Divergence

I've been very excited lately to discover other destinations where our Menge and Rieß relations from Södel departed to. I'll include here some brief family history summary to show context.

Balthasar Menge (1647-1715) and his wife Elisabetha are our oldest known relations on the Menge side.

• Their son, Joh. Ernst Menge (1681-1760) and his wife Anna Catharina Rieß had, as we know, several children who came to America in the 1750s, at least three sons and possibly some daughters.
• Another son, Wilhelm Menge (1671-?) had a son, Joh. Henrich Menge who emigrated to Bacharach in the Rhineland-Palatinate where he married Maria Magdalena Kümpel. I have made contact with a living descendant from this line who resides in Germany still! It's been very fun to correspond with this descendant as we have been able to share a good deal of information about our Södel roots.

On the maternal side, our oldest known relations are Johann Rieß (1620-1663) and his wife Anna Margreth.

• Their son, Joh. Clemens Rieß (1653-1706) and his wife Anna Margreth Kleberger had a daughter, Anna Catharina, who married our Joh. Ernst Menge previously mentioned.
• Another son, Hans Martin Rieß (1655-1703) and his wife Elisabeth Catharina Feyh had a daughter, Anna Elisabetha, who married Joh. Ernst Klein.  Their son, Joh. Philip Klein, apparently emigrated to Russia! Here is a wonderful link describing that journey. They settled in a German Lutheran colony called Frank, and again here is another link with a wonderful overview of the history of that colony.

(Note: In order to view more than two pages from the website given in the above links, you will have to register and then enter a password to continue reading. It is so worth it to take this step as I can't recommend this website enough for the quality of information it offers.)

However, let me here describe what I believe to be a mix-up in many Klein genealogies I have seen on the internet.

• Joh. Philip Klein and Anna Elisabetha Raab had a son named Joh. Adam Klein, born 15 March 1749 in Södel. This son apparently did not travel to Russia with his parents in 1766. According to Die Familien, Chronik Södel, Band 2 by Herbert Meyer, this son emigrated to America. I did find an arrival record in Philadelphia for a Joh. Adam Klein in 1769 but have not been able to trace what happened to him.
• There was a Joh. Adam Klein born 16 Jun 1745 in Neider-Wöllstadt, son of Johannes Klein and M. Elis. Mohr. It should be noted that Neider-Wöllstadt is close to Södel, but it is NOT the same place. This Joh. Adam Klein married Anna Maria Fischer, and there is a record of Joh. Adam Klein of Nieder-Wöllstadt going to Russia in 1766. Here is where I have found many genealogies that mistakenly state that this Joh. Adam Klein, a colonist in Frank, Russia, descends from Joh. Philip Klein of Södel.

It could still be true that the two Klein families mentioned here are related. However, based on the evidence I have seen in this particular case, I think it is correct to say that Joh. Philip Klein from Södel and Joh. Adam Klein from Nieder-Wöllstadt both arrived in Russia in 1766.

With all that said, I find it very exciting to learn more about our Södel relations who emigrated to other parts of the world.

(Note: in order to help search matching, I include the following spellings in this article:  Riess, Sodel, Soedel, Nieder-Wollstadt, Nieder-Woellstadt)