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MARY'S FAMILY - HAENSGEN / KOENIGS / MAUER / THELEN BRANCH
This page contains brief family summaries for one of
Mary's
ancestral branches, the Haensgen, Koenigs, Mauer, Thelen,
and related families, mostly from Kreis (County) Daun
of the
Eifel Mountain region of the German province
of Rheinland-Pfalz.
It should be noted that these Family Summaries pages
are
not a complete listing of ancestors or of their siblings
or of
descendants. They were intended to help you determine
if you
want to look at the Detailed Genealogies or Ancestors
pages
of this website.
Contents of this Page:
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Surname List: Bargenquast, Berenz,
Brown, Burgraff,
Elmergreen, Engels, Fabish, Haensgen, Koenigs, Loendorf,
Mauer, Mertes, Mueller, Meurer, Nett, Pauly, Pease, Pfeiffer,
Reuter, Schlosser, Schmitt, Schmitz, Schneider, Steffens,
Stern, Theisen, Thelen, Wasserman, Wettstein.
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Villages in the Eifel Mountains:
Adneau, Bereborn,
Bierschbacher Muhle (Mill), Bruck, Brücktal, Drees,
Jammelshofen, Kaltenborn, Kelberg, Kempenich, Kirsbach,
Lederbach, Nitz, Nürburg, Retterath, Spessart, Watzel,
Weidenbach, Welcherath.
Places in Wisconsin, USA: Chilton, Fond du Lac, Hayton,
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“Holyland”, Kaltenborn, Marytown, Mt. Calvary, New
Holstein.
Links to Other Pages on this Web Site:
Family Summaries - Andy's: Wegner/Zenke/Romig Sommerfeldt/Kroll/Fenske Eiting/Vos/Döink/Micke/Rolf Kellerman/Welter/Butzen/Van Melis Family Summaries - Mary's: Mollon/Marshall Lockery/Gardner Gehrmann/Krechovek Zarnoth/Prey Detailed Genealogies: Andy's - Mary's (contains many photos) E-Mail Us wife Mary Haensgen (born 1885) |
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Haensgen/Mauer/Thelen/Koenigs:
HAENSGEN Family:
Nikolaus HENSGEN & Christina THELEN, were born
around 1725, in the Eifel region of Germany. The spot where they came
from is called Bierschbacher Muhle (Mill) near the villages of Drees &
Nitz. In 1753, Nikolaus & Christina’s son (my
g-g-g-g-grandfather, Arnold Haensgen / Hensgen) was
born. Other children were:
Maria b. 1746, Marie Gertrude b. 1755; Anna Catharina
b. 1757; Anna Catharina b. 1759; Joannis b. 1769 and Antonius b. 1762.
These are some of the villages in the Eifel Mountains, a region bounded on the north, east, and south by the famous rivers and vineyards of the Ahr, Rhine, and Moselle. To the west are forests of the Ardennes of Belgium and Luxembourg. The awesome landscape of the Eifel is universally renowned, whether ablaze with golden broom grasses in the early spring or when the green foliage of the woods is reflected in the dark waters of the ancient volcanic lakes. This is the best of the Rhineland-Pfalz of Germany!
Ancestral Villages of Haensgen, Koenigs, Mauer, Thelen, and Related Families
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Now we should not leave this generation too far behind without saying at least a little about Bierschbacher Muhle. The records clearly indicated they were from there, and our high resolution map pinpointed its location, but looking from several high vantage points on surrounding roads, nothing could be seen but an open valley with a trickle of a stream at its bottom, and a few trees.
Our map shows a Wanderweg (hiking trail) passing not far from the spot, and a farmer’s lane to the east – on higher ground -- but there certainly were no roads. We chance a drive down the private farm lane as far as was passable, in the process passing an uninterested farmer working his fields. We park by an old wooden gate behind some tall grass, and set off on foot, still on the lane. The trees and underbrush are denser than they had appeared from a distance, but the lane skirts above the tangle, and we continue, peering through the thicket. Nothing. No town. No Mill. Nothing. We continue till the lane joins the Wanderweg, consult our maps, conclude we are well beyond the spot indicated for the Muhle, and double back, this time fighting our way to the trickle at the bottom of the valley and following it upstream. Over a couple barbed wire fences, through some brambles, and across a brief clearing, we finally spy a stone structure of some sort, mostly hidden by trees, and still separated from us by some formidable looking fences and by fields that show signs of recent cattle grazing (You know what signs we mean). We cut back uphill to the lane and walk back to the car, still not sure of what we had found, or not found.
The lure of things hidden and mysterious however exert their pull, and the next day finds us again braving the farmer’s lane. We park at the same spot, and now discover a secondary lane that angles down the incline, in the assumed direction of our quest. We follow it, needing only to force our way through long grass, past a gnarled old tree that must have seen plenty beneath its branches. It is a short easy walk before the woods clears a bit, and we have our first good look at Bierschbacher Muhle, an imposing structure of fachwerk and heavily mortared natural fieldstone. It is a solid, well maintained building, a couple hundred feet long and about a third as wide, the north end two story with a chimney, the rest one story.
An old stone millstone leans against the north wall, betraying the building’s function. Wooden shutters, some of them closed, give additional protection to the steel-barred windows. We peer through the open shutters into pitch black rooms, only the flash of our camera allowing the film, and later us, to see ghostly glimpses of the old equipment and supplies inside -- long since unused. We cannot find a trace of the dam or the water course that would have brought the water’s potential energy to the waterwheel to turn the gears and stones.
Before leaving this secluded site, Andy talks me into leaving a note. We find a scrap of paper and scribble a message telling of my relationship to this place – as best we can in our meager German. We cover it in plastic and attach it to the door latch, then reluctantly walk back up the lane, again pausing to talk to the old gnarled tree, and reflect upon the significance of this place. As it turned out, this would not be our last visit to Bierschbacher Muhle, as we soon find that our camera had developed a defect, and we needed more pictures. This time we walk in from the south, following the Wanderweg as far as we can.
Eight months later, our scribbled note bears fruit, when we receive a letter from Johannes Nett, of nearby Nitz. We later discover we are sixth cousins (once removed).
So if you should, perchance, travel to the Eifel and
choose to venture down a lane, you too might catch a glimpse of the hidden
Bierschbacher Muhle.
Arnold HAENSGEN, the oldest son of Nikolaus & Christina, married Anna Maria MERTES in 1790 in Bereborn (parish Retterath). They lived in the village of Brucktal where their eight children, five of whom died as infants, were born: Anna Maria (1791-1796); Bernard b. 1792; Maria Gertrude (1794-1796); Antonius b. 1797; Anna Catherina b. 1799; Anna Maria (1801-1803); Josef (1804-1806) & Josef (1808-1810). One of the descendants of on of these children may have lived in Weidenbach (northeast of Adenau).
Arnold & Anna Maria’s son, Bernard (or Bernhard)
HAENSGEN married Margaretha SCHLOSSER in 1823. They had three sons: Anton
born 1825; Mathias born 1828, and Christian born 1830, all in Brücktal.
Anton was baptized in Welcherath. The three boys, Anton, Mathias & Christian
emigrated in 1846 to the area of Wisconsin, northeast of Fond du Lac called
Mt. Calvary (see map on Front Page of this web site). Mathias had a
son Simon, who (with his wife) migrated in about 1891 from Wisconsin to Muenster,
Saskatchewan, Canada.
| Mathias’s brother, Anton HAENSGEN married
Mary Elizabeth KOENIGS (refer to Koenigs section for ancestors of Mary Elizabeth).
She was also of the Rhineland-Pfalz region. They had ten children, one
of whom was my g-grandfather, Joseph Haensgen born in 1857 in Mt. Calvary
Wisconsin.
In 1878, Joseph HAENSGEN married Anna Maria MAUER,
the daughter of John MAUER and Anna Catharina THELEN (refer to Mauer &
Thelen sections below for their ancestors). They lived in Marytown Wisconsin.
They had 13 children. My grandmother, Mary Haensgen was their third.
She was born in 1885. Her twelve siblings were: John [LOENDORF]; Anton; Michael;
Bertha ; Rose [BERENZ]; Henry [PAULY]; Ida [BARGENQUAST]; Pauline [WASSERMAN];
Frances [1st: PEASE, 2nd: ELMERGREEN]; Peter, Joseph S. [FABISH]; Anne [1st:PFEIFFER,
2nd: BROWN]. The Haensgen family lived in the Fond du Lac, Marytown
area of Wisconsin (Fond du Lac and Calumet Counties).
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Mary Haensgen married Emil ZARNOTH (see separate page of this website for Zarnoth family summary) and they had two children. They lived between Chilton & New Holstein Wisconsin.
The names listed above in square brackets [IN CAPS] are the surnames of the spouses.
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THELEN and Related Families:
We are new to this place, my husband and I, new to these Eifel Mountains. We are here to extract a little information, just a little, about my mother’s mother’s family, to try to make these hills surrender even a hint of who my people were, of what they did, of how they might have influenced who I am. Setting out to explore our temporary, new-found home, we drive east past the world-class Nürburg grand prix racing ring and turn north on route 412. It is early autumn, but the leaves have already begun their colorful dance to the dormancy of winter. Every view, every direction, every turn of the head or eyes, brings a feast of color and contrast and beauty. We are awed by this rugged territory my people called home – and that they chose to leave -- so long ago.
The road follows the high ground, then edges higher still and curves to the right. Straight ahead and to the left the world seems to disappear. Only the distant tree-covered ridge gives assurance of its continued existence. Rounding the bend, we see the land drops precipitously from the road’s edge, down across a large expanse of golden grasses, down to a small crevice of a valley far below. At first the trees obscure its treasure, but then a few roof tops are visible, and a steeple -- no two --, a barn …. A whole village is there -- hidden, protected. We wonder who might be lucky enough to live in such an idylic spot. We stop and take pictures, entranced by the view. A small road to the left careens downward, a sign and arrow indicating the name and direction of “Jammelshofen”. We drive by, but look forward to exploring this valley another day soon.
We had come to the Eifel knowing only a few of the villages of my ancestors – Drees, Nitz, Brücktal -- and only a few of their names – Haensgen, Mauer, Koenigs. We continue north and east, past a logging operation, past more small towns, a mist now hanging over the ridges. I spot a family name on a sign by a house. “Thelen” it says.
“I have some Thelen’s.”
“Where are they from?”, Andy asked.
I check my records and reply, “Someplace in Prussia
is all I know.”
“That’s not much help. Could be anywhere from
East Prussia to the Rheinland.”
“Yeah.”, I agree, -- but I planned to keep my eyes open
anyway.
Later at our apartment, we relive our memories of the day. Was that village in the valley really there? Does such an enchanting place actually exist? Will it still be there when we return? It seemed like it had been a dream.
It was but two days later that we found the marriage record of my great grandmother, Anna Katherina Thelen. And where do you suppose she was from? .…… A little place called Jammelshofen! Needless to say, we became very familiar with this little village – which, by the way, was very much real -- and with the walking trails in the steeply cut valley that leads a couple miles to the east, to Lederbach, the birthplace of Anna Katherina’s husband -- a courting trail he probably walked eagerly many times.
Further research would soon tell that a least four generations of ancestors before her had lived in that secluded valley, although we have not completely confirmed the relationships in the first two.
Sebastian THELEN was born there, about 1710. Even though we have researched some of the Church Books for Adneau, we are uncertain of which Sebastian Thelen is my line and we question the son Peter, born 1732, because proper documentation has not been located. There were several THELEN families in that area at that time and it was difficult to know which particular family was my line.
A Peter THELEN, born in 1732 married Anna Maria MUELLER, born about 1735 of Jammelshofen. They had three children Agnes born 1761; Catharina born 1770 and Johann born 1772. Again, Johann is questioned as belonging to this line as there were many Johann Thelen’s at that time.
This we do know- that Jammelshofen is the birthplace of my g-g-g-grandfather Johann THELEN born about 1772 who married Margaretha MUELLER born 1773 of Kaltenborn (about a mile to the west). They had a son Johann Josef THELEN (my g-g-grandfather) born in 1796. In 1822 Johann Josef married Anna Catharina MUELLER and had two known children, Anna Katherina born 1823 and Franz born in 1825. Anna Katherina THELEN born in 1823 in the village of Jammelshofen married Johann MAUER (see following section) of Lederbach and together they emigrated in 1845 to the United States, finally settling in Fond du Lac County Wisconsin. This hilly area between Lakes Winnebago and Michigan is known as the “Holyland” because most of the towns there are named after Catholic saints or biblical places.
John MAUER and Anna Katherina THELEN had nine children. I believe Elizabeth, the oldest, was born in Germany and emigrated with her parents. The remaining eight children were born in Fond du Lac County. The children were: Elizabeth b. 1845, Johann b. 1849, Ann b. 1850, Anna Catherine born 1851 in Mt. Calvary Wisconsin [WETTSTEIN], Anton born about 1856, Peter b. May 1857, Anna Maria born 1858, [HAENSGEN], (see earlier Haensgen section), Mattis b. 1864, and Michel b. 1866.
I am looking for information that can verify the Thelen family links? Do we have the correct Sebastian and Peter? Does anyone know the families of the additional children?
The names listed above in square brackets [IN CAPS] are the surnames of the spouses.
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MAUER and Related Families:
When in Germany in 2000 we went to the village of Kempenich in the Eifel region, to look at church records for Servas MAUER. The parish priest helped us find the record for my g-g-g-g grandfather, Servaz Mauer and it was there we heard about the village of Watzel. We found Watzel on the map and visited the area. At the present time it is just a cross-roads intersection with about 3 to 4 houses. When the Mauer family lived there in the 1800's it was a larger village with a church and many homes. This information comes from a book called "Eifelland" written by Rudolf Leisen.
The book gives an overview, in German, of other villages in the Eifel region and also lists some of the village inhabitants. The village of Watzel had 12 Mauer families living there at that time.
At some point Servas MAUER moved to a little village to the south called Lederbach. He married Ann STEFFENS and had 4 children, one of whom was Johann Sebastian born in 1791, my g-g-g-grandfather. Johann Sebastian MAUER and his wife Anna Margaretha NETT (born 1794) had nine children, all born in Lederbach. It is not known how many of the MAUER children came to the United States but Johann (John) came with his wife Anna Katherina THELEN (see previous section for Thelen history) in 1845 and settled in the Mt. Calvary, Fond du Lac County, area of Wisconsin.
The parents of Anna Margaretha NETT were Quirin Nett born 1764 and Anna Maria REUTER born 1765. The parents of Ouirin were Josef Nett born 1730 and Anna Catharina SCHMITZ (or SCHMITT) born 1729. The parents of Anna Catharina were Paul SCHMITZ / SCHMITT born 1696 and Maria MEURER born 1698. They were from Spessart.
It should be noted that the Family Summaries pages of this website do not necessarily list all the ancestors that we know on all of the lines. This is the case for the families in the prior paragraph, and is the case for many other families as well on this and other pages. Refer to the “Ancestor” and “Detailed Genealogies” pages for a complete listing.
The names listed above in square brackets [IN CAPS] are the surnames of the spouses.
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KOENIGS and Related Families:
The Eifel village of Kirsbach is where the Koenigs family came from. There are a few other Koenigs families in the area but it is believed Hubert KOENIGS had a sister Appolonia, a brother Michael of the village of Bruck, Germany, & another brother Mathias Koenigs also of Bruck. It is probable their father was Peter Koenigs of Kirsbach, but there are not enough records to prove this. Also, Europe was just coming out of the Black Plague epidemic and there were not many records kept during this period, per the writings in the “Koenigs/Koenig/King Family Book”, circa 1678 to 1993 by Andrew Chiello.
Hubert, born in Kirsbach in 1678, married Anna Gertrude SCHNEIDER born 1628, also of Kirsbach. They had five children: Johann Peter b. 1709, Mathias b. 1711, Anna Catharina b. 1714, Johann Gerhard b. 1716 and Nicolas b. 1721.
Hubert & Anna Gertrude’s son Nicolas married Anna
Gertrude ENGELS about 1750. They added seven children to the population
of Kirsbach. They were: Johann b. 1751,
J. Peter b. 1754 [SCHLOSSER], J. Chrysanthus b.
1757 [THEISEN], Nicolas b. 1758 [THEISEN], Christian [BURGRAFF], Anna Catharina
b. 1765 [SCHLOSSER] and Catharina b. 1767.
My g-g-g-g grandfather, Christian KOENIGS, born in 1762, married Gertrude BURGRAFF, born 1763 in or around Kirsbach, Rhineland. One of their sons, Joseph KOENIGS, born 1798 married Catharina STERN of Bruck, Rhineland.
From birth records it shows their first child was born in Kirsbach but the rest of their family have Bruck as their birthplace.
Research has not been done to know if Joseph & Catharina came to the USA but we know Joseph & Catharina’s oldest daughter Mary Elizabeth KOENIGS born 1832 came to the USA and settled in the area northeast of Fond du Lac Wisconsin known as the “Holy Land”.
Mary Elizabeth KOENIGS married Anton HAENSGEN in 1851 in Fond du Lac County Wisconsin. In 1878 Anton & MaryElizabeth’s third child, Joseph born 1856 in Mt. Calvary married Anna-Maria MAUER born 1858 of Fond du Lac. They lived in Marytown and had 13 children. Joseph was a blacksmith for most of this life.
The names listed above in square brackets [IN CAPS]
are the surnames of the spouses.