Monroe County, Illinois Church Records

My latest genealogy project is to put my transcriptions from original church records on-line, with a focus on Esther Kraus's ancestors and the Eckert, Krauss/Kraus, Lepp, Stumpf, Wehinger, and Wenkel families. Many other related families are also found in these records.

You can access the records here. Just follow the link to the church of interest.

So far, I have completed the following:

• St. Paul's Evangelical, Columbia, Monroe County, Illinois:
  - Member list
  - Confirmations (full transcription of 1938 confirmands directory, partial transcription of original records)
  - Marriages (partial transcription of original records)
  - Deaths (partial transcription of original records)
  
• St. Paul's Evangelical, Waterloo, Monroe County, Illinois:
  - Marriages (partial transcription of original records)
  

There are scans from the original record microfilms for many of the entries. Extracts from the baptism records of both St. Paul's in Columbia and St. Paul's in Waterloo are next on the agenda.

In addition to my transcribed records, I've compiled other online resources, including histories, photos and record indices, for St. Paul's Evangelical (Columbia), St. Paul's Evangelical (Waterloo), Zoar Evangelical (New Hanover), Immaculate Conception (Columbia), and Zion Evangelical (Millstadt, St. Clair County). Esther's ancestors (or their siblings) recorded baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and deaths at each of these churches.

Corrections and comments are always welcome.

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Our Ancestral Villages and Towns

Genealogy and How suggests that a little research on the literal meaning of German town names can provide some insight as to how our ancestors lived in the "old country." From what I've learned about our own ancestors' homes, it is often not as simple as looking up words in a German-English dictionary. While some names are based on a local geographic feature, others are named after early inhabitants, or are based on the old Roman town names. Most have become distorted over the centuries.

Below is a summary of some of the information I've found. Note that the linked English translations are very crude.

Becherbach: Krauss family
Becher: This probably refers to the "Pechbrennern" (pitch burners) that were used there.
Bach: brook

The Becherbach area has been inhabited since neolithic times. Roman roads criss-cross the region. Today it is in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.

• Official Becherbach website
• Becherbach Wikipedia entry (English translation)
• For more information about the Krauss family start here.

Bregenz: Einsle family
Bregenz is a town in Austrian Alpine state of Vorarlberg. The area has been settled for thousands of years. The city of "Brigantium" was founded by the Romans in 15 BC. The name Bregenz is derived from the Roman name.

• Official Bregenz site
• Brengenz Wikipedia entry (English translation)
• Bregenz photo album
• Start here for more information about the Einsle family.

Dornbirn: Wehinger Family
Dornbirn is a town in western Austria in the Alpine state of Vorarlberg. The name Dornbirn is derived from "torrin puirron", meaning the "settlement of Torro" after the name of a resident farmer. The the first recorded use of the name was in 895.

• Official Dornbirn web site
• Dornbirn Wikipedia entry (English translation)
• Dornbirn Photo Album
• Start here for more information about the Wehinger family.

Ebeleben: Wenkel family
Ebeleben was first settled between the 4th and 6th century, and the first documented use of the name was in 1198 (Duke Fridericus de Eveleiben). The meaning of the name is unclear.
Ebeleben is in the German state of Thuringia.

• Official Ebeleben site (click the links under "Geschichte" for pictures).
• Wikipedia entry for Ebeleben (English translation
• Start here for more information about the Wenkel family. (See also Bierwirth.)

Grosswenden or Großwenden: Bierwirth family
Gross or Groß: large.
Wenden: in this case it refers to the old German word for "Slavs" (English translation). The towns of Grosswenden and Kleinwenden were founded during the Middle Ages by Slavs who had migrated west. Today Großwenden and nearby Klein(small)wenden are part of the greater municipality of Großlohra in the German state of Thuringia.

• Wikipedia article about Großlohra and its castle. (English translation)
• Großwenden Evangelical (Protestant) Church Information
• Start here for more information about the Bierwirth family. (See also Wenkel)

Gross-Zimmern: Stumpf family
Gross or Groß: large or greater
Zimmern: literally rooms, but the derivation is slightly different

• Official Groß-Zimmern website
• Groß-Zimmern Wikipedia entry (English translation)
• Start here for information about the Stumpf family.

The town was first mentioned in 1250, when the Abbey of Fulda Groß-Zimmern gave the fiefdom of the deceased George von Zimmern to the counts Diether und Eberhard von Katzenellenbogen. The 13th century name "Cymmern Superior" developed into Groß-Zimmern (also called over the centuries "Obernzimmern", "Zummern", "Zymern", "Zymmern", "Großen Zymern", "Oberzimmern" und "Großen Zimbern").Groß-Zimmern is in the present-day state of Hessen in Germany.

Michelbach: Eckert family
Michel: Michael
Bach: brook
There are several Michelbachs in Germany. Our Eckert family was probably from the village of Michelbach that lies outside of Fränkisch-Crumbach in the Odenwald (Oden Forest) in the state of Hessen, Germany.

• Official Fränkisch-Crumbach website.(Map showing Michelbach).
• Odenwald Wikipedia entry (English translation)
• Fränkisch-Crumbach Wikipedia entry (Enlish translation)
• Start here for more information about the Eckert family.

Nierstein: Leip Family
Nier: ? One interpretation of the name is "stone house of Naro".
Stein: rock or stone

Nierstein lies in the wine growing region along the Rhine river in the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz.Romans founded the town of Bauconica on this site almost 2000 years ago. The name Nierstein was first recorded in 882 ("Nerinstein" in a confirmation record).

• Official Nierstein website
• Nierstein Wikipedia entry (English translation)
• Nierstein History Association (click on map)
• Nierstein photos
• Start here for information about the Leip family.

Oppenheim: Lepp Family
Oppen: probably after a Frankish nobleman named "Obbo"
Heim: home

Oppenheim lies in the wine growing region along the Rhine river, adjacent to the town of Nierstein (see above). By the 4th century there was a Roman settlement on the site. In about 510 a Frankish nobleman, probably named "Obbo" established a manor (Hofgut) around which the village of Oppenheim grew.

• Official Oppenheim website (click on map)
• Oppenheim Wikipedia entry (English translation)
• Oppenheim photos
• Start here for information about the Lepp family.

Schönborn: Jaeger family
Schön or Schoen: beautiful
Born: spring or fount

Schönborn is near the village of Becherbach in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.

• Official Schönborn website
• Schönborn Wikipedia entry (English translation)
• For more information about the Jaeger family start here.

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View of the "old country": Webcam Dornbirn Marktplatz

Our Wehinger ancestors lived in the Marktplatz (market square) area of Dornbirn, Austria for hundreds of years (from the 1630s to at least the 1830s). According to the official Dornbirn web site:

The centre of Dornbirn, the “Marktplatz” (market square), is one of the most interesting and amusing places in Vorarlberg. Three and a half centuries of different architectural styles can be found here alongside each other, from the baroque “Rote Haus” typical of the Rhine valley, the Neo-Classical parish church of St Martin, the old-style German Luger-Haus and art nouveau facades, to the Bank-Quader built in the 1960s and the reproduction of old local house types like “Hirschen-Haus”. (Sehenwertes Dornbirn)

Now you can see it for yourself, with the Dornbirn Marktplatz Webcam. (just remember that it's is about 9 hours later than California time).

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Evangelical St. Paul's Cemetery Photos

Esther (Kraus) Mabry was a member of St. Paul's Evangelical Church (now UCC) in Columbia, Illinois, as were were her parents, grandparents and even several of her great+ grandparents. Most of her ancestors were buried in the Evangelical St. Paul cemetery.

Several volunteers, particularly Judy Lindquist (a cousin on the Wenkel side), have photographed gravestones in Evangelical St. Paul cemetery, and shared them with their fellow genealogists on the Evangelical St. Paul Cemetery Page.

Esther's Parents
• Fred Kraus (1874-1928) and Katherine (Wenkel) Kraus (1879-1964)

Esther's Grandparents
• Daniel and Margaretha (Eckert) Krauss (not pictured)
• John Wenkel (1853-1918) and Margareth Sophia (Lepp) Wenkel (1857-1949)

Esther's Great grandparents
• Daniel Krauss, Sr. (1817-1887) and Catherine (Jaeger) Krauss (1815-1882)

•(Margaretha (Eckert) Krauss's parents are not known)

• William Wenkel (1831-1905) : buried with his third wife Christina (Schuckhardt) Wenkel
• Catherine (Stumpf) Wenkel (1835-1862)

• William Lepp (1828-1912) and Paulina (Wehinger) Lepp (1832-1906)

Esther's Great-great-grandparents

• Conrad Wenkel (1800-1858) and Henriette (Bierwirth) Wenkel (1804-1881)

• Esther's Krauss, Jaeger, Eckert, and Wehinger great grandparents did not emigrate to America.

• Wilhelm Lepp's father died in Oppenheim, Germany. His mother, Johanna (Leip) (Lepp) Reitz probably died between 1850 and 1860 in Waterloo, Monroe County, Illinois. She is probably buried there.

• George Stumpf (1801-1875) and Elisabeth (Keim) Stumpf (1801-1853) are buried New Hanover Cemetery (only George's grave is pictured)

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Our Ancestors in 1800

I've been playing with the Google maps API to generate a map showing where the ancestors of Esther (Kraus) Mabry lived in 1800. I've pinpointed where the Krauss, Wenkel, Stumpf, Lepp, Eckert, and Wehinger families were living in what is now Germany and Austria.

The advantage of using Google maps is that I can insert "pins" with information at different locations. The viewer can zoom in on any point and see either a standard map or a satellite view. I am still learning how the system works, so comments and suggestions would be appreciated.

Map showing where our ancestors lived in 1800.

At the moment only the most recent web browsers (Firefox/Mozilla, IE 5.5+, and Safari 1.2+) can be used to view the maps. I've found that Firefox works the best.

Download Firefox for free.

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The Wehinger Family in Dornbirn, Austria - What the Fugger?

Paulina Wehinger was born in 1832, in Dornbirn, Austria. When she left Austria for Illinois in the early 1850s, Paulina's Wehinger ancestors had lived in Dornborn for at least two hundred and fifty years. (Paulina's Dornbirn ancestors)

Dornbirn is an Alpine city in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg (formerly the western part of the Tirol). It is about 15 miles south of Bregenz and the Bodensee (Lake Constance).

The city of Dornbirn has put together a wonderful database of people that were born, married or died there. The families are linked so that you can trace a lineage either forward or backward through time*.
Johannes Wehinger (born 1600) is our earliest known Wehinger ancestor.

Our lineage is as follows:

Johannes Wehinger (1600) m. Anna Kaufmann (1600)
-- Jacob Wehinger (1630) m. Maria Schwendinger (1630)
---- Josef Wehinger (1665) m. Barbara Klocker (1663)
------ Anton Wehinger (1695) m. Franziska Wehinger (1696) [daughter of Kilian Wehinger]
--------- Josef Wehinger (1734) m. Maria Elisabetha Hefel (1743)
------------ Johann Martin Wehinger (1779-1839) m. Margaretha Einsle (1792)
---------------- Paulina (born 1832) m. William Lepp in Monroe County, Illinois

Paulina, her brother Joseph "Albert" and possibly her siblings Johann Friedrich, Maria Elisabetha, and Joseph "Anton" all emigrated to Monroe County, Illinois in the early 1850s.

The database includes all the known information about an individual, including birth and death dates, father (Vater), mother (Mutter), spouse (Ehe), sons (Sohn), and daughters (Tochter).

The database also includes some specialized information.

ORT

The database lists the "Ort" of the individual, where known. "Ort" translates as "city" or "location". In this case, the Ort refers to an area in the city of Dornbirn. These can be found on the Dornbirn Stadtplan (city map). Streets and districts are listed in the pull down menus "Straßen" and "Spezielle Orte".

Begining with Anton (born 1695), our Wehinger ancestors lived in the "Markt" (market) area. Johann Martin Wehinger (born 1779) lived at 26 Riedgasee in Markt.

VULGONAME - what's a Fugger?

The database also lists the "Vulgoname" associated with an individual. In Austria, the Vulgoname was used instead of a surname or family name. It often was often the occupation or father's name of the individual. In our family, use of the father's name as a Vulgoname was common (for example, Anton Wehinger, son of Josef, had the Vulgoname of Josefs).

In addition to their father's name, our Wehinger ancestors often had the Vulgoname of Fugger or Fucker (from Johannes to Johann Martin). What did this refer to? It was suggested to me by Harald Rhomberg (Dornbirn Archives), that our ancestors may have worked for the Fugger family.

The Fugger family originated in Augsburg, Germany in the 1300s. They began as weavers, and eventually headed the weaver's guild. They began to loan money to the ruling family, becoming the first banking family in Europe. In the 1500s, Jacob Fugger opened a number of silver, copper and lead mines, some of which were in the Tyrol region. The Fuggers eventually became the imperial bankers of Austrian Hapsburgs. The Fugger mine holdings were profitable until cheaper silver began to be imported from the Americas in the mid-1600s.

The Fugger mines were eventually closed, but the Fugger bank operates today.

So, what was the association of our Wehinger ancestors with the Fuggers? It does not appear that there were mines close to the city of Dornbirn, so perhaps they were involved in banking.

A current German dictionary indicates that "Fugger" is both a family name, and has the secondary meaning of "übertragen Großhändler" (wholesaler or wholesale merchant) or "Kaufmann" (merchant). "Fucker" is a synonym that means "Großhändler" (wholesaler) or can alternatively mean "kleiner Dieb" (pilferer).

It appears that Fugger/Fucker meant wholesaler or merchant at least by the mid-1800s, and it seems a more likely occupation for the Wehinger family than miner, banker or thief.

* To access information in the database, click the link "In English", read the terms, check the "accept" box, then click the "to the informations" button. If you read German you can simply check the "Ich akzeptiere" box and click on the "zu den Daten" button.

LINKS
• About Dornbirn (with photos)
• Dornbirn Municipal Museum (you can change the [Sprache] to English)
• Description of Vorarlberg with map
• Map of Vorarlberg showing Dornbirn
• German Society at the Close of the Middle Ages (about the Fuggers)
• History of Austria
• The Birth of Capitalism
•Alpbach, center of Fugger mining in Austria (this is in Tirol, west of Vorarlberg).
• Fürst Fugger Privatbank

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Mini bio: Martin and Margaretha (Einsle) Wehinger

Brief biography of Johann "Martin" Wehinger (1779-1839) and his wife, Margaretha Einsle (1792-?). Their position on the family tree.

Johann "Martin" Wehinger

Birth: July 25, 1779 in Dornbirn, Vorarlberg, Austria
Parents: Joseph Wehinger and Maria Elisabetha Heflin
Known Residences:
--- lived his entire life Riedgasse 26, Dornbirn
Occupation: Fuker?
Death: April 1, 1839

Margaretha Einsle

Birth: March 23, 1792 in Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria
Parent: Johan Martin Einsle
Death: unknown

Marriage and Children

Johann "Martin" Wehinger and Margaretha Einsle married before 1814 in Dornbirn.

Children of Martin and Margaretha (Einsle) Wehinger
--- Joseph Anton Wehinger: born 1814
--- Anna Maria Karolina Wehinger: born 1819, married Joseph Anton Kaufmann
--- Thomas Ferdinand Wehinger: born 1821, married Anna Maria Rein and Anna Maria Hilbe.
--- Johann Friedrich Wehinger: born 1822
--- Maria Elisabetha Wehinger: born 1826
--- Josef "Albert" Wehinger: born 1829, married Friederike (Steinhagen) Lott, then Katharina (Steinhagen) Hanebutt
*** Paulina Wehinger: born 1832, married William Lepp

Posts about Martin and Margaretha (Einsle) Wehinger
• The Wehingers in Dornbirn, Austria - what the Fugger?
• Our Ancestral Villages and Towns
• Map of our ancestors in 1800
• A View of the Old Country: Webcam Dornbirn Marktplatz

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Mini bio: William and Paulina (Wehinger) Lepp

Brief biography of Wilhelm "William" Lepp (1828-1912) and his wife, Paulina Wehinger (1832-1906). Their position on the family tree.

Wilhelm "William" Lepp

Birth: January 20, 1828 in Oppenheim, Hesse-Darmstadt (now in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany)
Parents: George Philipp Lepp and Johanna Leip
Known Residences:
--- 1849 emigrated to Waterloo, Monroe County, Illinois
--- 1851 worked in St. Louis, Missouri for a year
--- 1852 living in Waterloo, Monroe County, Illinois
--- 1861 moved to Millstadt, St. Clair County, Illinois
--- 1865 (about) moved to Columbia, Monroe County, Illinois
--- lived in Columbia until his death
Occupation: Farmer
Death: October 11, 1912 in Columbia, Illinois. Buried in St. Paul Evangelical (UCC) Cemetery, Columbia, Illinois.

Paulina Wehinger

Birth : May 14, 1832 in Dornbirn, Vorarlberg, Austria
Parents:Johann "Martin" Wehinger and Margaretha Einsle
Known Residences:
---1852 (about) Immigrated to Monroe County, Illinois
--- lived the rest of her life with her husband William
Death: March 20, 1906. Buried in St. Paul Evangelical (UCC) Cemetery, Columbia, Illinois.

Marriage and Children

William Lepp married Charlotte Besch (or Best) on September 7, 1851 in Monroe County, Illinois. Charlotte died in 1854.

William Lepp married Paulina Wehinger on October 4, 1855 in Monroe County, Illinois.

Children of William and Charlotte (Besch) Lepp
--- Anna Maria "Mary" Lepp: born 1852, married John Gummersheimer.
--- Catharina Lepp: born 1854, died in childhood

Children of William and Paulina (Wehinger) Lepp
They had two sets of twins: Margaret and Fred, born in 1857 and Albert and Johannes, born in 1859.
*** Sophia Margaretha "Margaret" Lepp: born 1857, married Johann Conrad "John" Wenkel
--- Johann Friedrich "Fred" Lepp: born 1857, married Fancisca "Frenz" Steppig
--- Albert Lepp: born 1859, married Wilhelmina "minnie" Heiligstadt
--- Johannes Lepp: born 1859, died in infancy
--- Catherine "Katie" Lepp: born 1861, married Otto Ritter
--- Wilhelm "William" Lepp, Jr: born 1862, married three times: Elisabeth Lang, Caroline Lang, Caroline Sophia Haller
--- Emilie Elisabeth Caroline Lepp: born 1867, died in infancy
--- Wilhelmina "Mina Lepp: born 1870, married William Fred Schaefer, then Herman Mundinger

Posts about William and Paulina (Wehinger) Lepp
• Funeral cards of William Lepp and children Sophia "Margaretha", Fred, and William (called "William, Sr.).
• 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis
• Emigrants from Oppenheim, Hessen: the Lepp Family
• Our Ancestral Villages and Towns
• The Wehingers in Dornbirn, Austria - what the Fugger?

Off site links
• Funeral Card of William Lepp
• Gravestone photo: William Lepp (1828-1912) and Paulina (Wehinger) Lepp (1832-1906) at St. Paul Evangalical Cemetery in Columbia, Illinois.
• Death Records of St. Paul's Evangelical (Columbia) - with links to scans of original death records of both William and Pauline (Wehinger) Lepp

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