Re: PRIESMEYERS - TEXAS BRANCH
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In reply to:
Re: PRIESMEYERS - TEXAS BRANCH
8/03/01
Henry William Priesmeyer was born on 5 October 1907.
He was the son of August Friedrich Priesmeyer, born 30 November 1870 in Frelsburg, Texas, and Emilie (surname unknown to me).
He was the grandson of Heinrich Hermann Friedrich Priesmeyer, called Henry, who was born in Quernheim, Hannover, on 12 December 1845. Henry married Adolphina Gerhardina Sophia Becker of Frelsburg on 31 May 1870. They had four children, including August, and then Henry died an untimely death on 6 June 1878. Adolphina then married Frederick Lillie, and the four children were raised in the Lillie household.
Henry Priesmeyer came to America with his parents, Heinrich Georg Ludwig Priesmeyer and Anne Sophie Louise Graeber, and his brother, Friedrich, in 1860, on the fall voyage of the ship "Weser," arriving in Galveston on 23 November of that year. (The family had left Quernheim immediately following Henry’s Confirmation.)
Almost all American Priesmeyers, including those who settled in St. Louis, descend originally from one couple, Henrich Priesmeyer and Catharine Meyer of Oppenwehe, in Westphalia, who were married in about 1625. They lived on farm number 3 in Oppenwehe, which had been held by the Priesmeyers since at least the 13th century.
Your Priesmeyer branch (which is also my branch) left Oppenwehe in 1704 and lived in a succession of nearby villages, including Levern, Arrenkamp, Marl, and Quernheim. After 1752 they were landless and poor, which is why they were among the flood of German immigrants who came to America in the 19th century.
I descend from Henry’s brother Friedrich, via his first child, Sophie, who was born in Frelsburg in 1862. You and I are 4th cousins.
I have quite a bit more information if you’re interested, and I’d love to hear about your family and relatives in El Campo. Please contact me via e-mail ([email protected]).
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Re: PRIESMEYERS - TEXAS BRANCH
James Priesmeyer 5/01/08