Updated 22 May 2006 

MY JUCH ANCESTORS !

By Roy Juch

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Many people have contributed to research and documentation for my JUCH family.    Words can never express my sincere appreciation to a few people without who’s help I never would have been able to cross the Atlantic and found my roots.    To name a few that were especially valuable is difficult because I will leave out others that have also helped but I must give a special thanks to Janna Visser-Juch & husband Huib Visser, Gerhardt & the late Freddy Richter,  Ilse & Ernst Juch, and Wilfried Hartmann, a recently found Juch cousin.

 

 

This map shows the proximity of the villages where my ancestors were born, lived and died.

 

Refer to the map above

My 7th through 5th Great Grandfathers were born in Kirchohmfeld.    My 4th & 3rd Great Grandfathers were born in Tastungen.

    Both are located near-by Wintzingerode,) which is the birthplace of my 2nd  JUCH Great Grandfather.

The village of Wintzingerode <http://www.wintzingerode.de/>,  (as are Kirchohmfeld, Tastungen & Wehnde) is located within Eichsfeld,

 a political sub-division of the State of Thuringen,

(Germany consists of sixteen states).

 

 

   Within Eichsfeld are many villages where JUCHs lived.     Village church records were reviewed by the kindness of Fredy & Gerhardt Richter, and JUCHs were recorded in Kirchohmfeld, Kaltohmfeld, Tastungen, Wehnde, Worbis and Wintzingerode.     In the early history of the area all these villages were under the protection & jurisdiction of the Burg Bodenstein.

For more information about Burg Bodenstein

please visit <http://www.burg-bodenstein.de>

or

<translation version to English for another site>

BURG BODENSTEIN

 

BURG BODENSTEIN CHAPEL, WINTZINGERODE, GERMANY

LUTHERAN CHURCH

(Burg is German for Castle)

Picture provided by Fredy & Gerhardt Richter

As reported by Fredy & Gerhardt Richter the angel that keeps the font during the baptism action gets lowered from the church blanket calm.

In old times it was a donation of the Count of Wintzingerode.

 

Gerstungen, (see map below middle toward bottom, also hi-lighted in yellow & circled in blue)

is the birthplace of my Great Grandfather, Johann Michael Juch, the immigrant to America.

***

My 7th Great Grandfather was:

Johann Juch & Unknown

Johann Juch was born about July 1591 and died 19 May 1676 in Kirchohmfeld.    Johann was a Lutheran Pastor in Kirchohmfeld.    His wife’s name is not yet known.    They did have five children: Fredrich George, born about 1620; Johann Esajas, born about October 1636; Johann Arndt, born about 1638; Georg Christian, born about 1649 & Johann Christian, born about 1651.    All children were born in Kirchohmfeld.

 

 

Following is a letter by which Johann Juch

In the year 1634 accepts the vocation to a position as Pastor at Kirchohmfeld & Kaltohmfeld

Courtesy of Dr. Professor Wilfried Hartmann

A descendant of Johann Juch

                       

 

The home (rectory) of Johann Juch, Lutheran Pastor, born about 1591 in Kirchohmfeld, Eichsfeld, Thuringen Germany

 

The Lutheran Church in Kirchohmfeld, adjacent to the rectory (far right), where Johann Juch was Pastor

***

 

My 6th Great Grandparents were:

Johann Esajas Juch & Amalia Haussknecht

Johann Esajas Juch married Amalia Haussknecht about 1661 in likely Kirchohmfeld, Germany.   Amalia was the daughter of Christolph Haussknecht and Gertrud Unknown.    They had three children: Johann Jesaias, born 1662; Anna Magdalena, born 1664 and Johann Conrad, born 1 December 1667.   All children were born in Kirchohmfeld.

***

My 5th Great Grandparents were:

Johann Conrad Juch & Anna Elisabeth Reuse

This Johann married Anna Elisabeth Reuse on 23 August 1693 in Kirchohmfeld.    Anna was the daughter of Johann Phillipp Reuse whose wife is not known.    Johann Conrad died 8 July 1748 in Tastungen.   Johann & Anna had eight children: Carl Ludewig, born about 1694; Johannes Andreas, born 11 January 1695/96; Johannes Antonius, born 19 Feb 1697/98; Johannes Jacobus, born 21 July 1700; *Ernst Christian, born 29 May 1702; Anna Elisabeth, born 30 October 1704; Johann Joachimus, born 9 June 1708; and *Johann Heinrich, born 11 October 1711.    All children were born in Tastungen.

* Note:  Ernst Christian and brother Johann Heinrich had children (first cousins) that married (below).   For uniformity I will show the male lineage.

 

Tastungen, Eichsfeld, Thuringen, Germany

Visit the Tastungen web page at http://www.tastungen.de/index.htm

***

My 4th Great Grandparents were:

Johann Heinrich Juch &  Anna Margaretha Lehe

Johann Heinrich married Anna Margaretha Lehe on 4 February 1743/44 in Tastungen.    Anna was the daughter of Johann Christoph Lehe.   Johann Heinrich died 1 August 1775 in Tastungen.    They had six children: Johann Christian Gabriel, born 17 October 1746; Johann Herwig, born 27 August 1749; Johann Heinrich, born 8 June 1752; Johann Carol, born 22 November 1755; Andreas Wilhelm, born 8 November 1758; and Anton Friedrich, born 4 May 1761.    All children were born in Tastungen.

***

 

My 3rd Great Grandparents were:

Andreas Wilhelm Juch (son of Johann Heinrich) & Catherina Margaretha Juch (daughter of Ernst Christian)

Andreas Wilhelm JUCH married his first cousin Catherina Margareta Juch on 7 November 1780 in Tastungen.   Catherina was born 22 August 1753 and the daughter of Ernst Christian Juch and Maria Petze.     Seven children were born to this union: Andreas Phillipp, born 31 July 1781; Dorothea Christiana, born 20 April 1784, Heinrich Christian, born 13 December 1786; Heinrich Gottfried, born 11 June 1788; Johann Christoph, born 7 January 1791; Johann Friedrich Christia, born 21 February 1794; and Friederike Rosina, born 22 April 1797.    Both Johann children were born in Wehnde.   All other children were born in Wintzingerode.

 

Wintzingerode, Eichsfeld, Thuringen, Germany

(note burg bodenstein at top of ridge center of picture)

 

 

My 2nd Great Grandparents were:

Heinrich Gottfried Juch & Anna Margaretha Dittmar

Heinrich Gottfried JUCH married Anna on 4 March 1829 in Untersuhl, Germany after the childbirth death in 1828 of his first wife Christiane Charlotte Henriette Dobling.    Anna was the daughter of Johann Valentin Dittmar and Anna Elisabeth Wasch.     Heinrich Gottfried died  1 March 1852 in Untersuhl.   His marriage to Christiane Dobling on 12 April 1814 produced six children: Amalie Friederike, born 8 September 1814; Wilhelm Hermann, born 1817; Wilhelm Christiane, born 1820; Catharina Maria, born 1826; Christiane Charlotte Henriette, born 1828 (twin); and Anna Elisabeth, born 1828 (twin).    All children were born in Gerstungen

 

Children of Heinrich and Anna were: Johannes, born 1830; Johann Heinrich Gottfried, born 1832; Carl Amateus, born 1834; Amalia Magdalena, born 1835; Johann Michael, born 23 February 1840; and Caspar Gottfried Wilhelm, born 1843.    Caspar was born in Untersuhl and all other children were born in Gerstungen.

 

 

Translation from above is as follows:

"At 6 pm the court servant Friedrich Wilhelm Juch was born a little son. He was baptised on the name Heinrich Gottfried.

Godfathers (sic) are:

1.The executor of the town Worbis Leonhard Joseph Gretzel, inhabitant of Worbis

2. Andreas Müller, the youngest son of Johann Heinrich Müller, inhabitant of Wehnde

3. The virgin Josefine Margarethe Zellmann ............."

The Wintzingerode church record book lists his father as Wilhelm JUCH, but a mother's name is not listed (but now known-see above).    Heinrich Gottfried JUCH moved to the town of Gerstungen in 1814.    Gerstungen is about 50 km south of Wintzingerode.     My Great Grandfather Johann Michael JUCH was born in Gerstungen 23 Feb 1840.    About 1842 the family moved a short distance down the road to the village of Untersuhl where a brother (Caspar Gottfried Wilhelm Juch) was born.      A descendant, (Birgit Juch), of Caspar Gottfried Wilhelm Juch now lives in the same village where her Great Grandfather was born.     In 1857-1859 my Great Grandfather, Johann Michael JUCH imigrated to St.Louis, Missouri, USA, (see below please)..

Heinrich Gottfried JUCH moved to Gerstungen from Wintzingerode when he was first married to his first wife, Christianne Charlotte Henriette Dobling in about the year 1814.    He became a forrester and worked in the large Forest building below.

 

My 2nd great grandfather Heinrich Gottfried JUCH also is said (by the village historian Fredy Richter) to have constructed the hunting lodge (in picture below) in the forest adjacent to the village of Gerstungen.

 

JOHANN & MAGDALENE

My great grandfather Johann Michael Juch was born 23 Feb 1840 according to the Lutheran Church records in his birthplace of Gerstungen, Germany.

This is an area in central Germany he describes on his marriage document as "Untermsuhl, Grossherz, Weimar, Germany.    He later moved a mile southwest to the village of Untersuhl (originally spelled Untermsuhl).    Johann was born in the home of his parents, Heinrich Gottfried Juch and second wife Anna Margaretha Dittmar.    Heinrich Gottfried Juch was born 26 Dec 1787 in the village of Wintzingerode, Germany and moved to Gerstungen in 1814 when his first wife Christiane Charlotte Henriette Dobling was carrying their first child.    Christiane died in 1828 possibly at the birth of Anna Elizabeth, her sixth child.     Heinrich married for the second time in 1829 to Anna Margaretha Dittmar and they also had six children.    My great grandfather was the fifth child born to this union.    Heinrich was a Forrester.     (Information on my Dittmar Family is at <http://www.juch.net/dittmar.htm>).

GERSTUNGEN, GERMANY

Picture provided by Fredy & Gerhardt Richter

BIRTHPLACE OF JOHANN MICHAEL JUCH

(MY GREAT GRANDFATHER)

GERSTUNGEN, GERMANY

(ORIGINALLY A SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE)

Picture provided by Fredy & Gerhardt Richter

 

GERSTUNGEN LUTHERAN CHURCH BAPTISTRY

WHERE MY GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS BAPTISED

The Villages of Gerstungen (top) & Untersuhl

 

 

 

 

UNTERSUHL, GERMANY, EVE. LUTHERAN CHURCH

ONE OF ONLY TWO ROUND CHURCHES IN GERMANY

Johann Michael JUCH was confirmed in about 1854

Picture provided by Fredy & Gerhardt Richter.

 

UNTERSUHL, GERMANY, EVE. LUTHERAN CHURCH

WHERE MY GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS CONFIRMED (about 1854)

IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO HIS LEAVING FOR AMERICA

Above House in Untersuhl is the house where my Great Grandfather lived

prior to leaving for America. It is only a few blocks from the "Round" Church!

 

Concerning the migration to America from Untersuhl, Germany of my great grandfather Johann Michael JUCH, Mrs. Fredy Richter, to whom I will always be indebted, has informed me that during the time after my great grandfather was confirmed (see above) he was considered a man and had to go forth and learn a trade. This was during the Industrial Revolution and in the village of Untersuhl lived in these days some 600 inhabitants and 60 of them were weavers. Due to the industrialization a lot of people got unemployed and therefore they went to North America, Canada and Holland. The most likely method of transportation to America was via the popular ship companies of the day. A sample of their advertisements is as follows:

 

The Victoria used two ships; the "Siddens" with Capt. Cobb and the "Patrick Henry" with Capt. Delano. Mrs. Richter said that many people of Untersuhl & Gerstungen sailed to the states on these two ships.

Perhaps my great grandfather did also?

 

Johann Michael Juch is first listed in the St.Louis, Missouri, USA, City Directory in the year 1859, when he would have been 19 years old. He migrated to St.Louis as a young teen-age man from his native Germany.   Immigration records and ship passenger lists have not yet been found to confirm exactly when he came to America.    He is listed as a Finisher living on Biddle Street between 12th & 13th Streets in the 1859 City Directory.    In 1867 Johann is listed as an Engineer - soap factory, living at the rear of 1027 North 13th Street.    In 1873 and until his death on 14 Sep 1882, Johann Michael is listed as a Grocer living at 3700 North of 10th Street (Ward 8).   The exception being that    on page 504, in the 1880 census for the 8th ward, St. Louis, conducted 13 Jun 1880 by Paul Wyeth, Johann Michael & family is living at 925 Salisbury Street.  He states he and his parents were born in Germany, his wife "Lena"(Magdalene Langbein), born in Missouri, and her parents born in Germany.    Also living with Johann are sons Hermann, Emmile, Otto, & Albert with one daughter Maggie.    Johann died at age 42 on 14 Sep 1882 of Typhoid Fever.   His death was less than one month prior to the birth of my grandfather Walter Michael Juch on 12 Oct 1882!    Johann Michael is buried in lot #458 at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Marcus & Lexington, St.Louis, Missouri (see below), along with his sons Albert, Hermann, Otto & Emil, and wife Magdalene C. (Christine).    This lot #458 (6 graves) was purchased 12 Oct 1880 by H. Ermenhardt (brother-in-law of my great grandmother Christina Magdalene Langbein), for $30.    Lot #459 was bought by Johann Michael Juch 19 Nov 1867 for $25.    My second great grandfather Andreas Langbein (1809-1870) father of Magdalene Langbein Juch is buried in lot #459.

My grandfather’s Foster Parents

Mary/Maria S. Langbein Schuetz (1832-1906) and Heinrich (Henry) W. Schuetz (1830-1908),     Walter’s foster parents are buried in Lot #476 adjacent to Johan Michael Juch & wife Magdalene C. Langbein Juch in Lot #459 at Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery, St.Louis, MO.     For more about the Schuetz family visit  <http://www.juch.net/walterida.htm>.

 

Three of the sons mentioned above (Emil, Hermann & Otto) apparently died in a plague in 1889.    Another son, Fred William Reed died 29 Sep 1877 of diphtheria less than 3 years old.    A fifth son, Albert died at approximately 22 years of age, cause of death is unknown.   My grandfather Walter Michael was the only surviving male member of  the family.   Walter Michael's sister Magdalene (Aunt Lane) was born 10 Apr 1877 and died on 31 Dec 1943 without ever being married. 

 

Johann Michael Juch served as a Private for 22 days in Capt. Schenk’s Company B, 11th Regiment of the Enrolled Missouri Militia, or E.M.M.   He “enrolled” on September 5, 1862 and was ordered into service April 24, 1863.  Johann was relieved from duty May 15, 1863 by order of General Edwards.    My great grandfather Johann was married at this time.   The E.M.M. was a unit in Missouri under the Federal Government (i.e. not Confederate).

 

 

Above is the Last Will & Testament of my Great Grandfather

Johann Michael Juch

Aka

John Michael Juch

 

Final Resting Place for

Johann Michael Juch

Immanuel Lutheran Church (ELCA) Cemetery

Marcus and Lexington

St.Louis, Missouri

JOHANN MICHAEL JUCH
1840-1882

THE IMMIGRANT TO AMERICA

by Roy Frederick Juch, Jr.

Great Grandson

 

My great grandfather Johann Michael Juch was born 23 February 1840 in the family home in Gerstungen, Germany.    He was the fifth child of Heinrich Gottfried Juch and second wife Anna Margarethe Dittmar.   Anna was twenty-two years younger than Heinrich and not previously married.    Heinrich’s first wife Christiane Charlotte Henriette Dobling died in 1828 one year prior to Heinrich’s second marriage.    The cause of Henriette’s death is not known, however, in 1828 she gave birth to twin girls, Christiane and Anna who died one year later in 1829.   So one might assume that Henriette may have died in child birth in 1828?    Johann was christened in the Lutheran Church in Gerstungen, according to church records.

 

Between 1840 and 1843 the family moved a short distance west to the village of  Untersuhl where Caspar, the last child of Heinrich & Anna, was born in 1843.    Johann had six half siblings from his father’s first marriage and five siblings from his father’s second marriage.   Heinrich Gottfried Juch was a forester working in the nearby forests as a civil servant.

 

Johann grew up in the village of Untersuhl where he attended kindergarten and primary schools that were and still are  located adjacent to the famous round Lutheran Church.   The house where Johann was born in Gerstungen, and also the house where he grew up, both school buildings, and church in Untersuhl, all remain standing and in use (as of 2008).  In fact when the family moved into their house in Untersuhl the house was already 400 years old!

 

Johann would have been confirmed a member of the Lutheran Church in the round Lutheran Church in Untersuhl when he was fourteen years old in 1854, as was the custom of the day.   Apparently after working for a few years in the area Johann was convinced his future was in America!  

 

NOTE: It’s not known exactly when Johann decided to migrate or when he actually departed Untersuhl on the long & difficult journey to America.   Mrs. Freddy Richter, to whom I will eternally be indebted, informed me that during the time after my great grandfather was confirmed he was considered a man and had to go forth and learn a trade.   This was during the Industrial Revolution and in the village of Untersuhl lived in those days some 600 inhabitants and 60 of them were weavers.   Due to the industrialization a lot of people got unemployed and therefore they went to North America, Canada and Holland. The most likely method of transportation to America was via the popular ship companies of the day.   Johann may have used the services of Hermann Hirschmann & Co.  This company provided an “end-to-end” service including a train to Hamburg and ship to America.   Another company “Victoria” provided ship transportation to America.    The Victoria used two ships; the "Siddens" with Capt. Cobb and the "Patrick Henry" with Capt. Delano. Mrs. Richter said that many people of Untersuhl & Gerstungen sailed to the states on these two ships.   I have not been able to find passenger lists records showing Johann.   It is possible he may have also found work as a “cabin boy” and therefore not show up on any passenger lists?

 

He first appeared in the St.Louis, Missouri, USA City Directory in the year 1859.    So I have assumed he likely departed Untersuhl in 1857-1858 when he was 17-18 years old.   Freddy Richter, the Gerstungen local historian believes he would have traveled first to Hamburg via railroad.   From Hamburg he had many avenues of ocean going vessels on which to travel.   Some migrants traveled first to England then proceeded on another ship to America.   Some boarded ships heading directly to America.   Records have not yet revealed his arrival date in America nor the name of the ship in which he was a passenger.   It is not known if he was a passenger or maybe a member of a ship’s crew working his way to America?   It is not known in which port in America Johann landed?    There were many ports used during those times.    New York, Baltimore, even New Orleans may have been possible on his final destination to St.Louis.   It is also not know why Johann selected St.Louis as his final destination, other than St.Louis had a large German community which would have made assimilation much easier for him.

 

In the 1859 St.Louis, Missouri, City Directory Johann Juch listed occupation is a “Finisher” living on Biddle Street, between 12th & 13th streets.   Johann married  Christina Magdalena Langbein on 03 Nov 1861 at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in St.Louis, Missouri.   Christina, born in St.Louis, was the daughter of Andreas Langbein (1809-1870), also an immigrant from Saxony, Germany.    Andreas immigrated to America between approximately 1835-1840.

 

NOTE:   Knowingly or not, the one thing, and only thing that Johann did to connect his lineage back to Germany was to list his last residence in Germany, on his “official” church marriage certificate in St.Louis, MO.   Johann listed “Untermsuhl, Grossherz, Weimar” (see notes below), as his home on the marriage certificate.   This certificate was given to me by my father’s sister, my Aunt Emma Juch Sinz.   As I searched for the Juch birthplace in Germany I found that the old way of spelling Untersuhl was Untermsuhl.   From there I was greatly assisted by Huibert Visser, husband of Janny Juch Visser.   Janny is a cousin of Flip Juch who made initial contact with my son and then me many years ago.   Huibert contacted the late Freddy Richter, the Untersuhl/Gerstungen area historian.    Freddy and her husband Gerhardt searched the Gerstungen Lutheran Church records and confirmed the birth of Johann Michael Juch on 23 February 1840, in Gerstungen.    Further, Freddy continued to search church records for the entire Juch lineage locally and found records tracing it back many generations to the village of Wintzingerode, Germany.   Freddy & Gerhardt even traveled to Wintzingerode to continue research and found other generations of my Juch family.    Freddy also informed me that a cousin of mine was still living in Untersuhl!   My third cousin from Untersuhl, Brigit Juch Baldofski has been very helpful in sharing additional family data, provided warm hospitality and personal guided tours of the area.   Birgit is a great grand daughter of Casper Juch, a brother to Johann Michael Juch, the subject of this paper.   In Wintzingerode, and with the help of Huilbert & Janny Visser we met Ernst & Ilse Juch.   Ilse, as the local Evangelical (Lutheran) Church President was also the caretaker of the church records which she shared and thus were valuable as a source for further Juch research.    Since then, a forth cousin, Dr. Wilfried Hartmann, professor at the University of Hamburg,  provided records for the Juch family even further back in history to my seventh great grandfather, the Evangelical minister, Johann Juch, born in Oldenburg or Ollendorf, (?) Germany in 1591.     I must mention all these people because without them my Juch research would have ended.   To all these people I owe a great deal of gratitude and will forever be indebted.    Most of all I thank my great grandfather, Johann Michael, that left us a clue.  A clue that was the key to unlock the door to our Juch lineage.   The research continues,  perhaps not by me but for others that follow me and are interested in their heritage and from where they came.

 

NOTE: Untermsuhl, Grossherz, Weimar, as Johann provided for his marriage certificate was the political arrangement at the time he departed for America.   Weimar was a Duchy within a loosely configured confederation  of 39 states of a larger geographical area of peoples that were ethnically German.   Grossherz was a smaller political partition within the Duchy of Weimar under the control of a Duke.    Untersuhl was a small village within and under control of the “Duke”.     

 

BACKGROUND NOTE:  The German Confederation was the association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to serve as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of German Nations, which had been abolished in 1806.    In 1848, revolutions by Liberals and nationalists occurred in an attempt to establish a unified German state.   Talks between the German states failed in 1848.    The confederation briefly dissolved but was re-established in 1850. Rivalry between the two dominant states, Austria and Prussia, over which state had the inherent right to rule German lands led to the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 and the collapse of the confederation.   This resulted in the creation of the North German Confederation and a number of south German states, from 1866 to 1871, having no higher legal authority or political body above them for the first time since the creation of the Holy Roman Empire, though these states aligned with Austria until its defeat in 1867 and then followed Prussia. 

 

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