This page serves as a jumping-off point for information about the Riedesels of Wittgenstein who emigrated to the United States. They are organized around their families of origin; those from Wunderthausen are further described by the distinctive house names used in that village. I refer to the emigrants with the names they were known by in the United States (and to their descendants), rather than by their birth names. Genealogy reports--both of ancestors and of descendants--always include full information about the emigrant.
From "Haase" in Wunderthausen
The first known family group of Riedesels to emigrate to the Midwest came in 1844 and 1845. They lived in
the small house called "Haase" in Wunderthausen
(click here for current photo).
The group included Ludwig and
Florentine (Althaus) Riedesel, their five grown children, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law,
and two grandchildren. Also in the party was Ludwig Dürr, a nephew of Florentine's who
had probably lived with them. In 1844, the son J. Ludwig Riedesel and Ludwig Dürr made
the trip across the ocean (via Hamburg and Baltimore as far as we know) and proceeded to
Galion, Ohio (in Crawford County). The rest of the family came in 1845. An epidemic of
some kind (possibly cholera) around 1847-1848 claimed the lives of the old couple, and
others.
As far we know, they worked for other people while living in Ohio. In 1850, two of the sons walked out to the Iowa frontier and bought land. They did not move right away, but all of the family eventually moved to what became Wheatland, Iowa (in Clinton County) over the 1850s. Numerous others from Wunderthausen were to follow, including other groups of Riedesels.
Following are the five children of Ludwig and Florentine with links to information in this site about them.
From "Bergmanns/Gabels" in Wunderthausen
Many more Riedesels in the Midwest and elsewhere descend from three brothers from this house
(click here for current photo) who came to the U.S. at various times through various routes. Their sister,
Wilhelmina, arrived earlier than her brothers and married into the Schneider family.
An "Anna Riedesel" came from Germany to Rochester, NY, in 1867; I am not certain
of her identity but have good reason to believe that she was the Anna Elisabeth Riedesel born in Bergmanns in 1846. Henry
came to the U.S. in the mid-1850s. The Riedesels of Haase house were already living around
Wheatland, as were two family groups of Schneiders from Wunderthausen. Henry married
Florentine Schneider at Wheatland where all their children were born. In 1891, they moved
on to Lanesboro in Carroll County, Iowa.
The second brother was known as Louis C. Riedesel in this country. He came with his wife, Katherine Peter of nearby Diedenshausen in 1866 with at least one of their children. Family legend has it that he was home on leave from Bismarck's wars (Wunderthausen and Wittgenstein being subject to the king of Prussia by then) and that he had tickets to America in hand at the time. They settled in Cedar County, Iowa, near Wheatland, Big Rock and Lowden. Of their 13 children, 12 lived to adulthood and 10 married.
Their much-younger brother John Daniel came to the U.S. in
1860 according to what he told the Census taker in 1920; it had been told that
he came with Henry in the 1850s, but this seems unlikely and there is no sign of
him at Wheatland in 1860. He eventually settled in Rochester, New York, where
he married Elizabeth Mehne.
From "Altehäusers" in Wunderthausen
A first cousin of the siblings from Bergmanns was another Henry (born Ludwig
Heinrich in 1836). He was from the house known as Altehäusers in Wunderthausen
(click
here for current photo), and did
not come to America until 1892 following the death of his wife. Only one son, Christian
Willi, came with him. They lived in Rochester, NY.
From "Schreiners/Großeludwigs" in Wunderthausen
A large and far-flung family of Riedesels came to America from the house known variously
as Schreiners or Großeludwigs (literally, Big Louie's) in Wunderthausen
(click here for current photo). The
father (born Georg Gabriel but known as Ludwig) had children from two marriages. He settled in the Kansas City area, but little is
known beyond that. Eventually, four sons from the first marriage and one son and
two daughters from the second
came to the U.S. Three of the first four brothers lived at Wheatland, and the fourth passed through.
They were not close to their step-siblings who lived around Kansas City.
From "Försters hinter der Huthe" in Wunderthausen
The brothers known as George Louis and Henry, and their sister Elisabeth came to
the U.S. from this house (click here for current photo) in 1881. The brothers settled in Wheatland. Elisabeth married in nearby Denver,
Iowa.
From Weymers In Wunderthausen
Three brothers from the house known as Weymers
(click
here for current photo) came to the U.S. over a period of several
years. The oldest--George--was the last to go in 1906 and as far as I know, the last
Riedesel from Wunderthausen to emigrate to America. We have photographs of Weymers Haus from around the turn of
the century and then again in the 1970s.
Decades before, another Riedesel went to live in the Oxford, New Jersey area. It is not absolutely certain, but I believe that this man who was known as "John Radle" was in fact the Johannes Riedesel born October 25, 1810. He married in Oxford, New Jersey (a gathering point for Wunderthäuser), and apparently moved out to the Wheatland area by the 1860s. When his wife died in 1869, she was buried at St. Paul's Cemetery as Catherine Riedesel, but the 1870 Census lists him (we think) as John Radle, and that is the name used by the children in Cherokee County later on.
The brothers:
From Seimes/Weißkopfs in Wunderthausen
An uncle, two nieces and nephew emigrated from this house
(click
here for current photo) to America. Little is known about them with certainty
From Wetzels in Wunderthausen
Two sons and a daughter of this house
(click
here for current photo) came to the eastern United States. The
older was a half brother to the others. In 1814 or 1815, Johannes Riedesel came with his wife and two Wunderthausen-born
children to America. By the time of his death in 1855, he was know as John
Rittase, the name used by his descendants.
His half-brother, (Georg) Ludwig, probably made the voyage to America in the early 1840s. He settled at Oxford, and was called Louis Radle or Riddle. He had children from two marriages. One daughter married another Wunderthausen immigrant, Ludwig Lauber from Gründchen. Finally, (Anna) Catherine was a sister of Ludwig's and probably came with him. She married the Wunderthausen Riedesel who was known as George Radle.
From Försters am Lotzenberg in Wunderthausen
At least one son and most likely two from this house (click
here for current photo) settled in the greater St. Louis area.
Johann Jost (known as Johannes or John) lived in Monroe and St. Clair
Counties in Illinois. He married Caroline Knebel from Wunderthausen, though
she was already a widow. I believe that a second John Riedesel who lived in
St. Louis was a nephew.
From Känals in Wunderthausen
In a group of young adults from Wundethausen or nearby villages who landed in
New York in 1867 were John (Johannes) Riedesel from Känals house
(click here for current photo) and Maria
Catherine Lauber from Hohmanns house
(click here
for current photo). All gave Illinois as their destination,
and she had two uncles who had gone there previously. However, John and Maria
married in St. Louis in 1869. They apparently lived there until about 1880 when
they came to Milwaukee.
From 'Am Kloster' in Wunderthausen
A brother and sister--Henry Herman and Catherine--came from this homestead just outside of
Wunderthausen
(click
here for current photo). Unfortunately, I have no record of Catherine in this
country other than that she arrived on a ship in 1885 at the age of 14. Henry, at least, settled in Kansas City,
Missouri and was
sponsored by a fellow Wunderthausen-emigrant Louis Knoche.
Gone in 1796
A large number of Wittgensteiners applied to the Count to emigrate to
America in 1796, among them three known Riedesels. I have been unable to track
any of them in the U.S., but there are Riedesels who show up in vital records in
Maryland and Pennsylvania who could well be their descendants.
From Berleburg
Two brothers from Berleburg arrived in the port of Philadelphia in 1819, the first clearly documented arrivals
I have found. The elder is known to have married and had a daughter, but the
ship's list mentions neither wife nor child.
From Erndtebrück
Karl (Carl) Riedesel came from the town of Erndtebrück in the southern part of
Wittgenstein. He became a prominent citizen in Crookston, Minnesota. His sister Luise
eventually went to Texas too, though I know little about her.
Two other Riedesel brothers (uncles of Carl and Luise) from the town of Erndtebrück
settled in Texas in
1849--Ludwig and August. Like Carl up in Minnesota, Ludwig and August followed
leather-related trades. They made their homes around Victoria in DeWitt County,
Texas. This was an area of heavy German settlement in which German names,
custom, and inter-marriage endured much longer than in Iowa.
From Diedenhofen
The trail is winding, but other Riedesels called the town of Diedenhofen home. It is now known as Thionville in the French
province of Lorraine. It was a German territory until the 1600s and then again
between 1871 and 1918. The roots of these siblings lead back to Girkhausen in
Wittgenstein.
John Henry, Peter, and Marie
This group of brothers and sisters from Diedenhofen were relative late-comers to America, emigrating in the
early 1900s. John Henry settled first in Oklahoma, but later moved to the Westfield, New
York, area where many descendants live. Peter immigrated in time to serve in the American
army in World War I where he was seriously wounded; he lived variously in Tennessee,
Oklahoma, and California before settling in Washington state. Sister Marie
married Adam Zehner and lived in Tennessee.
Johannes/John Riedesel and daughter Louise.
This Johannes was definitely born in what is still Germany, but moved as a small boy to Diedenhofen. Shortly after his first daughter was born,
he came to the U.S. in 1899 with his wife, daughter and a half-sister Marie.
In about 1901 they returned to Europe. Louise came back as a
young woman to marry Clifford Barr in North Dakota in 1922.
Kane County, Illinois: Friedrich and children: Maria
Caroline, William,, Sophia and Mary
Circumstantial evidence links several Riedesels who lived in Kane County, Illinois, to
each other. Friedrich and Mary Riedesel (no maiden name known) emigrated to
Canada in 1862 and then moved on to Dundee, Illinois, about 1863. Their
birth place was given as "Prussia", which included the territory of Wittgenstein by the
early 1800s. Children:
Charles in Chicago
Scattered evidence ties several Riedesels in Chicago
together. Charles (probably born Karl) emigrated from Germany in the late 1860s
with at least three children. His wife was not alive (or at least in the
household) in 1880. It is my hypothesis that Charles and Friedrich (above) were
closely related, if not brothers. I am only guessing that John was a son
of Charles.
Pennsylvania
A family of Riedesels lived in the Philadelphia area from at least 1830 (we
think) until the early 20th century. However, the earliest identifiable member
of this line was American-born, and I have yet to link him to an emigrant. John
B. Riedesel was born around 1830 and eventually died at the battle of
Chancellorsville during the Civil War. His sons, John Henry and Jesse Ott,
married and had children.
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This page was last updated on 06/28/08.
