Who was the Father of Reinhard Koechle?

As I worked on my Koechle/Kaechle chapter for the Holthoefer family book, I was shocked to come across a piece of conflicting evidence which threatened to chop off a branch of my tree. For years I'd worked with the thought that Reinhard Koechle's father was Thaddeus Koechle. But, upon discovering Reinhard's death certificate at Seeking Michigan, I saw his father's name listed as Mathias. For about 24 hours, I was desperately trying to determine who really was the father of Reinhard Koechle.

Detail of  Reinhard Kaechle's death certificate (from Seeking Michigan site) showing father's name as Mathias

Reinhard's death certificate (detail above) lists his father as Mathias, not Thaddeus as expected. The informant was Geram Kackle, who must have been Reinhard's son, Jerome. 

Jerome was born in 1871. Thaddeus, Reinhard's expected father, died in 1880. But, though Jerome would have been about 9 years old when Thaddeus died, Jerome lived in Detroit while Thaddeus lived about 120 miles away in Norwalk, Ohio. So, should Jerome have known his grandfather's name? Probably. If he knew his grandfather's name was Thaddeus, why would he say Mathias?

Here is the evidence I have that Reinhard's father is actually Thaddeus, and not Mathias:

• No records have been found for a Mathias Koechle either in Norwalk, Huron County, Ohio, where the family settled after migration, nor in Grissheim, Freiburg, Baden, Prussia (now Germany) where the family lived before coming to America.
• Reinhard is found in the household of Thaddeus Koechle both on the 1851 passenger list as a 6 year old child (coming to America) and the 1860 U.S. Census in Norwalk, Ohio at the age of 16.
• In Reinhard's pension file, there is an affidavit from both Theresa (Koechle) Mueller and her husband, Charles. Theresa is a daughter of Thaddeus Koechle, so she's an expected sister of Reinhard.
• In Theresa's affidavit, she is trying to prove Reinhard's marriage to Mary Magdalena Karbach/Koerbach. "Lena's" surname had been badly spelled as Garabaugh. Theresa's affidavit states that there were only two witnesses at the wedding of Reinhard & Lena: one was related to the JP and the other was Jerome, "the brother of Reinhard." Thaddeus did have a son Jerome which would mean Reinhard's father was also Thaddeus.

I believe this is sufficient proof that the "Mathias" listed as Reinhard's father on his death certificate was in error. But, after going through all of this, I realized I had another piece of evidence...

• A baptismal record for Reinhard Koechle with parents Thaddeus Koechle and Katharina Kern in the right year, 1844, and the right place, the village of Grissheim. No other records have been found with his birth date listed. This is just an index listing on Ancestry, but I've ordered the FHL film to get the actual record.

So, between my other pieces of evidence and the baptismal record, I feel confident in saying that Reinhard Koechle's father was Thaddeus Koechle.

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

Thaddeus Kaechle: Key to Hundreds of Years of Church Records (#10 of 52 Ancestors)

Thaddeus Kaechle, my 3rd great grandfather, arrived at Castle Garden in New York aboard the ship Monmouth in the summer of 1851 with his wife, Katherine, and five or six children. (Only 5 are listed on the passenger list, but there should be 6.) They were in Huron County, Ohio when, two years later, his wife gave birth to their 7th and later 8th children, both daughters.

Thada Koechle, passenger #281, 05 July 1851, Ship Monmouth, Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010

In 1858, Thaddeus was naturalized, though I'm still trying to locate this record. So far, I've just seen an index.

A big breakthrough on this family was the German marriage records on Ancestry. Again, there is only an index posted, but it includes the following information:

• Name: Thaddae Koechle
• Gender: male
• Age: 29
• Marriage Date: 22 Aug 1836
• Marriage Place: Katholisch, Grisshiem, Freiburg, Baden
• Father: Anton Koechle
• Mother: Anna Diringer
• Spouse: Katharina Kern
• FHL Film Number: 873353

After clicking on "Katharina Kern", I go the following additional information:

• Age: 25
• Father: Lorenz Kern
• Mother: Maria Kreszens Hauser

From there, I came across a website called "Ortsfamilien-Datenbank Grissheim", which means it is a family databank for the church in Grissheim. This is the church where both the Koechle & Kern family worshiped for hundreds of years! And, someone has put these records together and created the families! Although you don't see the images on this site, I did order the FHL films. They are in German and hard to read, but I found enough & read enough to trust what is on this site.

How far did this go back? Almost 400 years! The oldest ancestor I found at this Grissheim church was Barbara Grozinger who was baptized in 1617. She is my 8th great grandmother. But, the baptism record also lists her parents, Gallus Grozinger and Ursula Binhardt, my 9th great grandparents!

My Line of Descent

• Thaddeus Kaechle (or Judas Thaddeus Kaechle) (1807-1880) m Katharina Kern (1811-1894) 
• Rheinhard/Reinhard Kaechle (1844-1900) m Mary Magdelena "Lena" Karbach (1848-1938) 
• Francis "Frank" R Kaechle (1868-1911) m Anna "Annie" Regina Adam (1867-1936) 
• Sherman Joseph Kaechle (1907-1987) m Ethel Evelyn Dickson (1915-2004) (my maternal grandparents) 

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or write me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

"Aged Woman Answers Summons"

Lately, I've been having a lot of success in researching my Karbach/Koerbach family. They came from Germany around 1850 or 1853 and settled in Norwalk, Huron County, Ohio. One of the wonderful resources I have discovered is the Rutherford B Hayes Presidential Center which has an index of obituaries in several area newspapers. I've now ordered about 15 obituaries for only $3 each.

One of the obituaries I ordered was for my great, great, great grandmother, Mary Ann (Reuter) Koerbach. I received the 'obituary' with this wonderful title: "Aged Woman Answers Summons." In it, I found two clues: one saying that she was married in 1847 and "came to America three years later". And, the other saying she "was born in Koblentz, Prussia, May 4, 1825..." Here's the article:

Norwalk Reflector Herald -  May 22, 1914 - page 1, column 22

I did some research on Koblentz, Prussia mainly using Wikipedia. It is also spelled Coblenz (English), Koblenz (German) & Coblence (French). The word means "confluence" and it is at the confluence of two rivers: the Rhine and the Moselle. Koblenz, the preferred spelling today is located in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which is one of 16 German states.

Remember: you can't always believe everything you read! For many years I thought my Eastwood ancestors had come from Leeds, England as I found that in an obituary. But, as I learned this year, they actually came from LEES!!! (No "d" and a very different place.) So, this is just a 'hint'. After all, we don't know who gave the information to the newspaper and Mary was 89 years old!

P.S. I have found out that they came from a smaller, nearby village of Ediger. You can read more about that on my "Translating Latin" post.

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please write me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net