Here are the profiles Michael Kerstetter is currently working on. Can you help?
I have several ancestral lines traced back to immigrants from other countries. So far, most of those are German emigrees who were part of the Palatine Migration. I have enough now, that I decided I needed to create a priority list, as follows:
German Research Priority 1:
The ancestors of Anna Elisabeth Zehrung (1749-bef.1790)
A lot of work has been done, many thanks to Danny Gutknecht. The impression I get from Danny is that the Archion church books only go back from Anna's time about 4 or 5 generations, so I thought I would like to exhaust what these books can tell me about my ancestors. Go to this page to get an overview: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Zehrung-4#Ancestors
History and sources of the region
Anna Elisabeth Zehrung and nearly all of her ancestors lived in the parish of Marienberg in the region called "Westerwald" in nowadays Hessen, Germany.
History: The parish was mentioned for the first time in 1258 as "mons sanctae Mariae" and from 1443 was part of the County of Nassau-Beilstein. The Counts of Nassau-Beilstein had a chancellery there with a clerk (secretary), a noble bailiff and a rentmaster for the money accounts and tax collection. The parish of Marienberg was one of six parishes belonging to the district of Beilstein, and besides Marienberg itself, consisted of the surrounding villages Bach, Bölsberg, Eichenstruth, Fehl, Großseifen, Illfurth, Langenbach, Hof, Pfuhl, Ritzhausen, Stockhausen, Unnau und Zinhain. When the ruling dynasty of Nassau-Beilstein died out in 1561 the territory was inherited by some side lineages of the family. The parish of Marienberg followed this line of succession:
- 1443-1561 Grafschaft Nassau-Beilstein, Heiliges Römisches Reich
- 1562-1606 Grafschaft Nassau-Dillenburg, Heiliges Römisches Reich
- 1607-1701 Grafschaft Nassau-Diez, Heiliges Römisches Reich
- 1702-1806 Fürstentum Nassau-Oranien, Heiliges Römisches Reich
Stately records: The administrative center was in Beilstein itself. All early records will therefore most likely be found in the district archives of Beilstein, now being held at the state archives of Hessen in Wiesbaden.
Church records: Like in all territories that followed the Evangelical Confession, church books were kept since about 1540. Unfortunately the region was heavily plundered and devastated during the 30 Years War (1618-1648) and all older church books of Marienberg are lost. New books and accounts were reinstated in 1645 and appear to be complete and continuous from then.
Open Questions and Profiles that need work
The Zentralarchiv der Evangelischen Kirche Hessen Nassau, Dekanat Marienberg records have been exhausted for the parents and grandparents of Anna Elizabeth, so it's the following generations that still need work. In no particular order of priority for the GGP generation:
- Johann Sebastian Zehrung (abt.1625-1709) - DONE
- Kortel (Menges) Zehrung (abt.1625-1690) - Lacking parents
- Johannes Habel (1646-1710) - completely sourceless
- Ann Else (Lupp) Habel (1640-1709) - completely sourceless
- Johannes Uhr (abt.1620-1684) - Possibly done, except parents are unknown. Danny, have you already looked for and failed to find his parents?
- Gertraud (Henzerling) Uhr (abt.1630-1693) - Complete except that her parents are unidentified. Unfortunately, it isn't clear where to look for them.
- Christoph Crumb (abt.1630-) - Lacking birth and death records and identity of mother. Danny, have you already looked for and failed to find any of these datums?
- Agatha (Kray) Crumm (abt.1630-) - Lacking birth and death records, identity of mother, and enough information on father to be able to create a profile for him.
In no particular order for the GGGP generation:
- Antonius Thonges Zehrung (abt.1600-1683) - DONE - Records deadend.
- Lena (Uhr) Zehrung (bef.1610-abt.1669) - DONE - Records deadend.
- Her attached father probably will have to be removed, since no clue can be provided were this information might have come from. I left it for now hoping the book of Wilson Zaring can be found.
- Bast Habel (1620-1685) - DONE - Records deadend.
- Has to be merged with Sebastian Habel-107.
- Maria (Unknown) Habel (1620-1692) - completely sourceless
- Tonges Lupp (1614-1677) - completely sourceless
- Barbara Anna (1613-1667) - completely sourceless
- Johann Crumb (abt.1600-) - Lacking all information except his existence. Birth and marriage would have occurred prior to the oldest surviving church book. Records deadend. Danny, did you already look for and fail to find a death record?
German Research Priority 2:
The ancestors of Hanß Lienhardt Kirstetter (1668-abt.1760)
History and sources of the region
Open Questions and Profiles that need work
Returning to Kerstetter line, it would be great to fill out the tree.
Is there a marriage record for him and the "Anna Ursula" mentioned in son Johann Martin's birth record? Is Ursula a surname or part of the given name? The existing profile indicates it's a surname. Do Hanß and Anna Ursula have other children? And then keep going back in the line filling out.
German Research Priority 3:
The ancestors of Johannes Peter Stetzler (1724-1795)
Hints and clues about the origin
Open Questions and Profiles that need work
Where was he born? Who are his parents? FamilySearch says he's from Buch Am Ahorn and father Andreas Stetzler. However, Danny has taken a look and while he found Andreas in that location, he didn't find a birth record.
German Research Priority 4:
The ancestors and family of Jacob Sander Felsinger (1841-1904) and sister Katherine Felsinger (1849-1926)
Hints and clues about the origin
Born March 1841, best estimation on place is Ensheim, Alzey, Hessen, Deutscher Bund, both based on family bible entries. Emigrated 1858. Father Michael, mother Charlotte (Knoble) and sister Katherine came to America too, but none are on the same ship as Jacob.
According to data in the 1870 US Census, she was born in "Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Starkenburg, Hessen, Germany" or more accurately for 1849, Darmstadt, Kreis Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire. Note that if accurate, this would imply that between 1841 and 1849 Michael moved the family from Ensheim to Darmstadt.
Katherine in the US for the 1860 census so if she was born in Darmstadt in 1849, it narrows down the emigration of Michael, Charlotte and Katherine to late 1849-early 1860.
Open Questions and Profiles that need work
Can German origin be confirmed? Birth record? Records for Michael, Charlotte and Katherine?
German Research Priority 5:
Ancestors of Christopher Dunkelberger (1748-bef.1835)
Biography needs to be fleshed out. Significant ancestor lines already exist, but bios are sketchy at best and lack original German sources.