Generation Four: Hehl-Braun

children of CHRISTIAN HEHL, SR. and MARIA BARBARA BRAUN

(1) Laura Sophie Hehl
b. 8/16/1838  Biberach, Württemberg
d. 2/22/1840

(2) Maria Barbara Hehl

b. 7/3/1839  Biberach
d. 7/18/1839

(3) SOPHIE MARIA HEHL

b. 9/20/1840 Biberach, Württemberg

d. 2/11/1891 Cincinnati, OH (typhoid abdomalis)

married to PAUL H. SCHEUERLE
  (Ravensburg, Jan. 28, 1867)  

children: Maria {Haering}, FREDERICK T. SCHEUERLE, Elise {Zolleis/Martin/Walter}, Paul Jr., Charles, Barbara {Stammler/Baier}

buried at Walnut Hills Cemetery, Cincinnati

(Sect. 16, Lot 94NH, Grave C)

Sophie Hehl and Paul Scheuerle were married in the medieval city of Ravensburg on the same day as Sophie's brother Christian and his wife Maria. (Ravensburg was Maria's birthplace.) Their daughter Marie was born six months after the wedding; most likely the wedding was planned for Christian Hehl, and Paul and Sophie were added on to the ticket at the last minute. After their marriage, the Scheuerles lived near Schussenried in the district of Biberach for several years. They emigrated along with their six children aboard the Hapsburg, arriving in Baltimore on March 28, 1884 and settling in Cincinnati. 

Sophie gave birth to at least nine children, three of whom died as infants. The first Scheuerle born in America was Gustav Adolph; he died of bronchopneumonia in June, 1887. 

Ravensburg, Wurttemberg. Photo by k4dordy.

Sophie died of typhoid fever in the winter of 1891. The family lived at 2 Browne St. in Cincinnati at the time of her death.

(4) Christiane Barbara Hehl

b. 7/11/1842
married to Johann Aider (Biberach, 1865)
children: Marie, Sophie

(5) Christian Friedrich Hehl

b. 7/20/1844
married to Maria Kiderlen (Ravensburg, Jan. 28, 1867)

Generation Five: Rapp-unknown

(1) Barbara Rapp {Wohlfelder}
b. 1811?  Bavaria?
d. 10/12/1871  Augsburg/Kaufbeuren, Bavaria?
married JOHANN ANTON WOHLFELDER probably circa 1840
children: JOHN A. WOHLFELDER, Karl

The Rapp surname is a fairly common one, and there were several Barbara Rapps born around the right time. The record I'm drawing from in this instance is that of a Babette Wohlfelder, d. 12 Oct. 1871 in Augsburg, residence at death Kaufbeuren, age 60, widowed. It seems to me likely that this is the widow of Anton Wohlfelder. (The name "Barbara Rapp" comes from Betty Eisenbeis.)

Generation Four: Wohlfelder-Rapp

children of JOHANN ANTON WOHLFELDER and BARBARA RAPP

(1) JOHN A. WOHLFELDER

b. 7/21/1846  Harburg(?), Swabia, Bavaria

d. 8/28/1928 Cincinnati, OH (myocarditis)
married abt. 1871 to MARGRETTA VOGT

children: ANNA WOHLFELDER {SCHEUERLE},
Rose {Lockhard}
buried at Walnut Hills Cemetery, Cincinnati

(Sect. 5U, Lot/Grave 719, Row 12)

John A. Wohlfelder was born, probably, in Harburg, a small town about 7 miles north of the junction of the Woernitz and the Danube Rivers. The name "Wohlfelder" means, more or less, "good fields;" the singular would be "wohlfeld," a much more common surname in Germany and possibly the Wohlfelders' original surname. John's father, Johann, was a brushmaker. John married Margretta Vogt around 1871, and preceded Margretta and daughter Rose in his emigration by probably only a few months in 1892. (Nineteen-year-old Anna came over separately the same year.) 

The Wohlfelders settled in Wheeling, West Virginia, where they ran a boarding house for many years.
John taught music and worked as a church janitor. By 1920, they moved to Cincinnati to be closer to Anna and her husband, Fred Scheuerle; John worked in brass manufacturing for a while. They lived at 2467 W. McMicken Ave, where they were still living when he died in 1928.

John Wohlfelder's death certificate (click to enlarge).

(2) Karl Wohlfelder
b. 1843
d. 12/3/1884  Augsburg, Bavaria?

According to Betty Eisenbeis, John had a brother named Karl. This may have been the same individual; the birthdate is about right, and the surname is rare. (The LDS German Death and Burials Index doesn't indicate the location, but all the other citations in the same batch are in the Augsburg region.)

Generation Four: Vogt-Kiderle

children of CONRAD VOGT and LYDIA KIDERLE

(1) Anne Marie Vogt {Wiesinger} {Becker}

(2) Mariane Vogt {Oswald}

(3) MARGRETTA VOGT

b. 3/16/1850 Burtenbach, Günzburg, Bavaria

d. 9/6/1928 Cincinnati, OH

married abt. 1871 to JOHN A. WOHLFELDER

children: ANNA WOHLFELDER {SCHEUERLE},
Rose {Lockhard}
buried at Walnut Hills Cemetery, Cincinnati

(Sect. 5U, Lot/Grave 720, Row 12)

Margretta Vogt was born in Burtenbach, Bavaria, in the spring of 1850. Margretta married John A. Wohlfelder around 1871, and gave birth to six children; only two of them (Anna and Rose) were still alive in 1900. Before emigrating, the Wohlfelders lived in Harburg, the small Bavarian town on the Woernitz River which is the home of a nine-hundred year old castle.

The castle in Harburg, built before 1150.

John Wohlfelder probably emigrated first, followed by Anna in August 1892 and Margretta and daughter Rose in November. Margretta and Rose sailed aboard the Rhaetia in 1892, departing Hamburg on Nov. 13 and arriving in New York on the 28th. They had one piece of luggage between them. Presumably because she was travelling with nine-year-old Rose, Margretta occupied a cabin (kajüte), as opposed to travelling by the much-cheaper steerage (zwischendeck), as had Anna three months earlier.

As of 1900, Margretta and John ran a boarding house at 7 17^th St. in Wheeling, West Virginia, renting to a family of native-born railroad workers; by 1910, they'd moved up the block to 52 17th St., about half a mile from the Ohio River. They eventually moved to Cincinnati, where daughter Anna lived with her husband, Fred Scheuerle.

Margretta died in her sleep (of a coronary), nine days after her husband John. As of 2006, the descendants of her father, Konrad Vogt, still live in the house in Burtenbach in which she was born (according to Jean Eisenbeis, her great-granddaughter).

(4) Katherine Vogt

(5) Julia Vogt

(6) Lydia Vogt {Hiermeyer}

(6b) Lona Vogt

(Lydia and Lona were twins.)

(7) Rose Vogt {Wiedebauer}

(8) Lena Vogt {Gels}

Generation Three: Wohlfelder-Vogt

children of JOHN A. WOHLFELDER and MARGRETTA VOGT

(1) ANNA WOHLFELDER

b. 12/8/1872  Harburg, Swabia, Bavaria

d. 11/24/1950 Cincinnati, OH
married Sept 15, 1892 to FREDERICK T. SCHEUERLE
children: FRIEDA SCHEUERLE {SPRING}, Rosa, Fred Jr.
buried at Walnut Hills Cemetery, Cincinnati
(Sect. 30, Grave 829, Row 104)

Anna Wohlfelder was nineteen years old when she sailed out of Hamburg, apparently by herself, aboard the August Victoria. Frederick Scheuerle, who was visiting Germany after his mother Sophia's death in Cincinnati, was also on board this ship, as was the inventor Nikola Tesla, returning from his own mother's funeral and a trip through Germany. Fred and Anna probably met aboard this ship; they were married in Cincinnati two weeks after arriving.

After her husband Fred's sudden death in 1949, Anna lived with her son Fred Jr. at 3205 Bishop St. in Cincinnati. She died in her sleep the following year.

(2) Rose Wohlfelder  

b. 12/31/1882 Harburg, Swabia, Bavaria
d. 4/3/1968
married abt 1914 to Charles Lockhard
children: Margretta/Peggy, Elizabeth/Betty {Eisenbeis},
Laura Jane {Kleinschmidt}

Rose Wohlfelder and her mother Margretta emigrated in Nov. 1892, sailing out of Cuxhaven aboard the Rhaetia. She lived with her parents in their boarding house in Wheeling, W. Va., and then went to nursing school at Allegheny Hospital, finally settling with her husband Charles in Ross Township north of Pittsburgh. Rose was the mother of Betty Eisenbeis, who provided much of the detail of the German side of the family in 2007.

Generation Three: Scheuerle-Hehl

children of PAUL H. SCHEUERLE, SR. and SOPHIE M. HEHL

(1) Maria Amalia Sophie Scheuerle {Haering}

b. 7/20/1867  Schussenried, Donaukreis, Württemberg
d. 1/7/1950 Cincinnati, OH (heart disease)
married to Joseph Haering (1886)
children: Joseph, Frederick, Maria, Adolph,
Eleanora {Frank}, Irma, Paul

buried in Walnut Hills Cemetery
(Section: 18SH Lot: 71 Grave D-E)

(2) FREDERICK T. "FRITZ" SCHEUERLE
[baptized as THEODOR FRIEDRICH]

b. 7/15/1868  Schussenried, Donaukreis, Württemberg

d. 3/7/1949 Cincinnati, OH

married 9/16/1892 to ANNA WOHLFELDER
children: FRIEDA S. SCHEUERLE {SPRING},
Rosa, Frederick Jr.

buried at Walnut Hills Cemetery, Cincinnati
(Sect. 30, Grave 821, Row 103)

Frederick Scheuerle was born in Württemberg in 1868. At this time, Württemberg was still an independent kingdom in the German Confederation; this was shortly before the founding of the German Empire (the “Second Reich”) in 1871. At the age of 15, Frederick emigrated to America along with his parents, sister Marie, and younger siblings, departing from Bremen aboard the Hapsburg and arriving in Baltimore on March 28, 1884. Along with his father, Paul Scheuerle, he soon found work as a tanner; the 1885 Cincinnati directory shows them living at 22 and 26 Browne St., both employed as tanners. He was still working as a tanner in 1894 at his daughter Freda's birth, and was working at Currier Tannery in Cincinnati by 1900. Fred was naturalized by around 1889.

In 1891, Frederick's mother died; soon afterwards, he returned to Germany for unknown reasons. In August of 1892, he sailed back to America on board the Augusta Victoria. He most likely met his wife Anna Wohlfelder during this voyage (they were both aboard this ship without immediate family, and both travelled zwischendeck (steerage)). The inventor Nikola Tesla also happened to be aboard this ship, sailing back to New York after his own mother's funeral in Serbia.

Fred and Anna arrived at Ellis Island on August 29^th, 1892, and were married in Cincinnati 17 days later. (Fred's brothers Paul Jr. and Charles also married women named Anna, as did his cousin Max, so there were four Anna Scheuerles in Cincinnati around this time.) The couple lived on Plymouth Ave., near Bates.

Fred Scheuerle and Anna Wohlfelder's marriage certificate
(click to enlarge).

Fred was probably the first cousin of Joseph G. Scheuerle, the Western painter who designed many of the posters for Buffalo Bill. (See discussion on the PAUL SCHEUERLE page.)

Frederick Scheuerle died suddenly on the street (from a coronary occlusion) in March of 1949. He lived at 2133 Colerain Ave. in Cincinnati at the time of his death.

(3) Elise Marie Scheuerle
b. 7/30/1869 Schussenried
d. 7/17/1870


(4) August Adolf Scheuerle
b. 11/26/1870 Schussenried
d. 12/20/1870


(5) Elise Babette Scheuerle {Zolleis/Martin/Walter}
b. 3/1/1872 Schussenried
d. 1/18/1947 Cincinnati, OH
married John Zolleis (abt. 1892), Edward Martin (1902), Albert Walter (1908)
children: William Zolleis, Emma/Bertha Zolleis {Stang}, Clara Walter {Richter}

buried in Walnut Hills Cemetery
(Section 16, Lot 94NH, Grave D)

 Elise B. Scheuerle (also known as Lizzie, Eliza, Elisabeth, etc.) had just turned 12 years old when the Scheuerles arrived in Baltimore in 1884. She worked as a chambermaid at Drover's Hotel in Cincinnati before she was married. She was unlucky in marriage, being widowed three times before the age of 50.

(6) Paul H. Scheuerle, Jr.     
b. 7/5/1873 Württemberg
d. 2/3/1914 Cincinnati, OH (cirrhosis of the liver)
married to Anna Hamel (1895)
children: Helma, Pauline, Lillian {Siller}, Paul III

Worked as a wine merchant, saloonkeeper on Vine St. in Cincinnati.

(7) Charles “Karl” Robert Scheuerle

b. 8/19/1878 Württemberg

d. 6/24/1942  Bridgetown, OH (lung cancer)
married to Anna Woelfle (1899)
children: Charles J.

buried at Vine St. Hill Cemetery, Cincinnati

Worked as a barkeeper, steam flusher (beer coils).


(8) Barbara "Babette" Scheuerle {Stammler} {Baier}
b. Apr 1876-79  Württemberg
d. 7/16/1962  Cincinnati, OH
married to Johann Stammler (1895), Frank Baier (1915)
children: Edna {Lind}, Alma {Kleimeyer}, Ella, Anna {Zanone}, Johann Jr., Ruth {Schnelle}, Edwin Baier

buried in Walnut Hills Cemetery
(Section: 5U, Grave:114, Row: 2)

(9) Gustav Adolph Scheuerle

b. 1886 Cincinnati, OH
d. 6/8/1887 Cincinnati, OH (congestion of the lungs / bronchopneumonia)

buried in Walnut Hills Cemetery
(Section 16, Lot 94NH)

Generation Two: Vansacz-Kotanszki

children of DENES VANSACZ and PARASZKA KOTANSZKI

(1)Janos Vansacz

b. 6/1869 Bekescsaba, Hungary

d. before 1874

(2) Mary [Maria] Vanszacs

b. 10/1870 Bekescsaba, Hungary

d. 9/19/1960  Cleveland, OH

married abt. 1901 to John Kmetz (b. 1870)
children: John Metz, Elizabeth {Hrach}, Mary {Mitchell}, Edith {Smet}, Albert
lived in Young, PA (1920)

Mary (Vanszacs) Kmetz's maiden name was listed as "Rusinko" at her death, and her niece Helen wrote that Elizabeth (Vanszacs) Czimbal and her sister "married at the same time:" Nov. 14, 1892, in Bekescsaba. Josef Czimbal, her brother-in-law, stayed with a Janos Ruszinko upon first arriving in America in 1902. It seems likely that Mary may have been married to a Rusinko in Bekescsaba before marrying John Kmetz around 1901.

Mary's obituary:

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<><> <><> <><> Id#: 0580279 Name: Kmetz, Mary Date: Sep 21 1960 Source: Plain Dealer; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #124. Notes: Kmetz, Mary (nee Rusinko), 13314 Cranwood Dr., beloved wife of the late John; mother of John Metz of Detroit, Elizabeth Hrach, Mary Mitchell Edith Smet and the late Albert, grandmother and great-grandmother; sister of the late Elizabeth Czimbal. The family will receive friends at the Louis Ferfolia Funeral Home, 9116 Union Ave. at E. 93rd St. Funeral Thursday, at 8:45 a. m. Services St. Timothy's Church, at 9:30 a. m.

(3) ELIZABETH [ERZSÉBET] M. VANSACZ
b. 9/20/1872 Bekescsaba, Hungary

d. 6/25/1954  Cleveland, OH

married 11/14/1892 to JOSEF J. CZIMBAL in Bekescsaba
children: Margaret {Kiss}, Elizabeth {Szotyk}, Joseph Jr.,
Edith {Knezinek}, Andrew, HELEN E. CZIMBAL {SPRING},
John, Michael

Elizabeth M. Vansacz was baptized in Bekescsaba on October 5, 1872, two weeks after she was born (as was the custom). Her granddaughter remembers that she worked in some capacity with chickens before leaving Hungary. According to her daughter, Helen, she emigrated with her four children aged 12, 10, 8 and 2 (Margaret "Mary," Elizabeth "Lizzie," Joseph, and Edith) in November, 1907, and "was in the ship sick bay the whole trip and didn't see the children until they arrived at Ellis Island, New York."

Elizabeth's obituary: 

Id#: 0468329
Name: Czimbal, Elizabeth
Date: Jun 26 1954
Source: Cleveland Press;  Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #102.
Notes: Czimbal, Elizabeth (nee Vanszacs), residence, 4803 Storer Ave. Beloved wife of Joseph St. (deceased), dear mother of Margaret Kiss, Elizabeth Szotyk, Joseph, Andrew, Helen Spring, John and the deceased Michael and Edith, Sister of Mary Kmetz. Passed away June 24. Friends may call at the Jindra-Holan Funeral Home, 3324 Fulton Rd. (corner Sackett) where services will be held Monday, June 28 at 9 a. m.

(4) Janos Vanzacz

b. 8/1874 Bekescsaba, Hungary

(5) Judit Vansacz

b. 6/1876 Bekescsaba, Hungary

Note about the Vansacz surname: the baptism records I found (indexed) for the five children listed above spell it as "Vansacz;" other records have it as "Vanszacs." In the former case, it would be pronounced [Vanshatch], in the latter, [Vansatch]. I have used the various spellings interchangeably.

Generation Two: Czimbal-[unknown]

children of unknown Czimbal and wife

JOSEPH [JOSEF] J. CZIMBAL 
b. 6/12/1868 Bekescsaba, Hungary
d. 3/13/1949 Cleveland, OH
married 11/14/1892 to ELIZABETH M. VANSZACS
children: Margaret {Kiss}, Elizabeth {Szotyk}, Joseph Jr.,
Edith {Smet}, Andrew J.,
HELEN E. CZIMBAL {SPRING}, John, Michael

Josef J. Czimbal sailed to America aboard the Graf Waldersee in 1902. The ship left Hamburg on May 3, stopping in Boulogne and Plymouth (UK), and arrived in New York on May 14. Josef was detained for 5 days at Ellis Island, and was released to the Hungarian Legion at 14 Greenwich St. in NYC on May 21st. He soon went on, probably by railroad, to the town of Wilmore, Pennsylvania (between Johnstown and Altoona), to stay with a friend, Janos Ruszinko.

Josef had left his wife of ten years and their three children back in Bekescsaba, where he had been a farmer, to work in the coal mines of Western Pennsylvania, saving up to bring his family over. He returned to Hungary for a visit sometime in 1905-06, sailing out of Hamburg once again on Feb. 10, 1906, and arriving back at Ellis Island on the 20th, headed this time to Bellwood, PA (north of Altoona). His daughter, Helen, wrote that he returned to Hungary "several times" during this period; his daughter, Edith, was born in December 1905, which presumably means that he was present in Bekescsaba around March of that year.

Joseph's wife and four children finally came over in November, 1907 [according to Helen]. Some time after this, he began farming in Iselin, Pennsylvania. The family moved to Cleveland in 1924, and Joseph ran a general store at 4803 Storer Ave; he also operated an ice-truck and grew fruit trees in his yard. The former Czimbal farm in Iselin was sold to Tony Parisi for $1 in 1930.

Joseph's obituary:

Id#: 0069073
Name: Czimbal, Joseph J.
Date: Mar 16 1949
Source: Cleveland Press; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #018.
Notes: Czimbal, Joseph J., residence, 4803 Storer Ave., beloved husband of Elizabeth, father of Mrs. Margaret Kiss and Mrs. Elizabeth Szotyk, Joseph, Andrew, Mrs. Helen Spring, John and the late Edith Knezinek, and Michael, passed away Sun., Mar. 13. Friends received at the L. F. Jindra Funeral Home, 3324 Fulton Rd., where services will be held Thurs., Mar. 17, at 9 a. m. and St. Procop's Church, 9:30 a. m.

The Czimbal farm's boundaries:

Beginning at an Iron pin in south line of Philadelphia Street, at northeast corner of said lot, which pin Is a distance of 75 feet in a westerly direction from the Intersection of said south line of Philadelphia Street with the west line of Eleventh Street; thence by line of lot now or formerly of R. N. Ray,

South 1 7 minutes East 110 feet to an Iron pin in north line of a private alley; thence along north line of said private alley, North 89 50 minutes West 22 1-2 feet to corner of lot of Alphonso Valentl; thence by line of said lot of Alphonso Valenti, North 1 7 minutes West 110 feet to south line of Philadelphia Street; thence along south line of Philadelphia Street South 89 60 minutes East 22 1-2 feet to iron pin at place of beginning;