Validate parents of Jacob Riegel, b. Dec 1, 1773, Berks CO, PA.

Question

I am searching my Riegel/Riegel tree line and I have hit a brick wall at Jacob Riegel. According to his tombstone located in the Clarence Center Cemetery in Clarence Center, NY, it reads he was born on Dec, 1, 1773 in Berks, PA. He died in 1852. I have searched and searched for definitive proof of who his father and mother are - but no luck. The trees on Ancestry.com show 4 different couples as his father and mother. NONE have ANY documentation. I value evidence and I am desperately searching for it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am also located in Ramstein, Germany - so if anyone needs any help in the Rhineland-Pfalz area, I am happy to help out! I am very close to where most Riegel's started out from.

Thanks!
Jennifer Riegle Fluharty

Answer 1

The image of his gravestone on FindaGrave does not show a birthplace. It only has his death date and an age in years, months, and days. It's likely enough, however, that this man is descended from a "Palatine" migrant to Pennsylvania. Many of those migrants settled in Berks County. Non-British heads of household who arrived in Philadelphia beginning in 1727 are recorded in published lists. See https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Palatine_Ships for more information.

I've found that tracing these immigrants' families between the time of arrival and the 1800s (when census records exist) can be difficult for those of us who aren't physically in Pennsylvania.

There are profiles in WikiTree for "Palatine" immigrant https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Riegel-5 and family members (including some who might not be from Riegel-5's family).

Comments

Hi Ellen,

 

Thank you for your answer! I totally agree with you that his family is definitely from the area I am now currently living in Germany. What I was trying to do was find Jacob's parent's and then I could go to the village and review records there to see if I could indeed match them up. Thanks for the link to ships passenger records from that area in Germany to PA from 1725-1755 - I think if I can narrow it down to this time frame, it will help me figure it out. With this information, I can then look at tax records here in Germany of individuals to find out when taxes were last paid, hopefully telling the time frame in which they went to America. I hope this makes sense.

On the grave stone - I realize you cannot see it now, but I had heard from my granddad that it at one time DID say he was "b. Berks PA" - where all of the other Riegel's/Riegle's lived before going to NY. Of course - hearsay and I get that, but I guess I wanted to believe since my granddad said it! lol So, now I have to figure out if that it is true, or somewhere maybe near - as you suggested.

I appreciate your insight to my situation! I love being able to "talk out' my brick wall and have another set of eyes seeing something I might have missed. Your help is truly appreciated!

Take Care,

Jen

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I have Pennsylvania ancestors, many in Berks County, who I am sure are descendants of "Palatine" migrants, but I've not been able to connect them to the immigrant ancestors. However, for the less-common names I can identify names on passenger lists who are likely to be their ancestors, and I figure that if we try to research the (1) known ancestors and their families, (2) the immigrant ancestors and their families in Pennsylvania, and (3) the possible origins in Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Alsace) of the immigrant ancestors, we might get lucky and find the missing connections.