Detours Along the Highway of Genealogical Research

I have been indexing the baptismal records of the Church Book in Tann which includes the years 1791-1822 for several months now.  As you are probably aware if you have followed this Blog at all, Tann is the ancestral hometown of the Roediger and Eichenauer families of NW Ohio.

Sometimes things get a little more complicated then one might imagine when I'm trying to connect these people to my tree. If I could just force myself to stick to indexing, the task would go much faster. But, as I index each new baptismal record I just have to see if this child fits anywhere in my tree.

In this Blog post I am going to let you follow me on a detour I recently took off of the Indexing Task Highway.

Let me use Anna Martha Herdt as an example. This is her baptismal record which I was indexing and then checking to see if she connected with my existing family tree:

From this record I learned that:

Anna Martha was born on 19 November 1805 at 10 in the evening, and baptized on 24 November 1805 in Tann. The Cross above the figures 13/3 64 indicates that she died on 13 March 1864.

Her parents were Johann Heinrich Herdt (farmer) and his wife, Elisabeth, neé Glebe.

Her baptismal sponsor was her father’s sister, Anna Martha, the wife of Nicolaus Büttner from Rohrbach.

Upon reviewing my tree I realized that I already had the subject’s parents in my tree, plus two of her siblings. So I intended to add her to my tree. After all, she is the great-aunt of the husband of the niece of the husband of my 3rd cousin 2X removed. I won’t bore you with the details because the exact relationship is not the focus of this blog. But I will include the path between us at the end of this post.

The real focus of this post is the process that is sometimes necessary to ensure that connections are made with the correct people. (And to show you how much brain power I have to burn to learn). After all, the names in the area around Tann are repeated over and over as the example above proves. Anna Martha Herdt was named after her aunt, Anna Martha Herdt. And this can become confusing. I continually check to see if I might have someone in my tree already who matches the identity of one I am indexing.

In this case, I checked to see if I already had the aunt, Anna Martha Herdt anywhere in my tree. I did not, so I added her as a sibling of Johann Heinrich Herdt, our subject’s father.

Then, I checked to see if there was a Nicolaus Büttner in my tree that might might be a match for the husband of the “godparent”, Aunt Anna Martha Herdt, in the baptismal record. I found that I had two Nicolaus Büttners in my tree. One was born in 1800, so he definitely did not match. The information I had on the other Nicolaus Büttner looks like this:

As you can see, I have no information about this Nicolaus Büttner other than the information about his two children. I believe that he was named as the father of Anna Margaretha, and that either Elisabeth Knebell’s godmother was her mother’s brother’s wife, Elisabeth Scheuch, or that Anna Margaretha Büttner (daughter of Johannes Büttner and Elisabeth Scheuch) was named after her father’s sister, Anna Margaretha Büttner. In either case, the name of Nicolaus Büttner’s wife is never mentioned.

So, in order to figure out whether this Nicolaus Büttner is the match with the Nicolaus Büttner of the subject’s baptismal record, I needed to examine what data I did have. The daughter of Nicolaus Büttner in the above chart was married in 1795, so she was probably born at least twenty years earlier. So, just to get an idea, I will place her date of birth at 1775. Using the rule of 20 (which I just made up), her father would have been born at least 20 years before that, so before 1755. Just knowing the generational patterns of the Tanners--ie. inhabitants of Tann-- that more often than not, couples did not marry until age 25 or 30, this could push this Nicolaus’s date of birth back to 1735 or even earlier. 

I already knew that our subject’s father was born in 1774, so his sister, the godparent, Anna Martha was probably not more than 10 years older or 10 years younger than him. So I assigned a birthdate range for her between 1765 and 1785. So if she was the wife of the Nicolaus Büttner in the above chart, she would have been at least 10 years his junior, and maybe even 50 years his junior. Neither scenario is impossible. Though the latter case is most improbable, the former is at least conceivable. 

However, there is another factor which I needed to consider. If you will recall, the baptismal record said that the godparent and her husband were from Rohrbach. This does not fit neatly with what is known about the Nicolaus Büttner in my tree. In fact, all of the information I have on his known family is that they were firmly established in Tann.

Tann and Rohrbach are less than a mile apart. So maybe the reason the church recorder stated that they were from Rohrbach was to ensure that no one confused that Nicolaus Büttner with the one in Tann.

So, my next step was to determine if there actually was a Nicolaus Büttner in Rohrbach’s church records that fit the bill. If so, I could eliminate the one in my tree as a candidate and add a new Nicolaus Büttner from Rohrbach to my tree as the spouse of my subject’s aunt.

After searching I found this marriage record in Rohrbach:

This basically says that on 2 June 1800, in the evangelisch Kirche of Rohrbach, Nicolaus Büttner, Widower, married Anna Martha Herdt, daughter of the deceased Johannes Herdt, resident of Tann.

I should have mentioned earlier that I also previously had information about the subject’s Herdt grandparents in my tree. They were Johannes Herdt and Anna Margaretha Büttner who were married in 1767 in Tann. I had also known that Johannes had died prior to marriage of the subject, Anna Martha’s parents which took place in 1802. But I did not have a definite date of his death.

In spite of this lack of information, this record reveals a father's name and locality consistent with the the Johannes Herdt family in my tree.

So, my next task was to confirm that the Johannes Herdt, father of Johann Heinrich, and grandfather of the subject, Anna Martha Herdt, and of course, father of the godparent of the subject, actually died before Nicolaus Büttner and Anna Martha Herdt married in 1800.

As I already mentioned, His son, Johann Heinrich’s marriage record stated that his father had died prior to their marriage in 1802. And since Johann Heinrich was born in 1774, I know his father must have died no earlier than 1773. I could possibly narrow that window even more by looking for other children born to Johannes Herdt after 1774.

What I learned was that Johannes Herdt and Anna Margaretha Büttner had five more children after Johann Heinrich. I have now added those children into my tree:

*Johann Adam, born 25 Jan 1777

*Elisabeth, born 30 Oct 1779

*Anna Catharina, born 5 Feb 1782

*Johannes, 6 Jan 1787

*Johann Justus, 26 Oct 1794

This helps me shrink this window and look for a Johannes Herdt in Tann death records who was born before 1747 and died between 1793 to 1802. Working backwards from 1802, I found only one Johannes Herdt who fit my criteria:

This one died on 17 Jun 1798 at age 67 years 6 months and 23 days and was buried on the 19th. This would put his birth date at about 25 Nov 1730. Even though there is no information in this record about family members, the fact that there are no other viable candidates in Tann makes me believe that he is a match with the Johannes Herdt I am looking for. Plus this record also aligns with the statement in Nicolaus Büttner and Anna Martha Herdt’s 1800 marriage record that her father was deceased at that time.

As a further step in trying to confirm that this Johannes Herdt is indeed the father of Anna Martha Herdt, godparent of my subject, I have worked forward from 1794 looking for death records of any of Johannes Herdt and Anna Margaretha Büttner’s children or Anna Margaretha Büttner herself that might solidify that consideration. I found a death record for Johann Adam (b. 1777) who died on 1 Apr 1800 which states that his father had predeceased him. Since this date predates the marriage of Nicolaus Büttner and Anna Martha Herdt on 2 Jun 1800, I know that I am on the right track.

In fact, I am ready to commit myself to accept this as the correct death record of of Johannes Herdt.

But I was still faced with the question of whether this Nicolaus Büttner could possibly be the Nicolaus Büttner I already have in my tree.

Realizing that he was a widower when he married Anna Martha Herdt, I delved further back into the Rohrbach records and discovered that he was actually previously twice widowed. In his first marriage I learned that his father's name was also Nicolaus and his mother was Juliana Goßmann.

He had 7 children from his union with his first two wives and all were born in Rohrbach, and none match up with the children of the Nicolaus Büttner from Tann in my tree.

In addition I learned that the Nicolaus Büttner of Rohrbach was born in 1754 in Rohrbach and died there in 1814. His third wife, Anna Martha Herdt was born in 1768 in Tann. After Nicolaus died, she married Johannes Sunkell in 1816. She died in Rohrbach and was buried there in 1829.

So, to summarize, I believe that I have been able to rule out the Nicolaus Büttner I had in my tree as the husband of Anna Martha Herdt’s godparent and aunt, and to rule in the Nicolaus Büttner of Rohrbach.

All of the above information and more I have dutifully entered into my Master Index and my family tree. I calculate that I spent 6-8 hours and added 27 to 30 new people into my tree while taking this detour and am now quite ready to move on to the next baptismal record.

At this rate, it might take me 5 years to index the baptismal records from this one church book, encompassing just 30 years. That's a happy thought isn't it!

As promised, just for kicks I am including the path that connects me with the subject, Anna Martha Herdt. I have to thank ancestry.com for making this path known to me. I am not sure I could have figured it out on my own:

I am the Son of Roger Dean Roediger, who is the

Son of Alfred Tobias Roediger, who is the

Son of Conrad Tobias Roediger, who is the

Son of Johann Tobias Rödiger, who is the

Son of Johann Henrich Rödiger, who is the

Son of Johann Adam Rödiger, who was also the

Father of Anna Dorothea Rödiger (2), who is the

Mother of Anna Dorothea Hoßfeld, who is the

Mother of Anna Katharina Hildebrand, who is the

Mother of Anna Maria Schlägel, who is the

Wife of George Leonhard Schuch I, who is the

Son of Leonhard Schuch, who was also the

Father of Valentin Schuch, who is the

Father of Anna Katharina Schuch, who is the

Wife of Heinrich Herdt, who is the

Son of Johannes Herdt, who is the

Son of Johann Heinrich Herdt, who is the

Father of  my subject, Anna Martha Herdt

If you have a tree on ancestry.com, this feature appears on each individual's profile page just below the birth and death information. Just click on the link and a list similar to the one I created above will appear. You can then print it out or clink on any person to go directly to their profile page. I think is a quite clever and helpful feature.

By the way, my subject, Anna Martha Herdt grew up and on 30 Dec 1832 she married Johann George Kauffman who was already in my tree and who is the nephew of the husband of a 1st cousin 4X removed from me.

The Self-Appointed Heritage Hound of the Eichenauer-Roediger Family,

Stephen Roediger

Reaching for the Topmost Branches--The Rödigers

 The release of Tann church book records from 1664-1710 has made it possible to extend our knowledge of our Rödiger heritage just a bit further into the past. To make these charts legible, I am limiting them to just three generations. I will start with Johann Tobias Rödiger. He was the father of: 1) Anna Katharina who married Friedrich Eichenauer, parents of five Eichenauers who emigrated to Ohio

2) Justus, father of John Henry Roediger (1874-1952) who emigrated to Ohio

3) George, who emigrated to Ohio with 4 children in 1888

4) Conrad Tobias, who emigrated to Ohio in 1881 at age 15.

As you can see from this chart, I have included the relationship of each ancestor to me, myself and I, to provide perspective. Their relationship to each of my readers may be different, but I will leave that for you to determine. Also, from this chart, it is apparent that I have not fully researched the Schneider side. I shall endeavor to do so in the not so distant future.

However, on the Rödiger side, I have the birth, marriage and death records for Johann Tobias, his parents and his paternal grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great grandparents.

Below is a continuation of this chart, beginning with Johann Tobias Rödiger's grandfather, Johann Adam Rödiger.

As you can see, the birth, marriage and death records for Johann Tobias' great-grandparents is complete, but those for his great-great-grandparents are sketchy.

This is due to the fact that the Tann Church book that has just been released begins in 1664. I have just emailed the Archive in Kassel to see if there is an earlier church book waiting to be digitized, but for now this is as far back as the records in Tann are available to me online.

I have Jost Rödiger's death record (due to the contour of the page I have had to capture part of the record above and below that of Jost):

"1 Aug [1710] Jost Rödiger, 53 Jahr alt"
(53 years old)

That isn't much to go on, but from his age at his death, I know that he was born about 1657, seven years before this church book's records.

I also found his marriage record in this book, which has provided the name of the mother of his children (THIS IS NEW INFO):

"den 23ten Januars [1679] ist Jost Rüdiger mit Anna Margaretha Schlein Coppulirt worde"
(on the 23rd of January [1679] Jost Rödiger was joined in marriage with Anna Margaretha Schlein)

Sadly, the names of their parents are not revealed, and when I attempted to find a death record for Anna Margaretha Rödiger, neé Schlein, I came up empty. Some of these records are difficult to read, so, I may have overlooked it. And I have been unable to find her birth record because it no doubt predates the earliest available church book, or she may have been born in a different village. So, this is as complete as the "tip-top" of Rödiger side of our tree can be for now. And as for Johann Adam's maternal side (the Wiegands), I have had much the same issue. The Wiegands were from the neighboring village of Rohrbach. And the earliest church book I can find for Rohrbach begins in 1701, so is even less helpful.

However, with the church book I do have from Tann, I have discovered that our earliest known Rödiger ancestors had four children: Our common ancestor, Johann Valentin, was the youngest. It appears that Nicolaus and Anna Margaretha may have died from some epidemic as they were both in their twenties and their death dates are less than two weeks apart. It appears that neither married. Valten's oldest sister, Eva married Johann Adam Webber. They had two daughters. So here is the chart, showing Jost Rödiger and Anna Margaretha Schlein's children and grandchildren:

There is an eight year gap between Valten and his next older sibling. I would not rule out the possibility of another child born in that gap, but I have checked pretty thoroughly for that possibility, and can not find such a record. However, this church book seems to be a bit disjointed and out of order, so I may have missed something.

One other thing struck me about this chart. Only one of Jost Rödiger's sons lived to carry on the Rödiger name, ie. Valten Rödiger. And only one of Valten's sons lived to carry on the Rödiger name, ie. Johann Adam Rödiger.

And Johann Adam Rödiger only had one son who lived to carry on the Rödiger name, and that, in spite of the fact that he was married twice and had five children, as you can see in the next chart.

It is a wonder that the Rödiger name even survived into the 1700s, at least through the Jost Rödiger clan.

I have found other Rödigers in this early church book, who may be brothers and sisters (or cousins) of Jost Rödiger. And there are records of those Rödigers marrying and having children. But unless an earlier church book is forthcoming, there will be no way to discover how they are really related.

What I do know is that those other Rödiger branches either died out or moved away from Tann. By the 1800s, only Jost's line continues to appear in the Tann church records.

Your Rödiger-Eichenauer Blogmeister,

Stephen Roediger

Reaching for the Topmost Branches--The Eichenauers

First, let me point out that my starting pointer this post is Johann George Eichenauer, the grandfather of Anna Margaretha  and Friedrich Eichenauer who figure so prominently in our family tree. Anna Margaretha married Johann Tobias Rödiger, whose sons, George and Conrad, and a grandson, Johann Heinrich (John Henry) emigrated and settled in Ohio. Her brother, Friedrich Eichenauer married Anna Katharina Rödiger, and five of their children, Tobias, Conrad, Adam, Gus and Lizzie Eichenauer also emigrated and settled in Ohio. So, hopefully, armed with this information, you can place your relationship with the "person of interest", Johann George Eichenauer.

Johann George Eichenauer is my 5G grandfather. Up until a few months ago, I only knew the name of his father (Georg) and the name of his wife (Anna Katharina Schäfer) and the names of three of their five children. I thought I knew where and when he had been born, but was mistaken on both counts. In actuality, both he and his wife, Anna Katharina Schäfer were born in Angersbach (see Addendum)

What I have learned since then has taken me one generation further up the Eichenauer tree. I now know that Johann George Eichenauer's father, Georg was married twice. First in 1717 to Anna Margaretha Rencker (I think this is the correct spelling). They had three sons, Caspar Georg, Conrad Georg and Johann Caspar. The first two were twins. In 1724, Georg's first wife died and he married Regina Kiesner on 3 October 1724 in Angersbach. To this couple were born four boys and one girl. Our common ancestor, Johann George was the youngest. His three older brothers all died before the age of 3. Of his sister, Anna Gertraud, I have yet to discover how long she lived and whether she married.
Georg Eichenauer, who is at this point the tip top of the Eichenauer tree, has been difficult to figure out. The church book that would have his death record had writing near the binding and when it was digitized some of the information was hidden in the shadow. I have found a record that could possibly be his death record, but here is what I have had to deal with:

Catalogus Defunctorum, Anno Christi 1750

The year is 1750. The death takes place on the 2nd of January. Just below the date is the name of the deceased. The first name ends with "org" which is probably "Georg" and the last name is definitely "Eichenauer". The age of the deceased is also partially obscured so that all that I can read on the last line  is a "0" or "6" followed by "Jahr und 8 Monath" (year and 8 months). So there is not enough of the years of age visible to know how old he was. But, I deduce from this record that "?org Eichenauer" was an adult, since no parents names are included.
Without knowing his age, I would have to guesstimate his birth year based on the date of his first marriage. That was in 1717. Since men rarely married before age 20 (and often not until age 30) I would guesstimate that he was born between 1677 and 1697. When I looked for baptismal records in  that timeframe I found three Johann George Eichenauers born in Angersbach who fit the bill. But at this point I have no way of knowing if any one of them is the correct one. So the climb to the top stops with Georg for now. Perhaps, if I have opportunity to talk with someone at the Archive with access to the actual books, they could read the name and age of the deceased person in the record above. Then I could decide if it could pertain to our Georg Eichenauer, or whether the facts contained there rule him out.
I had more success with Georg's wife (Johann George's mother), Regina Kiesner. I found her death record:

This is from the year 1758, the 7th of October. Can you see "Regina Eichenauer"? Yes, part of the "R" is in the shadow, but I am certain this is Georg's wife. Regina is an unusual name in this area and I have not found another Regina in all my searching in this church book. Her age is on the third and fourth lines "alters 64 Jahr [smudge smudge] Woche" (64 years ?? weeks). This would put her date of birth about 1684. From her marriage record, I also learned that she was born in Vaitshain, about 13 miles south of Angersbach. Sadly the records for Vaitshain have not been digitized, so I am stuck again. I will revisit if and when the records become available.
This then, is as far up the Eichenauer tree as I can climb for now:

Not that it means much to the main Eichenauer research, but in baptismal records, baptismal sponsors are named. And from the baptism of Georg and Regina's son, Johann Henrich, I learned that his baptismal sponsor was Regina's brother, Johann Henrich Kiesner. If the Vaitshain records become available, this information may become useful in learning the names of Regina's parents--my 7G grandparents

ADDENDUM

When I was researching past posts to see just how far up the Eichenauer tree I had taken you in the past, I discovered something that seems appropriate to address since it pertains to Johann George Eichenauer and his descendants.

25 January 2018 I posted a blog called "The Eichenauer Geography (pt. 1)" which turned out to have some incomplete as well as some inaccurate information. Now that records from Angersbach and Grebenau are available online, I am able to set the record straight. However, you may want to refer back to that blog in case you want to see the maps of the places being talked about here.

In that 2018 post, I asserted that Johann George Eichenauer (who moved to Hof Trunsbach to become it's manager in 1794) was born in Grebenau. That turned out to be untrue. He was born in Angersbach about 7 December 1737 (this is his baptismal date--his birthdate was not given).

On 11 October 1763 he married Anna Katharina Schäfer, who was also a native of Angersbach. Together, they had five children--all boys. The first four, including our common ancestor, Johann Heinrich, were born in Angersbach between 1764 and 1770. Sometime between 1770 and 1772, this portion of the Eichenauer clan moved to the village of Grebenau where their fifth son was born in 1773.
Of the five sons, two died in childhood. The three who survived into adulthood were:
1) Johann Henrich Eichenauer (our common ancestor)
b. 1 September 1764, Angersbach
d. 26 November 1813, Niederthalhausen
m. 10 January 1794, Niederthalhausen to Anna Christina Mürer (The Mürer the Merrier)

2) Johann Konrad Eichenauer
b. ca. 1 June 1768, Angersbach
d. 27. September 1845, Angersbach
m. 13 June 1803, Angersbach to Anna Margaretha Völler

3) Johannes Eichenauer
b. 3 June 1773, Grebenau
d. 2 February 1836, Hof Trunsbach bei Niederthalhausen
m. Barbara Elisabeth Sunkel

While, Johann Heinrich and Johannes accompanied their parents to Hof Trunsbach and subsequently married and settled down either at the Hof or in the nearby village of Niederthalhausen, Johann Konrad elected to return to his hometown of Angersbach, married Anna Margaretha Völler and settled down. At this point, I know that they had at least six children born between 1804 and 1813. On both his and his wife's death record, Johann Konrad's vocation is listed as "Schreiner" (joiner, woodworker).

The management of the Hof eventually fell to Johann George's son, Johannes, whose wife, Barbara Elisabeth Sunkel had 9 children. Seven of these were girls, four of which did not survive childhood. Their oldest son, Nicolaus inherited the management of Hof Trunsbach, and their second son, Heinrich, his wife and children emigrated to Lancaster Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania in 1847. Together. Heinrich Eichenauer and Eva Catharina Schneider had 14 children, the last three born after immigrating. So now you know that we have 5th and 6th cousins living in the area just north of Pittsburgh.

Your Rödiger-Eichenauer Genealogy Pointman,
Stephen Roediger

George Roediger, pt 3b--The German origins of his second wife, Anna Große-Schmidt

Where was Anna Grosse, second wife of George Roediger, born? That is the subject of this Post.

I received an email from a second cousin once removed, this past week. For those in Germany, you would say he was my "Onkel 3. Grades". Thanks once again to Regina for showing me an easy way to learn the German equivalents to our American system of designating relationships. But, I digress. The email my cousin sent me was in response to my series on George Roediger, elder brother of my great-grandfather, Conrad Tobias Roediger.
He sent me digital copies of his parents' obituaries as well as the obits for three of his sisters who died in 1937, ages 11, 9 and 3.

In addition he sent me digital copies of two postcards that had been sent to his parents in the 1920s with this note, "I came across a couple cards that may of be of interest.  The cards are addressed to Hulda and Harry and are from Neundorf b. Pirna which is near Leipzig.  I remember my mother, Hulda, saying her mother was from near Leipzig.  In reviewing your excellent four part review of the history of George Roediger, my grandfather, I did not see a connection of Anna to Leipzig.  Maybe this information can help provide a clue to the many puzzles you are working on solving."

Thank you, dear Onkel 3. Grades, for responding to my request for more information about your family!!!

Here are the two postcards:

The color card was addressed to Harry and Hulda at Christmas time and had nothing more than a Christmas greeting "Merry Christmas" and the address  of Harry and Hulda Rödiger in "Nord=Amerika" on the back. It is not clear who sent this card.
The black and white card, however has a note attached which is written in the old German script. Most of it I have not yet deciphered, but it also appears to have been sent at Christmas time, as it contains the word "Christbaum" (Christmas tree). The note begins, "Lieber Erwin!" (dear Erwin) and includes greetings to Georg Harry and Hulda [Luth] and to Heinrich Roediger and wife. It is signed "Mit Grüß, Onkel Emil".

This card may contain other helpful information and will be submitted to my Genealogy Angel, Regina, for review, but for now, what I have been able to decipher has provided the clues necessary for me to locate to the relative birthplace of Anna Augusta Große.

The first clue is in the identity of the writer, "Onkel Emil" (Uncle Emil) and the addressee, "Erwin". Keep in mind that the Hulda who is mentioned here is George Roediger and Anna Augusta Große-Schmidt''s daughter. Anna Augusta had a son from her previous marriage, Ervin (or Erwin) Earnest Schmidt.

After further research I discovered that Anna Augusta was the daughter of August Große and Wilhelmina Buttner (or maybe Büttner) and that she had at least three siblings who had emigrated from Germany and ended up in "German Village", Columbus, Ohio.

The chart above is designed to show multiple marriages. I have circled Anna Augusta's name so you can see both marriages clearly. And I created a red rectangle around her brother, August's two wives. The reason for that will become clear a few paragraphs from now. I have also circled her brother, Emil's name. It was he who wrote the postcard to Erwin. And as you can see from the chart, Emil is indeed the uncle of Ervin Earnest Schmidt.

Having established these relationships, one naturally would want to know where Neundorf b. Pirna is located. The "b." stands for "bei", meaning that Neundorf is near Pirna.

Neundorf is represented by the Red marker. Pirna is to the NW. I have included Dresden to make finding Neundorf easier

If you wish to take a look at Neundorf bei Pirna on Google Maps, here is the link.

Before I received the postcards from my cousin I had stumbled across a passport application that Emil Große had made in June of 1920 with the intention of traveling to Switzerland for his health.

According to this document, Emil's father was born in Gerstdorf, where he still lived in 1920; and Emil was born in Friedrichswalde. When initially looked for these places on Google maps I found several possibilities for each, but none were close to the other. So I was undecided about which Gerstdorf and which Friedrichswalde were meant. But thanks to the postcards, I took another look and found that these two villages were located within an area called Bahretal, and part of a larger area known as Sächsische Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland). This takes me on a trip down memory lane. Mom and I took a river cruise on the Elbe River in 2016 and went right through this area. Too bad we were unaware of the significance to the family :(

The locations named in the postcards and passport application are circled. The locations where I took photos while on our cruise show as photo icons.

Even with all of this information, I do not know the significance of Neundorf to the Große family yet.  It may be that Emil was visiting his nativity of Friedrichswalde and picked up the postcards from a nearby village and sent them to two different family members. But perhaps the village has more significance than I now know. Perhaps other members of the Große family lived there. And perhaps the Christmas postcard without an Addressor came, not from Emil, but from a resident relative. One of the ways I have been able to solve these mysteries in the past has been to look up church records on Archion.de. But after searching Archion's archive, I discovered that this area has not yet had their records digitized. So, a search of the records of Friedrichswalde, Gersdorf and Neundorf bei Pirna will just have to wait a while longer. In either case, I should point out that Leipzig is only relatively close to this area, being 83 miles from Neundorf. However, it is the most populated city in the state of Saxony, in which Friedrichswalde, Gersdorf and Neundorf bei Pirna are situated.
And unless some record appears that pinpoints Anna Augusta Große's specific place of birth, we will have to content ourselves with knowing that it is in Bahretal, Saxon Switzerland for now. The photo below will give you an idea of the geography of this area. [After posting this, I discovered that Margaret (Henkener) Aufderhaar, in her work "The Family of Tobias Roediger and Margaret Eichenauer" (2002) p. 11 “Anna Grosse Schmidt  b. 11/18/1863 in Fredericckwalder/Saxony, Germany, d. 3/1/1940, m. 10/20/1902”. So, I think this independent family sketch confirms what I suspected based on her brother, Emil's passport information--Anna Augusta Grosse was born in Friedrichswalde, Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, Sachsen, Deutschland]

Mom took this photo from a high point in the Saxon Switzerland National Park across the Elbe River with a portion of the village of Rathen in the background. Rathen is about 8 miles east of Pirna.

Now, before I close out this blog post, I want to address a long time question of mine: How did a man (George Roediger) who lived in Mercer County, Ohio in 1902 meet a woman (Anna Augusta Große), who lived in Columbus, Ohio at that time?
I have pondered this question ever since I learned of their marriage.
However, a theory has emerged out of my research on the Grosse family. Remember this chart from earlier in this post?

I believe that this chart holds the key to how George and Anna Augusta met. See the two women within the red rectangles. These were the two wives of Anna Augusta's older brother, August. After Elisabeth Mausehund died in 1900, August married Elisabeth's much younger sister, Katharina Mausehund. Two things to note here is where they were born: Rohrbach, and when they were born, especially when Elisabeth was born (1859).

If you have read previous blogs about George Roediger, you are aware that George was born in Tann in 1854, making him just a little over 4 years Elisabeth Mausehund's senior. And Tann is just 7/10 of a mile from Rohrbach (an easy 15 minute walk along the Rohrbach creek). Could George Roediger have known the Mausehund family before emigrating? I think it is very likely that he did. And if so he may have been aware that Elisabeth and her younger sister, Katharina had emigrated and settled in German Village (Columbus, Ohio). Therefore, he may also have visited Elisabeth and her husband, August Grosse, before her death in 1900. And might even have attended her funeral on 4 August 1900. He might have had occasion to attend the wedding of August Grosse and Elisabeth's younger sister on 17 January 1901. During any one of these visits he could surely have met August's sister, Anna Augusta who was widowed about 1900-1901.
I know it is just a theory, but to me it is compelling. And if you happen to be a descendant of George Harry Roediger or his sister, Hulda Alice, maybe you know "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say. If you do, I need to hear from you. :)

Your Rödiger-Eichenauer Correspondant--Stephen Roediger

Lost Weifenbach Years Accounted For

In my last post I lamented the fact that "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!"

I am very happy to report, thanks to my mother's astute observation that the Berlet family may hold the key, that I have discovered where the Weifenbachs were living at the time of the 1850 and 1860 US censuses.

The Berlet family is connected to the Diegel family as well as to the Weifenbach family.
Here is the pertinent connection:
The mother of Conrad Weifenbach (my great-great grandfather) was Katharina Elisabetha Berlet from Niederaula, Germany. Katharina's brother, Henrich Berlet married Anna Maria Diegel. Anna Maria is my 1st cousin 4 generations removed in that her grandparents are also my great-great-great-great grandparents, Johann Heinrich Diegel and Martha Elisabeth Pfiel from Schwarzenhasel, Germany.

The Berlet connection between the Diegels and Weifenbachs helped because I already knew that when the Diegels and Berlets first came to America, they lived in Black River Township, Lorain County, Ohio and eventually moved to Washington Township, Auglaize County, Ohio.
Since I had scoured the area around Washington Township in the 1850 and 1860 census and found neither hide nor hair of the Weifenbachs, I thought that a closer look at Lorain County censuses might be worthwhile, though I confess I wasn't very hopeful. Since the Berlets and Diegels had lived in Black River Township, I began there.

In the 1850 census of Black River Twp. I found:

At first blush this record would be easily overlooked for a couple of reasons. The most obvious is that the surname here was written as Vaginburgh and pertains to the first four members of the family. And it was written as Vagenbaugh and indexed as Vagerbangh by ancestry.com for the fifth member of the family on the following page of the census. No wonder a search for Weifenbach turned up no hits in Lorain Co in 1850.
The second problem is that of the "Vaginburgh" named Hannah. There was never a Hannah Weifenbach in our Weifenbach family. The fact that Hannah's age is listed as being the same age as Elizabeth's is also disconcerting. For even if the name was incorrectly recorded, I know of no female Weifenbach in that immediate age range in our family other than Katharina Elisabetha (Berlet) Weifenbach.

Other than the problem concerning the identity of "Hannah, age 39", the other members of this family match up perfectly with Johannes, Katharina Elisabetha and two of their children, Conrad and Anna Catharina Weifenbach.
The one child that apparently is not represented on this page is the eldest daughter, Angelica (AKA Anna Gela or Abbie) who was born in 1842 and would have been 8 years old at the time of this census. As you will see when I add the record from the 1860 census, Hannah disappears and "Abigail" appears. So saying--

1860 Census, Black River Twp:

I believe that this record is Johannes Weifenbach, his wife and three children who appear in the 1870 Census in Washington Twp, Auglaize Co, OH. The names are right, the ages are right and their place of birth is right. Of course, the biggest difficulty is that the surname does not match. And it is certainly not the fault of the Indexers at ancestry.com this time. I would have indexed this surname the same way. I can only hazard a guess or two about why the surname is so far out in left field in both censuses here. Perhaps the census taker was deaf, or perhaps the family member who provided the information had a speech impediment. In any case, the problem of the misspelled surname has been a royal pain to solve.

The 1870 census in Washington Twp, Auglaize Co. was not much better. In case I haven't shown this one before:

In this record, I have already made the suggestion that the surname should be indexed as "Weifenbach". The original indexed name was consistent with what was written by the census taker as "Viepenback". The only reason I found this record was because I knew the Weifenbachs lived in Washington Twp and I had gone through the 1870 records with a fine-tooth comb. As you can see, at this time, Abbie Weifenbach (Appie according to the census taker) was married to Conrad Eichenauer (line 15 and 16) and had an adopted son, John Evans (line 17). Abbie's parents show up on lines 18 and 19, and her brother, Conrad Weifenbach was married to Christina [Diegel] and had a daughter, Catharina Weifenbach (lines 20-22).
As you can see from the 1860 Census above, Conrad and Abbie Weifenbach had a sister, Catharina that does not show up in the 1870 census. After further research, I discovered that she was married to John Eiesle/Eissle in Auglaize Co on 20 January 1870:

One would think that this couple would have shown up in the 1870 census as a married couple, but once again a Weifenbach has escaped me. However, I am hot on the trail of Anna Catharina Weifenbach and her husband.

So, it is now clear that the Weifenbachs arrived in New York in 1846 and lived in Black River Twp, Lorain Co, OH at the time of the 1850 and 1860 Census. Then sometime before 1866 the family relocated to Washington Twp, Auglaize Co. where most of the family remained.
Johannes and Katharina Elisabetha Weifenbach had two daughters and just one son, Conrad, to carry on the Weifenbach name. Conrad Weifenbach and his wife, Christena Diegel had five children, three daughters and two sons, Frederic and Jacob. Frederic died at age six. Jacob Weifenbach became the last male to bear the Weifenbach name from that line. He married Mary Vordermark, and their daughter, Lillian Matilda "Lillie", the very last Weifenbach, was born in 1897, married Eugene Byron Slattery in 1916 and died in Wapakoneta in 1983. Today, the only reminder of the Weifenbach family in Auglaize Co is in the form of a road name, which ironically was also misspelled as Wiefenbach.


I am currently researching what happened to Anna Catharina Weifenbach after her marriage to John "Eisle." Hopefully, I will be able to resolve that question very soon.

Stephen Roediger

Switching Gears—Where did the Weifenbachs come from in Germany?

BACKGROUND
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.

Conrad and Anna Christina (Diegel) Weifenbach

The Weifenbachs attended the  Weifenbach Church situated across Wiefenbach Rd from the Weifenbach homestead. The church no longer exists but many of its members ended up attending Salem Methodist Church in Wapak.

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.

Top: Carrie and Bertha; Bottom: Anna Christina (Weifenbach), Alfred Tobias, Conrad Tobias and Mamie Roediger

So, in addition to the Roediger and Eichenauer families, I have an vested interest in the Weifenbach family as well.

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.

This ship arrived in the port of New York on 6 August 1846. The Weiffenbachs who stepped off of the ship are described as follows:
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:

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.

11 March [1810]--the farmer, Phillip Weifenbach from here and his legitimate wife, Anna Maria neé Hofmann had a son, Johannes who was baptized, born between 3 and 4 o'clock on the 5th of the same month. The baptismal sponsor was Johannes Sippel, farmer in ?Friedlos?, brother-in-law of the father of the child. I gather that this means that Johannes' father has a sister who married Johannes Sippel (twigs for further research).

Catharina Elisabetha Berlet Baptismal Record:

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.

28 April [1815]--Catharina Elisabeth, legitimate daughter of Johannes Berlet, resident and farmer [of Niederaula] and his wife, Barbara Elisabeth Fink, was baptized, having been born on the 23rd at 12 noon. Sponsor was Catharina Elisabeth, wife of Johann Valentin Berlet.

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:

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.

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

I do not think you need me to translate any of this, but note that the village name was written as two words. On today's maps, it has been compacted and appears as "Niederaula".

CHILDREN:
1) Angelica Weiffenbach (and again I divide this record in two parts because it stretches across two pages in the original document):

#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

[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

Taken together, this record states that the little girl, Angelica (name in common language is Anna Gela) Weiffenbach was born on 7 January [1841] at 5 am to the farmer, Johannes Weiffenbach and his wife, Katharina Elisabeth, neé Berlet, and baptized at the Pastor's house in Niederaula on 23 January [1841]. The baptismal sponsor was the mother's sister, Angelica Berlet

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:

#429--Kirchheim, [Geburt:] Zehnten Julius, des Morgens um sechs Uhr.
[Taufe:] am 23 Julius dahier
[Geschecht und Namen des Kindes:] ein Knabe, Conrad Weiffenbach 

[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

Taken together, this record states that the small boy, Conrad Weiffenbach was born at 6 am on 10 July [1843] to the day laborer here, Johannes Weiffenbach (who was born in Niederaula), and his wife, Catharina Elisabetha, neé Berlet, and baptized here on 23 July [1843]. The baptismal sponsor was Conrad ?Stürz?, tailor from Mengshausen in the district of Niederaula.

3) Anna Catharina Weiffenbach:

#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  

[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

#515--the little girl, Anna Catharina Weiffenbach, was born in House #27 in Kirchheim on the 14th of July [1845] at 2 pm to Johannes Weiffenbach (born in Niederaula), and his wife, Catharina Elisabetha, neé Berlet (born in Niederaula) and was baptized here on 27 July [1845]. The baptismal sponsor was Anna Catharina, the daughter of Christoph Stang and his wife, Anna Elisabetha, neé Müller from Lingelbach in the District of Oberaula. I included the headers here for your reading pleasure. As you can see, they are using printed forms with headers. Prior to 1830, many of the records were just handwritten, lumping all the information into one paragraph.

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:

Forested and cultivated land lies between the two villages which lie next to the Aula, which appears to be just a creek.

I think that I have, by this time, been able to establish the ancestral home of the Weifenbachs of Auglaize Co. Ohio. There is a rich vein of Weifenbach ore to be mined there, but that would be way too much info for one Blog Post. So, I want to conclude this Post with a bit of frustrating news:

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)