Where is the connection between the US and the German Osterwisches ?
Connection to Carl Friedrich Osterwisch
My direct ancestors can be found in the tree of Johann Ernst Osterwisch. The root of the Cincinnati Osterwisches is the tree of Carl Friedrich Osterwisch. This tree is maintained and provided by Donald Adamick.
Finally we found the missing link between the Cincinnati Osterwisches and the German Osterwisches. With the last piece of this puzzle we could now merge the tree of Carl Friedrich Osterwisch (Cincinnati Osterwisches) and the tree of Johan Ernst Osterwisch (German Osterwisches).
1 or 2 years ago I got several photocopies of handwritings (1, 2, 3 : old German Suetterlin writing type) dealing with different Osterwisch family members from my father. One of those seemed to be a type of contract of the year 1764. In March 2006 I sent this (3 pages) to a transcription service and received it back right after Easter. See the German transcription document here. This is the result:
My Findings in the church registry:
1. My ancestor Johann Friedrich Osterwisch (born on January 18, 1732) married "Martelmeyer's daughter" (according to my findings in the church archive) in 1756. They had 3 children, 2 daughters and a son. The son Johann Friedrich Osterwisch was born on July 13, 1760. His father Johann Friedrich died in August 1764.
2. Gerdt Hermann and Margretha Ilsebein had 6 children. One of them was Carl Friedrich Osterwisch (born October 15, 1778). All the Cincinnati Osterwisches are descendants of Carl Friedrich.
Contract transcription and conclusion:
Thus little Johann Friedrich was 4 years old when his father died and the widow "Martelmeyer' daughter" was alone with all the work on the farm at the end of 1764.
The contract is of 1764 and it tells that Gerdt Hermann Maschmeyer from Arrenkamp married widow "Margretha Ilsebein Osterwisches" by a marriage contract and took over the name Osterwisch. The contract states that Gerdt Hermann and Margretha Ilsebein should conduct the farm until Johann Friedrich was old enough to do that himself.
So it is very likely that "Martelmeyer's daughter" is Margretha Ilsebein.
So Carl Friedrich Osterwisch and Johann Friedrich Osterwisch were half brothers (same mother).
Some statistic data on the merged tree:
- 12 generations
- 671 individuals
- 255 marriages
- 6055 text records
Connection to “Louis” Osterwisch
Another connection to the U.S. is the family descending from Christian Friedrich Osterwisch. His second eldest son “Louis” Osterwisch had 10 children.