauer families. Up until a few weeks ago only two villages in Hersfeld had their records online. Now, just in the district of Hersfeld over 130 churches have their records digitized and on line. The most significant to me are the Tann Church records which provide information about my direct ancestors, the Rödigers, going back as far as 1701.

the layout of the Archion.de website

The records in the "Rohrbach, Tann" set contain the records from 1701 to 1822 in two church books  (Kirchenbuch--hence the abbreviation "KB") plus an index.

The records in the set called "Tann" runs from 1811 until the privacy laws kick in. Even though the titles would lead you to believe that some run all the way to 2013, they actually fall way short of that.

In Tann, Death (Tote) records run up until 1941. Marriage (Trau) records until 1957, Baptisms (Tauf) until 1909 and Confirmations (Konf) until 1931. But still, I am drowning in a waterfall of information.

After working some of the records, I have been able to extend the Rödiger family tree back three generations further than I had previously known. The frustration is that 1700 is as far back as the Lutheran Church records can take me in Tann. But for now, that will keep me very, very, busy.

What I knew before the records were released (by way of review and to provide continuity):

My great-grandfather, Conrad Tobias Rödiger was born to Johann Tobias Rödiger and Anna Margaretha Eichenauer on 3/18/1866 in Tann.
Johann Tobias Rödiger (2G) was born to Johann Henrich Rödiger and Anna Sidonia Schneider on 9/9/1797 in Tann.
Johann Henrich Rödiger (3G) was born to Johann Adam Rödiger and Barbara Elisabeth Bettenhausen on 11/18/1766 in Tann. This is where my knowledge had previously ended.

I now know that:

Johann Adam Rödiger (4G) was born to Johann Valentin "Valten" Rödiger and Elisabeth Wiegand on 4/29/1718 in Tann.
Johann Valentin Rödiger (5G) was born to Jost Rödiger (6G) (no mother is recorded) about 1696.

Since Valten's birth took place before the records began in 1701, his date of birth was estimated from his death record which states that he died on 16 May 1757, just a few days less than 61 years old.
His father's name, Jost, was provided in Valten's marriage record which took place 23 May 1715 in the Lutheran Church in Tann.

There is so much more that I have learned. But this is the bucket I have chosen to throw at you today.
In closing, I just can't stand not telling you this one additional bit of info. And this may interest the Eichenauers among us also.

You may be aware that my great-great grandfather, Johann Tobias Rödiger was married twice. I revealed at the Eichenauer-Roediger Reunion last year that I had found 2 daughters born to his second marriage with Anna Margaretha Eichenauer that were previously unknown to his Ohio descendants. Now, I can also reveal that in addition to Anna Katharina Rödiger (who married Friedrich Eichenauer) there was also a son born to Johann Tobias in his first marriage with Anna Eva Heyer in 1831 named Johannes. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 4 years and a day. I have not ruled out the possibility that there were others as well, although when Johannes was born, his mother was 41. But I have not completed my search for birth records and I may be surprised again.
I leave you with the image of Johannes' baptismal record:

GERMAN TRANSCRIPTION:
Getaufte in Tann im Jahr 1831--#1 (Haus Nr. 8) Johannes, des Landbauers, Tobias Rödiger u. seiner Frau Anna Eva Heÿer aus Kalkobes, ehel. Sohn, geboren neunten Januar des Morgens am 9 Uhr, getauft am 16ten ijusdem. Gev. Johannes Pfeifer von Hainrode, Kirchspiels(?) Beenhausen.

My disclaimer at this point is that I am not a German speaker nor the son of a German speaker and have totally taught myself both to decipher the old German Script and to translate it into English. So, I cannot guarantee that I have gotten the above one hundred percent correct. The "Kirchspiels" is especially uncertain as I cannot find a definition for such a word, however, this is the jist in English:

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Baptisms in Tann in 1831--#1 (House Number 8) Johannes, of the farmer, Tobias Rödiger and his wife, Anna Eva Heÿer from Kalkobes, a legitimate son, born on the 9th of January at 9 a.m.; baptized on the 16th of the same month. "Godparent"--Johannes Pfiefer from Hainrode. ???? in the village of Beenhausen.

For anyone who would like to explore on your own, I hope to have a link to my public Ancestry.com Tree "Rödiger Family" put in a convenient place on this blog in a few days. I'll let you know when that happens.

Stephen Roediger

Just added a new page to my Blog

I think I am getting adventurous with my Blog. I have added a page called Video Links which will give you links to my YouTube Channel uploads. And in case you never actually visit my Blog but just rely on emails, you won't know they are there--so I am letting you know. Visit my Blog. It is at:
Rödiger-Eichenauer Trace (https://skeeterbyte-roediger.blogspot.com). There is a menu in the upper left corner of the blog page which gives you access to "Video Links".

Click on that to see the list of Videos that I have posted. I just posted one today--Hint, hint. To get back to the Home page, just click on "Home" in the same menu.

And, while I am on the subject, do you see that little blue box:

Click on that to become a "Follower". There are no initiation rites or fees. It is just a way for you to be kept in the loop and for me to see who is interested.

All the best to the Rödiger-Eichenauer Clan--Stephen

This will be short and sweet--I am trying to provide a link to a Slideshow which I just uploaded to YouTube. So, this may work and it may not. It consists of some photos I took of the village of Tann in 2014. This is the village from which both Eichenauer and Rödiger ancestors came. Here is the Link. Let me know if it works. If it does, I will probably create a page in the blog just for such videos in the future: Tann-Ludwigsau 2014

What goes on behind the scenes

I am so random about blogging. It isn’t because there is nothing to share. It is because huge amount of time is spent researching and indexing records which are the basis for the blogs.

For the last year I have subscribed to Archion.de. This is an attempt by the Lutheran Church of Germany to make as many of Lutheran Church Books available via the Internet. Because the Roedigers were from the village of Tann in Hesse, I was hoping to start there. But the records from Tann have not been digitized yet. So I have had to be content with the approximately 200 records that I found on microfiche while visiting the District Church Archive in Kassel in 2017. 

While I wait impatiently for that to happen I have turned my attention to the Eichenauer family.

The Eichenauers moved to Hof Trunsbach near the end of the 18th century. They worshiped at the Lutheran Church in the nearby village of Niederthalhausen. And so many of the records pertaining to the ancestors of the Eichenauers who moved from Hof Trunsbach to Tann in about 1835 come from the church in Niederthalhausen.

This is one of about 20 watercolors of Niederthalhausen by an unknown artist. I discovered them and a third cousin once removed when I searched for a Facebook group having an interest in Niederthalhausen. There was no group, but my cousin, Monika, had provided a link from her Facebook page to her slideshow of the watercolors on YouTube. When I contacted her to see if she would share the digital files (which she did) we discovered our relationship. Her great-grandmother was a half-sister of John Henry Roediger who immigrated to Ohio in 1893. To see the video, go to YouTube.com and type "Das Dorf Niederthalhausen" into the search box. There are two results. One is the watercolors and one is almost six minutes of the ringing of the church bells with several different views of the church done with photographs. The first is from Monika. The second appears to be someone who has recorded church bells from numerous churches. It is quite long but you might find it interesting as well.

It turns out that her mother had done quite a bit of genealogical research and Monika has taken an interest as well. So, we have done quite a lot of Messengering back and forth, sharing information, albeit ALL in German.

In future posts, I’m sure I will be sharing some of what I’ve learned from her.

Actually, I wanted to tell you of my progress on the Niederthalhausen Church Records. So far I have indexed all of the baptismal records from 1764-1900 (1360 baptisms); all marriage records from 1732-1900 (383 marriages) and am currently working on the death records. I have indexed all of the death records from 1795 until 1855 so far.

This has allowed me to add so much to my family tree. I have been amazed at the percentage of the population which has some connection to the Eichenauer family. I think it would be safe to say that 90% of the records I have indexed have found there way into my Stammbaum (Family Tree).

So, although the Blog has been very quiet recently, the work has continued without a pause. And much has been learned about the Eichenauers and their descendants who remained in Germany.

Until the next Blog—Steve

Quick Update

Sadly, I have been unable to do any meaningful research for about two weeks now. I just wanted to let you know why. First, I was having second thoughts about retirement and I had a deadline to turn in papers by 5/1. So I was debating with myself about that. Then, the hard drive on my laptop died and I had to replace it. Then the Lacie external hard drive, which had all my genealogical documents, all of my photos since the beginning of photography in our family and all of my music, also failed before I could copy them onto my new, improved, spacious laptop hard drive. I thought that I had been backing it up on Time Machine as well. But I was wrong. So now I have the added expense of seeing if the files can be recovered. If not, then I have lost an undetermined amount of research. On the bright side, I found a copy of my photo library and music library that I had backed up at the end of February on another computer. So only about two months of photos and music are actually missing. The music was not a big deal. Most of that was on CDs and just needed to be put back on the computer. And I don’t think I took any really important photos during that time period. But the bad thing was that I had research that had not been indexed nor added to my genealogy software and have no way to reconstruct that without having the files on the external drive recovered. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Anyway, I have been pretty busy trying to straighten all this out as best as can be. I have determined that the laptop hard drive failure was simply due to aging and the failure of the  Lacie external drive (which is considered a very dependable drive) was due to a loose connection at the USB hub that was interrupted one too many times before I realized it, not the drive’s fault.

As to my retirement decision, I have determined that I should wait about three more years before attempting to jump ship again.

So, I think I can start thinking about researching and indexing the German records again and hopefully I will soon have something worth posting to the blog.

In closing, let me just share some advice: BACK IT UP OFTEN. :)