UPDATE on KESSINGER FAMILY
Research in Germany on family origins
Family and Friends:
Our quest has taken us to this point --
we now know “for certain” that
Andreas Kessinger, and his brother Johann Georg Kessinger,
-- were the first
of our line of the Kessinger family to emigrate from Germany to the
American
Colonies. And that our Solomon I
(Old Sol) was not born in Germany; but was
born on Feb. 03, 1745, in Lancaster County, Province of Pennsylvania.
We have had to sort through a lot of
misinformation to arrive at these
conclusions; but it has been
worth it.
Now we can delve deeper into these
ancestors and find out who they were,
where they went, and what they
did.
AT THIS POINT, OUR PATH SEPARATES INTO TWO
DIRECTIONS
We will continue to research the lives
of Solomon 1 (Old Sol) and his family
as they join the Westward movement in
America.
And
we will attempt to find out more about Andreas in Germany, who his
parents
were and where they originated from.
To
this end, we are indebted to Carolyn Vassel of Utah
and the research that
She has done on the Kessinger family in
Karlsruhe, Germany in 2014.
Cari found a recently published
book which contains references to Andreas
Kessinger;
Johann Georg Kessinger; their wives and children; -- AND,
the names of their parents.
A New “Key Link” is Discovered
In 1988 Judy Nelson, in researching the
historical records in Karlsruhe, Germany
Came upon
our “missing link” -- when she found the records of Andreas Kessinger.
Twenty-six years later, in May of 2014,
Carolyn “Cari” Vassel, while on a mission to Germany for her Mormon church,
visited the records of the Karlsruhe library and has
supplied
us with another “key link” by finding
the names of the parents of Andreas and Johann Georg Kessinger; they are :
Johann George Kessinger ( Sr.) and Sususanna
Kiefer. (Daughter of
Conrad Kiefer.)
Thank you Cari.
Carolyn (Edwards)
Vassel and Bruno Vassel, III
(Cari is
a descendent from Mathias Kessinger I)
Ortssippenbuch der ehemaligen Gemeinde Welschneureut heute Ortsteil Neureut-Süd der Stadt Karlsruhe in Baden von Walter Müller
Family and Friends:
Our search has led us to a
path that we need to explore.
This discovery of the
names of Andreas’ parents is a “key link” in the
research of our Kessinger
family – however, it has presented us with
an Enigma.
It has long been conjectured that there might
be a ”possible connection”
between Andreas Kessinger and the family of Peter Kissinger [Born 1620
in
Selzen, Rheinhesse, Hesse,
Germany]. It was believed that Peter might
be the
great-grandfather of Andreas. This connection is no longer viable.
Andreas’ parents were: Johann Georg Kessinger (Sr.) and Susanna
(Kiefer)
Kessinger who were from Teutschneureut (Welschneureut), Karlsruhe,
Germany.
The
question now arises; is it possible that there were two separate families
with an Andreas and a Johan(nes), born between 1701 and 1710?
One in Selzen; and
one in Karlsruhe?
Fortunately, we have not had to wait
long for an answer to this question.
We thank Glen H.
Cook of Cincinnati, Ohio for his contributing
article:
“A Tale of Two Families”.
IN
CONCLUSION:
We are now certain, that the Johannes
and Andreas Kissinger, (who were born in 1701 and 1703 in Selzen,
Germany) -- are an entirely different pair of brothers
from Johann Georg and Andreas Kessinger (whose marriages were recorded in Karlsruhe
in 1726; and who, with their families, arrived in America on the ship William in 1737.)
As
a matter of fact, there has not been any evidence uncovered, thus far, that our
Andreas and Johann Georg Kessinger had any connection, whatsoever, to Selzen,
Germany – or the Kissinger’s who lived there. Further research will resolve the
debate.
ADDENDUM:
To
assist the reader in a better understanding of the geography mentioned in this
article, I have included the following:
In
the 18th century, the Rhine River was a major means of
transportation and flowed into the English Channel at Rotterdam,
Netherlands. This was where many of the
German Palatines departed Germany, on
their way to new home lands.
Selzen, Germany -- is near the present day city of Mainz on the west side of the
Rhine River.
Selzen
is 75 miles north of Karlsruhe.
Sandhofen, Germany -- the European home of Jacob Kiessinger, “. .
. was probably a rural and independent community, in 1726-27, however, it is,
now, one of the eight "parishes" that comprise the City of Mannheim,
in the County of Mannheim, that adjoins the County of Heidelberg. Both counties are, now, in the State of
Baden-Wuerttemberg but, they were formerly, in the Duchy of Baden, in the Electoral Palatinate.” ("The Atlantic Bridge to Germany,
Volume I, Baden-Wuerttemberg", by Charles M. Hall. - The Everton Publishers,
Inc., Logan, Utah, 1974.)
Karlsruhe, Germany – is on the east side
of the Rhine River. It was founded by
Margrave Karl III Wilhelm on June 17, 1715. The small villages of Welschneureut
and Teutschneureut -- are situated in the Neureut district [that was created in
1260 by Count Rudolf I]; both of these villiages merged in 1935, and are now
part of the present day Karlsruhe. It
was the birthplace and home of Andreas and Johann Georg Kessinger.
According
to Catherine S. Dippo (Welschneureut Church
Records, Heritage Books, 2003), the area of Neureut was devastated
during the Thirty Years War between (1618-1648) and the War of the Palatine
Succession (1688-1697). (Neureut is now
part of Karlsruhe.)
In
1698 the Markgraf Friedrich Magnus invited 58 French speaking Calvinist and
Huguenot families to help repopulate the area.
This group had been driven out of several provinces in southern France
during the Reformation because of their Protestant faith. With the settlement
of these refugees, the new town (which was predominately French speaking) was
established in 1699 and named Welschneureut; to distinguish it from the
original villiage of Teutschneureut (which was German speaking).
