Appendices to "The WEDEMEYERs of Eastern Australia."
  … section 1. Your family is my family?

The "WEDEMEYERs of Eastern Australia" section of this site is divided into 10 chapters and 5 sections containing appendices. Please read in sequence by following the links at the bottom of each page or use the "Quick Nav" at top right. If you wish to select individual chapters, please click on the top left link to the Sitemap page. Please note the WEDEMEYER photo galleries here.

Contents of this Website are subject to Copyright © by Philip Strong, & allow fair academic use. See here.

Do you have information, opinion or a question relating to either this site’s contents or its copyright? Please use the e-mail link available at the bottom of each page. I look forward to corresponding with you.

The appendices are as follows:

… note that this page contains section 1 and that there is a separate page for each section of the appendix.

  1. Appendices Section 1: Your family is my family (?) …early origins of WEDEMEYER families
    1. At Moringen and Fredelsloh, Germany. General A.C. WEDEMEYER’s family and our family came from the same place?
    2. Have we found Friedrich? Search for confirmation of origins & links between our families.
    3. Unrelated(?) WEDEMEYER names near Goslar.
  2. Appendices Section 2: Court Cases
    1. Stabbing at the lodging house, 1862.
    2. Larceny, 1862
  3. Appendices Section 2: Rates
    1. Mt Perry Rate Books; 1880 – 1904.
  4. Appendices Section 3: Inquiry into Hotel Fire, 1885
    1. Statement by George WEDEMEYER
    2. Statements by Elizabeth WEDEMEYER
    3. Statement by Minnie WEDEMEYER
  5. Appendices Section 3: JWH (Harry) WEDEMEYER’s Documents
    1. Report on Selection; 1889.
    2. Correspondence concerning Selection; 1889.
    3. Obituaries
  6. Appendices Section 4: DAVIS documents
    1. Obituary of Elizabeth PAAP (late WEDEMEYER, née DAVIS)
    2. William DAVIS of Gayndah.
  7. Appendices Section 5: WEDEMEYER name
    1. Variants of WEDEMEYER name and DNA.
    2. Pronunciation of WEDEMEYER name.
    3. Origin of WEDEMEYER name.
  8. Appendices Section 5: Descendancy Report of German born WEDEMEYERs
    1. Complete Report.

 

Section 1: Your family is my family?
  Early Origins of WEDEMEYER families.

i) At Moringen and Fredelsloh, Germany.
General’s family & ours came from the same place?

• Moringen initially identified as our origin!

A transcript of the Sep 30 1805 marriage of my g-g grandfather in the Markt parish, Goslar, gave these details:

This directed our research to Moringen, with the problem that its church records generally only go back as far as 1794. There was a fire and earlier records were destroyed. Fortunately, thanks to the reconstruction and collation of records by local Moringen historians such as Wilfried Hartje, it was possible to detail earlier Moringen information relevant to my family in Chapter 1 as well as in Appendix Section 5.

• Was my Grandmother right after all?

While focussing on Moringen, even more possibilities opened up for further WEDEMEYER relatives, when Nicole WEDEMEYER MILLER published this e-mail:

"I am searching for information about Friedrich Wilhelm WEDEMEYER who was born in Fredelsloh or Moringen around 1825. He then emigrated to New York in 1852 with his wife Franciska Bauer, b. Hildescheim, and his infant daughter Adolphine. I would like to confirm his birthdate and discover his parents, etc. He was the grandfather of General A.C. WEDEMEYER (ACW), a famous American soldier who attended the Berlin Kriegsakademie and then became one of our (USA) lead strategists for the World War in the 1940's.

Source: Wedemeyer-Miller N. Wedemeyer in Fredelsloh. HANNOVER-L Mailing List for the former Kingdom of Hannover. May 15, 2007.
Note: Fredelsloh & Moringen are only 3.5km apart. In present times Fredelsloh- Moringen is used to describe one’s address in that area.

General WedemeyerGeneral Albert Coady WEDEMEYER

General WEDEMEYER's photo is on the left, & is reproduced courtesy of the Hoover Institution. The original is held in the "Wedemeyer Collection" in the Hoover Institution Archives.

Bingo!! My grandmother, Minnie, had said that one of our WEDEMEYERs emigrated to the USA from Germany. She had also said that a cousin, Colonel WEDEMEYER, was stationed in Queensland during the war. Minnie’s information, added to the Moringen origins of our family and of the General’s family, gives us reason for conjecture!

• ACW & Australia

Minnie was wrong in one area… the General was not stationed in Australia. On the other hand, he did make at least two visits during WWII. Following the Casablanca conference and early in 1943, ACW became President Roosevelt’s high level courier with a 2 month round-the-world mission to explain the significance of the Casablanca decisions to the various key war theatre commanders. His Australian itinerary took him to the Northwest coast of Australia, south to Perth, across Australia to Sydney, then to Brisbane (Headquarters of the Pacific Command and General Douglas MacArthur), then a journey from Australia to New Guinea, Port Moresby, then to the recently fought Buna battlefield, and back to Brisbane. ACW’s description does not mention any contact with the Australians or refer to the relevance of Australia to the war effort, either in Australia or in Buna, New Guinea. I wonder what ACW said privately about Buna? Paul Ham described the Buna campaign as an initial US debacle, later rescued by experienced Australian troops and commanders.

Sources: Wedemeyer AC. Wedemeyer Reports! New York: Henry Holt, 1958: 194, 205-208.
     Ham P. Kokoda. Sydney: HarperCollins, 2004:441-479.

In 1945, ACW was the USA Commander in Chief in China. He "passed through" Australia in Feb 22-24, 1945, when he discussed the military situation in China with Australian military commanders in Perth, flew on to Darwin for a dinner hosted by the local US Commander, & then left Australia, flying north to to the island of Biak. The Australians seemed disappointed that ACW gave no hints on the "grand strategy" of the war against Japan, and that he confined himself chiefly to discussions of his own problem of air supply to the China campaign. ACW’s party apologised for not going to Canberra to see the Prime Minister. It would appear the General was considered a very important man by the Australians!

Source: The Shedden Collection: Records collected by Sir Frederick Shedden during his career with the Department of Defence. National Australian Archives control symbol 436/11.

• What did my family know about the General?
• Did ACW know his own origins?

General WEDEMEYER gives some details about his family history in his book:

"My father's parents were born in the vicinity of Hanover, Germany. His mother was of French Huguenot descent. After their marriage in Germany they came to this country in 1830 and settled in Atlanta, Georgia. Although Grandfather Wedemeyer left Germany to avoid compulsory military service, he fought throughout the Civil War on the Confederate side."

Source: Wedemeyer AC. Wedemeyer Reports! New York: Henry Holt, 1958: 30.

At the end of WWII ACW was famous and public interest had generated research into his history. "Current Biography", the standard biographical reference source in USA libraries, now gives us a conflicting picture of ACW's grandfather in its 1945 publication. It says:

"Albert Coady Wedemeyer was born in Omaha, Nebraska on July 9, 1897, the son of Albert Anthony and Margaret Elizabeth (Coady) Wedemeyer. His grandfather had emigrated from Germany, organized a band for the Union Army, and marched it through Georgia; his father was a bandmaster in the Spanish-American War."

Source: Wedemeyer, Albert C(oady). Current Biography 1945: 663-665.

ACW’s papers were deposited as the "Albert C. (Albert Coady) Wedemeyer Papers, 1899-1988" in the Hoover Institution… ACW provided a huge collection; 141 medium sized boxes, 10 oversize boxes, 2 motion picture film reels, 2 albums, 72 envelopes, 19 phonorecords, 1 phonotape cassette, 2 maps, memorabilia! The Institution provides an on-line finding aid to the contents categories in each box etc. Unfortunately this material can only be personally inspected. I corresponded with John J. McLaughlin, who planned to access the collection for his doctoral thesis. John kindly agreed to look in specified boxes on my behalf, in an effort to find any references to ACW’s early German origins. Unfortunately this drew a blank!

• Assimilation & vagueness about family history

ACW’s vagueness about his family history highlights a common problem in researching many German emigrant families. Assimilation was the imperative. Germany was left behind, and the family wished to be patriotic citizens of their new country. Their descendants may find a lack of oral tradition and documentation, which might have been preserved within other families. If they try explore their "family roots", they must mainly rely on public documents. The General says:

"I explained that my father, like many Americans of German descent, had no sentimental ties with Germany.... his parents did not even speak German at home and apparently had cut ties completely with the old country and adopted their new country with pride and patriotic fervor".

Source: Wedemeyer AC. Wedemeyer Reports! New York; Henry Holt, 1958: 31.

See the following section for the search for ACW’s family German origins and links to my own family, in both Moringen and in Fredelsloh.

Also see the Homeland Photogallery for views of Fredelsloh and Moringen.

ii) Search for confirmation of origins & links between families.

• Nicole Miller’s information

Nicole WEDEMEYER MILLER became interested in this story. Nicole's family (originally from Bruchhausen, near the Corvey Abbey in Hoexter) thought they might be related to ACW …as did my family (originally from Moringen)! She has sourced information which tells us that ACW's grandparents, Friedrich WEDEMEYER, his wife Franciska BAUER, with their baby daughter Adolphine (later known as Josephine Emelia), emigrated in 1852 (not 1830) to New York, They initially settled at West Point at the military academy, where Friedrich was in the military band. When the American Civil War began, Friedrich served in the Union army (not the Confederate), marched through Georgia leading a band, and settled in Atlanta after the war. Her crucial initial information for my search is from Friedrich's enlistment papers, which say that he was born in either Moringen or nearby Fredelsloh. Similarly important was her confirmation of "Friedrich G WEDEMEYER's" DOB about 1825, from 1890 Special Veteran’s Census List.

• Julie Kilde posting

A significant family tree was posted in 2005 by Julie Kilde in Rootsweb for a "Federick Wilhelm WEDEMEYER" born at Fredesloh on 5 Feb 1825! The GEDCOM file associated with this posting shows that this research has originated from the descendants of our Friedrich WEDEMEYER’s daughter Josephine Emelia WEDEMEYER… that is her SHELTON family in Highland Park Illinois, USA. This was the right year of 1825, though the second name Wilhelm was different to the initial "G" given by Friedrich in the USA 1890 Special Veteran’s Census List.

• ACW’s family tree

Julie Kilde’s posting gave impetus to finding family members who had knowledge of their German origins. To this end, a family tree was developed in a cooperative effort with Nicole WEDEMEYER MILLER. The family tree was worthwhile, due mainly to Nicole, who has put it on line in Rootsweb WorldConnect. However, the family contacts which we found could not provide much detail of their German origins.

• Verifying the record

On my behalf, Dr Sylvia Möhle from Göttingen researched the Moringen and Fredelsloh records for the birth or baptism of General A.C. WEDEMEYER’s (ACW's) grandfather from 1824 to 1826 inclusive. The only WEDEMEYER records found at all were:

• Friedrich W. / Friedrich G / Ernst Georg Friedrich??

Could ACW's grandfather Friedrich be the same as Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER, son of Wilhelm WEDEMEIER? Julie Kilde’s source had a matching date of 5 Feb 1825, but was this source also correct about the second name Wilhelm? Sylvia Möhle discounted the possibility that Ernst used Friedrich as his first name and then the second name Wilhelm to show he was one of the Wilhelm WEDEMEIER family. She said: "From my experience it was not common to use a father’s christian name in addition to one’s own given names". I re-contacted Julie, and she told me that the details of her source were lost in a computer crash, thus the second name Wilhelm cannot be substantiated.

• Military records.

At this stage, the name of Friedrich G. in the 1890 Special Veteran’s Census List mentioned above seems more likely. It is feasible that Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER might later call himself Friedrich Georg (Friedrich G.)! We are fortunate with military records. Pamela Wedemeyer located an image of "Frederick's" April 19, 1869 enlistment at Atlanta Georgia. Here Frederick said he was born at Fredlelsloh about 1826 (with age 43). This is a possible match with… Fredelsloh: 5 Feb 1825, Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER, birth of son to Wilhelm WEDEMEIER. Note there were no births recorded for WEDEMEYERs at either Moringen or Fredelsloh in 1826!

• Family oral records.

The name Frederick WEDEMEYER's date and place of death now has further confirmation in this typed record of family oral history kept by the Shelton section of his descendants:

Grandma Wedemeyer was born February 22, 1832, in Hildesheim province of Hanover, Germany. Her ancestors on her mother's side were French Huguenots of the French nobility. The name of these French ancestors was Von Herminie. They fled from France during the Huguenot troubles and went to Germany. Her maiden name was Franciska Bauer. Her mother's maiden name was Becker. Her father was a lawyer; her grandfather a noted physician. We have no data regarding Grandpa Wedemeyer (Frederick). He was born February 5, 1825, in Fredelsloh, Hanover, Germany and was a graduate of the Conservatory of Music at Leipsic, Germany. He was one of seven sons. He was married in Germany and came to America in 1851. He was a member of the Military Academy Band at West Point, New York, from 1851 until the beginning of the Civil War; was then appointed leader of the Fifth Artillery Band until 1866. The Fifth Artillery Band was then converted into a Post Band and sent to Atlanta, Georgia, headquarters of the Department of the South under General Pope. All Post bands were mustered out in 1869. Then he became leader of the Second Infantry Band. Josephine Wedemeyer Shelton was born in Germany in 1851 (November 2) and brought' to this country by her parents (Frederick and Franciska Wedemeyer). At the age of 17 she married John Shelton… etc.

Source: Typed document from Susan Shelton Knapple, g-grand daughter of Friedrich G. WEDEMEYER.
“Dictated by Uncle Fred (Frederich Charles Wedemeyer) on September 2, 1934, to Thomasina Shelton 0lsen (grand-daughter of his parents Frederick and Franciska Wedemeyer) on Aunt Julia's front porch in Omaha, Nebraska.”
Forwarded through Pamela Wedemeyer.

• Independent verification.

This means that we now have three independent sources for Friedrich's birth on February 5, 1825, in Fredelsloh:
(a)   Oral history passed down though Josephine WEDEMEYER-SHELTON's descendants… kept in a typed document by Susan Knapple, and probably also obtained by Julie Kilde. (Exact date and place.)
(b)   Church registers kept in Fredelsloh. (Exact date and place.)
(c)   USA army records. (Year and place.)
… all we need now is Frederick's death certificate to make a secure conclusion.

• Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER’s baptism

If we accept that Friedrich G. WEDEMEYER and Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER are the same person, then the following Fredelsloh baptismal data is now of significance:

Birth date: 5 Feb 1825. Baptism date: 13 Feb 1825. Father: Wilhelm WEDEMEIER, linen weaver. Mother: Engel Christine HENKELMANN. Godparents: Hans Heinrich WEDEMEIER, farmer; Eleonore Friederike HENKELMANN (née DETERDING), widow.

Source: i) Fredelsloh Baptismal Church Register 1825, page 208, no. 6. Obtained by Dr Sylvia Möhle of Göttingen.

This information reveals inconsistencies with earlier data. Ernst’s father was not a soldier to match with General WEDEMEYER’s story… though ACW's knowledge of his own family history was shaky on other facts. A discrepancy is noted in the fact that Ernst’s parents’ names were not used in Friedrich’s children’s names of Adolphine (Josephine), Albert, Frances (girl’s name), Frederick Charles & Lewis. On the other hand, we do not know the full baptismal names of these children.

• WEDEMEYER & HENKELMANN in Fredelsloh

It seems that WEDEMEYER and HENKELMANN (see above) were frequently occurring names in Fredelsloh, and America was a popular choice for emigration. Rainer Müller (a Fredelsloh HENKELMANN descendant) records these details:

Emigration from Fredelsloh to America.
No. Name Age Status Occupation Date Ship
1 WEDEMEYER, Friedrich
-
-
-
 1753
-
2 WEDEMEYER, Johann Heinrich
-
-
-
 1753
-
3 HENKELMANN, Carl 25
-
 Weaver 1851 ‘Elise’
4 HENKELMANN, Wilhelm†)
-
-
 Potter 1854 ‘Favorite’
5 HENKELMANN, - †)
-
 wife
-
 1854 ‘Favorite’
6 HENKELMANN, -†)
-
 child
-
 1854 ‘Favorite’
7 WEDEMEYER, Fr.†)
-
-
 Oeconom††) 1854 ‘Favorite’
8 WEDEMEYER, - †)
-
 wife
-
 1854 ‘Favorite’
Notes:
†) Drowned in the English Channel when the ‘Favorite’ collided with the ‘Hesper’ and sank.
  On 29 Apr 1854, all 191 ‘Favorite’ emigrants died, including 31 Fredelsloh citizens.
††) Translation of Oeconom: steward; derived / extended meaning: farm / estate manager.
  From the Greek- Oikonomos: household steward or a trusted manager of a person’s estate.
Derived from οἶκος… house, home; and νομός   from the root νέμειν … parcel out, especially
food or grazing to animals (thus relating to farming), then a subsequent usage… anything
established, or received by usage, a custom, a law, a command (thus relating to administration).

Source: i) Müller R. »… und komt alle hier her, hier ist beßer…" Vom Töpferdorf Fredelsloh am Solling nach Amerika — Auswanderergeschichten. Books on Demand, Norderstedt; 2006; 61- 72.
Note †) Rainer Müller’s book also details his relationship to the HENKELMANN family.
Note ‡) This "Oeconom" probably had overall paid stewardship of the Lord’s estate, if the original meaning of the word were used. This would compare with the "Meyer’s" restricted stewardship of only part of the Lord’s estate in a "Bauernlehen"… a farm lease with obligations of honour and duty to the feudal lord or owner. The word "Oeconom" may have arisen from ecclesiastical monastery usage, where the biblical oikonomos was very familiar. The Augustinean Fredelsloh monastery was founded in about 1132. Perhaps Fr. WEDEMEYER was employed by the monastery? Comments would be welcome?

• Earliest WEDEMEYER records

Early records of WEDEMEYER in the area around Moringen and Fredelsloh have been found in the in the reference: Meyer i). "Poll Taxes of the Principalities of Calenberg-Göttingen and Grubenhagen of 1689". The records are listed below:

Lauenberg is only about 11 km from Moringen on the road to Dassel, and is also on the edge of the Solling forest. Meyer i) notes that Pastor Hermann WEDEMEYER commenced at Lauenberg in 1668, though he states his period of tenure was not known. The "Pfarrerbücher" iii) - iv) or the Ministers’ Lexicons fill in the details, showing that the 1689 Kopfsteuerbeschreibung was incorrect in including Hermann WEDEMEYER. The Pastor had already left Lauenberg in 1689. He was born Aerzen in 1638… about 60km NW of Lauenberg, and was Pastor in Lauenberg from 1668 to 1683. He then transferred 130km north to Binnen (near Nienburg) with his family, leaving no-one who could be subsequently related to my Moringen WEDEMEYERs.

Any WEDEMEYER in Fredelsloh or Moringen is of interest! Unfortunately there were no WEDEMEYERs present in the Fredelsloh list. However, in the same list there was a Margreta Henkelman who was mentioned in relation to Pastor Ernst LOTZING’s (LOTZEUS’s) household. Our(?) Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER’s mother was a HENKELMANN in Fredelsloh. Was there a link to this 1689 record??

The Moringen list in the Kopfsteuerbeschreibung sounds a little more promising with Franz WEDEMEYER’s son, named Hans Jurgen, who lived at the run-down oil mill. If Jurgen is a frequently used name in Franz WEDEMEYER’s family, then there might be a family link to Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER’s g-grandfather Jurgen Andreas WEDEMEYER (see his descendancy report). Jurgen was born about 4 Jul 1698, and he died on in Fredelsloh on 4 Jan 1776. ii)

We may find our answer to early WEDEMEYER origins if we expand the search to further adjacent areas. There is a further reference to Franz WEDEMEIER (the Moringen master oil miller) and his wife Dorothea HEYSEN in "Das Gastliche Northeim". vi) This book describes their son Hinrich Andreas WEDEMEIER (oil miller), baptised in Moringen on 27 Jan 1652, who then married Ilse Maria KAHLEN on 19 Oct 1682 at Northeim and had 6 children, all at Northeim. If naming patterns give hints to relationships, now we have both Hans Jurgen & Hinrich Andreas in the oil miller’s family, perhaps linked to (my) Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER’s g-grandfather Jurgen Andreas WEDEMEYER!

Uslar is on the other (SW) side of the Solling forest to Lauenberg / Fredelsloh / Moringen†). The Uslar "Local Kinship Book" vii) describes Johan Christian WEDEMEYER, a farm labourer in Dassel (next to Lauenberg) who married Maria Elisabeth HORSTMANN in 1790 in Uslar. I hope to access the remaining WEDEMEYER records in this book, which might provide early information.

Sources: i) Mundhenke, Herbert. Die Kopfsteuerbeschreibung der Fürstentümer Calenberg-Göttingen und Grubenhagen von 1689. Teil 10. Die Ämter Erichsburg, Hardegsen, Lauenförde, Moringen, Nienover und Uslar, die Städte Hardegsen, Moringen und Uslar, das adelige Gericht Üssinghausen and das Kloster Fredelsloh, jetzt zu den Kreisen Einbeck und Northeim gehörig. August Lax Verlagsbuchhandlung, Hildesheim; 1968; 5, 9, 23, 25, 129, 145, 164. (Obtained as a download.)
      ii) Information received by Rainer Müller. Pers. com. Rainer Müller, 2008.
      iii) Meyer, Philipp. Die Pastoren der Landeskirchen Hannovers u. Schaumburg-Lippes seit der Reformation. 3 vol.; Goettingen; 1941-1953; 2:54,472; 1:96.
      iv) Funke, Hans. Die Pastoren von Lauenberg. Archived but not published. Author died in 2002.
      v) Funke, Hans. Die Pastoren von Wahmbeck. Archived but not published. Author died in 2002.
      vi) Hueg, Norbert. Das gastliche Northeim. Heinz Reise-Verlag, Goettingen; 1953; 143. (Obtained as a download.)
    vii) Nowaks, Rolf. Ortssippenbuch Uslar: die Bevölkerung der Stadt Uslar and der Dörfer Allershausen, Bollensen, Dinkelhausen, Eschershausen, Vahle and Wiensen; 1599 — 1850. 2 vol.; Gustav Otto von Reden-Lütcken, Uslar; 2006.
Note:  †) See the Homeland Photogallery for views of Lauenberg, Fredelsloh & Moringen mentioned in this section.
      ††) Acknowledgements… sincere thanks for these look-ups. iii), iv), v) — Matthias Zimmerman; vi)— Kevin Miller (a descendant of Hinrich Andreas WEDEMEIER (oil miller) quoted in this reference and a possible relative! vii) — Carol DuPaix.
        Especial thanks to Rainer Müller for his help with Fredelsloh… information, contacts, photos.

• Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER/ WEDEMEYER’s family

Our Fredelsloh historian most kindly provided the following early details i) about Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER’s family. In considering the significance of this report, we need further confirmation that Friedrich G. WEDEMEYER and Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER are the same person.

Sources: i) Information received by Rainer Müller. Pers. com. Rainer Müller, 2008. Early details about Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER’s family. Note that this information comprises the bulk of the above descendancy report.
      ii) Register details for Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEYER. Fredelsloh Baptismal Church Register 1825, page 208, no. 6. Obtained by professional researcher Dr Sylvia Möhle of Göttingen.
    iii) Information from Nicole Wedemeyer Miller: Friedrich G. WEDEMEYER’s marriage, immigration and subsequent life.
Notes: †) The subsequent USA part of this family tree which includes Gen. A.C. WEDEMEYER (ACW), has been put on-line in Rootsweb Connect by Nicole Wedemeyer Miller. Remember that further evidence is needed to be sure that Friedrich G. WEDEMEYER and Ernst Georg Friedrich WEDEMEIER / WEDEMEYER are the same person… before these two family trees can be definitively linked.
    ††) See the Homeland Photogallery for views of Lauenberg, Fredelsloh & Moringen which feature in the above report, and in the previous section.

• Fredelsloh — Moringen discussion, conclusions & further research

Perhaps the only way to finally establish the identity & origins of ACW's grandfather Friedrich G., is to track down his marriage register entry which might be in Hildesheim, Hannover, since his wife Franciska BAUER & their daughter Adolphine (Josephine) were born there. Presumably the register would contain details of Friedrich G.’s place of birth and parents!

We can suggest at the moment, that both my WEDEMEYERs and General WEDEMEYER’s family came from Fredelsloh-Moringen (3.5km apart), and also guess that all the local WEDEMEYERs were related due to the small population in this area. If this is so, then the 1689 Poll Tax lists would suggest that this WEDEMEYER group were derived from Moringen and some spread to Fredelsloh after 1689. My grandmother would have said: "I told you so!"

• Stop Press!!

Further research using DNA has determined the relationship between my WEDEMEYERs and General WEDEMEYER’s family. One of ACW's descendants has provided a DNA sample and a male WEDEMEYER from my family has also volunteered. The relationship has been proved, close to absolute certainty! See details of this research here.

iii) Unrelated(?) WEDEMEYER names near Goslar

Just north of Goslar is the the former Duchy of Braunschweig (Brunswick). We are fortunate that Thomas Erbe has prepared an Index for Fritz Gruhner’s emigrant list which relates to this area. I am grateful to Thomas, both for the Index, and also his assistance in obtaining copies of the following pages which are relevant to the WEDEMEYERs. Extracts are translated below:

  • Page 78. Location: Gandersheim. WEDEMEIER Ernst Wilhelm, journeyman weaver, b. 6.1.1836, son of the journeyman thatcher / roofer Joh. Ernst WEDEMEIER and of Ernestine Friederike Christiane LERCKE.   Reference: Brunswick Announcements (Brg. Anz.) 1860/164.   Emigrated to America.
  • Page 78. Location: Gandersheim. WEDEMEYER Friederike Caroline Henriette Elise, b.14.9.1838, Parents dead? Son: Heinrich Friedrich Carl, b. 28.5.1860.   Ref: (Brg. Anz.) 1868/216.   Emigrated to America.
  • Page 110. Location: Herrhausen. WEDEMEYER Andreas Christoph, master tailor, son of the Großköter††) and master tailor Andreas Christoph WEDEMEYER and of Sophie Henriette REUMERMANN, m. on 15.12.1839 to KAHLE, Joh. Dorothee Louise, daughter of the Großköter††) Heinrich Andreas KAHLE and of Dorothee Christine SPECHT. With one unmarried child, b. 1831.   Ref: (Brg. Anz.) 1849/172.   Emigrated to North America.
  • Page 186. Location: Salder. WEDEMEIER Joh. Heinrich August Wedemeier Häusling†) and shoemaker journeyman, b. 23.3.1821, son of the saddler and clerk Joh. Heinrich Rudolph Wedemeier and Caroline Dorothee Henriette Schimmler; m. Henriette Dorothee Elizabeth Schuppmann, b. 27.12.1819. Children: 1. August Heinrich b. 14.5.46 Burgdorf (near Salder). 2. Joh. Henriette Caroline b. 5.8.1848 Burgdorf. 3. Caroline Wilhelmine Henriette b. 11.5.1852 Salder. 4. Carl Christian Julius b. 5.3.1855 Salder. 5.?   Ref: (Brg. Anz.) 1858 / 209.   Emigrated to Australia.
  • Page 186. Location: Salder. WEDEMEIER Joh. Marie Conradine, b. 21.6.1829, parents are dead.   Ref: (Brg. Anz.) 1854 / 72.   Emigrated to America.

Source:i) Gruhne, Fritz. "Auswandererlisten des ehemaligen Herzogtums Braunschweig ohne Stadt Braunschweig und Landkreis Holzminden 1846-1871" (Emigration lists for the former duchy of Braunschweig, Germany, exclusive of the city of Braunschweig and district of Holzminden), pp 78, 110, 186. LDS Film [ 1045468 Item 10 ].
Notes: †) Häusling: A servant who lived in the house of his feudal Lord and received free board and lodgings, but no annual salary. Sometimes he could be given a lease on a small portion of land within his Lord's domain.
    ††) Großköter: A Köter was an outdoor feudal version of the Häusling, and presumably the title Großköter reflected seniority or favour, distinct from a mere Köter. The English feudal equivalent was the cotter / cottar / cottager. The cottar spent all of his time working the Lord’s fields. In return, he was given his hut, gardens, and a small portion of the Lord’s harvest. This was a small step up from the bottom rung of serfdom, the slave. The modern usage of Köter includes "cur" or unfavoured dog, which may have been derived from Köter’s original feudal status.

 

The Story Continues