Ludwig Rudolph Rettig.
Born 7 oct 1828 Bavaria
Died 6 Sept 1917 Evansville, Indiana
"Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NFZ3-MX7 : 28 November 2014), Ludwig Rudolph Rettig, 18 Oct 1828; citing ; FHL microfilm 193,931.
By – Margaret Cline Harmon - 2003
Ludwig "Louis" Rettig, born October 6, 1828, and came to America alone. He left his family, including a twin brother, Franz Edvard Rettig, who followed him shortly after that, family back in Bavaria, Germany. He immigrated soon after the 1848 German Civil Wars. Elizabeth Melch (or Milch), born September 27, 1830, also came to America from Germany as a single young adult with her parents. It is a family legend that the Rettig families in Germany were merchants and craftsmen. In Germans to America, the book references a Louis Rettig arriving in New York on 11 May 1852 from Bremen on the ship Johann Georg. I found his "brief" naturalization records showing he became a naturalized citizen on July 6, 1883, in Rock Island, Illinois. I am still researching for a complete history. Now that I have his date of naturalization it should be much easier.
Both Louis & Elizabeth settled in the Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky area and married around 1853. They had twelve children. I have identified and documented most of their children from information on a trip to Evansville, Indiana in 1998 and telephone calls to Rettig descendants in the Indiana and Georgia.
At some time before 1873, the family moved to Evansville, Vandenburg County, Indiana. Louis worked as a soap cooker for Meltzer Soap Company in Evansville, Indiana. As the company was in business between 1872 and 1923 it is highly likely he moved to Evansville in 1872 to help start the manufacturing plant located at 3rd Avenue and East Oregon Street, Evansville, Indiana. Louis Rettig was responsible for the operation of the kettles. He learned to make soap from his Mother in Germany. Family tradition tells us he made a soap named "Fancy Soap" that took first place at the World's Fair. (Most likely it was at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago or the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, based on the duration in business.) He worked until he was so old and feeble that the company asked him to stay on and just supervise the overall soap making.
Louis Rettig rented a farm that his sons farmed while he made soap. Louis Rettig reportedly left Germany to avoid being drafted. German custom then selected only the upper classes of men in Germany to serve in the military. Tragically, he did not avoid war in the end as he served in the Civil War in America. To date, I have not positively identified the company or unit in which he fought. I am sending off for the following information to confirm or deny the accuracy.
It may have been Louis Rudolph (Rettig) - Ky. 20th Infantry, USA, Mustered into service Jan. 6, 1862 at Smithland, Livingston Co., KY. They participated in the battles of Shiloh, TN., Corinth Ms., Lebanon, KY., Kennesaw Mountain, Ga., Dallas, Ga. & Acworth, GA and Atlanta, Ga. They were mustered out at Louisville, KY., January 17, 1865, with the members transferred to the Ky. 6th Veteran Calvary. (Abstracted by Larry E. Rettig, Jr., Vernal, UT from the Adjutant General Report. Since Rudolph or transcribers changed his name so often, Larry discovered a soldier in Company H by the name of Rudolph Louis. It may have been that the clerk could not understand how to spell his name and used his first and middle name for the whole thing.)
We know that their son Fred Joseph Rettig, born 1868 in Jefferson County, Kentucky, moved to Evansville, Indiana with his family as a child. After marrying Anna Krieg he moved his family to Billy Rohm's farm in Rohm's Switch, Kentucky, and then Henderson, Kentucky. Then in 1911, the family moved to Scott County, Missouri near McMullin. Fred Joseph Rettig was a farmer and died at the age of 77 years old at his son, Otto Rettig's, house 6 miles north of Sikeston, Missouri.
On May 10, 1995, I found that the Mormon’s IGI lists Ludwig Rudolph RETTIG was christened 18 Oct 1828 at Evangelische, Kandel, Pfalz County, Bayern (Germany). They list his father as Karl Wilhelm RETTIG and his mother as Magdalena Franziska MUELLER. They show source as extracted birth and christening record for Evangtelisch, Kandel, Pfalz County, Bayern under Batch C983512 for Dates 1810-1839 and Source Call No. 193931 film.
Fred Joseph Rettig, my great-grandfather, was fluent in German. He grew up speaking German at home and American English at school. His daughter, Anna "Carrie" Rettig-Price- Austill, understood German but was embarrassed to be German during the War against Germany and World War II. She told my mother, Marie Price-Cline, her family members were Americans but when they spoke German their neighbors who were not of German ancestry looked at them with distrust. _______________________________________________________
Bill Rettig wrote on Sept. 26, 2002, that he was in the St. Louis library the other day and found, the books, Germans to America, references to Louis Rettig arriving in New York on 11 May 1852 from Bremen on the ship Johann Georg. This information confirmed what I found several years ago.
Louis Rettig’s twin brother, Edvard Rettig, arriving at the Port of New York on 10 May 1852 from Harve, France on the ship Eastern Queen. They were both listed the same age of 26. It still has to be confirmed but is very close to their actual ages in May 1852 they would have been 23. There was sometimes a language barrier between the Germans and the individuals making the passenger lists. In this case, it would have been a Frenchman recording names for the passenger list. Edvard left his home in Bavaria after Louis; however, he arrived in New York Harbor a day earlier. I am still working on confirming his final destination and family members.
Most of this general information I gathered from an interview with his grandson Otto Rettig. He stated that the information was from his knowledge, notes from his father, Fred Rettig, and talking with his Rettig uncles. The interview was at his home in Sikeston, Missouri, and from Indiana State Certificate of Death, Registration No. 438.
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Ludwig is 26 degrees from Herbert Adair, 26 degrees from Richard Adams, 16 degrees from Mel Blanc, 28 degrees from Dick Bruna, 22 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 36 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 21 degrees from Sam Edwards, 18 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 20 degrees from Marty Krofft, 17 degrees from Junius Matthews, 16 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 21 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
His family said he was a hard-driving German man who loved his work and loved his German beer. As of 2016, I continue to hunt for a photograph of Louis Rudolph Rettig for my collection.
By Margaret Cline Harmon 3rd Great Granddaughter