Acks Name Study - German Lines

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Baden, Germany
Surname/tag: Acks

Contents 1 Acks Name Origins 2 The German Acks' 2.1 Ersingen Emigration 2.1.1 Resources 2.1.2 Surnames 2.1.3 Other Immigrants to United States 3 Ochs Research and Resources

Acks Name Origins

The name Acks appears largely in the United States. The name possibly is derived from German and Eastern European named Ochs. Ochs is german for ox. Census and other vital records have a wide variety of spelling of Acks and Ochs.

In America, Acks' appear to group in two different population groups. The first to appear are the German Catholics that arrive starting in the early 1800s. The second group appear to be Jewish Ochs' that arrived starting in the late 1800's.

The German Acks'

There appear to be two main lines of Acks' in the United States from Baden, Germany

• Bartholomew Acks (1790-1880) of Warren County, Pennsylvania. This line seems to have the largest number of descendents in America.
• Adam (Albert) Acks - from Piopolis, Hamilton County, Illinois. Adam was also born in Pennsylvania.

Ersingen Emigration

Ersingen is small village in Baden-Württemberg, near Pforzheim, Germany. In the 1800's many people from Ersingen emigrated to the United States. Many of them ended up in Piopolis, Illinois. The Zachmanns came from Ersingen. Emigrants from neighboring Bilfingen and Spessart, to a lesser degree, also emigrated to Ersingen about the same time. The emigration from Ersingen to Piopolis in Hamilton County started in 1841.

Resources

The LDS is a great resource for this area. They have microfilmed church records from the Catholic Church in Ersingen. When searching for ancestors from Ersingen at familysearch.com use the following batch numbers to eliminate names from other towns in Germany:

• J941221 - Male births 1625-1783
• J941222 - Male births 1784-1868
• J941222 - Male births 1869-1875
• K941221 - Female births 1625-1783
• K941222 - Female births 1784-1868 (seems that some are missing around 1800)
• K941223 - Female births 1869-1874
• M941221 - Marriages 1628-1808
• M941223 - Marriages 1809-1885

Surnames

Some of the surnames found in Piopolis, Illinois include:

• Anselment
• Biehoffer
• Bleckle
• Casper/Kasper
• Engel
• Frey
• Holler/Haller
• Mark
• Rapp
• Schuster
• Voegele (Vogel)
• Walzer
• Zachmann - in the first wave of immigrants in 1841.
• Ziegler

Other immigrants from Ersingen that are among cousins of the Acks' include:

• Aydt -in the first wave of immigrants in 1841, possible also some from Bilfingen
• Frank
• Heil
• Karcher (Kaercher)
• Kaufmann
• Reyling
• Ripplinger
• Ruebenacker
• Stich
• Wangler
• Esswein (Esswine) - in the first wave of immigrants in 1841.

The following surnames from Ersingen have not yet been found in the US.

• Koenig - perhaps did not emigrate to the U.S.
• Lendensfeller - perhaps did not emigrate to the U.S.

Other Immigrants to United States

Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Marion County, Ohio were other destinations where at least a small enclave of immigrants from Ersingen laid down roots in America.

Ochs Research and Resources

It is possible Ochs is the german spelling of the the anglicized surname Acks. For the German Acks', it seems possible these Ochs are from Spessart, Baden, Germany. Some resources to pursue are below:.

• The Bauman Family of Puslinch (Ontario, Canada) - traces one Spessart Ochs' line back to the 1600's.
• Puslinch (Ontario, Canada) Historical Society - contains the names of a couple of Ochs from Spessart.
• Family History and Genealogy of John Lisle - John has a Michael Ochs born in 1800's as an ancestor and has information on other Ochs.