When one composes a story of his ancestry, he has two approaches. One of these is to begin with the earliest ancestor of each of his various ancestral lines and proceed to the most recent of his relatives and himself. This is a Descendant report. In a genealogy computer program this leads, in addition to the composer of the genealogy, to many persons who are related to the composer as cousins, nieces and nephews, uncles and aunts, grandparents, and so on. In addition it requires that such Descendant reports be composed for each of the lineal ancestors, and end when two separate lines converge. The other approach is to start with oneself and proceed backward ending with the earliest ancestor of each of the lineal lines that has been identified. In a genealogy program this creates an Ancestor report, or, as many genealogists prefer to call it, an Ahnentafel, a German term meaning a table of ancestors or a Genealogical Tree. Such a report leads from the Subject to the Ancestors and does not include any of the siblings of the ancestors. It is this latter approach that I have decided to follow. In this way I can describe what I know about each of my direct ancestors for whom I have been able to learn something, and to include whatever I might have learned about the siblings of any ancestor either in the body of this genealogy or in an appendix, as I see fit.
In an Ahnentafel, the persons listed are assigned an Ahnentafel number in the following way. The subject is designated #1. The father of the subject is #2 and the mother of the subject is #3. For each following father the number is doubled and the mother is the next consecutive number, i.e., the father of the subject's father is #4 and his spouse is #5; the father of the subject's mother is #6 and his spouse is #7. Thus, if one doubles the number of any person in the Ahnentafel, it leads to the father of that person and the next consecutive number is the mother.
This story of my ancestors is not documented in the same fashion as were the scientific papers which I wrote earlier as a professional bacteriologist. I have copies of, or have seen originals of, various documents such as birth, marriage, and death certificates, real estate transactions, and census reports, for some of the persons included in this genealogy; however, for the most part I have had to rely on information obtained from others in a variety of ways. Because of this, I can not guarantee that all of the data contained herein, such as, names, dates, and places, are wholly without error. In the Appendix to this document is included a list of persons who have helped me in accumulating the data and materials upon which the descriptions of the individuals are based. Several persons who have helped me, however, deserve more than a search in the appendix and are named here: Lois Lehmann of Halstead, Kansas; Marion Ruth of Lebanon, Illinois; Edith Ruth of O'Fallon, Illinois; Richard Ringenberg (deceased) of Augsburg, Germany; and Adolf Hertzler (deceased) of The Gundheimerhof bei Göllheim, Germany. Each of these in some way provided data or experiences which have been incorporated into this history.
My father's parents, upon which the greatest portion of this history is based, were born into the Mennonite religion. David von Riesen stemmed from the Mennonites of West Prussia in Germany; while Maria Johanna Lehmann, or Mary as she was known, had the ancestry of the Swiss Anabaptists and the Palatine-Bavarian Mennonites of west and south-central Germany. As indicated, these two groups of Mennonites had different origins. A commentary of the origins of these two groups and their trials and tribulations follows.
Following the protestations of Martin Luther in 1519, many groups protesting against the abuses of the Catholic religion developed throughout Europe and the British Isles. Two of these groups are of interest in this history of my ancestors.
In January of 1536 a Catholic monk by the name of Menno Simons, born in 1496 in a small Frisian (The Netherlands) village called Witmarsum located a few miles inland from the North Sea coast, gave up his priestly duties and became a wandering preacher. He married and had children. In 1542 an imperial edict, drawn up at Leeuwarden, and carrying the name of Emperor Charles V, was issued against him. According to this decree no one was to receive "Minne Symonsz" in his house or on his property, give him shelter, food or drink, or even speak with him, or read any of his books under penalty of loss of property and life as a heretic. To any one who might apprehend the fugitive a reward of one hundred gulden was promised, a sum equal to the annual salary of a priest at Witmarsum. In case the informant was an Anabaptist ( a person believing that only adults should be baptized) he would be granted full pardon for having been a member of that sect, or for "lesser crimes."
As more and more followers of Menno Simons, and others of his time in the Low Countries, appeared, they came to be know by the Dutch name of Wederdoopers, a term implying a second, or adult, baptism, one of their basic tenets being an opposition to infant baptism. Over time the followers of Menno Simons became known as Menists and then as Mennonites, the latter term being used for the most part in The Netherlands and in Germany as distinguished from the term Anabaptists used more commonly in Switzerland.
During his travelling ministry, Simons travelled across the north coast of Germany reaching as far as the Vistula Delta area in East and West Prussia ( see Appendix) His preaching in the Danziz-Elbing-Marienburg area set up the eventual religion of the Flemish and Frisian immigrants from The Netherlands to this area beginning in the second half of the 16th century. It is from the Vistula Delta area that my grandfather David von Riesen emigrated to Kansas in 1876.
The second Mennonite group in my ancestry is the Anabaptist group of Switzerland. As in all of Europe following Luther's protests, Switzerland, too, had its many reformists starting with Zwingli. In a famous debate attended by Catholics and Protestants alike in Zurich in 1523, Zwingli established the tenets of his religion; but others of his time, unable to abide all of Zwingli's beliefs, drew further and further from Zwinglianism. Dissenters, such as Grebel, Manz, Reublin, and Stumpf, began to gather more and more followers in the northern Swiss cantons of Zurich, Neuchatel, Basel, Aargau, Solothurn, Appenzell, and Bern. These Protestants became know as Anabaptists, but I shall call them Mennonites. These people suffered many trials and tribulations, such as death by drowning in rivers and being sold into service on galley ships, for their differences with the Reformed, or State, church in Switzerland. After many years of continuous persecution by the Swiss State government, many Mennonites began to leave Switzerland. One large emigration came in 1671, when some seven hundred men, women and children, mostly from Bern, but also the remnants from Zurich, the old and decrepit as well as the babes in arms, were driven out of their native land, penniless and helpless. About one hundred of these went to Alsace in eastern France, and the rest into the Palatinate of southwestern Germany, where fortunately just at this time they had been invited to settle by the Count, Karl Ludwig, who desired thrifty farmers to build up the agricultural lands laid waste by the ravages of the Thirty Years' War. Most of the family names in my grandmother von Riesen's ancestry originated in the Swiss Cantons of Bern and Zurich, names such as, Lehmann, Krehbiel, Strohm, Gramm, and others.
In the Canton of Bern is a river called the Emme River. It flows through the valley called the Emmenthal, or the Valley of the Emme. It is a beautiful green valley, as are most valleys in Switzerland. The valley is dotted with quaint little villages and here and there are well kept farms with typical Swiss chalets. In the vicinity of the village of Hasli (Hasle), upstream from Burgdorf and downstream from Langnau in Emmenthal, was a farm on the side of a hill. Such a farm was called a Lehn, and a person who lived there was called a Lehmann. This was the name of my grandmother Maria Johanna Lehmann.
After becoming prosperous farmers and living for many years in the Palatinate within a distance of 50 miles of the Imperial city of Worms, various of these Mennonite families began to experience over-crowding, due in part to the large size of the families. In 1802 Max Joseph IV, King of Bavaria, offered liberal terms of settlement to all prospective colonists. Eight Mennonite families, with others following later, emigrated to the south bank of the Danube River near Neuburg and established a colony which they named Maxweiler in honor of the King. In 1818 another migration of Mennonite families from the Palatinate to Bavaria began. These families emigrated to an area northwest of Munich. Here they established small farming communities, or Hofs. The principal settlement in this era was called Eichstock. It was here that this group built a church for worship and all the Mennonites within a radius of 25 to 30 miles of the Eichstock church became members of the Eichstockgemeinde or Eichstock congregation. In the late 1840s and early 1850s, due to civil unrest in Germany at that time, many of these Mennonite families, in both the Palatinate and Bavaria, carried out another emigration, this time to New York, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas. My great grandfather Johannes Lehmann with his parents and siblings emigrated from Heppenheim an der Wiese, five miles west of Worms, in Hesse to Iowa in 1852. My great grandmother Maria Lehmann with her parents and siblings emigrated from Thann, near Eichstock in Bavaria, to Illinois in 1853. Johannes and Maria, cousins, married in Trenton, Illinois. In 1874 Johannes with his second wife Eliza Risser, and his children moved to Halstead, Kansas. There my grandfather David von Riesen and my grandmother Mary Lehmann met and married. With this marriage the West Prussian Mennonite and the American born Palatine-Bavarian Mennonite were united.
Victor Lyle von Riesen was born in Marysville, Marshall County, Kansas, on 21 January 1923. He was born on the second floor of the home which had previously been a barn; thus, he was born in the hayloft of a barn, and forever after, when asked if he was "born in a barn", he always responded, Yes. He attended Lincoln and Central grade schools and Marysville High School, all in Marysville. He participated in track and football and sang in several different vocal groups in high school and was the president of the senior class and editor of the 1941 yearbook. Following his graduation from high school in May of 1941 and before his enrollment at the University of Kansas in September of 1942, Lyle engaged in a variety of odd jobs. For several months in the fall of 1941 he worked as a printer's devil for a weekly newspaper in Waynesville, Missouri and from January to August of 1942 he worked as a cheese maker in the Armour cheese factory in Marysville. Lyle attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, from September, 1942 until March, 1943. He was on the Dean's Honor Roll for the Fall semester of 1942. When he was drafted in March of 1943, he left the university to enter the Army of the United States. Lyle served three years and eleven days in the army. He met his wife to be, Lydie Suzette Antoinette Erbel, at a Red Cross Canteen in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. They married in Suzette's home town, Esch/Alzette, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, on 31 December 1945. Lyle and Suzette had two children: Laura Joan and Lyle Matthew. They had four grandchildren and two great grandchildren. These persons are shown in a Descendant Report in the Appendix.
After being discharged from the Army in March of 1946 Lyle returned to the University of Kansas in July of 1946 and there received the degrees BA, MA, and Ph.D., in 1948, 1950, and 1955, respectively. He taught bacteriology at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas, and at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Lyle retired from the latter university with the rank of Professor Emeritus in June, 1983. He and Suzette moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, on 30 March 1984. Prior to his retirement, but more especially after his retirement, he spent much time researching the genealogy of his grandparents David von Riesen and Mary (Maria Johanna) Lehmann. Along with the compilation of the data on his ancestors and the composing of brief biographies for many of them, he published a number of papers in a genealogy journal called "Mennonite Family History." He resided in Fort Collins until his death on ......
Roland von Riesen was born on 23 April 1895 in Halstead, Harvey County, Kansas. He moved to Marysville, Kansas sometime between 1896 and 1900. He attended grade school and high school in Marysville, graduating from Marysville High School in 1913. After graduation, or possibly before, he may have gone to Geary, OK, to work for an uncle Lehmann, a brother of his mother. I say this because he told me several times that he was baptized in the Mennonite church in Geary while he was working for an uncle. Some time between graduating from high school and about 1915-1917 he might have gone to some "Normal" school or some kind of school to obtain permission to teach school. I know this because he was teaching school in Cleburne, Kansas, in 1916 or 1917 when he met his wife to be Chloe Walters. Roland and Chloe married in Cleburne on 20 June 1917. After their marriage Roland and Chloe moved to Hillyard, Washington, a town near Spokane, Washington. It is here that Roland may have been participating in a group known as the Chatauqua. This was an organization whose members gave talks about various things. I believe this was something like the later Knife and Fork Clubs. Sometime after the birth of their first son, David Roland, on 2 May 1918, Roland and Chloe moved back to Marysville, Kansas. For many years Roland worked in various positions for the Union Pacific Railroad. He was very active in the Methodist church in Marysville, and he tried in many other ways to help his fellow man. Roland died in Marysville on the seventh of April in 1972. He is buried in the Marysville cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Chloe; three children, David Roland, Victor Lyle, and Mary Joan; and five grandchildren, Brad, Cindy, and Linda Sorrick and Laura and Matt von Riesen.
Chloe Clarinda Lucinda Walters was born on 16 October 1892 in Wilmington, Will County, Illinois, the place specified on her parents' marriage license as her father's place of residence. Chloe had a sister Sarah who is presumed to have been older that Chloe, and, therefore, presumably also born in Wilmington. Sarah Walters married George Chalmers and they had a daughter named Ella Mae.
The use of given names and of surnames by Chloe and Sarah's parents and grandparents and their descendants is interesting.
David Lyle Walters: Son of David Walters and Sarah Lyle.
Ella M. Walters: Daughter of Ellen Brown.
Ella Mae Chalmers: Great granddaughter of Ellen Brown; granddaughter of Ella M. Walters.
David Roland von Riesen: Great grandson of David Walters; grandson of David von Riesen and of David Lyle Walters; son of Roland von Riesen.
Victor Lyle von Riesen: Great grandson of Sarah Lyle; grandson of David Lyle Walters.
From whom Chloe received all of her names is not known; but a possibility is suggested by the following from a conversation that I had with Mabel Bloomberg Merriman in January of 1985.
David Lyle Walters and Ella M. Walters worked in and met at the Elgin Watch Factory in Elgin, Illinois. That David L. and Ella M. had a connection with the watch factory in Elgin seems certain since Chloe frequently talked about the Elgin Watch Factory and her cousin Wilbur Walters (Burton?) who lived in Elgin and who also worked at the watch factory. Chloe's grandmother (Sarah Lyle Walters?) lived in the home of her daughter or daughter-in-law (Ella M.) and took care of the grandchildren, Sarah and Chloe. Presumably the parents were at work in Elgin.
Chloe's father David Lyle Walters died while the family was living in Illinois. Some time after his death Ella M. with her two daughters Sarah and Chloe travelled to Mississippi to live with her parents, Cuthbert Walters and Ellen Brown. It is here that I would suggest that Chloe's names (Chloe Clarinda Lucinda) have a southern twang. Although she was born in Illinois, Chloe had grandparents living in the South who might have suggested the names. Another reflection of her sojourn in the South was her life-long compassion for black people. During my childhood, on several occasions we provided board and room for colored people who were visiting the Methodist Church in Marysville, usually as musical performers.
Chloe's grandparents, Cuthbert Walters and Ellen Brown, died while Chloe was in Mississippi. Mother and daughters returned to Illinois, presumably to Elgin, and Ella M. went back to work at the watch factory. Here she met John Burton. They married and now the two girls had a step-father.
John Burton had three daughters. At some time after their marriage, John Burton and his family (wife, his three daughters, and his two step-children) moved to Cleburne, Kansas. There they stayed at the Bloomberg Rooming and Boarding house. John Burton built a house about five miles from Cleburne and moved his family into the house before the plaster was dry. Chloe's mother developed pneumonia and died.
John Burton sent his step-daughter Sarah to live with a family by the name of Irby and around 1904 made arrangements with William Bloomberg for Chloe to live and work at the rooming and boarding house in Cleburne. It was here that Chloe became a foster-sister to the Bloomberg children: Mabel, Ken, Peg, and Wayne.
When Chloe was about 16 years old, Julia Bloomberg paid for her to go to Elgin for a visit. After the visit she returned to Cleburne. During her working days in Cleburne, Chloe had a bed in the living room. During this time she had several illnesses. On one occasion she had pneumonia. On another occasion she had swollen glands in her neck. For this problem she travelled by train to Manhattan, Kansas, to have the glands drained.
When Chloe was about 18-20, Mabel Bloomberg's aunt Mary Bloomberg, presumably living in Colorado Springs, Colorado, arranged for Chloe to have a job as a housekeeper for Dean Hart, an Episcopalian Rector in Denver, Colorado. One summer while on a vacation trip back to Cleburne, Chloe, who had had a previous suitor named Albert Johnson, met Roland von Riesen who was teaching school in Cleburne. This is the end of Mabel's story to me.
Chloe Walters and Roland von Riesen were married in Cleburne, Riley County, Kansas, on 20 June 1917. The black striking clock which for many years rested on the piano in the living room at 611 South Sixth Street in Marysville, Kansas, where I was born, and which now adorns the mantle in my home in Fort Collins, Colorado, was a wedding gift to Chloe and Roland from Mabel Bloomberg Merriman.
Chloe and Roland had three children:
David Roland, born in Hillyard (Spokane), Washington, on 2 May 1918;
Victor Lyle, born at the home in Marysville, Kansas, on 21 January 1923; and
Mary Joan (Named after her grandmother Maria Johanna Lehmann-von Riesen), born in Marysville, Kansas, on 10 September 1927.
Chloe led an exemplary life. She took care of her three children while her husband worked. She planted gardens and reaped the harvest therefrom. She canned some and sold the rest of the surplus from her gardens and dressed chickens for sale to her friends and acquaintances. When called upon by her children, she cared for her grandchildren. She lived a long and productive life.
Chloe Clarinda Lucinda Walters von Riesen died in a hospital in Manhattan, Kansas, on 30 January 1978 at the age of 85 years, 3 months, 14 days. She is buried next to her husband Roland in the City Cemetery at Marysville, Kansas.
David von Riesen was born on 15 May 1862 in Palschau, West Prussia. He arrived in Halstead, Kansas in 1876. He married Mary J. Lehmann on 19 October 1887 in Halstead, Harvey County, Kansas. David was a registered pharmacist and operated a drug store in Marysville, Kansas. He took his exams to become a registered pharmacist in Chicago, Illinois, and at the time of his registration he was said to be the youngest person registered as a pharmacist in the state of Kansas. He died in Marysville, Marshall County, Kansas, on 6 November 1936. He is buried in the Marysville cemetery next to his wife Mary J. Lehmann. David and Mary von Riesen had five children: Waldemar, Gertrude, Roland, Ralph, and Emil.
Maria Johanna Lehmann, or Mary Lehmann as she was known, was born on 17 July 1866 in Trenton, Clinton County, Illinois.. She married David von Riesen on 19 October 1887 in Halstead, Harvey County, Kansas. She died in Marysville, Marshall County, Kansas on 14 July 1951. She is buried in the Marysville cemetery next to her husband David von Riesen.
Mary J. Lehmann's birthplace is given by her husband in his Stammbuch and in the records of the Halstead Mennonite Church as Trenton [Clinton County], Illinois. The marriage certificate of Mary's parents Johannes Lehmann and Maria Lehmann was issued in Clinton County for which Carlyle is the county seat. The certificate shows that they were married in Trenton. This is also the location given in the church records as the birthplace of her two siblings, Johannes William Peter and Jacob Benjamin, and her two half-siblings, Abraham and Anna Veronika. Mary's mother died one week after the birth of Jacob Benjamin. About one year after the death of her mother Maria, Mary's father married Eliza Risser. Eliza was the mother of Abraham and Anna as well as five other children. One of these children was the uncle Lehmann who lived in Geary, OK.
In 1874 Mary J. moved with her parents and siblings to Halstead, Kansas. Halstead was a growing Mennonite community with arrivals from both the Palatinate [Pfalz] and Bavaria in Germany. She met her future husband David von Riesen in Halstead. After moving to Marysville, Kansas, sometime between 1896 and 1900, Mary attended a church which I knew as the German Evangelical Church. This church had services in both English and German. I used to drive Babette Schmutz, the von Riesen children's Nanny to German services and my grandmother Mary Lehmann to the English services. The church was on the corner of Elm and Tenth streets in Marysville.
David Lyle Walters was born on 24 August 1864 in Baltimore, Baltimore County, Maryland. The date of his death is not known. It is assumed that he died in Illinois sometime around 1900. He married Ella M. Walters on 17 July 1889 in Joliet, Illinois. The Walters' marriage license shows that at the time of their marriage David Lyle was a farmer residing in Wilmington, Will County, Illinois, and that Ella's residence was in Winslow, Illinois. The marriage license was issued in Joliet, Will County, Illinois, on 17 July 1889 and the couple was married the same day in Joliet by a Presbyterian minister named James Lewis.
Ella M. Walters was born 13 October 1865 in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois. She married David Lyle Walters on 17 July 1889 in Joliet, Illinois. The date of her death is not known, but it is believed to have been some time within the first decade of the 1900s. She died in Riley County, Kansas, probably within five miles of the small town of Cleburne, Kansas. Ella M. was buried, originally, in Belgarde Cemetery about 1.5 miles east of Cleburne (Sec 22, T-6-S, R-7-E, Riley County). Prior to construction of Tuttle Creek Dam, Bellegarde Cemetery was moved by the Corps of Engineers to Sec 9, T-6-S, R-7-E, Riley County, Kansas. She was buried under the name of Ella Burton. Burton was the name of her second husband.
David von Riesen was born 14 October 1798 in Tralau, West Prussia. He married Helena Wiebe in West Prussia. David and Helena moved to the small community of Palschau not far from the home estate at Tralau, which was purchased by David's brother Abraham. They had six children. Two did not survive childhood. David was 59 years old when he married Helena. This was because, according to his son David, he was the son who stayed at home to care for the parents. After his mother Helena Born died in 1852, he was free to go out looking for a wife. David and Helena with their four children, Helene, Henry, David, and Marie, sailed from Bremerhafen, Germany, on the SS Main. They arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey, on 26 August 1876. From Hoboken they travelled to Halstead, Kansas, arriving there on 30 August 1876. David died in Halstead on 28 January 1886 and was buried in the town cemetery about a mile north of Halstead.
Helena Wiebe was born on 3 September 1825 in the village of Tralau, West Prussia. She died on 23 July 1901 in Halstead, Harvey County, Kansas. She is buried in the Halstead cemetery next to her husband David von Riesen.
Helena was the daughter of Heinrich Wiebe, a neighbor to the von Riesen farm at Tralau and was himself the owner of a quite large farm at Tralau. Helena married David von Riesen on 23 April 1857. She was 32 years of age and he was 59. After their marriage David and Helena moved to a farm at Palschau where all of her children were born. They lived on this farm for 18 years before departing for the USA in 1876.
Johannes Lehmann was born around 9 am on 22 September 1839 at 113 Mitteldorferstrasse in the village of Heppenheim an der Wiese, a village about 8 kilometers (5 miles) southwest of Worms in the present Land Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. At the time of his birth Heppenheim was just within the southwestern border of Hessen-Darmstadt. Just to the south and west was the Rhenish or Bavarian Palatinate [Rheinische or Bayerische Pfalz). At that time the Pfalz was part of Bavaria. He married his cousin Maria Lehmann in Trenton, Clinton County, IL on 26 March 1865. John died on 15 January 1921 in Halstead, Harvey County, Kansas. He is buried in the Lehmann plot next to his second wife Eliza Risser and their son Frank in the Halstead cemetery several miles north of Halstead. Johannes had three children, Maria Johanna, John William, and Jakob Benjamin, by his first wife Maria Lehmann, and seven children, Abraham, Anna Veronika, Klara R. George Albert, Franklin, Emil R., and Edgar J., by his second wife Eliza Risser.
During the late 1840s and early 1850s there was considerable unrest in Europe, and many persons of the state and independent religions emigrated to the United States. From 1851 to 1853 many Mennonites from southern Hessen, the Pfalz, and Bavaria emigrated to near Mansfield, OH, Lee County in southeastern Iowa, Summerfield in southwestern Illinois, and Harvey County in Kansas. In 1852 the Johannes Lehmann/Veronika Gramm family of Heppenheim an der Wiese joined other Mennonites from the Pfalz and from Bavaria and emigrated to the Franklin, Donnellson, and West Point area of Lee County, Iowa. John's father Johannes Lehmann contracted cholera in Buffalo, NY, and died on the lake steamer on Lake Erie a few hours after departure; so he arrived in August of 1852 in West Point, Iowa, with his mother and three siblings. His mother Veronika Gramm had a brother Christian Gramm who had arrived in Iowa in 1845 and who owned a farm just a few miles south of West Point.
Little is known of John's life in Iowa or how his mother was supporting herself and her four children. From 1858 to 1860 a number of the Palatine and the Bavarian Mennonite families in Lee County moved to the area of Summerfield, St. Clair County, Illinois and the adjacent, nearby Clinton County. The members of the Summerfield congregation were closely related by blood and by marriages to the Lee County group. At some time in this period John also left his home in Iowa and moved to Illinois. The 1860 Census for Lebanon township in St. Clair County shows him in the household of a John Reiman, a merchant, in the Town of Lebanon, a village just 3-4 miles west of Summerfield. Apparently only John went to Illinois. Census and church records for the Iowa area show that Mother Veronika, sister Elisabeth, and brothers Jacob and Christian were still in Iowa in 1860 and 1870.
Little is known of John's activities in the Summerfield area. Since the 1860 Census showed him living with a merchant, he may have plied that trade as he did later in Halstead, Kansas. Some time between 1860 and 1865, if not before 1860, John met his cousin Maria Lehmann. She was born in Bavaria in 1845 and arrived in the United States in 1853. If they had not met previously in Germany, we can assume that John and Maria met at the Summerfield church. They were married 26 March 1865. Their marriage certificate was issued in Clinton County and it is believed that they were married in Trenton, Clinton County, IL by W. Shook, a Minister of the Gospel. On 17 July 1866, John Lehmann purchased, from John and Mary Hensen, Lots 1 and 2 in Block 1 in William Lewis Addition of Trenton, Illinois. The price was $150. From this we can conclude that John and Maria were living in Trenton at that time. This is attested to by the fact that the Halstead (Kansas) Mennonite church records indicate that all of Maria's three children were born in Trenton. The 1870 Census for Clinton County show the following:
Lehmann, John 30 Storekeeper Bav
Mary 26 Bav
Mary 4 IL
J. Peter 2 IL
Jacob 65 No occupation Bav
Susanna 65 No occupation Bav
Jacob and Susanna were Maria's parents Jakob Lehmann and Susanna Seitz who were evidently living with their daughter and nephew/son-in-law. Maria died 25 January 1871, one week after the birth of her third child Jacob Benjamin. She was buried in the Mennonite cemetery south of Summerfield, Illinois.
On 25 February 1872 John married Eliza Risser, daughter of Jakob and Maria Risser. Eliza was born in Mansfield, Richland County, OH, in 1848. In 1876 John, with his wife Eliza and three children, Mary J., John Peter William, and Anna Veronika (all born in Trenton) moved, with others of the Summerfield congregation, to Halstead, Harvey County, KS. On 1 May 1879, John Lehmann and his wife Eliza of Halstead, Harvey County, KS, sold lots 1 and 2 of Block 1 in Trenton, IL., to Jacob Kuhn for $100. In Halstead John was Merchant, Assistant Postmaster, Postmaster, and Farmer. According to his obituary in the Halstead Independent, he was a much beloved and respected citizen of Halstead. He died in Halstead on 15 January 1921 and was buried several days later in the Halstead cemetery (Block 9, Lot 7, Grave #5) several miles north of Halstead.
Maria Lehmann was born on 21 April 1845 in Thann, Kreis Dachau, Oberbayern, Bayern. She died 23 January 1871 in Trenton, Clinton County, IL. She was buried in the Mennonite cemetery about three-quarters of a mile south of Summerfield, St. Clair County, IL. She married Johannes Lehmann, her cousin, on 26 March 1865 in Trenton, IL. They had three children: Maria Johanna, John Peter William, and Jakob Benjamin. Maria died one week after the birth of her third child.
Thann, Maria's birthplace, when I saw it in 1986, was a cluster of 5-6 farms (Höfe). My wife Suzette and I spoke with a man who, we believe, said that the farm where we were talking with him had at one time been owned by Jakob Lehmann, father of Maria. The farm had been given to Susanna Seitz by her father as part of the dowry that she received when she married Jakob Lehmann. I have pictures of this farmstead and a panoramic view of the community. Maria travelled to the United States with her parents Jakob Lehmann and Susanna Seitz, her brother Jakob, and her sister Johanna. They crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the SS (sailing ship) Mercury, arriving in New York City on 30 May 1853. According to Edith Hirstein Hock, a 4th cousin of mine, Maria's parents and siblings settled near Fort Madison, Iowa; however, in her diary "Remembrances from 1807", Barbara Strohm states that "on the eighth day of August in the year of 1853" Jakob Lehmann was among some visitors to Iowa "from Illinois." It would appear likely that, although many of this group from Bavaria and the Pfalz went to and settled in the Lee County area, the Jakob Lehmann family did proceed on to the St. Clair County/Clinton County area in Illinois. It was in this area that Maria married her cousin Johannes Lehmann.
I have spent relatively little time researching my mother's grandparents; therefore, I have no specific data for David Walters and his wife Sarah Lyle. Since the marriage certificate of his son David Lyle Walters and his daughter-in-law Ella M. Walters shows that David Lyle was born in Baltimore, Maryland, I have assumed that David might have been born in Maryland. At least it appears that he was living in Baltimore in 1864 when his son David Lyle was born. Allowing 25 to 30 years for a generation, I have assumed that David was born between 1835 and 1840. If David and his wife Sarah Lyle travelled to Illinois where his son David Lyle is first encountered genealogically, then I can assume that David died in Illinois. On the other hand, if his son David Lyle Walters travelled to Illinois without his parents, then David might have died in Maryland. The date of his death is unknown.
As indicated for her husband David Lyle Walters, I know almost nothing about Sarah Lyle. I first encountered her full name on the marriage certificate of her son David Lyle Walters. Prior to that time I had assumed that my mother gave me the name Lyle from her father. That is probably true; but her father had obviously received the name Lyle from his mother's maiden name. Furthermore, the name of my mother's sister Sarah Walters must have come from her mother's given name.
Using the same dating and places of birth as discussed for David Lyle Walters, it is assumed that Sarah Lyle may have been born in Maryland or Illinois in approximately 1835 to 1840; and that she may have died in Maryland or Illinois. Since the family name Lyle, as well as the name Walters, is of English origin, it is possible that Sarah Lyle might have been born in England; and if not she, then perhaps her parents were born in England. My mother always claimed that she was Scotch-Irish and English. Sarah's death date, likewise, is unknown.
The date of birth for Cuthbert Walters is placed at approximately 1835 to 1840 and his place of birth is unknown. It is believed that at one time he lived in Mississippi and that he might have died there or in Illinois. The date of his death is unknown
The date of birth for Ellen Brown is placed at approximately 1835 to 1840 and her place of birth is unknown. It is believed that at one time she lived in Mississippi and that she might have died there or in Illinois. The date of her death is unknown. It is assumed that the name of her daughter Ella M. Walters is derived from the given name Ellen.
Cornelius von Riesen was born 29 March 1764 in Tralau, a small farming village in the Province of West Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia. He died 1 September 1848 in the family home at the same location. He married Helena Born on 11 November 1784 possibly in Tralau, or more likely in Heubuden which was the seat of the Mennonite church in that location. The above dates were given by my grandfather David von Riesen in the history, to which he gave the name Stammbaum, which he finished in 1936 just a few months before his death. Several other researchers have given different dates from those above.
Cornelius von Riesen, with his wife, was the owner of a farm of 260 acres. Both were of the Mennonite faith and were members of the Heubuden Mennonite Church. He was a Lehrer [teacher] and Prediger [preacher] at the church. Heubuden was a village about two miles from Tralau and about the same distance from Neuteich, the principle trading point in this area. Neuteich was about 18 miles from the city of Danzig [now Gdanzk in Poland], Free City of Danzig, located on the Gulf of Danzig in the northern German Province of West Prussia. Cornelius and his wife had seven children: Cornelius, David, Susanna, Abraham, Susanna, Gertrude, and Martien.
The son Cornelius married in West Prussia and moved with his family to South Russia. He died in Altonau, South Russia in 1850. A descendant of his, John Peter Friesen, emigrated to the area of Winnipeg, Canada in the early 1920s. He wrote a book called "Descendants of Cornelius Friesen". John Peter and I are third cousins once removed [3C1R].
The son Abraham purchased the home place when his mother died.
The son David was my great grandfather. All of the other children died in West Prussia
Helena Born was born 14 May 1767 in Heubuden, Province of West Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia. She died on the family farm at Tralau on 27 September 1852. She married Cornelius von Riesen on 11 November 1784. They were married for 63 years. Cornelius and Helena were frugal people and led a fine Christian life. According to the provincial law, being possessed of a larger estate than the usual farms of the area they were styled Gutsbezitzern [large farmers]. The dates above for Helena were obtained from my Grandfather's Stammbuch and from Helen Dyck Ewert, a second cousin of mine. John Peter Friesen of Winnipeg Canada gives the birth date as 15 December 1769 and the place of death as Heubuden.
Heinrich Wiebe was born 5 April 1803 in Klein Montau, West Prussia. He died at Tralau on 4 December 1879. He married Anna Wiebe on 20 August 1821. After Anna's death in 1836, he married Marie Klaassen on 7 March 1837.
Marie Klaassen was born 29 March 1818 at Ladekopp, West Prussia. She died 15 April 1850 at Tralau, West Prussia. Marie and Heinrich had four children: Peter, Gerhard, Marie, and Jakob. These children were half-siblings to my great grandmother Helena Wiebe.
Anna Wiebe was born 10 October 1787 at Tralau, West Prussia. She died 28 May 1836 at Tralau. Anna married Heinrich Wiebe on 20 August 1821. You will note that Anna was 34 years of age while Heinrich was only 18 year old. Anna had previously been married to a man by the name of Heinrich Baerg. Anna and Heinrich Wiebe had three children together. Heinrich, Helena, and Peter.
Johannes Lehmann was born around one o'clock on 15 July 1805 in Heppenheim an der Wiese, Grand Duchy of Hessen-Darmstadt. His birth certificate is in French. It gives his birth date as one in the afternoon on 14 Prairial XIII. This date in the French Revolutionary Calendar corresponds to 3 June 1805. His marriage certificate states that in September of 1836 he was 31 yrs and two month of age. This would make July the month of birth. He died on Lake Erie, USA, in August, 1852. He married Veronika Gramm in Heppenheim on 27 September 1836.
On 27 September 1836 Johannes married Veronika Gramm from Eppstein. Since the marriage record is in the records for Heppenheim in the Stadtarchiv in Worms, Germany, it is assumed that they were married in Heppenheim. The marriage certificate of this couple provides some interesting insight into the lives of Mennonites in the Pfalz at this time. In the document it states that the deaths of the parents of the bride and of the groom could not be confirmed by death certificates because, since the four persons were Mennonites, registrations of their deaths did not exist.
Johannes and Veronika had five children: Elisabeth (1837), Johannes (1839), Jakob (1841), Christian (1849), and Daniel (1851).
In June of 1852 Johannes and his family emigrated to the USA with other relatives and friends of their faith from the Pfalz and from Bavaria. They sailed from Worms, Germany, by Rhine river boat to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and from there by channel boat to Le Havre, France. In Le Havre they boarded the SS (Sailing Ship) Samuel M. Fox and sailed to New York, where they arrived on 4 August 1852, after a voyage of 52 days. From New York they travelled to Albany and from there to Buffalo. In Buffalo Father Johannes contracted Cholera and he died on board the lake boat a few hours after departing for Toledo, Ohio. The captain of the vessel was persuaded by others in the party to put them ashore with Johannes' body and Johannes was buried on the shores or Lake Erie. The exact date in August is uncertain.
Veronika Gramm was born in Eppstein, Rheinpfalz, on 8 July 1807. She died in West Point, Iowa, on 21 March 1881. There are some discrepancies about both the 8th of July and the year of her death. Some give her birth as the 16th of July. Her birth certificate, which is in French, gives the 8th of July as her date of birth.. The records of the West Point church state that she was 72y 8m 13d of age when she died. Eight months 13 days would make the 8th of July the correct day. Seventy-two years would make 1880 the year of death; however, Howard Raid of Bluffton, Ohio, wrote on the back of the envelope containing his letter to me: "Death of Veronika was March 21, 1881". Hertzler gives 8 July 1807 as the date of her birth but does not give a death date.
On 27 September 1836 Veronika married Johannes Lehmann of Heppenheim. They had five children:
in DallasCity, Illinois, a small river town across the Mississippi from Fort Madison, Iowa.
Copies of the birth certificates for all five children are available. They show the following:
In August of 1852 after her husband Johannes Lehmann died on and was buried on the shores of Lake Erie, Veronika proceeded on with the others of the Mennonite group to Cleveland and then by train to Chicago. After several days in Chicago the group continued by river boat to Peoria, Illinois. At Peoria Veronika and her children took the stage toward Iowa. Somewhere along the way between Peoria and the Mississippi River, Daniel, Veronika's youngest son, died in his mother arms. At the end of the day when the stage stopped for overnight, Daniel was buried under a tree near the road. Eventually Veronika reached West Point, Iowa, near where her brother Christian and his family were living in a farm. Many of those with whom she had travelled reached Iowa in late August and early September.
In the 1870 Census Veronika Gramm Lehmann was shown as: Lehmann F. [Feronika or Fronika], aged 64, Keeps house. Her name was listed as part of the household of Peter and Elisabeth Hahn [should be Höhn or Hoehn].
Peter Hahn 35 Farmer b. Darmstadt
Elizabeth 31
Mary 5
Elizabeth 1
F. Lehmann 64 Keeps House
It would appear that Veronika, or the Census taker, had changed the spelling of her name to Feronika to conform to the German sound of "V." Her name was spelled the same way in the West Point church records [Howard Raid]. She was evidently working as a housekeeper for the "Hahn" family. Several inaccuracies appear in the Census record and on the tombstone of Elisabeth Lehmann Hoehn in Halstead, Kansas. If Peter A. Hoehn was 35 in 1870, his year of birth would have been 1835. Howard Raid says he was born in 1833 and Doris Griffin, his great granddaughter, says that he was born in 1831. Elisabeth Lehmann Hoehn was born in 1837, not in 1839 as shown on her tombstone and by calculation from the Census record.
Veronika owned property in West Point, Iowa. Records which I saw in West Point show that on January 21, 1857 Veronika Lehmann purchased Lot 3 in Block 31 in West Point for $350. When I saw this property in 1986, it was a well-kept vacant lot.
Jakob Lehmann was born 1 September 1807 in Heppenheim an der Wiese, Hessen-Darmstadt. He died, I believe, in or near St. Clair County, Illinois. The Records of Deeds [Book 149, p 215] in the county court house in Belleville, IL, show that Jakob sold Lots 11 and 12 in Block 6 in Summerfield, Illinois, in 1879 to a Michael Seger for $345. We can assume, therefore, that he was still living in Summerfield in 1879. By that time his daughter Maria had already married her cousin (his nephew), Johannes Lehmann; had died one week after the birth of her third child; and been buried in the Summerfield cemetery. Edith Hock, my fourth cousin, in O'Fallon, Illinois has been unable to find any further information to establish positively that Jakob died and was buried somewhere in St. Clair County; therefore, we can only assume that he did.
Jakob married his cousin Susanna Seitz at the Eichstock church in Kreis Dachau, Oberbayern, Bavaria on 4 March 1838. Jakob was living in Hessen and had to obtain permission to emigrate from Hessen to Bavaria. In 1832 he received from the government of the Grand Duchy of Hessen [Großherzogthum Hessen] a Permit to Emigrate [Auswanderungsgesuchs]. A copy of this permit is available. Since Jakob and Susanna did not marry until 1838, just what year Jakob moved to Bavaria is not known. Prior to their marriage Jakob and Susanna, with her father, signed a marriage contract. This contract gave to Susanna and therefore to Jakob a piece of property at the place called Thann. Thann is just a few miles from that Eichstock church and was included within that congregation. In 1984 my wife, Suzette, and I visited in Thann and spoke with a farmer who, we believe, told us that his hof was the hof (Thann 1 1/3) previously owned by Jakob Seitz and Jakob Lehmann. Pictures of this hof are available. In 1852 or 1853 Jakob and Susanna sold their property to a couple named Waldmaier. The Sales Contract, which was filed in the Royal Landcourt in Dachau, contains a date "5 Juli l. Js." meaning "5 July of the present year", but the year is not given in the document. Since the Lehmanns arrived in the USA in May of 1853, it is assumed that the property was sold in 1852.
Jakob and Susanna and their three children Maria, Johanna, and Jakob, all born at Thann, arrived in the USA on the SS [Sailing Ship] Mercury on 30 May 1853. They had travelled with others of the Palatine and Bavarian Mennonites, among whom was the Peter Strohm family with whom they were related. Jakob and Peter Strohm were first cousins. Edith Hock gives this information in her genealogy of the Lehmann and Seitz families:
"Jakob, Susanna, their three children, and their eight year old niece Susanna Seitz (Abraham Seitz's daughter) arrived in the United States 3 [should be 30] May 1853 on the ship SS Mercury. Their children were 7, 5, and 3 years of age. They went to Fort Madison, Iowa. In 1860 [Census] they were living in Lebanon Township, St. Clair County, Illinois.
In 1870 [Census] they were living with their daughter, son-in-law, and family (Maria and Johannes Lehmann) in Trenton, Clinton County, Illinois. Their son-in-law was a storekeeper. Jakob and Susanna were retired.
Susanna died sometime before 1880. In the 1880 St. Clair County Census, Jakob Lehmann, age 73, widower, retired farmer was living in Summerfield. His niece, Mary Seitz, was caring for him. I have not found death or burial for Susanna or Jakob."
In her diary "Remembrances of 1807" Barbara Strohm Ruth indicates that "on the first day of August in the year 1853" visitors from Illinois, among them Jakob Lehmann, visited her in Iowa. This suggests that Jakob Lehmann and his family, if they did go to Fort Madison, Iowa, as stated by Edith, did not remain long in Iowa but must have proceeded on to St. Clair County in Illinois. Their trip, as described by Barbara Schowalter Strohm seems to have gone something like this:
Departed Le Havre 28th April 1853
Arrived New York 30 May 1853 [32 days]
Left NY by railroad 1 June 1853
Cost $4.75/persons
Arrived Cleveland, Ohio 5 June 1853 [4 days]
Departed Cleveland 13 June 1853
[Arrived Fort Madison ?
In addition to the three children who came with them to the USA, Jakob and Susanna had two other children, Jakob and Abraham, both of whom were born and died at Thann in Bavaria. Their daughter Johanna married Julius Keller. These two are buried in the Halstead, Kansas
cemetery.
The copies of the Marriage Contract and of the Sales Contract mentioned previously were received from Richard Ringenberg of Augsburg, Germany.
Susanna Seitz was born 7 April 1805 in Kriegsheim, Hessen, Germany. She died on 29 November 1873 in Trenton, Clinton County, Illinois. She married her first cousin Jakob Lehmann (their mothers were sisters) at the Eichstock church in Bavaria on 4 March 1838. She and Jakob had five children: Jakob, Abraham, Maria, Johanna, and Jakob. All were born at Thann in Bavaria. The first two died at Thann.
Susanna came to the USA with her husband and three children, arriving in New York on the SS Mercury on 30 May 1853. They settled in Illinois in and near Summerfield. She died in Trenton, Illinois, possibly while living with her daugher Maria and son-in-law Johannes Lehmann. Although no tombstone can be found for her in the Mennonite cemetery south of Summerfield, Illinois, her obituary, published in Der Mennonitische Friedensbote on 15 January 1874 and from which the date of her death was obtained, says that she was buried in the Summerfield cemetery. The 1870 Census for Trenton shows that she was living in Trenton in 1870. It is assumed from this that she was still living in Trenton in 1873 and that that is where she died.
Cornelius von Riesen was born around 1730, possibly in Tiege, West Prussia. He died around 1765, possibly in Tralau, West Prussia. Both dates and places are approximated based on information from Charlotte von Riesen.
This person was identified by Charlotte Hassenpflug von Riesen. Charlotte was the wife of Erich von Riesen. In the development of the genealogy of her husband, Charlotte established that this Cornelius owned property in Tralau at the time when he could have been the father of the Cornelius von Riesen that was named by my grandfather David von Riesen as his grandfather [see Ahnentafel #16]. Through letters over a period of a number of years and face to face conversations with Charlotte and her cousin-in-law Ilse von Riesen in Waldorf, Goettingen, and Hildesheim, Germany, the three of us agreed to accept this Cornelius as the father of my great great grandfather even though the evidence for this relationship was circumstantial. According to Charlotte the records to establish this link had been destroyed by some act of fire or war. On the basis of this relationship, Ilse and Charlotte's husband Erich and I were fifth cousins. Charlotte was, by this, my fifth cousin-in-law. This link extended the ascendency to Cornelius von Riesen, Ahnentafel #64, the earliest of the von Riesen line identified by Charlotte and the common Progenitor of her German VON RIESEN lines and my American VON RIESEN line.
Sussana Epp was born around 1730, possibly in Tiege, West Prussia. She died around 1765, possibly in Tralau, West Prussia. She married Cornelius von Riesen around 1763, assuming marriage before the birth of her son Cornelius von Riesen in 1764. All dates and places are approximated based on information from Charlotte von Riesen.
Isaak Born was born 23 June 1708 in Heubuden, West Prussia. He died on 14 February 1778 in Heubuden. He married Helena Wall (or Walde) before May 1767, probably in Heubuden.
Helena Wall was born on 1 December 1727 in Heubuden, West Prussia. She died on 26 February 1802. She married Isaak Born before May 1767, probably in Heubuden.
Heinrich Wiebe was born in 1771. I believe that he was born in Furstenauerweide, a village in West Prussia. He died on 13 March 1838 in Tiege, West Prussia.
There is uncertainty as to what should be the surname for this person, von Riesen or Neufeld? Helen Dyck Ewert, a second cousin of mine who did considerable research on her surname as well as on the surname VON RIESEN at the Historical Library and Archives at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, believed that Helene's father was Heinrich Neufeld. Helene's name, therefore would have been NEUFELD; however, when I examined the data that she made available to me, I came to the conclusion that Helene's name should be VON RIESEN on the following basis.
Assuming that the dates that Helen Ewert collected for these three people are all correct, I have assumed that Catharina was pregnant with Helene by Abraham von Riesen and that he died before Helene was born. If this be true , then Abraham von Riesen was the father of Helene. If Heinrich had been the father, then he would have been only 15 when Helene was born, which seem unlikely; and age 16 when he married Catharina Andres. By this analysis I believe that Helene's name was VON RIESEN and not NEUFELD.
Helene von Riesen was born in 1783 in Einlage, West Prussia. She married Heinrich Wiebe on 24 June 1802 in Tiege, West Prussia. She died in Furstenauerweide, West Prussia, on 3 December 1876. Helene and Heinrich had two children: Heinrich (#18) and Catharina. Catharina was born on 23 July 1794, possibly in Klein Montau, West Prussia. She died in Rosenort, West Prussia, in 1847.
Jakob Wiebe was born in 1761 in West Prussia. He died in 1829 in West Prussia.
Anna's surname is not known. She was born in West Prussia in 1752. She died in West Prussia in 1814.
Michael Lehmann, a.k.a. Johannes Michael (Michel) Lehmann, was born on the 7th or the 9th of March 1777 at the Weidenmühle near Heppenheim an der Wiese, Gemeinde Pfeddersheim, Kreis Worms, Hessen/Darmstadt. He died on 27 October 1828 at age 51. His first marriage was to (Maria) Magdalena Strohm of Kriegsheim around 1803. After her death he married, in 1814, Elisabeth Lattscha(r) of Friedelsheim.
Michael was born 7 or 9 March 1777. No birth certificate is available so the date of his birth is derived from several sources. He died 27 October 1828. His death certificate states that at his death he was 51 years, 7 months, and 20 days old. From this his birth date is determined to be 7 March 1777.
Michael's death certificate states that he died around eleven o'clock in the morning at his residence at #119 Mitteldorfstraße in Heppenheim an der Wiese on the 27th of October 1828. His death was reported by his son Johannes, aged 23, a farmer, and by a neighbor Daniel Steil, aged 27, also a farmer. Both were living at Heppenheim. It further indicates that Michael was a farmer who had been born in and lived in Heppenheim. It identifies him as the husband of Elisabeth Lattschar (his second wife) and the son of Johannes Lehmann and Katharina nee Krehbiel. In some of his work pertaining to this Lehmann family Adolph Hertzler identifies the father of this Michael Lehmann as Heinrich Lehmann. It is from Hertzler's work and from the death certificate that Michael's father (#80) is identified as Johannes Heinrich Lehmann. Hertzler also states that Michael was buried at Obersülzen, a village about 8 Km by road from Heppenheim, on 29 October 1828. The preacher Jakob Herstein officiated. Why Michael was buried in Obersülzen instead of in Heppenheim is open to speculation. Although there was for a period of time a cemetery at Heppenheim, it might have been closed at the time of Michael's death. Heppenheim was the center of the combined congregation of Heppenheim-Obersüzen-Gerolsheim, as well as for the Mennonites living in Dirmstein and Offstein. It is possible that at this time the cemetery for these people was at Obersülzen. Michael's wife Magdalena Strohm died at #86 Mitteldorfstraße in 1814. Two of the children of his son Johannes were born at #113 Mittledorfstraße and his second wife, Eliszbeth Latschar, who probably inherited his property, died at #120 Mitteldorfstraße in 1850. In that year the property probably passed to her daughter Elisabetha and her son-in-law Daniel Hirschler. It would appear that Michael may have had a block of property, a Hof, stretching from #86 to #120 on Mitteldorfstraße. I saw what remained of this property in 1986.
Michael Lehmann was married twice. His first wife was Madgalena Strohm. They were probably married in or before 1804, the year of the birth of Katharina, their first child. They had at least five, possibly six, children
After Magdalena's death in March of 1814, Michael married Elisabeth Latschar in November of 1814. They had one daughter Elisabetha. She was born in 1816 and subsequently married Daniel Hirschler. She apparently owned the Lehmann property in Heppenheim in 1850.
Of Michael's children, Barbara, a logical name, is not listed by Hertzler or by Habegger; however, in the List of Names in the Register of Births (Namesverzeichnis zum Geburts Register) in the City Archives in Worms, Germany, there is a Barbara, daughter of Michael Lehmann, born 1810. The Death Records show the death of a Barbara Lehmann in 1810. Christian, #5 above, is called Christina by Hertzler and by Habegger; however, his birth certificate in Worms, which I have seen, gives his name as Chretien, French for Christian. Although the Death Records in Worms show the death of a Christian Lehmann in 1811, there is a Christian mentioned as an heir in the 1829 Auction of Michael's property.
Michael's first wife Magdalena Strohm died 17 March 1814. Seven and a half months later, on 1 November 1814, he married Elisabeth Latschar. They had one daughter, Elisabetha, born in November of 1816. In 1986 I visited with Veronika Brauch nee Strohm in Offstein, Rheinland-Pfalz. She and I are 4C1R. She said that "when Michael remarried, the children went to live with Magdalena's parents." At that time (1986) I did not get specific identification of which of the children were meant. In 1814 the children by Magdalena were about 10, 9, 7, 4, 3, and 2 years of age. Magdalena' parents were Peter Strohm and Susanna Galle. The Marriage Certificate of Johannes Strohm and Barbara Lehmann, a sister of Michael, indicates that Peter Strohm and Susanna Galle, the parents of Magdalena, were both deceased before 1802. It is possible that Veronika meant that Madgalena's and Michael's children went to live with her brother Johannes Strohm and his wife, the children's aunt, Barbara Lehmann. The Johannes Strohm family lived in Kriegshein an der Pfrimm, a few miles west of Heppenheim until 1820 at which time they moved to Bavaria. Since the children were still minors in 1820 and they remained in Heppenheim, I am still not sure just what Veronika said.
Magdalena Strohm was born in 1785. This year is derived from her age of 29 when she died on the 7th of March in 1814. She died around 6:30 am in her home at #86 Mitteldorfstraße in Heppenheim an der Wiese. She was the first wife of Michael Lehmann with whom she had six children. They married around 1803. Hertzler gives her name as Maria Madgalena and on the birth certificate of one of her children, Chretien, her name is given as Marie Madalene Strohm. This combination of Mary and Magdalena is quite logical since all given names had some biblical connection. In most of the documents which I have seen she is named as Magdalena.
Johann Gramm was born in 1779. This date comes from two calculaltions. On the marriage certificate of his daughter Veronika and her husband-to-be Johannes Lehmann, it says that he was 57 years of age in 1836; and on the birth certificate of his daughter it says that he was 28 in 1807. Both of the these calculate to 1779. He died after 1836. Since he married his wife Katharina Jotter in Eppstein, Rheinpfalz and since his daughert Veronika was born in Eppstein, it is assumed that Johann was born and died in Eppstein.
Johann and his wife had at least one other child named Christian. Christian arrived in Lee County, Iowa in 1845 where he settled on a farm near West Point, Iowa.
Katharina Jotter was born in 1785 in Eppstein, Pfalz. Her parents were Jakob Jotter and Elise Göbel. Katharina married Johann Gramm in 1802 in Eppstein. She died in Eppstein on 4 May 1814. It is interesting to note that Typhus (Nervenfieber or French Disease) was epidemic in the Pfalz in 1813-1814, possibly associated with the occupation of the Pfalz by the French army. Katharina's brother Heinrich also died the same year and a number of people died at the Weierhof in these same two years.
Some additional information about Katharina and her family is available from her marriage certificate. I received a copy of the certificate from Roberta Krehbiel of Donnellson, Iowa. (Roberta and I are 4th cousins with Johann Gramm as our common ancestor). Roberta received the copy from a friend or Gramm relative who, I believe, had obtained it from the civil authorities in Eppstein, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. The bridal pair were Jean (Johann) Gramm and Catherine (Katharina) Jotter. The marriage took place in Eppstein on the 29th day of the month of Germinal in the tenth year of the (French) Republic. This date is 19 April 1802 on the Gregorian calendar. The certificate is signed by the bridegroom Johannes Gramm and by four witnesses: Johannes Stauffer, probably for the groom; and Heinrich Jotter, Jacob Jotter, and Peter Jotter, probably for the bride. The bride evidently could not write her name and, therefore, made her mark as + + + (three crosses). The certificate bears the seal (almost entirely illegible) of the Department de Mont Tonnere, the department that was created out of the Bavarian Pfalz by Napoleon. In the original manuscript there is a long space between the word for the number of years of age and the word ans for years. The only exact age given is for Jaques (Jacob) where it says quarante deux. I believe that the scribe did not know the exact age of most of the participants and, therefore, left the space after the words vingt, trente, and quarante to indicate this uncertainty. According to other sources the ages would have been as follows: Johann Gramm, 23; Katharina Jotter, 17; Heinrich Jotter, 30; Jacob Jotter, 24; and Peter Jotter, 35.
The JOTTER family originated in Switzerland as JODER. The Mennonite Census Lists show the names JEDER/JODER/JODTER/JOTTER. These names were found in the Pfalz in Mussbach, Linderfels, Eppstein, Walldorf, and Oggersheim. Most of these were in the Oberamt Neustadt. Eppstein is near Frankenthal. Before their emigration to the Pfalz the Joders lived near Steffisburg, a suburb of Thun in Switzerland.
That Katharina descended in a line of YODERs traced by Karl Joder and Ottman Jotter was confirmed for me by Christopher K. Yoder, a researcher of the Yoder Families. C. K. Yoder does not consider the work of Joder and Jotter earlier than Caspar Joder (RID#171; LNUM 1376)as reliable. The full lineage is developed in my Family History System; but it must be accepted with considerable reservation. The names, dates, and places are taken from an article "European Yoder Research" by Lois Ann Mast of Morgantown, PA.
See #40.
See #41
Jakob Seitz was born around 1780, possibly at Ibersheim in Hessen. He died presumably in St. Clair County, Illinois.
Jakob was a farmer at Kriegsheim, in present day Rheinland, Germany, and then at Boßweiler. In 1820 he moved to Oberbayern in Bavaria and was a farmer at Thann. In 1855 he emigrated to the USA, presumably to St. Clair County in Illinois. He was accompanied by his five, or six, grandchildren, the children of his deceased son Abraham and deceased daughter-in-law Barbara Janson.
Around 1804 Jakob married Maria Strohm, presumably in Harxheim an der Pfrimm. They had at least five children, possibly six since the Strohm Family History says they had six children. The children were:
1. Susanna: See Susanna Seitz, #23
2. Maria: Born 17 Dec 1807 in Kriegsheim Hessen. She married Jakob Rupp from Maxweiler, Bavaria. He died before 1855, probably in Bavaria. Maria arrived in Donnellson, Iowa, in 1855 as a widow with one child. Her daughter Maria was born 10 Nov 1837 at Eichstock. The preceding is from Hertzler. According to Roberta Krehbiel, quoting from Barbara Strohm's diary, Maria arrived with two daughters and a son-in-law. These were Katharina and her husband Johannes Dester and Maria. Roberta says that the two daughters were born in Maxweiler where Maria and her husband Jakob were living.
3. Barbara: Born around 1810 in Kriegsheim, Hessen. She died presumably in St. Clair County, IL. On 11 Sep 1836 she married Michael Krämer at Eichstock. He was born in Heppenheim a. d. Wiese in Hessen and was the son of Franz Krämer and Katharina Lehmann, daughter of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann. In 1844 Barbara and her husband with their children emigrated to St. Clair County, IL.
4. Abraham: Born 19 Apr 1815 at Kriegsheim, Hessen. He lived first at Thann when his father went there in 1820 and later in Aufhausen just a few kilometers away. On 9 May 1841 he married Barbara Janson at the Eichstock church. She was born 10 Oct 1809 in Rodenbach, Pfalz, and was the daughter of Christian Janson and Elisabeth Strohm. Barbara Janson died 26 Dec 1851 and Abraham on 9 Jun 1852, both at Aufhausen. Their children travelled to the USA in 1855 with grandfather Jakob Seitz.
5. Jakob: Born 1818 in Boßweiler, Pfalz. At some unknown date he emigrated to St Clair County, IL, where his sisters Susanna and Maria were living. He probably died there. His name was found by Edith Hock in some records in St. Clair County.
Maria Strohm was born 18 July 1780, probably in Kriegsheim, Hessen. She was the daughter of Peter Strohm and Susanna Galle. In 1820 she emigrated with her husband and at least five children to Thann in Bavaria where she died on 31 August 1839. Her birth date is taken from her age at death: 59 years, 1 month, 13 days.
Cornelius von Riesen was born around 1700, possibly in Tiege, West Prussia. Around 1725 he married Gertrude Wiebe. The date of his death is unknown. He probably died at Tiege.
This person is the earliest of my von Riesen ancestors and was identified by a distant cousin-in-law, Charlotte Hassenpflug von Riesen.
Gertrude Wiebe was born around 1700, possibly in Tiege, West Prussia. The date of her death is unknown. She probably died at Tiege.
Cornelius and Gertrude had seven children. They were: David, Maria, two unnamed daughters, Isebrand, Cornelius, and Johann. Johann was the ancestor of my German cousin Ilse von Riesen and of Eric von Riesen, the husband of Charlotte Hassenpflug.
Arend Walde was born in West Prussia around 1700. The date of his death is unknown. He probably died in West Prussia.
The given name of Arend Walde's wife is unknown. She was born in West Prussia around 1700. The date of her death is unknown. She probably died in West Prussia.
Abraham von Riesen was born around 1755 in West Prussia. He died in 1782 in West Prussia. He is assumed to be the father of Helene von Riesen #37.
Catharina Andres was born around 1755 in West Prussia. The date of her death is unknown. She died in West Prussia. After the death of her husband Abraham von Riesen she married Heinrich Neufeld. He was born 25 Oct 1768 and they were married in 1784. From these dates it appears that Heinrich was only 16 years of age when they married. They had two children, Gerhard and Maria. Both were born in Einlage, West Prussia, in 1788 and 1793, respectively.
Johannes Heinrich Lehmann was born around 1750, possibly in Switzerland, but more likely in Harxheim an der Pfrimm in present day Rheinland -Pfalz. He was married, probably before 1775, to Katharina Krehbiel. He died before 1799, probably at the Weidenmühle bei Heppenheim an der Wiese, which at that time was in Hessen/Darmstadt.
In most of the documents (BMD certificates) that I have seen, this person is referred to as Johannes Lehmann. In some of his writings Adolph Hertzler (deceased) of the Gundheimerhof, near Göllheim in Rheinland-Pfalz, referred to this person as Heinrich. Specifically, he refers to Elisabeth Lehmann as the daughter of Heinrich Lehmann and Katharina Krehbiel and shows that Elisabeth married Johannes Leisy, son of Abraham Leisy and Elisabeth Risser. He further indicates that Elisabeth Risser was a daughter of Abraham Risser and Anna Lehmann. This Anna Lehmann might have been an aunt of Johannes Heinrich, i.e., a sister to his father Johannes (see later). On his family sheet for Michael Krehbiel (AH-Kre#62), Hertzler shows that Michael's daughter Katharina married Johann Heinrich Lehmann of Heppenheim a.d.W.
David Habegger, in his monograph about the Lehmann family, uses both names when he describes Johannes Heinrich Lehmann and Katharina Krehbiel as the parents of:
Johannes * 1775 OO Barbara Bergthold
Michael * 1777 OO Magdalena Strohm
Barbara * 1782 OO Johannes Strohm
Elisabeth * 1788 OO Johannes Leisy
Maria * 1783 OO Jean (Johann) Rohrer
Katharina * 1780 OO Franz Kraemer
Anna Maria * 1793 OO Jean (Johann) Hüthwohl
Only the first four were identified by name by Habegger.
In the marriage certificate of Johannes Lehmann (#20) and Veronika Gramm, Johannes is identified as the grandson (Enkel) of Johannes Lehmann and Catharina Bergthold. This same reference is made in the marriage certificate of Katharina Lehmann (born in 1804 and sister of Johannes [#20]) and Jakob Strohm. In this marriage certificate Katharina is identified as the granddaughter (Enkelin) of Johannes Lehmann and Catharina Bergthold. In all other documents, the wife of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann is given as Katharina Krehbiel. In these two marriage certificates it states that death certificates of Johannes Lehmann and Catharina Bergthold could not be presented for confirmation because these two person were Mennonites and death certificates for them did not exist.
In most documents where he is specifically identified, e.g. the marriage certificate of Johannes Lehmann and Veronika Gramm, this person is referred to as Johannes Lehmann In this Ahnentafel he will be identified as Johannes Heinrich Lehmann.
Although it is assumed that the Lehmanns came to the Palatine area of Germany from Switzerland, the exact time of their arrival and whether they came directly from Switzerland is not known. It has been established that Johannes Lehmann and his wife Anna, the parents of Johannes Heinrich, were living in Harxheim a.d. Pfrimm in 1753. In that year they exchanged their property in Harxheim for the Weidenmühle near Heppenheim an der Wiese. Census lists prepared in 1759 place them in Heppenheim in that year. They are not shown in the lists for 1753, nor are they shown after 1759. If his parents had come directly to Harxheim from Switzerland, Johannes Heinrich could have been born in Switzerland. On the other hand, since we know that his parents were living in Harxheim in 1753, He might possibly have been born in Harxheim.
A birth certificate for Johannes Lehmann born in 1799, the first-born child of Johannes Lehmann, the son of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann, describes the grandmother Katharina Krehbielin as the wife of the deceased Citizen and Miller Johannes Lehmann. Johannes Heinrich Lehmann had, therefore, died before 1799. Since his widow and two sons were living at the Weidenmühle in 1799, it is assumed that Johannes Heinrich Lehmann died at the Mill, as did his wife in 1806.
Johannes Heinrich Lehmann married Katharina Krehbiel in or before 1775, the year his first son Johannes was born. Johannes Heinrich and Katharina had at least seven children:
It is possible that they might have had an eighth child. In the diary of David Ruth, whose wife was Katharina Strohm, it sates that in 1852 the Ruths stopped in Buffalo, New York, to visit with "our aunt Anna Frei, sister of Mother Strohm." "Mother Strohm" was Barbara, #4 above. If "aunt Anna Frei" was not #4 Anna Maria, who had married Johann Rohrer, or #7 Anna Maria, who had married Johann Hüthwohl, then she might have been an eighth child.
In the death certificate of Barbara Bergthold Lehmann Krehbiel (Born 1774; married first to Johannes Lehmann; married second to Christian Krehbiel) it states that her mother was Maria Lehmann. This Maria might have been a sister of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann and thus could account for the names of two of his daughters.
Katharina Krehbiel was born around 1755/1756 at the Donnersberghof, Pfalz. The date of her birth is derived from a birth certificate for her first grandson born in 1799 in which it sates that she was 44 years of age. She married Johannes Heinrich Lehmann in 1775 or earlier. She died at the Weidenmühle near Heppenheim an der Wiese on 3 May 1806.
Katharina was a daughter of Michael Krehbiel and Katharina Eicher. She was a great granddaughter of Peter Krehbiel who became the hereditary leaseholder (Erbsbeständer) to the Weierhof in 1682. She was born at the Donnersberghof (Habegger) to the west of the Weierhof and she died on 3 May 1806 at the Weidenmühle (en la Maison Nro1 dit Waiden Muhl) east of Heppenheim an der Wiese. Her death certificate gives her age as 62 year, which would make 1744 the year of her birth. The birth certificate of her grandson Johannes Lehmann gives her age as 44 years in 1799. This would make 1755 the year of her birth. Adolph Hertzler of the Gundheimerhof, from whom Habegger may have obtained his information, places her birth "around 1755/1756." In the list of children of Michael Krehbiel and Katharina Eicher, Hertzler and Habegger place Katharina between Michael (*1755) and Christian (*1759). This would make 1755/1756 the more logical year of her birth. It could be speculated that the clerk who wrote her death certificate should have written "cinquante-deux (52)" instead of "soixante-deux (62)." Katharina's son-in-law Jean Hüthwohl was one of the witnesses on her death certificate.
Peter Strohm was born in 1741 in Kriegsheim an der Pfrimm, Hessen. He married Susanna Galle around 1779 probably in Kriegsheim. He died in Kriegsheim in 1795. He was married twice; first to a woman by the name of Kolb, and secondly to Susanna Galle. He had three children by each wife.
Susanna Galle was born around 1745 at the Schlossmühle, near Monsheim. She died in 1795 at Kriegsheim. Her birth date is approximated; and her marriage date is based on the fact that her first child was born in 1780. Her daughter Magdalena was married to Michael Lehmann; and her daughter Maria was married to Jakob Seitz. Both Michael Lehmann and Jakob Seitz were great great great grandfathers of mine. Her son Johannes was married to Barbara Lehmann, sister to Michael Lehmann. They were the parents of Barbara Strohm, the author of "Remembrances of 1807."
Pierre Gramm was born around 1750. He died in Eppstein, Pfalz, before 19 April 1802, the date of his son's marriage to Katharina Jotter in Eppstein. The wedding certificate of Katharina refers to Pierre as "feu (deceased) Pierre Gramm." He was married to Elisabet Dannere.
Elisabet Dannere was born around 1750, possibly in Eppstein, Pfalz. She died, probably in Eppstein, after 1802. She was still living in Eppstein at the time that her son, Johann Gramm, married Katharina Jotter on 19 April 1802. The wedding certificate says that she was "domicilies au dit Eppstein (living in the place called Eppstein)".
Jakob Jotter was born around 1725 in Eppstein, Pfalz. He died after 1780 in Eppstein. That he was the son of Christian Joder and Margret Gerber was confirmed by Christopher K. Joder. For some reason Jakob changed the spelling of his surname from JODER to JOTTER. Some time after 1767 Jakob married Elise Göbel They had five children: Peter, Heinrich, Jakob, Barbara, and Katharina. Sons of Jakob and Heinrich left descendants. In 1802 daughter Barbara married Leonhard Göbel of Ibersheim, a village to the northeast of Worms, Germany. Daughter Katharina married Johann Gramm.
Elise Göbel was born in Eppstein, Pfalz. Christopher K. Yoder gives the year of her birth, which he obtained from the records of Karl Joder and Ottman Jotter, as 1727; but he questions this date on the basis that Elise would have been 57 years old when her daughter Katharina was born. Elise married Jakob Jotter of Eppstein. The date of their marriage is not known; but it was probably around 1767, the date of the birth of their first child. She died in Eppstein in 1801.
See #82
See #83
Jakob von Dyck was born in 1662 in West Prussia. He died in 1748 in West Prussia. The name of his wife is unknown. He was minister at the church in Heubuden, West Prussia, from 1686 to 1728.
Gerhard Andres was born on 17 August 1729 at Walldorf in West Prussia. He married Catharina Wiebe on 11 January 1752. He died 14 June 1809 at Einlage, West Prussia. Gerhard and Catharina had five children:
Catharina Wiebe was born on 2 January 1736 in West Prussia. She married Gerhard Andres in 1752. She died on 11 July 1788 in Einlage, West Prussia.
In an article about Heppenheim an der Wiese, the Mennonite Encyclopedia states that the LEHMANN family originated in the Emmenthal in or near the towns of Langnau and Hessli (Hasle) in Switzerland.
In a Kauf=Protokol (Record of Purchase) observed by Adolph Hertzler , dated 23 February 1753, a Johannes Lehmann in Harxheim an der Pfrimm exchanged a grist mill (Mahlmühl) and some surrounding property owned by him at Harxheim for the Weidenmühle near Heppenheim an der Wiese owned by Friedrich Gramm. This would seem to establish 1753 as the date of the arrival of the Lehmann Family at Heppenheim. This sales contract gave ANNA as the name of Johannes Lehmann's wife.
In the Census Lists of Palatine Mennonites for the year 1759 a Johannes Lehmann with wife and seven children is listed as a resident at Heppenheim auf der Wiese. He was identified as a Miller with an assessed capital of 625 florins. These lists also establish that Friedrich Gramm was associated with the Weidenmühle as early as 1736 and continued there until the exchange made with Johannes Lehmann in 1753.
Since no other line of Lehmanns can be found in Heppenheim before or after these dates, this Johannes Lehmann is accepted as the patriarch of the Lehmann family of Heppenheim an der Wiese He is, therefore, the earliest of my Lehmann ancestors and also is the ancestor of those Lehmanns of the Halstead, Kansas, area who were descended from Johannes Lehmann who was a brother of Michael Lehmann (#40) and a son of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann (#80).
As stated above, the Census Lists of 1759 show a Johannes Lehmann family of nine persons, i.e., two adults and seven children. Habegger in his history of the Lehmann family gives this Johannes Lehmann as the father of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann (#80). The latter could, therefore, have been one of the seven children. It is possible that another of the children was named Maria. This speculation is based on the following evidence:
Barbara Bergthold Lehmann Krehbiel was first married to Johannes Lehmann, a son of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann. Her death certificate († 15 January 1830) states that her parents were Johann Bergthold and Maria Lehmann. Both died at St. Grethin near Bad Dürkheim. Barbara and her husband Johannes were the same age. The age of Barbara's mother Maria Lehmann, therefore, could have been close to that of her father-in-law Johannes Heinrich Lehmann. thus, Maria Lehmann might have been a sister to Johannes Heinrich and from that a daughter of Johannes Lehmann.
The date of birth of Johannes Lehmann can not be established from documents, since none have yet been found. Allowing 25-30 years for each generation and using 1775, the earliest date of the birth of his alleged first grandchild, his birth year would be about 1715 at the earliest, 1725 at the latest. Taking the midpoint this would put his year of birth at 1720 ± 5 years. He might have been born in Switzerland or in Hessen.
The date of death of Johannes also can not be established with any certainty. An article in the Mennonite Encyclopedia describing Heppenheim an der Wiese indicates that a Johannes Lehmann family arrived there after 1749. Habegger places the date at about 1750. The Census Lists indicate that he was still living in 1759. The death records for Heppenheim from 1799 on, which are presently in the City Archives in the Raschi Haus in Worms, do not include a death record identifiable with this Johannes. A birth certificate for one of his descendants shows that he was deceased in 1799. It is assumed, therefore, that his year of death was before 1799.
This is the wife of Johannes Lehmann. Only her given name of Anna is known. This was obtained from the sales contract for the exchange of property owned by her and her husband at Harxheim and the Weidenmühle and surrounding property near Heppenheim an der Wiese owned by Fredrich Gramm. This contract was dated 22 February 1953. and contains the following statement:
Johannes zu Harxheim and mit ihm seine Eheliche Hausfrau Anna.
The date of her birth is estimated at about 1720 and she was probably not living in 1799.
Michael Krehbiel was born in 1717 at the Hof called "ins Ulis" at
the Weierhof. He was married to Katharina Eicher. Nothing is known
about her. He died in 1785 at the Donnersberghof west of the
Weierhof.
Michael was "Prediger [preacher]" at the Weierhof church from 1762
until 1783. He was replaced by Ulrich Krehbiel from "aus Ulis." His
son Michael (1755-1818) from the Donnersberghof was elected
"Prediger" in 1805. This latter Michael was a brother to Katharina
Krehbiel, the wife of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann. Michael (*1717) was,
therefore, the father of Katharina Krehbiel Lehmann.
From Hertzler's Familienblatt for Krehbiel Michael (KR#62) we have this information:
Krehbiel Michael (62), Hereditary leaseholder of the Donnersberghof. Born 1717 at the Weierhof "ins Ulis," son of Michael (KR#65) and his wife Anna. He died 7 Feb. 1785 at Donnersberghof at the age of 67 years and 8 months.
On the 6th of September 1755 Michael Krehbiel took over the hereditary lease of the Donnersberghof which he had already held as a temporary leasee. In a Weierhof Inheritance Declaration dated 2 December 1746 it was stated that he was already living at the Donnersberghof.
He married Katharina Eicher around 1740/1745. She was born around 1720/1725.
Known children of Michael and Katharina Eicher were:
I have included these details of Michael's children because some of them are ancestors of persons to whom I am related through the Krehbiel line.
Katharina Eicher was the wife of Michael Krehbiel and the mother of Katharina Krehbiel. The latter was the wife of Johannes Heinrich Lehmann. She was born around 1720, possibly at Erbesbüdesheim. She may have died at the Donnersberghof. Little more is known about her.
The following is taken from the Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, pp. 167-168:
EICHER, a Bernese Mennonite family name which appears in the Martyr's Mirror. In 1529 Konrad Eicher of Steffisburg was executed for his Anabaptist faith at Bern, Switzerland. In the latter part of the 17th century the Eicher family was represented in the Thun area of the Canton of Bern. Eicher was among the family names represented in the Montbéliard, France, list of 1759. Among the Palatine Mennonites of 1685 was Ulrich Eicher of Osthoven bei Wachenheim. A 1706 list of Mennonite families living in Mannheim, Germany, included Christian Eicher of Mossbach. The 1759 Palatinate Mennonite Census List names Jakob Eicher of Erbesbüdesheim.
Heinrich Strohm was the father of Peter Strohm. He was born in Kriegsheim in 1713 and probably died there in 1797. From 1757 to 1782 he was the minister for Erpolzheim and Friesenheim in the Pfalz. It is believed that his father, or grandfather, might have been an Ulrich Strohm who emigrated from Switzerland to the Palatinate in 1671. Besides Peter, he had another son who emigrated to Pennsylvania.
From Hertzler's Familienblatt for Galle Johannes we have the following:
Galle Johannes, Miller in Monsheim at the Upper Castle Mill. Born around 1720/1725 in Erbesbüdesheim, son of Peter Galle and Agnes Kolb. Died around 1755 (before 1758) in Monsheim.
Married, around 1745, to Maria Kägy in Monsheim at the Upper Castle Mill. She was born in Friesenheim around 1720/1725, the daughter of Michael Kägy and his wife born Hiestand. After Johannes' death, the widow Maria Galle nee Kägy, before 28 July 1758, married Jakob Krebill from Altleiningen.
Four children were born to Johannes and Maria:
Susanna, born around 1745. Around 1765 she married the widower Peter Strohm in Kriegsheim. She lived in Kriegsheim.
The other three children emigrated to Pennsyslvania.
Maria Kaegy was born around 1720/1725 in the obere Schloßmühle (Upper Castle Mill) in Friesenheim. She was the daughter of Michael Kaegy and his wife born Hiestand. After Johannes' death she married Jakob Krebill from Altleiningen before 28 July 1758. The date of her death is not known.
Christian Joder was born in Steffisburg, Canton Bern, Switzerland on 20 March 1687. His parents were Christian Joder and Barbara Gerber. At this time and earlier there was considerable religious persecution of Anabaptists in Switzerland. The Joders were part of the Anabaptist movement. At some time, probably before 1720, Christian moved from Switzerland to Eppstein, Pfalz, possibly with his parents.
At some time either in Switzerland or in Eppstein, Christian married Margret Gerber. The exact date is not know, but it was probably somewhere around 1720. Margret and Christian were cousins. The Gerbers were also from Switzerland.
The date of Christian's death is not known. He died in Eppstein.
Margret Gerber was born around 1687 in Switzerland, possibly in Steffisburg where her husband, Christian Joder, was born. The date of her birth is taken from the year her husband was born, 1687. She and her husband were cousins. The date of her death is not known. She may have died in Eppstein, Pfalz. She and her husband had two children: Peter, probably born around 1720, and Jakob.
The following biography for Michael Krehbiel is derived from Adolph Hertzler's family sheet (Familienblatt) #65 for Michael Krehbiel.
Michael Krehbiel was a leaseholder of one-fifth of the farm at Weierhof called "ins Ulis." He was born around 1685/1686 at the Weierhof as the youngest son of Peter Krehbiel (Ahnentafel #648) and his wife Anna. He died before 1749 at the Weierhof. Around 1705/1707 he married a woman named Anna.
The distribution of his estate occurred on 25 October 1752 several year after his death. An hereditary lease dated 25 November 1737 for "Michael Grevil" and his wife Anna is still in existence. In that document it states that Michael Krehbiel was already the hereditary leaseholder in 1707. According to tradition he built his dwelling in the year 1712. During some restoration work which was done in 1956 by Hermann Galle the owner of Michael's Hof at that time, the tradition was confirmed. Carved into a vertical beam behind a balcony that was removed at that time was the inscription:
M K
1712
My wife Suzette and I saw and photographed this inscription when we visited at the Hof in 1986.
The names of Michael and Anna's children are taken from a Distribution of Property Act drawn up on 10 February 1758 after the mother's death.
Anna's surname is not known. She was born around 1685 and died around Christmas time in 1757. She was the wife of Michael Krehbiel whom she married around 1705/1707.
Peter Galle was born around 1700 in Erbesbüdesheim in Hessen. He died on Good Friday in 1762 and was buried on Easter day. He had at least eight children: Johannes, Peter, Susanna, Christina, Marie, Barbara, Anna, and Jakob. Most of them were probably born in Erbesbüdesheim. He purchased the Geistermühle near Uffhofen in 1734. This property was owned by the Galle family until one of Peter's descendants emigrated to the USA in the 1850's.
Agnes Kolb was born around 1700, possibly in Wolfsheim. She married Peter Galle around 1720/1722. She died at the Geistermühle and was buried on 1 January 1751.
Michael Kaegy (Kägy, Kägi) was born on 25 July 1698 at Friesenheim in the Pfalz. Emil Kaegy, who wrote a genealogy of the Kaegy family, says that Michael was born in Friesenheim and died at Monsheim. Adolph Hertzler says that he died 29 September 1743 at Friesenheim and was buried "im Garten hinter der Scheune (in the garden behind the barn)." In his lifetime he acquired a hereditary lease to the obere Schloßmühle (upper castle mill) at Monsheim; but, according to Hertzler, he remained on his property at Friesenheim.
Around 1720 Michael married a woman named Hiestand. They had two children:
This woman was the wife of Michael Kaegy. Her given name is not known. She was born, possibly in Ibersheim, around 1700/1705. She died around 1775 in Monsheim.
Christian Joder was born in Steffisburg, Canton Bern, Switzerland, on 10 May 1657. His parents were Jost Joder and Anna Trachsel. He died after 1687, probably in Eppstein, Pfalz. Around 1681 and later, because of religious persecution by the Bern government, there was a significant migration of Anabaptists from Switzerland to Alsace in France and to the area of the Pfalz in Germany. The Joders and many other Mennonite families found in the Pfalz were probably part of that migration.
On 10 March 1684 Christian married Barbara Gerber, possibly in Steffisburg. They had two children: Peter and Christian. Peter was born 2 August 1685 and married Barbara Gerber. Christian married Margret Gerber.
Barbara Gerber was born around 1657 in Switzerland, possibly in Steffisburg. On 10 March 1864 she married Christian Joder, possibly in Steffisburg. Barbara died in Switzerland or in Eppstein, Pfalz.
Peter Krehbiel was born around 1630/1635 in Zäziwyl, church parish Großhöchstetten, Canton Bern, Switzerland. He arrived in the Pfalz around 1670/1675 and at first held a temporary lease on a hof at Gaugrehweiler. He moved to the Weierhof in the fall of 1681 and in a lease (Erbbestandsbrief) dated 2 February 1682 he became the Hereditary Leaseholder (Erbbeständer) of the Weierhof. The Hof was in some disrepair and one of the stipulations in the lease was that he would have to rebuild the destroyed buildings. In conjunction with the restoration of a wall on the property, a chapel was built. Across from the chapel, and a cemetery developed later, Peter built the ancestral home (Stammhof) of the Krehbiel family. This is the building opposite the gate to the cemetery and later became known as "ins Hannese."
After Peter's death, the original property was divided into five parts and gradually four more Hofs were constructed, the last one being built in 1712. Five of the sons of Peter became an Hereditary Leaseholder of one of the Hofs, each to his one-fifth referred to in documents as ein Funftel. Each of the Hofs was given a common name and was held by the sons as follows:
mittleren Oberhof Ulrich
ins Adams Peter
ins Hannese Johannes
ins Christels Christian
ins Ulis Michael
According to tradition the Hof owned by the family in the Swiss homeland was known as "Grayenbühl" or "am Grayenbühl" and gave to the family its name. This form of the name can still be found in records in Switzerland. Later the spelling was changed to "Krehbiel."
Around 1655/1660 Peter married a woman whose given name was Anna. Her surname is not known. According to a census list in the Karlsruhe Archives, Peter and Anna had, by 1685, six sons and two daughters. At that time two of the sons were already married: Ulrich, who had three children, and Peter, who had one child.
The following are the sons of Peter and Anna:
The sixth son and the two daughters were not identified by Adolph Hertzler from whom all of the above information about Peter and his family was obtained.
Anna was the wife of Peter Krehbiel. She was probably born in Switzerland. Marry Lou Franz-Garbin, a distant cousin of mine, says that she was born before 1642 and died after 1686. Nothing further is know about her.
Peter Galle was born around 1665 in Wadenswil, Canton Zürich, Switzerland. He died in Erbesbüdesheim in Hessen. Around 1685 he emigrated from Switzerland to Alzey in Hessen and from there to Erbesbüdesheim. He worked as a weaver in the latter location. The name of his wife is unknown.
Peter Kolb was born in Kriegsheim in 1671 and died in Mannheim in 1727. He was an elder in the Kriegsheim Mennonite congregation.
Felix Kaegy was born on 7 September 1656 in Fischenthal or Unterhittnau in Switzerland. In 1683 he emigrated to Rohrbach near Heidelberg, Germany, where he was a smith. Later he moved to the Bolanderhof near Kirchheimbolanden and the Weierhof. He became the hereditary leaseholder of the Bolanderhof in 1702. He is the ancestor of the Kaegys who still live at the Bolanderhof.
Around 1680 Felix married a woman whose given name was Anna or Susanna. Her surname is not known. They had at least nine children:
Anna or Susanna was the wife of Felix Kaegy. She was probably born in Switzerland around 1656. She married Felix around 1680 and had nine children with him.
Jost Joder was born 30 November 1607 in Steffisburg, Canton Bern, Switzerland. He died in Steffisburg in 1667. On 14 October 1642 he married Anna Trachsel in Steffisburg. With her he had ten children: Hans, Anna, Verena, Peter, Jakob, Anna, Barbara, Christian, Caspar, and Catharine, all born 1644-1666.
Anna Trachsel was born in 1607 in Steffisburg, Canon Bern, Switzerland. She died in Steffisburg in 1666. She was the wife of Jost Joder with whom she had ten children.
Jost Krehbiel was born around 1600, in the area of Grosshöchstettin and Zäziwyl in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. The date and place of his death are unknown. Mary Lou Franz-Garbin says that he was born before 1614 and died after 1671. Whether he died in Switzerland or in the Pfalz is unknown. The name of his wife is unknown.
Howard E. Krehbiel of Bluffton, OH, questions the identity of this person. He does not feel that the identity of the father of the three brother,Peter, Michael, and Jost Krehbiel, all ancestors of Krehbiel lines, has been established.
Jost Krehbiel is used here as the Progenitor of the Krehbiel family in order to link all of the Krehbiel descendants to a common ancestor and thus to each other. We can not be sure if his name was Jost or one of the other names commonly used by the Krehbiels; but the fact remains that Peter and Jost had a father in Switzerland who may or may not have emigrated to the Pfalz with Peter (Weierhof) and Jost (Pfrimmerhof). If he was born around 1600, he would have been around 70 in 1671 when the emigration of many of the Swiss Anabaptists occurred.
Hans Galli was born around 1642 in Eggiwil, Canton Bern, Switzerland. In 1663 he married Elsbeth Salzmann. She died before 1675. She was his first wife.
Dielmann Kolb was born 28 Jan 1648 in Wolfsheim. He died in Mannheim 13 Oct 1712. He was married to a woman named Schumacher. They had six or seven children. Most of their sons emigrated to the USA and became prominent in the Germantown and Skippak, Pennsylvania Mennonite congregations.
This woman, who was the wife of Dielmann Kolb and the daughter of Peter Schuhmacher, was born in Dollendorf on the Rhein in 1652. She died in Mannheim in 1705. Her given name is not known
Hans Jacob Kaegy was born 18 Mar 1628 in Gublen, Canton Zürich, Switzerland. He died 13 May 1684, probably in Switzerland. He was a miller at Feldbach, Switzerland. He married Anna Sporri on 18 Mar 1649. They had at least three children: Felix, Jacob and Johannes.
Anna Sporri was born on 7 April 1633, possibly in Unterhittnau, Switzerland. She died 30 December 1699 in Unterhittnau. She was the wife of Hans Jacob Kaegy.
Caspar Joder was born 24 February 1571 in Steffisburg, Canton Bern, Switzerland. He died after 1609, possibly in Steffisburg. He marrried Margret Hennig on 4 July 1596. With Marret he had seven children, born 1597-1609: Peter, Heini, Margret, Nicolaus, Barbara, Jost, and Nicolaus.
NOTE BENE: The lineage earlier than this Caspar Joder is not considered by Christopher Joder, from whom I obtained the Joder data, to be reliable.
Margret Hennig was born around 1570. The date and place of her death are unknown. She was the wife of Caspar Joder.
Peter Galli was born in Eggiwil, Canton Bern, Switzerland , on 21 Jul 1616. His wife's name was Verena Schenk.
Peter Schumacher was born in the Pfalz in 1622. He was one of the first Palatines to settle in Germantown Pennsylvania in 1685. He died in Germantown in 1707. He was a Quaker. His wife, whose name is unknown, died in Kriegsheim before 1685.
Hans Jacob Kaegy was born 31 May 1596 in Hinderwyss, Switzerland. He died after 1628 in Switzerland. He was a taylor (Säumer in German). He married Regula Ruegg on 31 July 1620.
Regula Ruegg was born around 1596 in Seewadel, Switzerland. The date and place of her death are unknown. She was the wife of Hans Jacob Kaegy.
In some records Regula's surname is given as RUEGGIN. In German speaking countries of this period in was common to add the ending IN to a woman's surname to identify it as the name of a woman. I consider her name to be RUEGG or RUEGGI.
Caspar Joder was born around 1548 in Steffisburg, Canton Bern, Switzerland. He died in Steffisburg; the date of his death is unknown. He married Anni Moser 17 January 1620 in Steffisburg. Caspar and Anni had at least three children: Caspar, Pauli, and Elsi. Pauli Joder married a Francis Hennig and had three children.
Anni Moser was born around 1550, probably in Steffisburg, Switzerland. She died in Steffisburg; the date of her death is unknown. She was the wife of Caspar Joder.
Ulrich Galli was born in Eggiwil, Canton Bern, Switzerland, on 27 Apr 1589. On 11 Feb 1605 he married Barbara Neukommet. She was born 28 Feb 1591.
Arnold Schuhmacher died in 1652 in Dollendorf on the Rhein. His wife's name was Agnes Roesen. She died in Kriegsheim after 1655.
Hans Jacob Kaegy was born around 1570 in Hinderwyss, Switzerland. Hertzler says he was born in 1570; Habegger says 1576. He died around 1620 (before 1624) in Hinderwyss. He was a Soumer (Soumer, in Swiss; Säumer, in German; taylor in English) uss Hinderwyss; i.e., a hemmer of clothes from Hinderwyss. He married Magdalena Bosshart 20 October 1594. With her he had seven sons and three daughters 1595-1612
Magdalena Bosshart was born around 1575 in Altenlandenberg, Switzerland. She died around 1616, probably in Hinderwyss. She was the wife of Hans Jacob Kaegy. Her father's name was Ulrich Bosshart.
Balthasar Joder was born 1525, in Steffisburg, Canton Bern, Switzerland. He died in Steffisburg. The date of his death is unknown. He married Anna Jost in Steffisburg. A daughter married a Hans Meyer and had five children.
Anna Jost was born around 1525 in Steffisburg, Canton Bern, Switzerland. She died in Steffisburg; date is unknown.
Ulrich Galli was born around 1555 in Eggiwil, Canton Bern, Switzerland. His wife's name was Madlena Zurfluh.
Heini Kaegy was born around 1540 in Hinderwyss, Switzerland. He died before 1591, probably in Hinderwyss. The name of his wife is unknown. He had four sons: Clauss, Jagli, Hans Jakob, and Peter. Peter died in Fischenthal, Canton Zürich, Switzerland.
Caspar Joder was born around 1500 in Steffisburg, Canton Bern, Switzerland. He died in Steffisburg. The date is unknown. He married Margret Moser. With her, in addition to Balthasar, he had two other sons: Pauli and Peter. Peter married a Trini Eymann.
Margret Moser was born around 1500 in Steffisburg, Canton Bern, Switzerland. She died in Switzerland; the date is unknown. She was the wife of Caspar Joder.
Ulrich Galli was living in Eggiwil, Canton Bern, Switzerland, in 1553.
Caspar Joder was born around 1470 in Steffisburg, Canton Bern, Switzerland. He died in Steffisburg; the date is unknown. The name of his wife is unknown. In addition to his son Caspar, he had a son named Peter who was married to a Madlen Zaugg.
Peter Galli was living in Eggiwil, Canton Bern, Switzerland, in 1518.
Jost Joder was born around 1387, a very uncertain date, in Steffisburg, Canton Bern, Switzerland. He died in Steffisburg; the date is unknown. The name of his wife is unknown.
NOTE BENE: Because of the dates, if this Jost Joder was an ancestor of the Caspar Joder (#22016) who was born around 1470, that Caspar could have been a grandson or a great grandson of Jost.
Heini Joder was born around 1363 in Huttwil, Switzerland. He died in Switzerland. He moved to Steffisburg around 1385. He was married to Leni Gerber. In addition to Jost, they had a son named Peter.
Leni Gerber was born around 1363 in Switzerland. She died in Switzerland. She was the wife of Heini Joder.
Ulli Joder was born around 1340 in Huttwil, Canton Bern, Switzerland. He died in Switzerland. He married Elsi Zaugg.
The name JODER is believed to be derived from the name of Saint Ioder, a Swiss Catholic monk. This family name is spelled YODER and JOTTER in subsequent generations. The Yoder spelling is very common in Amish communities in the USA.
Elsi Zaugg, or Zook, was born around 1340 in Sumiswald, Switzerland. She died in Switzerland. Her father's name was Peter Zaugg. She was the wife of Ulli Joder.
The triangular area bounded approximately by Danzig-Marienburg-Elbing in present day Poland, in earlier times East- and West-Prussia, comprises what can be called the Vistula Delta Area. This area between the Vistula River and the Nogat River was a number of feet below sea level. It was settled by Mennonites from the Netherlands beginning in the late 16th century. These people were the prime movers in creating drainage ditches and dikes to drain and protect the area. This led to the formation of areas of land which, being surrounded by water, the dikes, were slightly above sea level and gave the appearance of islands. Such a piece of land, in German, is called an Au; hence the names of the communities such as Tralau, Palchau, Altenau, etc. My grandfather David von Riesen was born in this area at Palchau along the Vistula River. His father David von Riesen was born at Tralau near the larger community of Heubuden.
Heppenheim an der Wiese is a small town or village about 8km (5 miles) southwest of Worms, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. Although there are several alleys and side streets, it is more or less a one street town. The main thoroughfare is on the old main road from Worms to Eisenberg and then on to Kaiserslautern. It is sometimes referred to as the Eisenberg Road (Eisenbergerweg). At the present time, part of this street is called the Wormser Landstrasse and another part is called the Pfälzer Waldstrasse. On that part of the street called the Wormser Landstrasse there is a home with a large portal (gate) through which one can enter into the inner courtyard. The home is, in fact, a hollow square. As one faces the building, to the right are the living quarters; to the left are some rooms for storage; and the back side is closed and has a sloping roof to the inside of the courtyard, thus serving as an open shed for storing machinery. In back of the structure is a large garden area. Again as one stands in the street and faces the building, at the upper right corner of the building at roof line is a large corner stone on which is engraved the name "Elisabetha Lehmann", and at the opposite corner is a stone engraved with the name "Daniel Hirschler", the husband of Elisabetha. Elisabetha Lehmann was the daughter of Michael Lehmann by his second wife Elisabetha Latschar. The building was owned by this couple in 1857. I believe that this was one of the properties owned in Heppenheim by my great great great grandfather Michael Lehmann . I believe that this is where he died in 1828. His wife Elisabetha Latchar died, probably in this home, in 1830 and the property probably passed to her daughter Elisabetha.
At the time that my Lehmann ancestors lived in Heppenheim it was in the province of Hessen/Darmstadt, one of the governmental units in pre-modern Germany
About 1km (5/8 mile) to the east of Heppenheim is a structural complex called the Weidenmühle. This, likewise, is a hollow square, i.e., a large four-side structure with living quarters on two sides; a large structure on a third side and part of the fourth side for storing implements and machinery; and the mill run and mill structure on the fourth side. Inside the square is the courtyard which accessed by way of a large gate. Surrounding the structure are areas of gardens and cultivated fields. At the time that I saw the Weidenmühle there was a large field of sugar beets and meadow lands (Wiesen). The Weidenmühle came into the ownership of my fifth-great grandfather Johannes Lehmann in 1753. I believe that my great great great grandfather Michael Lehmann, if not his father Johannes Heinrich Lehmann, was born at this mill. I know that Michael's mother Katharina Krehbiel died here in 1806, and that her husband Johannes Heinrich Lehmann, my fourth great grandfather, probably died here before 1799.
The Weierhof is a large collection of Hofs. A Hof in the sense used here is a collection of buildings, usually in a square with an inner courtyard, surrounded by cultivable land. This collection of hofs is in effect a small hamlet, with its own church and without commercial enterprises, other than farming. The Weierhof is a short distance from Marnheim, Germany, which is on the main road from Worms to Kaiserslautern. The Weierhof came to Peter Krehbiel as the hereditary leaseholder (Erbsbeständer) in 1682. Peter Krehbiel was my seventh great grandfather. The Weierhof is the ancestral home, mine included, of many of the Krehbiels who lived, and still do, in Lee County Iowa, St. Clair County, Illinois, Harvey County Kansas, and many other locations throughout the United States.
Eichstock
Eichstock is a cluster of four or five hofs about 25 miles northwest of Dachau in Bavaria. In 1818 David Ruth from the Palatinate purchased one of the hofs and this began the settlement of Eichstock and the surrounding area by Mennonites who came primarily from the Palatinate, but some also came from eastern Alsace in France and from Maxweiler to the north on the Danube river. In 1841 permission was given to the group to build a small church for their worship services which they accomplished with funds from the members. Prior to the construction of the church worshipping was done in private homes. Members of the congregation came from a radius of approximately 25 miles. My great grandparents Jakob Lehmann and Susanna Seitz, who lived at Thann about eight to ten miles away, were probably married in the Eichstock church. As political unrest in the late 1840s and early 1850s increased in Bavaria, many of the members of the Eichstock congregation began to sell their farms and emigrate to the USA. Many of this group settled in Lee County in the southeast corner of Iowa and in Summerfield in southeastern Illinois. Among these were my great grandparents Jakob Lehmann and Susanna Seitz and their children who settled near Summerfield in 1853.
Summerfield is a small town in St. Clair County, Illinois, about 20 miles east of East St. Louis, IL. It was settled in the 1850s by emigrants from the Palatinate (Pfalz) and Bavaria, both in Germany and from Lee County in Iowa. Summerfield became the central place for worship of the Mennonites who had settled in Summerfield and the surrounding area. First worship services were held in 1856 in the home of Franz Krämer and his wife Barbara Strohm Ruth on a farm southeast of Summerfield. Several churches were built in Summerfield by this Mennonite congregation. In 1910 the group bought an abandoned Methodist church and after some remodeling used it as their place of worship. In the brick wall of this church is an original limestone cornerstone with the inscription in two lines: Mennoniten Kirche, A.D. 1858. A cemetery was developed by the congregation about one mile south of the town. Although my great grandmother Maria Lehmann Lehmann died in Trenton, Illinois, about five miles to the east of Summerfield, she was buried in the Summerfield cemetery. I have assumed that she and her husband Johannes Lehmann were members of the Summerfield Mennonite congregation. My grandmother Mary Lehmann was born in Trenton where Johannes and Maria were living. Over the years members of this congregation moved on to other locations as land became scarcer and prices increased. Many of the congregation moved to Halstead in south-central Kansas. Among these were my great grandparents Johannes and Maria Lehmann and their children.
V. Lyle von Riesen
m. 31 Dec 1945 Lydie Suzette Antoinette Erbel, b. 25 Dec 1927 Esch/Alzette, Luxembourg
A. Laura Joan, b. 7 Oct 1946, Marysville, Kansas
m. 18 Dec 1965 James Alan Laird, b. 21 Feb 1946; d. 31 Oct 1970, Vietnam
1. Jason Sloan Laird, b.15 May 1968, Bad Canstatt, Germany
m. 6 May 1989 Cherene Kent, b. 14 Jul 1970
a. Skylar James Laird, b. 4 Jan 1993, Idaho Falls, ID
b. McKinzee Sloan Laird, b. 19 Jan 1995, Idaho Falls, ID
2. Elin Lea Laird, b. 11 Aug 1970, Fort Belvoir, VA
m. 24 Dec 1972 Theron Michael Bradley, Jr., b. 27 Jan 1947
3. Theron Michael Bradley, III, b. 3 May 1974, Fort Belvoir, VA
B. Lyle Matthew , b. 1 Feb 1952, Lawrence, Kansas
m. 22 Sep 1990 Elizabeth (Betsy) Marie Lynch, b. 30 Aug 1957
1. Keegan Quinn von Riesen, b. 18 Jun 1991, Fort Collins, CO
The following persons, documents, books, certificates, maps, etc., aided me in the preparation of this Ahnentafel:
Auernheimer, Arthur Letters and visit
Bansemer, Hermann Letters and visits
Bender, Harold S. 1940 Palatinate Mennonite Census Lists, 1664-1774. Mennonite Quarterly Review, Vol. XIV, Nos. 1-4.
Bender, H.S., and Smith, C.H. Editors 1955 (Krahn, C. 1969 Rev. Edition) The Mennonite Encyclopedia. The Mennonite Publishing House, Scottdale, PA. Volumes I-IV.
Bosl, Karl 1961 Handbuch der Historischen Stätten Deutschlands: Bayern. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany.
Braun, Fritz 1964 Auswanderer auf dem Schiff "Samuel M. Fox" Ankunft New York 4. August 1852. #21 Schriften zur Wanderungsgeschichte der Pfälzer. Heimatstelle Pfalz, Kaiserslautern, Germany See Ruth, J.E.
Cemetery, Halstead, Kansas A diagram of the old portion of the Cemetery. Obtained in 1984 from Mrs. Alice C. Considine, Dep City Clerk, Halstead, Kansas.
Cemetery, Summerfield, Illinois. Booklet compiled by Historical Committee of Summerfield Mennonite Church R 929.37738 S 955m, Copy from Marion Ruth, Lebanon, IL.
Dyck, Edward A. Letters and visits.
Ewert, Helen Dyck 1968 ff. Letter communications and visits.
Friesen, John Peter 1986 Descendants of CORNELIUS FRIESEN. Friesen Printers, Altona, Manitoba R0G 0B0, Canada.
Garbin, Mary Lou Franz Letters and data
Galle, Dale Letters
Goeringer, Abraham Letters
Griffin, Doris C. Letters
Guth, Hermann, and Gertrud Guth, J. Lamar Mast, and Lois Ann Mast 1987 Palatine Mennonite Census Lists, 1664-1793. Mennonite Family History, Elverson, PA.
Habegger, David L. 1975/1976 The Valentin Krehbiel and Susanna Ruth Genealogy. Copy from David Habegger.
Habegger, David L. 1980 The Lehmann Family of Heppenheim auf der Wiese. Copy from David Habegger.
Habegger, David L. 1983 ff Letters
Habegger, Loris A., Editor , 1975 The Flock and the Kingdom: Centennial History of the First Mennonite Church of Halstead, Kansas 1875-1975.
Hershberger, Neva Lou, Archivist, Mennonite Historical Society of Iowa. Letters
Hertzler, Adolph 1986 Family sheets (Familienblätter) for various families, such as, Lehmann, Krehbiel, Galle, Kaegy, Seitz, etc.
Hertzler, Adolph 1983 Auswanderer aus den Bereich der heutigen Mennoniten Gemeinde Weierhof, Gundheimerhof bei Gölleim, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Hock, Edith, 829 Hiway 50, O'Fallon, IL 62269: Census records: 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 for St. Clair County, IL.
Hock, Edith, 829 Hiway 50, O'Fallon, IL, 62269 Letters and visits
Ingold, Rudolf, Herrieden, Germany. Letters
Kope, Ruth Ann Dettweiler, Reedley, CA Letters
Krahn, Cornelius 1949 From the Steppes to the Prairies. Mennonite Publication Office, Newton, KS
Krebiel, Warren R. Compiler 1981 Ruth Genealogy: The Families. Fountain Press, Freeport, PA. Author's Address: Wambold Road, Souderton, PA.
Krehbiel, Christian 1961 Prairie Pioneer: The Christian Krehbiel Story. Faith and Life Press, Newton, KS
Krehbiel, Howard, Bluffton, OH Letters
Krehbiel, Roberta, Donnellson, IA Letters and visit.
Kroeker, Margaret Winnipeg, Canada Letters.
Kroeker, Ralph and Jean Lehmann Kroeker, Newton, KS Letters and visit.
Kulturinstitut-Worms, Raschi House, Worms Germany Letters and visit.
Lehmann, Lois 1981 The Lehmann Family of Heppenheim (auf der Wiese), Germany. Copy from Lois.
Lehmann, Lois 1983-1985 Halstead and Moundridge, KS Letters and visits.
Ludwig, Karl-Heinz 1961 Zur Besiedlung des Weichseldeltas durch die Mennoniten. Wissenschaftliche Beiträge zur Geschichte und Landeskunde Ost-Mitteleuropas. A thesis published by Johann Gottfried Herder Institut, Marburg, Lahn, Germany.
Merriman, Mabel A visit in Fort Collins, CO 1985
National Archives, Washington, D.C. Passenger List: Main
National Archives, Washington, D.C. Passenger List: St. Nicolaus
National Archives, Washington, D.C. Passenger List: Samuel M. Fox
Petry, L. 1976 Handbuch der Historischen Stätten Deutschlands: Rheinland-Pfalz und Saarland. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany.
Raid, Howard, Bluffton, OH Miscellaneous materials about the Krehbiel family and the Lee County, IA, Mennonite community.
Ringenberg, Richard 1942 Familienbuch der Mennonitengemeinde Eichstock. Schriften des Bayerischen Landesvereins für Familienkunde e. V. Heft 18, Verlag Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz über Regensburg.
Ruth, Marion 1984 ff Lebanon, IL Letters and visit.
Ruth, David, and Katharine Strohm Ruth 1838-1864 History of the Ruth Family. Translation and annotation by Jacob E. Ruth. Copy from Lois Lehman, Halstead, KS and Original and Translation from Bethel College, North Newton, KS.
Ruth, Jacob Ernst A Story of a Voyage made in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century. Copy from Marion Ruth, Lebanon, IL. See Braun, Fritz.
Schowalter, Christian Family, Marriage, and Death Records 1851-1856 of Zion Mennonite Church, Donnellson, Iowa, and List of Members of West Point Mennonite Congregation, West Point, Iowa. Translated in 1957 by Melinda Weber, Donnellson, Iowa. Mimeographed in May, 1957, by Howard Raid, Bluffton College, Bluffton, OH.
Strohm, Barbara Remembrances from 1807. Separate copies from Marion Ruth, Lebanon, IL, and Ellen Lehmann Klover, Omaha, NE and Halstead, KS.
Strohm-Brauch, Veronika, Kappellenstr. #5, Offstein, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. Letters and visits.
Unruh, Benjamin Heinrich 1955 Die niederländisch-niederdeutschen Hintergründe der mennonitischen Ostwanderungen in 16., 17., und 18. Jahrhundert. Self published. Printed by Heinrich Schneider, Karlsruhe, Germany.
von Riesen , David 1936 A History of the von Riesen Family. A Typescript.
Waltner, Gary Weierhof, Letters and visit.
Waltner, Gary J. Editor 1982 300 Jahre MENNONITEN GEMEINDE WEIERHOF 1682-1982. Published by the Mennonitengemeinde Weierhof. Ph. Pfeiffer's Buchdruckereien und Verlage, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Weise, E. 1966 Handbuch der Historischen Stätten: Ost- und Westpreussen. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany.
The following are papers which I have published dealing one way or another with my ancestry:
von Riesen, V. Lyle 1986 Johannes Lehmann of Heppenheim a. d. Wiese. Mennonite Family History Vol. V, No.2, p. 58.
von Riesen, V. Lyle 1989 Where is Barbara Strohm's Diary? Mennonite Family History Vol. VIII, No. 1, p. 22.
von Riesen, V. Lyle 1989 Where was Obererlbacherhof? Mennonite Family History Vol. VIII, No. 2, pp. 60-61.
von Riesen, V. Lyle 1989 Obererlbacherhof Found. Mennonite Family History Vol. VIII, No. 4, p. 154.
von Riesen, V. Lyle 1990 Heppenheim: Directions. Mennonite Family History Vol. IX, No. 4, p. 150.
von Riesen, V. Lyle 1991 Arrival of the Lehmann Family at the Weidenmühle. Vol. X, No. 1, pp 22-23.
von Riesen, V. Lyle 1994 Our Ancestors: Cornelius von Riesen. Mennonite Family History Vol. XIII, No. 3, p. 135.
von Riesen, V. Lyle 1994 Johannes Lehmann: From Heppenheim, Germany, to Halstead, Kansas. Vol.XIII, No. 4, pp. 151-153.
von Riesen, V. Lyle 1995 Our Ancestors: Johannes Lehmann. Mennonite Family History Vol. XIV, No. 1, p 44.
von Riesen, V. Lyle 1995 David von Riesen: Excommunicant. Mennonite Family History Vol XIV, No. 2, pp. 70-73.
von Riesen, V. Lyle 1996 Causes of Deaths in the Eichstock Mennonite Congregation Mennonite Family History Vol. XV, No. 4, pp 151-155.