|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Family history Family history
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
My Beissel lineage has been traced back
to, my 12th great-grandfather, Peter
Beyssel, Sr. who was born around 1540 in the town of Eberbach now found
within the Rhine-Neckar
district of Baden-Wurttemberg. Eberbach lies at the foot of the Katzenbuckel,
an extinct volcano and the highest elevation of the Odenwald
located in the Naturpark
Neckartal-Odenwald, on the romantic Burgenstraße (Castle Road)
along the river Neckar. Peter lived in the area of Eberbach until
his death in that part of Igelsbach located
within the Bergstrasse District
of Hesse.* Peter
Beyssel, Jr. was born at Igelsbach in 1562, and with his wife Barbara
produced as son named Johann Wilhelm Beissel
in 1616. Peter Beyssel died in
Eberbach at the age of 59 years. Johann Wilhelm, son of Peter and Barbara
Beyssel, lived his entire life at Eberbach.
Around 1638 he married Anna Barbara Helcker
with whom a daughter Anna Barbara was produced in 1642. Johann Wilhelm Beissel died in 1679 at the
age of 63 years. My 9th great-grandmother Anna Barbara Beissel,
daughter of Wilhelm and Anna Barbara, was born at Eberbach in 1642. She married Johann
Michael Abel and most likely lived in or around Eberbach or possibly
the town of Neider Liebersbach,
Bergstrasse, Hesse, located about 15 miles distant. Anna Barbara produced Johann Peter Abel in
1664. It is through him that my direct
ancestry continues. Anna Barbara was
only 32 years old when she passed away in 1674. * The border with Hesse runs
through the borough of Igelsbach. Therefore, only the northeast half, called Badisch
Igelsbach, of the borough belongs to Eberbach. The southwest half, called
Hessisch Igelsbach, belongs to the Hessian municipality of Hirschhorn. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Origins of the
surname
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
An Introduction to the Surname
The practice of inherited family
surnames began in England and France during the late part of the 11th century. Surnames were first utilized in the Germanic region of central Europe during the second half of the 12th century.
The custom of taking on surnames began in the southern areas of Germany, and gradually spread northward during
the Middle Ages. It took about three hundred years for this
tradition to apply to most families and become a constant part of one’s
identity.
With the passing of generations and the movement of families from
place to place many of the original identifying names were altered into some
of the versions that we are familiar with today. Over the centuries, most of our European
ancestors accepted their surname as an unchangeable part of their lives. Thus people rarely changed their
surname. Variations of most surnames
were usually the result of an involuntary act such as when a government
official wrote a name phonetically or made an
error in transcription. Research into the record of this Beissel family line indicates that the
variations, meanings and history of this surname are most likely linked to
that area of Europe where German linguistic traditions are commonly found. |
||||||||||
Source and Meaning of the Surname
German
surnames, as means of conveying lineage, were developed from four major sources: (1) Patronymic & Matronymic surnames most common in northern
Germany are based on a parent’s first name, such as Niklas Albrecht (Niklas son of Albrecht); (2) occupational
surnames are last names based on the person’s job or trade for example
Lukas Fischer (Lukas the Fisherman); (3) descriptive surnames are based on a unique quality or physical feature of the
individual like Karl Braun (Karl with
brown hair); (4) geographical surnames are derived from the location of the homestead from which the
first bearer and his family lived such as Leon Meer (Leon from by the sea), or derived from the state, region, or
village of the first bearer's origin for example Paul Cullen (Paul from Koeln/Cologne).
Beissel is German from the Swabian word for a breeding boar, hence a
nickname for someone who kept such an animal or was thought to resemble one
in some way. Beissel may also be an occupational name
for one who hunts falcons, a falconer. |
||||||||||
History of the Surname
The German surname Beissel, and its variant spellings, have traveled widely in many forms
throughout Europe. First found in the
Germanic region of central Europe, where the name was closely identified in
mediaeval times with the feudal society which would become prominent throughout
this geographical area. Beissel is a very early Germanic descriptive and occupational surname
and is one of the very first recorded in that country. |
||||||||||
Early Immigrants to North America
During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries hundreds of thousands
of Europeans made the
perilous ocean voyage to North America. For many it was an escape from economic
hardship and religious persecution.
For most it was an opportunity for to start over, own their own land,
and make a better future for their descendents. Immigration records show a number of people
bearing the name of Beissel,
or one of
its variants, as arriving in North America between the 17th and 20th
centuries. Some of these immigrants
were: Conrad Beissel who came from the German
Palatine to America in 1720, and eventually settled Conestoga Township,
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Nickolaus and Johan Peter Beissel arrived at Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania in 1749. Hans Peter
Beissel came to Philadelphia in 1733.
The Beissel surname appeared quite early into the former
British colonies of North America, especially William Penn’s colony of
Pennsylvania. One reason for this was that after the kings of Hanover,
Germany, also became kings of England in 1715, German emigration to America
was greatly encouraged. Many of these German immigrants, particularly those
with easy English equivalents, were encouraged and in some case required to
change to an English spelling. Also
many German surnames were re-spelled in America because of the close
relationship between the English and German
languages. In some cases Germans are
able to transform their names to the English form just by dropping a single
letter. This was the case with many sea captains or their agents who, when
making up the ships passenger lists, found it easier to use a more familiar
English spelling. After the start of World War One,
Germans in great numbers Anglicized
their names in an effort to remove all doubt as to their patriotism. |
||||||||||
Use the following links to find
more early immigrants with this surname: $ Search Ancestry.com Immigration
Records; or Free Ship’s Passenger lists at OliveTreeGenealogy.com |
||||||||||
More About
Surname Meanings & Origins
|
||||||||||
German Surnames Many German names have their roots in
the Germanic Middle Ages. The
process of forming family names began early in the 12th Century and extended through the
16th century. All social classes and
demographic strata aided in the development of names. First Names (Rufnamen) identified specific persons. Over
time the first name began to be applied to the bearer's whole family. At first through verbal usage, family names
(Familiennamen) were
later fixed through writing. Until the
17th century, first names played a more
important role. The earliest family names derived from the first name of the
first bearer (Patronym). Later names
derived from the place of dwelling and location of the homestead. If a person of family migrated from one place to another they were
identified by the place they came from.
Of more recent origin are names derived from the vocation of
profession of the first bearer. These names comprise the largest group and
the most easily recognizable, for they tell what the first bearer did for a
living. Another group are names derived from a physical or other characteristic
of the first bearer. Finally, there
are names that tell you the state or region a first bearer and his family
came from; the age old division in tribes and regions (Low German, Middle German and Upper German) is often reflected in names. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Variations
of the surname
|
|
||||||||
Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have
continued to unfold and expand often leading to an overwhelming number of
variants. As such one
can encounter great variation in the spelling of surnames because in early
times, spelling in general and thus the spelling of names was not yet
standardized. Later on spellings would
change with the branching and movement of families. Spelling
variations of this family name include: Beissel, Beyssel and many others. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
The complexity of researching records is compounded by the fact that in many cases an ancestors surname may also have been misspelled. This is especially true when searching census documents. The Soundex Indexing System was developed in an effort to assist with identifying spelling variations for a given surname. Soundex is a method of indexing names in the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 US Census, and can aid genealogists in their research. The Soundex Code for Beissel is B420. Other surnames sharing this Soundex Code: Bagley | Bagwell | Baxley | Beachley | Beagle | Beasley | Beazley | Beckley | Beesley | Beezley | Begley | Besley | Besly | Bickel | Bickle | Bickley | Bigelow | Bigley | Bissell | Biswell | Bixley | Bogel | Bogle | Boskill | Bosley | Boswell | Boxall | Boxwell | Bozile | Buckalew | Buckle | Bucklew | Buckley | Bushell | Bussell | Buswell | Buzzell. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Searching for more Information about this and other surnames? |
||||||||||
|
Then take a look at our: |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||
Family coat of
arms
|
||||||||||
In the Middle Ages heraldry came
into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to
distinguish the armored warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed
on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in
the middle of the 12th
century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries
of Western
Europe. Heraldry spread
to the German burgher class
in the 13th
century, and even some peasants used arms in the 14th century. |
||||||||||
|
The armorial
bearings for a Beissel of
Gymnich are recorded in Reitstap’s Armorial General. Gymnich
is a part of the city of Erftstadt. Erftstadt is located about 20 km south-west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis,
Land of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The coat-of-arms shown at the left is
credited as being that of a Beissel other than the aforementioned Beissel of
Gymnich. No Beissel family mottoes are
known. It is unusual for a German Achievement to include a motto. |
|||||||||
A Coat of Arms is defined as a group of emblems and figures (heraldic bearings) usually arranged on and around a shield and serving as the special insignia of some person, family, or institution. Except for a few cases, there is really no such thing as a standard "coat of arms" for a surname. A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, is a design usually granted only to a single person not to an entire family or to a particular surname. Coats of arms are inheritable property, and they generally descend to male lineal descendents of the original arms grantee. The rules and traditions regarding Coats of Arms vary from country to country. Therefore a Coat of Arms for an English family would differ from that of a German family even when the surname is the same. The art of designing, displaying, describing, and recording arms is called heraldry. The use of coats of arms by countries, states, provinces, towns and villages is called civic heraldry. Some of the more prominent elements incorporated into a coat of arms are : |
||||||||||
Crest - The word crest
is often mistakenly applied to a coat of arms. The crest was a later development
arising from the love of pageantry.
Initially the crest consisted of charges painted onto a ridge on top
of the helmet. Wreath
or Torse – The torse is a twist of cloth or wreath underneath and part of a crest. Always shown as
six twists, the first tincture being the tincture of the field, the second
the tincture of the metal, and so on. Mantling – The mantling is a drapery
tied to the helmet above the shield. It forms a backdrop for the shield. Helm or Helmet - The helmet or helm is situated above the shield
and bears the torse and crest. The style of helmet displayed varies according
to rank and social status, and these styles developed over time, in step with
the development of actual military helmets. Shield or Arms - The basis of all coats of arms. At their simplest, arms consist of a shield with a plain field on which appears a geometrical shape or object. The items appearing on the shield are known as charges. Motto - The motto was originally a war cry, but later mottoes often expressed some worthy sentiment. It may appear at the top or bottom of a family coat of arms. |
|
|||||||||
|
Direct Ancestors
|
|
||||||||
Descendant Register Generation 1 |
||||||||||
Peter
Beyssel Sr.-1 was born on 1540 in
Eberbach, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg,
Germany. He died on 1580 in Igelsbach, Bergstrasse, Hessen,
Germany. Peter Beyssel Jr., B: 1562
in Igelsbach, Bergstrasse, Hessen, Germany, D: 09
Apr 1621 in Eberbach, Rhine-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. |
||||||||||
Generation 2 |
||||||||||
Peter
Beyssel Jr.-2(Peter Beyssel Sr.-1) was
born on 1562 in Igelsbach, Bergstrasse, Hessen,
Germany. He died on 09 Apr 1621 in Eberbach, Rhine-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. He married Barbara Beyssel (nee)?. She was born on Abt. 1605. Child of Peter Beyssel Jr. and Barbara
Beyssel (nee)? Is, Johann Wilhelm Beissel, B: 21 Jan 1616 in Eberbach,
Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, D:
20 Nov 1679 in Eberbach, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, M:
1638. |
||||||||||
Generation 3 |
||||||||||
Johann
Wilhelm Beissel-3(Peter Beyssel Jr.-2,
Peter Beyssel Sr.-1) was born on 21 Jan 1616 in Eberbach, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis,
Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He died on 20 Nov 1679
in Eberbach, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg,
Germany. He married Anna Barbara Helcker on 1638. She was born on 1617. She
died on 28 Feb 1685 in Eberbach, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg,
Germany. Child of Johann Wilhelm
Beissel and Anna Barbara Helcker is, Anna Barbara Beissel, B: Apr 1642 in
Eberbach, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, D: 17 Nov 1674 in Germany. |
||||||||||
Generation 4 |
||||||||||
Anna
Barbara Beissel-4(Johann Wilhelm
Beissel-3, Peter Beyssel Jr.-2, Peter Beyssel Sr.-1)
was born on Apr 1642 in Eberbach, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg,
Germany. She died on 17 Nov 1674 in Germany. She married Johann Michael Abel.
He was born on Abt. 1639 in Germany. He died on 17 Jul 1723 in Germany. Child of Anna Barbara Beissel and Johann
Michael Abel is, Johann Peter Abel, B: Jul 1664 in Germany, D: 18 Apr 1740 in
Germany. |
||||||||||
Additional information about our DIRECT ANCESTORS as well as a complete listing of individuals
with this surname may be reviewed by clicking on the following LINK. |
||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||
Use
this free genealogy site to help you get the best genealogy searches from
Google™ by using your family tree, for your research. It will create a series
of different searches using tips or "tricks" that |
will
likely improve your results. The different searches will give you many
different ways of using Google and the Internet to find ancestry information
about this or any other Surname. |
|||||||||
|
Ancestral locations
|
|
||||||||
Researching
the locations where my ancestors lived has provided me
with valuable evidence needed to fill-in the gaps in my family trees. It has also led me to many interesting
facts that enhance the overall picture of each family group. The names of states and counties on the
following list were derived from the known places where the persons in the
“Direct Ancestors” list (see above) were born, married, and / or died. |
||||||||||
COUNTRY |
STATE |
COUNTY / SUBDIVISION |
||||||||
GERMANY |
Hessen |
Bergstrasse District |
||||||||
Baden-Württemberg |
Rhine-Neckar District |
|||||||||
Use this LINK to find out
more about the locations listed above. |
||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||
Resources
which enhance our knowledge of the places inhabited by our ancestors are
almost as important as their names.
The LINK to
the left will take you to Maps, Gazetteers, and
other helpful resources
|
|
that will assist in discovering
Ancestral Locations. These web sites
comprise only a small portion of what
is available for researchers interested in learning more about the areas in
which their ancestors lived. |
||||||||
Click on the LINK to the right to see more information about the World distribution of this
surname. |
You can get greater detail for any of the following maps by
clicking on the area, i.e state, county that you are interested in. |
|||||||||
|
Source documents
|
|
||||||||
The documents contained within the “Source
Documents Archives” have been located during my research of this family, and
used as evidence to
prove many of the facts contained within the database of this family’s
record. Most
of these documents can be considered as primary or secondary evidence. Primary evidence
is usually defined as the
best available to prove the fact in question, usually in an original document
or record. Secondary evidence
is in essence all that evidence which is inferior in its origin to primary evidence.
That does not mean secondary evidence is always in error, but there is a
greater chance of error. Examples of
this type of evidence would be a copy of an original record, or oral
testimony of a record’s contents.
Published genealogies and family histories are also secondary
evidence. Classifying evidence
as either primary or secondary does not tell anything about its accuracy or
ultimate value. This is especially
true of secondary evidence. Thus it is
always a good idea to ask the following questions: (1) How far removed from
the original is it, (when it is a copy)?; (2) What
was the reason for the creation of the source which contains this evidence?;
and (3) Who was responsible for creating this secondary evidence and what
interest did they have in its accuracy? SOURCE: You are welcome
to download any of the documents contained within this archive. Should you encounter a problem obtaining a
copy you may get in touch with us via the contact
information found at the end of this page. |
||||||||||
|
Use the
following LINK to view the source documents pertaining to this
family. |
|
||||||||
|
Web resources
|
|
||||||||
This search engine may provide you with additional |
information to assist with your
research about this topic. |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Our SURNAME
LOCATOR AND RESOURCES
web page contains the following: (1) links that will take you to an updated listing of
all surnames as posted in our three databases at the Rootsweb WorldConnect
Project; (2) the Surname List Finder a tool that finds
sound-alike matches for a given surname from among RootsWeb's thousands of
surname lists; (3) the Soundex Converter that can be used to find the soundex code for a surname, plus other
surnames/spellings sharing the same soundex code; (4) Surname Message Boards the world's largest online genealogy
community with over 17 Million posts on more than 161,000 boards; (5) Surname
Mailing Lists of all surnames having
mailing lists at RootsWeb, as well as topics that include (6) Surname
Heraldy, and (7) Mapping a
Surname.
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Your
genealogy
research of this surname can be facilitated by use of SURNAME
WEB.
This website links to the majority of the surname data on the web, as well as
to individual family trees, origin and surname meaning if known, and many
other related genealogy resources. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
SURNAME
FINDER
provides easy access to free and commercial resources for 1,731,359 surnames.
On each surname specific "finder" page, you can search a variety of
online databases all pre-programmed with your surname. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Use ALL
SURNAMES GENEALOGY
to get access to find your surname resources .
There are almost 1300 links in this directory. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Linkpendium Surnames - Web sites, obituaries, biographies,
and other material specific to a surname. Cyndi's List - Surnames, Family Associations & Family Newsletters
Index - Sites or resources dedicated to specific, individual
family surnames. Free Genealogy Search Help for Google - This free genealogy site will help you use Google™ for
your research. It will create a series of different searches using tips or
"tricks" that will likely improve your results. The different
searches will give you many different ways of using Google to find ancestry
information on the Internet. FamilySearch.org
- Family History and Genealogy Records - The
largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records
in the world. Top Genealogical Websites - These mighty roots resources compiled by “Family Tree
Magazine”, will give you the power to bust through research brick walls and
find answers about your ancestors—all from your home computer. SurnameDB
Free database of surname meanings - This site
SurnameDB.Com contains a large FREE to access database (almost 50,000
surnames) on the history and meaning of family last names. |
||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||
The
following Link
will take you to our library of genealogy reference books. Here you will find bibliographies, family histories and books
about names. In addition, there are texts that pertain
to ethnic and religion groups, history, geography
as well as other books that will assist you with your research. Research
Library – Table of Contents Go
directly to the collection for Names |
||||||||||
|
Images gallery
|
|
||||||||
During my
research I have collected images and photographs that are of general interest
to a particular family. Some of them
are presented on this website because I believe they tend to provide the
reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of our
ancestors past lives. If
you have any photographs or other images relating to this ancestral family we would greatly appreciate hearing
from you. |
||||||||||
Use the
following LINK to ascertain
whether we have any images that pertain to this family. |
||||||||||
|
Free Image Search Help from Google |
|
||||||||
Use the power of Google™ to find more interesting images about
this topic. A Click on this button will link you to the Google Images
Search page. |
Enter
the topic you are searching in the box and click “Search Images”. At the “Images”
display page you will see the image, as well as the website of which it
is associated. |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Snail
Mail: Fred USA |
|
Snail Mail: Fred USA |
||||||||
|
|
|||||||||