BRUNO VASSEL II VIDEO - 1983

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 18^th 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).