MERCER COUNTY PAGenWeb Project

THE RODENMAYER FAMILY 

aka Rodenmoyer, Rodemoyer
The Family and Descendants of Georg Rodenmayer and Anna Martha Kolb

      With the assistance of a several cousins, we have had good luck tracing and putting together the family and descendants of Johan Georg RODENMAYER and Anna Martha KOLB.  Our research affirms Georg and Anna Martha were married during the year 1815 in the village of Appenheim, Kreis Bingen, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany.  Appenheim is about 15 miles west southwest of the city of Mainz on the Rhine River in central Germany.  Georg RODENMAYER was born on 6 Jan 1792 in Appenheim and passed away on 15 Dec 1874 in Fairview Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  On his tombstone is the surname RODENMAYER.  Anna Martha KOLB was born on 7 Mar 1795 in the state of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany and passed away on 17 Feb 1881 in Fairview Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  On her tombstone the surname is RODENMOYER.  They are buried side by side in the cemetery at the Jerusalem Reformed Church of Christ on the southern edge of Otter Creek Township, a few miles north of Fredonia, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. They had seven sons (John, Georg, William, Henry, Peter, Philipp, and Jakob) and two (or three) daughters (Barbara and Magdalena [Lena]) all in Appenheim.  Peter was born on 12 Feb 1827 died 12 days after his birth on 24 Feb 1827.  We have been unable to determine what became of Elisabetha, possibly another daughter of theirs, after her birth in 1837.  In the late spring of 1844, the family left Germany for Rotterdam, emigrating to America.

Georg is spelled George in English.  Johann is John in English.  Wilhelm is William and Heinrich is Henry in English.  Magdalena often went simply by Lena.  Men in Germany normally used their middle name as their official name.  The New York Port records show the surname spelled ROTHEMAYER, which usually comes from their emigration documents from their home town, county, state, and country.  German officials affirmed to us during the summer of 2000 that the correct spelling in English today is RODENMEYER.  More details on the various American spellings will be discussed later.

     The ROTHEMAYER family, George, Anna Martha, seven sons, and two daughters boarded the Brig named The Proteus in Rotterdam.  It was in late June 1844 or early July 1844 that they sailed for America, with another 98 German passengers.  They arrived in New York on August 23rd, 1844.  The complete Passenger List has been microfilmed and is on file in the National Archives.  We are not sure, but they may have traveled up the Hudson River to the Great Lakes and west to Erie, Pennsylvania, or more likely, across land to Mercer County, Pennsylvania, where Georg settled into farming.  By 1850, except for Lena, Philipp, and Jakob, their children were grown, married, and moved to pursue their separate lives.  The 1850 Census reflects that Georg and Anna Martha had settled in West Salem Township, farming.  It also reveals that their son, Heinrich (Henry) had married Elizabeth KLINGENSMITH and they were living in the south central part of Salem Township in Mercer County, with her parents.  Georg and Anna’s eldest son, Johann (John) had married Mary KLINGENSCHMIDT and they to were living on a farm in the eastern part of Salem Township. Census records also indicate that Georg was firm with their sons Philipp and Jacob attending school.

     As for the spelling of the surname and the American varieties that have evolved, Census records, court records, marriage records, church records, newspapers, et al, reflect all sorts of spellings for our surname; including RODENMAYER, RODENMEYER, RODEMOYER, RODENMOYER, RODDENMEIER, ROTHEMAYER, ROTHENMEYER, ROTHENMAYER, RODAMIER, ROADMEYER, RATHMEIER, RHODYMOYER, RADAMEIER, and GROTEMEYER.  Simply stated though, Henry and Jacob lived their lives in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, adopted the spelling of the surname RODEMOYER, and took it to their graves with them.  Both Henry and Jacob, along with their wives, are buried in the same Jerusalem Reformed Church Cemetery as are their parents.  It is on the southern outskirts of Otter Creek Township, in Mercer County.   Their descendants carry on the surname RODEMOYER today.  In the event you are a RODENMEYER or a RODENMAYER and you meet a RODEMOYER, you can be confident you are related.  Naturally, vice versa.

Submitted Feb 2002 by John Rodenmayer
7389 Sabre Avenue
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068

Georg and Anna Martha RODENMEYER/RODEMOYER/RODENMAYER        

Voyage to America

 

Country of Origin:  

Deutschland

Family Number:

30156475

 

 

Ship Name:  

PROTEUS (A Brig)

Port of Departure:

Rotterdam

Port of Arrival: 

New York

Arrival Date:

August 23, 1844

 

National Archives Series No.:

M237

        Microfilm Number:

55

 

 NAME

GENDER  AGEPoint of Departure Date of Arrival
Rothemayer, Anna MarthaF  48 RotterdamAug 23, 1844
     
Rothemayer, Barbara             F24 RotterdamAug 23, 1844
     
Rothemayer, GeorgM26RotterdamAug 23, 1844
     
Rothemayer, Georg M52 RotterdamAug 23, 1844
     
Rothemayer, Heinrich  21 RotterdamAug 23, 1844
     
Rothemayer, JacobM 10 RotterdamAug 23, 1844
     
Rothemayer, JohannM 28RotterdamAug 23, 1844
     
Rothemayer, MagdalenaF16RotterdamAug 23, 1844
     
Rothemayer, PeterM19RotterdamAug 23, 1844
     
Rothemayer, PhillipM 11Rotterdam Aug 23, 1844
     
Rothemayer, WilhelmM23Rotterdam Aug 23, 1844

 

The above data and information was extracted from the Family Tree Maker’s Family Archives CD# 273 entitled Passenger and Immigration Lists: New York, 1820-1850.

 

Notes:  The American name for Heinrich is Henry.  The American name for Johann is John.  The American name for Wilhelm is William.  The correct spelling for Phillip is Philipp.



Return to Family Index Page

Return to Home Page