Our ancestors were ranchers and lawyers, indentured servants and educated ladies, shepherds and founders of cities. They were ministers, craftsmen, midwives, housemaids, and peat diggers. Some were even people of intrigue: a youthful hostage, a stowaway, and a “fallen” woman. The adventurous, courageous, or just plain desperate ones came from all parts of Germany to start new lives in a young country. Their descendants persevered and became true Americans, while continuing to carry their German language and heritage through several generations. By following the links below you will find their stories, as well as information about our ancestral villages and towns in Germany and related historical topics. All of these stories have been edited by Jane Moore, whose clarity of thought and syntax is an inspiration to her mother. Introduction: Sources and Research Map: Our Roots in Germany Wiederanders & Beyer Ancestry:   Click on pictures to enlarge Martin Wilhelm Reuter: lawyer and civil servant Mimmi Richter Schweers and Minnie Beyer Wiederanders Peter Andres (ca.1465-1552) Annaberg: Built on Silver Carl Gottlob Wiederänders (1787-1855) Eleonore Wenzel (1805-1877) Round Top, Texas Edward Carl Wiederanders (1842-1926) Louise Alvina Trautsch (1853-1941) Heinrich Trautsch (1831-1922) & Johanna Christina Hoelzer (ca. 1833-1870) Richard Beyer (1854-1917) & Augusta Amalia Dietrich (1857- 1941) (in progress) Carl Anton Wiederanders (1887-1971) (in progress) Minna Amanda Beyer (1889-1975) (in progress) Roland Beyer Wiederanders (1915-1999) (in progress) Schweers, Heyen, & Schluentz Ancestry:   Vats and buckets (early 1500s) such as those made by coopers in the Wiederanders family Carl A. Wiederanders: Circuit rider in the Dakotas (circa 1910) Schweer Hinrich Balzen (1808-1900) & Zeda Heyen (1808- 1879) (in progress) Ostfriesland: Windmills and Peat Bogs (in progress) David Detlev Schluentz (1829-1863) & Christina Elizabeth Schade (1822-1899) (in progress) Selent: Landed Estates (in progress) Heyo Schweers (1835-1919) & Margaretha Schluentz (1849-1927) (in progress) John Henry Schweers (1866-1949) & Marie Elizabeth Heyen (1869-1942) (in progress) Hondo, Texas: “God’s Country” (in progress) Hugo Alfred Schweers (1891-1976) (in progress) Elvira Elizabeth Schweers (1917-   ) (in progress) Reuter & Richter Ancestry:   Peat digger's cottage and stack of peat blocks in Ostfriesland Heyo, Margaretha, and John Schweers Family cattle brands Martin Wilhelm Reuter (1771-1842) Schweinfurt: An Imperial City Wilhelm Julius Reuter (1820-1863) Wilhelm Matthias Richter (1814-1883) & Anna Christina Armbrust (1816-1902) (in progress) Stein: (in progress) Robert William Richter (1854-1947) (in progress) Alice Henrietta Reuter (1858-1945) (in progress) Mimmi Alice Richter (1891-1992) (in progress) Tips, vom Stein, and Schmitz Ancestry:   18th century Schweinfurt Robert Richter with a record-size goose Caspar Johann Tips (d. 1693) (in progress) Mülheim am Rhein (in progress) Jacob Daniel Tips (1760-1845) (in progress) Peter Daniel Tips (1786-1856) (in progress) Sibilla Henriette vom Stein (1777-1847) (in progress) Cologne (in progress) Johannes Schmitz the Elder (1557-1624) (in progress) Johann Wilhelm vom Stein (1758-1827) & Johanna Schmitz b. 1751) (in progress) The Rhineland (in progress) Wilhelmine Tips (1822-1896) (in progress) Bianca Nohl (1835-ca. 1915) (in progress) Frederick Julius Tips (1828-1867) (in progress) General Topics:   Wickrathberg schoolhouse clock The Dom (Cathedral) in Cologne Wilhelmine Tips’s Stammbuch The Lutheran Reformation in Germany (in progress) The Reformed Church in Germany (in progress) Trade Guilds in Germany (in progress) German Emigration in the 19th Century The Revolution of 1848 (in progress) The Society for the Protection of German Emigrants Bremen: Port of Embarcation (in progress) The Civil War in Texas (in progress) © Julia Moore, 2006. All rights reserved.   Martin Luther statue in Annaberg, Saxony