The Reigel Family

The Reigel family are Terry's ancestors, his father's people.

The Reigels, as we call them here, have in fact been remarkably indifferent about the spelling of their surname. It was common for people in the 17^th century, and even into the 18^th to use a variety of spellings, if indeed they were able to write their names at all. And early records show this family's surname as Rigel, Rigle, Reigle, Reigal, Riegel, and Reigel among others, although Riegel seems to be the most common spelling for early generations, and one that is phonetically correct in their native German. However later generations have continued to adopt new spellings, using Reigle, Reigles and others in various branches.

We have adopted the Reigel spelling for this section simply because that is the variation adopted by Terry's great-grandfather. In the stories of individuals we have tried to reflect what seems to be the variation they most commonly used. However the indexes have been arranged so that no matter what variation a person used they can also be found under the "standardized" spelling of Reigel.

Our Riegel family has been assumed to have migrated from the Rheinland-Pfalz area in what is now Germany, where many of the early Riegels in Pennsylvania did, arriving as early as 1732.¹ However, efforts to establish a connection to any of these early Riegel families by traditional genealogical methods have so far been unsuccessful. Further, Y-DNA tests on descendants of our family have not matched the results of the descendants of any other Riegel families in the United States. This raises the possibility of an adoption or other "non-paternal event" somewhere in the line. For further discussion of the DNA analysis see our article on Riegel DNA Studies.

The Reigels in this Section

Our record starts with Jacob K. Riegel and his wife Christiana Ohl. He was born in September of 1816, apparently in Pennsylvania, though that is not certain. The earliest record found for them is for his purchase of land in Turbut Twp., Northumberland Co., in 1844. Jacob's father was also named Jacob, which we know only because he purchased Jacob K's property on the courthouse steps after the son's early death. No other record of him has been found. A Charles Riegel was living on the property previously owned by Jacob K. in 1860 with Jacob K's seven-year-old daughter, and is thus assumed to have been a brother. But no further record of him has been found either.

There were a number of Ohl families in early Pennsylvania, but none has been positively identified as Christiana's ancestors. A baptismal record for Chrissie Ann Ohl found in Lower Saucon Twp., Northampton Co. may be hers, and if so identifies her parents as John and Margaret Ohl. But the baptismal record reflects a birth date of 7 Mar 1820, while the age on her tombstone computes to a birth date of about 21 Mar 1821, a troubling discrepancy. In any case, nothing more has been found for these potential parents.

A Picture of Life in the Times

The stories of the family, collectively, are illuminating and sobering. We tend to think of the period from the mid-19^th to mid-20^th centuries as one of progress in the lives of ordinary people. The accounts of this family, probably like most Americans at the time, show how difficult life was for most people. Christiana lost her husband when he was 40, and a three-year-old daughter two weeks later. She was left with seven children ranging from four to 15 years of age. Their descendants had similar experiences throughout the period, with many losing spouses and children at young ages.

Jacob K. owned a small farm, but, apparently it was not large enough to support his family. The only record we have of his occupation says he was a laborer. His male descendants and the spouses of his female descendants largely followed a similar pattern, working as day laborers their whole life or as small farmers, though some did manage to own their homes. While some of Jacob and Christiana's descendants remained in Pennsylvania, most moved west in the 1870's and 1880's to Michigan or Missouri, then to Iowa, Kansas, Colorado and Washington while other migrated south to Texas before spreading even more widely in the 20^th century. Those families that moved west found greater opportunities with some members following more diverse career paths and achieving a degree of material success.

Reading More About Them

To read their stories you can begin with Jacob K. or Christiana, the couple we first know about in central Pennsylvania. Their struggles have been graphically recorded by surviving records. Their descendants also include some of the more interesting folks that you might want to read about:

• Jacob and Christiana's eldest daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, who went to White Pigeon, Michigan, to marry a man from her home town who already had nine children, then had nine of her own, including several who became bakers
  • Sarah's eldest daughter, Elenora, who married John Eischeid, who became a successful businessman in Shenandoah, Iowa, and was one of the few of this large family to leave descendants still living today
  • Sarah's eldest son, Harry, who became a successful baker, hatchery operator, and property owner in Shenandoah, but married late to a woman regarded as a "gold-digger" by his family resulting in messy troubles with his estate
  • Sarah's son Charles, who was a less successful baker, losing his first family in Missouri by age 26, then trying again in Nebraska
  • Sarah's son Edwin, who became a successful businessman in La Porte, Indiana, and married a society figure who died tragically when the car he was driving was hit by a train nine months later. He also has living descendants
• Jacob and Christiana's next daughter, Violetta, who moved with her husband to Missouri, and eventually died dramatically during an entertainment at her church
  • Violetta's second son, John, a lawyer who became judge in St. Joseph, Missouri, and later moved to Los Angeles and practiced law there
• Jacob and Christiana's eldest son, John Jacob, who together with most of his children and grandchildren stayed in Pennsylvania
  • Moses F. Souder, second husband of John Jacob's eldest daughter Sarah, who served in the Civil War and finally won a nine-year battle to collect a pension for his service
• Benjamin Franklin, Terry's great-grandfather, who dragged his family all the way to Washington state to settle on a small farm there
  • Ben's eldest son Ralph, whose family nearly starved trying to homestead in Oregon's high desert
  • Ben's second son Forest, the "bachelor" uncle who it turns out to have married a woman whose six-year old daughter lived with them across the street from his brother Frank. After the marriage dissolved she married for the third, or perhaps fourth, time.
  • Ben's youngest son Frank, Terry's grandfather, who struggled his entire life trying to produce a living for his family from his small farm
• Ben's twin brother, William David , who followed him to Kansas, married and eventually moved to Missouri where he ended up spending time in the State Penitentiary
• Jacob and Christiana's youngest surviving daughter, Mary Catharine, who together with most of her children and grandchildren stayed in Pennsylvania, most of them in Northumberland Co.

While Jacob and Christiana struggled on their small farm they lived among families long settled in the area, and who had become quite prosperous farmers. When Jacob died and Christiana absented herself for a time, their children were taken in by some of these families. Their stories illustrate the more promising circumstances enjoyed by others in the community:

• Sarah, age 18, was living with John Haag, who had sold the farm to Jacob, and his wife Mary.
• Violetta, age 16, was with John Hoffa and his wife Sarah.
• Jacob, age 14, was with Elias Schaeffer and his wife Elizabeth.
• Christiana, age 12, was with John McCormick, a widower, and his three children.
• Benjamin, age 10, was with Kilyan Dunkle and his wife Mary.
• William, age 10, was with Erastus Ketner and his wife Sarah. He was the exception to the rule of prosperous, long-time residents. He was new to the area, and soon to move on, working as a mill worker and laborer.

John Hoffa was a third cousin to Benjamin's future wife, and others were related to one another. But no prior connection between Jacob or Christiana and these families has been found. It appears they were just acting as good neighbors.

You can also look for specific people in the Index on the left or explore the family in Jacob and Christiana's Descendants Chart.

Viewing Maps of the Family

You may find the Maps showing the principal locations where the family lived of interest. In addition, many of the places mentioned in the narratives about each person contain this icon, which is a link to display that place in Google Maps. For more information about these links see the Map Links section on our main page.

The Gann Family

We have also included here a small section on the Gann family, the ancestors of Benjamin Reigel's wife Esther Matilda. In this section you might view:

• Her grandfather John Gann Sr., an early settler in the Nipponose Valley, and his children
• Her father John Gann Jr., who unlike several of his brothers did not move west but stayed in Lycomng Co.
• Christian Gann, who seems to have been a cousin of some degree to her father, though the actual relationship has not been established
• A Chart showing the descendants of John Sr.