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Johann Michael Zwiebel
Johann Michael Zwiebel was the second child born to George Zwiebel and Katherine Salome Metz, and the first of four sons. Born on Christmas Day in 1806 in Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France and would be the first Zwiebel to leave France.
As a young man, he relocated to Rothbach, a small town just south of Lichtenberg, where at the age of 23 he would marry Magdalena Schneeberger on 9 July 1829. The second daughter of Johann Ludwig Schneeberger and Maria Magdalena Koll, Magdalena was born in Rothbach on 14 January 1810. Her family is...
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Johann Michael Zwiebel
Johann Michael Zwiebel was the second child born to George Zwiebel and Katherine Salome Metz, and the first of four sons. Born on Christmas Day in 1806 in Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France and would be the first Zwiebel to leave France.
As a young man, he relocated to Rothbach, a small town just south of Lichtenberg, where at the age of 23 he would marry Magdalena Schneeberger on 9 July 1829. The second daughter of Johann Ludwig Schneeberger and Maria Magdalena Koll, Magdalena was born in Rothbach on 14 January 1810. Her family is well known in the area and dates back to the 17th century when her great-great grandfather, Hannss Michael, was born on 20 September 1671.
Johann Michael and Magdalena would begin their family in Rothbach with the birth of their first daughter, Magdalena Lana, in 1830. Magdalena would be followed by two sons and three more daughters over the next 15 years. Shortly following the birth of their daughter Christine in 1845, the family would make a move that would change their lives forever.
Michaels exact reasons for leaving France are unknown, but the pioneer spirit and his quest for a better life for his family led them on their journey to America. Like so many immigrants of the time, the promises of freedom and land in the new frontier seemed to provide more than he could ever attain in his homeland.
It is uncertain as to exactly when they arrived in America, but the birth of Catherine in France in 1845 and their first son, Michael, in the new country in 1848, places their arrival around 1847. Sophia, their second daughters obituary, says she arrived in Stark County Ohio in 1847. A check of the indexed passenger arrivals for all U S ports at the time show no Zwiebels arriving prior to 1846. Family members have indicated that they settled in a place called Pendicost, Pennsylvania, prior to their arrival in Ohio. Though several attempts have been made to locate this town, it does not appear anywhere in Pennsylvania in this time period. There was a Penticost in Susquehanna County in northern Pennsylvania, but it was not established until 1879 and changed its name to Forest City in 1886.
The first recorded reference to Michael was found in a land record dated 16 February 1848 in Allen County, Ohio. According to the record, Michael and Magdalena purchased a piece of land from George Delong near Lima, Allen County for $280.00. The sale was officially recorded on 21 April 1848 and witnessed by Daniel Bitter and Ludwig Helmlinger.
It is uncertain how long the Zwiebels stayed at this location, but Auglaize County birth records and St. Marks Lutheran Church records show their son Michael was born in Clay Township, Auglaize County on the 24th of June 1848, and christened at St. Marks on 30 July 1848. The U S Census for Ohio in 1850 shows Michael Swivel, age 43, living in Clay Township with his wife Magdalena and six children. Michaels occupation is listed as farmer, and the value of his property was $1200.00. Catherine and Christina do not appear in this census, and no record has been located as to their deaths or burial in France or Ohio. Several people died on the trying journey across the Atlantic, and this may be what happened to the two young daughters. The possibility that the Zwiebel family did stop in Pennsylvania and the children died there is still unproved.
On the 18th of February 1851, Michael and Magdalena purchased another piece of property from Jacob Helmlinger in Auglaize County for $70.00. It is uncertain exactly where the property was located, but it consisted of ten acres and was recorded on 18 February 1851. On the 7th of September in that same year, Auglaize County birth records show the couples last child was born in Clay Township. Louis Arthur Zwiebel was christened at St. Marks Church on 7 October 1851.
The following year, tragedy struck the family on the 16th of May 1852 when Michael passed away. While the new country had been good to him, he never really had the opportunity to experience what he had strived for. To date, no actual record of his death has been located in Auglaize or Shelby Counties, but several family members have visited his grave in the cemetery next to St. Marks Church where there is a marker.
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