About us
A. THE POTENTIAL OF WELLHAUSEN - AMSLER - FRICKE FAMILY DNA TESTING
Our Wellhausen - Amsler - Fricke Family History DNA Study welcomes Wellhausen, Amsler and Fricke descendants and researchers of all spelling variations from all countries. This all-volunteer international family history investigation is designed to trace Y-DNA profiles of different Wellhausen, Amsler and Fricke family direct paternal lines in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, America, and everywhere else back to their earliest detectable origins, to jump over brick walls, and to find and either prove or disprove relationships between and within these family lines. The umbrella surnames Wellhausen, Amsler and Fricke are used on this website to include all similar and related spellings. Wellhausen, Amsler and Fricke became allied families in Hanover and Austin Co., Texas.
If you or your Wellhausen, Amsler or Fricke surname male relative decides to test, you can find out as soon as your test is processed whether you are related to the Wellhausen, Amsler or Fricke families of
ERNST CHRISTOPHE CARL WELLHAUSEN (1793 Herzberg, Hanover - 1866 Lavaca TX) (who married MARIA ELISABETH FRICKE) on the HANOVER-TEXAS line, for which we already have a Texas descendant Welhausen tester, or
JOHN ERNST CHRISTIAN WELLHAUSEN on the HANOVER-WAYNE line married before 1751 and had children in Adelebsen, Hanover, for which line we already have a Wellhouse tester who y-matches our Hanover-Texas line Welhausen tester.
ULRICH AMSLER I (b. ca. 1560 Schinznach, Canton Aargau, Switzerland) and his AARGAU-TEXAS line of immigrant descendants. His descendant HANS ULRICH AMSLER (1788 Schinznach - 1828 Schinznach) and wife BARBARA SCHAFFNER AMSLER (1790 Schinznach - 1857 Austin TX) had 12 children in Schinznach. Decades after his death his widow Barbara immigrated to Texas in 1855 to join most of her children while others of her 12 children remained in Switzerland. Here we already have a Texas descendant Amsler tester who y-matches three Amsler-descendant testers born and living in Switzerland.
CARL CONRAD AMSLER (1808 Schinznach - 1874 Hempstead Waller TX) (m. Maria Lowenburger),
VERENA AMSLER (1807 Schinznach - 1881 Millheim Austin TX) (m. SCHAFFNER),
MARCUS AMSLER (1812 Schinznach - 1886 Brenham Washington TX) (m. Mary Christina Elisabeth Meier),
JAKOB AMSLER (1813 Schinznach - Peoria IL LKA),
FRIEDRICH/FRITZ AMSLER (1816 Schinznach - 1863 Brenham TX) (m. Marie Wirz),
JOHANNES AMSLER (1819 Schinznach 1819 - bef. 1854 New Orleans?),
SAMUEL AMSLER (1821 Schinznach - aft. 1860 New Orleans?) (m. Margaretha Imhof),
BARBARA AMSLER (1823 Schinznach - 1887 Swiss Alp Fayette TX) (m. Henry SEEBERGER),
VERENA SOPHIA AMSLER (1825 Schinznach - 1911 Kenney Austin TX) (m. and div. Henry SEEBERGER), and
SUSANNA AMSLER (1827 Schinznach - 1918 Millheim TX) (m. Samuel HILLBOLDT).
If we can obtain the tests we want in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, America, Denmark and elsewhere, you can test for a possible match with:
- the Swiss Wellhausens of Thurgau Canton,
- the Dutch Wellhausens (Wellhouses) of the Holland-Fond du Lac line,
- the Wisconsin Wellhausens of Milwaukee (from Prussia, Hesse, Hanover) and Richland (from Prussia),
- the Dutch Welhouse (Welhuis) family of Outagamie County, Wisconsin,
- the Danish family Wellejus of Erie County, Pennsylvania,
- the Illinois Wellhausens of Cook County (from Hesse & Prussia),
- the Missouri Wellhausens of Saint Louis (from Prussia),
- the Texas Welhausens of Fayette County (from Hanover),
- the Texas Wellhausens of Bell County (from Germany through Louisiana),
- the Louisiana Wellhausens of New Orleans (from Hanover),
- the New York Wellhausens of Manhattan (from Germany),
- the AARGAU-TEXAS AMSLERS from Schinznach, Switzerland,
- the SWISS-ST.LOUIS Line of CASIMIR AMSLER and wife ELIZABETH TRIER, and so on.
WELLHAUSEN SURNAME ORIGINS:
The SURNAME WELLHAUSEN is thought to have originated as a German habitational name from the Swiss town of Wellhausen in the canton of Thurgau. DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN FAMILY NAMES, Oxford University Press. Wellhausen was a town in the district of Frauenfeld, canton of Thurgau, on the Swiss northeastern border with Germany. In 1983 it merged with Felben to form the town of Felben-Wellhausen (population 2,286, area 2.8 sq.mi., elevation 1,296 feet). WIKIPEDIA. It will be interesting to see if our testing program with the right testers can find out whether the different Wellhausen families came originally from this Swiss town when surnames were being adopted in Europe 700-800 years ago.
The SURNAMES WELLHOUSE, WELHOUSE, WILLHOUSE AND WILHOUSE are believed to be americanized versions of Wellhausen or related surname spellings from Germany and Holland (WELHUIS). The US census shows that the family heads having these surnames who were not born in the US, came from Germany and Holland, such as GEORGE WELLHOUSE (c. 1789 GE - aft. 1860 OH) (immig. bef. 1820), FREDERICK WILLHOUSE (c. 1826 GE - 1901 OH), JACOB WILHOUSE (c. 1817 GE - aft. 1850 WI), JEAN WELLHAUSEN (WELLHOUSE) (c. 1793 Holland - aft. 1860 Fond du Lac WI) (immig. 1847), and GERRIT JAN WELHOUSE (GERHARDUS JAN WELHUIS) (1827 DeLutte, Overijssel, Netherlands - 1890 Buchanan, Outagamie WI), None of the American immigrants with these English-sounding surnames came from Britain. None of these surnames are listed in the DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN FAMILY NAMES. We would like to find out whether any American families apparently having variants of the surname WELLHAUSEN could possibly have come from the Danish surname WELLEJUS (WELLEIUS), and whether any of the WELLHAUSEN and WELLEJUS families are genetically related.
AMSLER SURNAME ORIGINS - from ancestry.com
Swiss-German: habitational name from Amslen in Switzerland
German: occupational name for a fowler (bird-catcher), from an agent derivative of Amsel.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from Amsle, Yiddish name of Nams (l-) au in Silesia
Note: Amsel is the German word for a blackbird, which is shown on some Swiss Amsler coats of arms.
B. HOW TO GET STARTED WITH DNA TESTING
The Y-DNA test for Wellhausen, Amsler and Fricke-surname males, swabbing the inside of the cheek, is EASY and QUICK -- two swabs at 60 seconds each. No blood is involved. No medical or other information is recorded or obtained. The testkit comes in the mail to the tester's home and is returned by mail after completion of the swabs. To order a testkit, use the Join button above and follow the sequence.
Y-DNA testing measures specific characteristcs on the male tester's Y-chromosome -- markers passed down on the direct paternal line from a father to his son, to his son, to his son, etc., with relatively few changes or mutations over the centuries. These genealogical markers usually (but not always) follow the surname back through the generations many hundreds of years ago to the time in history when surnames were first generally adopted, and then continue to follow the genetic profile back through the Middle Ages and beyond. A second test is recommended to confirm and verify each line back to the Most Recent Common Ancestor and to preclude a possible DNA sidetrack from the expected paternal line due to an unrecorded adoption, name change, friendly neighbor, or research mistake.
Female Wellhausen, Amsler or Fricke descendants and male descendants not having the particular surname can readily participate and advance the study by encouraging their Wellhausen, Amsler or Fricke surname brothers, cousins or other relatives to submit a Y-DNA test representing their common surname line. Also, any descendant -- including females and non-surname males -- can participate by doing the Family Finder test. It's a great bang for the buck. Its remarkable technology uses at-DNA to search for matches on all the ancestor-surname lines on both sides of the tester's family and for matching ancestor-union profile blocks reaching back typically around 6-7+ generations, subject to random recombination and reduction of blocks each generation.
A Y-DNA test of any number of markers is welcome and can always be upgraded later - sometimes without a new swab if enough material is still on file from earlier test swabs. But we strongly recommend tests of at least 37 markers in order to avoid false positive matches, which are very common with 12m tests and fairly common with 25m tests. Tests of 67 or 111 markers are recommended as progressively more accurate and detailed for long-range tracing and use of TiP Report comparisons.
We use FamilyTreeDNA, the leading testing company with the largest Y-DNA databank of test results. No one with our study has any interest in the testing company or any related entity, or receives any type of compensation in connection with the testing program.
Privacy of test results and samples is protected by the strict protocols and guidelines followed by the testing company, as required by federal and state law. Each tester has his own password-protected testkit page where he can see his own results and any matches with other testers. On this surname group website's Y-DNA Results page, each tester can choose to identify his test results by his earliest known ancestor's name, or by surname and place of origin, or by surname only, etc. Moreover, Y-DNA marker results contain only lineage information (markers showing how closely the tester could be related to another tester with similar markers), and not medical information.
Our group has no funds except its own limited member contributions, but may be able to share part of the testing cost for a surname branch or line not previously tested. Please inquire if the cost-sharing contribution is available for your line. Anyone who wishes to help advance our investigation may do so by contributing to future key tests through this group's General Fund.
Y-DNA testing as a vital part of our Wellhausen - Amsler - Fricke Family DNA study has the potential to discover solid, highly reliable information of unique value on the history of our different ancestor surname family lines that cannot be gained through any other means with any level of expense or effort.
C. COLLECTION OF TESTS FROM WELLHAUSEN LINES IN AMERICA -- IMMIGRANT PATRIARCHS
Each immigrant Wellhausen line from Germany or Holland or Switzerland to anywhere else represents an interesting snapshot of Wellhausen DNA coming down from Germany or Holland or Switzerland at the time of departure and place of residence. Consequently, the first major phase of our tracing program is to collect tests representing the various principal Wellhausen lines immigrating from Germany, Holland and Switzerland to America. We hope to obtain tests from the lines of the following Wellhausen family concentrations, and with Wellhausen Immigrant Patriarchs to be identified as this study develops:
The 1880 US census shows 64 WELLHAUSEN and WELHAUSEN families concentrated in the following six states, with country origins as reported on the census:
Wisconsin - 36 % (23 / 64) - Milwaukee (from Prussia, Hessen, Hanover) and Richland (from Prussia),
Texas ------- 36 % (23 / 64) - Fayette Co. (from Hanover) and Bell Co.(from Germany through Louisiana)
Louisiana ---- 6 % (4 / 64) - New Orleans (from Hanover)
New York ---- 6 % (4 / 64) - Manhattan (from Germany)
Illinois --------- 5 % (3 / 64) - Cook Co. (from Hessen & Prussia),
Missouri ------ 5 % (3 / 64) - Saint Louis (from Prussia).
Similarly, the 1920 US census shows 48 WELLHAUSEN and WELHAUSEN families that have become more dispersed in forty years, but are still concentrated in the following five states:
Wisconsin - 19 % (9 / 48)
Texas ------- 15% (7 / 48)
Illinois ------- 10 % (5 / 48)
Minnesota --- 6 % (3 / 48)
Missouri ------ 6 % (3 / 48)
So in order to develop an overview picture of whether and how the different American immigrant families may relate to each other, our priority in the American phase is to develop tests on the principal Wellhausen lines in Wisconsin, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, and Louisiana. These same tests may also show how the German and possibly Swiss families relate to each other.
Here we have developed our first test on the HANOVER-TEXAS LINE identified as coming down from GERMAN IMMIGRANT PATRIARCH ERNST CHRISTOPHE CARL WELLHAUSEN (sometimes called Carl Conrad Welhausen) (1793 - 1866). Carl was born at Hertzburg, Hanover (now in Lower Saxony, Germany), and worked as a ducal estate keeper in Hildesheim, Hanover. Carl married MARIA ELISABETH FRICKE (1796 GE - 1847 TX) before 1831. All their children were born in Hildesheim.
In 1843 Carl, Maria and their five children immigrated by steamer to the new Republic of Texas -- seven years after Texans won their independence from Mexico by defeating Gen. Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, and two years before Texas joined the Union in 1845. They docked at Galveston, traveled by ox-cart to Austin's former colony, and settled on a farm in the German agricultural community of Cat Spring in Austin Co.
Carl and Maria had two sons (Henry and Charles) and three daughters (Sophie, Adolphine, and Elisabeth), who produced at least thirty-six grand-children. SOPHIA Charlotte Augusta "Sophie" (1832 GE - 1917 TX) married Frederick Wilhelm Flato (1820-1899) of Flatonia, TX, in 1848, and had fourteen children -- ten boys (Charles H., Frederick Wilhelm, Joseph, Henry, Rudolph, Edmund, Paul, Oscar, Max, Herman) and four girls (Elizabeth, Sophia, Alma, Erna “Alma"). HENRY (c. 1833 GE - 1890 Fayette TX) married Josephine "Josie" Langhammer (c.1840 Austria - 1936 Bexar TX), and had eight children -- three sons (George, Rudolph, Bernard) and five daughters (Ella, Valesa, Clara, Mary, Bertha). ADOLPHINE (1834 GE – 1906 Schulenburg Fayette TX) married Robert Wolters in 1850. They had at least four children (Rose Augusta, Edmund, Louisa, Othelia) and possibly others. CAPT. CHARLES (1835 GE - 1916 TX) had five children, as discussed below. Charles' twin sister ELISABETH (1835 GE - 1891 Schulenburg Fayette TX), married Capt. Edmund Creuzbaur (1826 Baden - 1871 Fayette TX) and had five children (Otto, Emil, Emma, Edward, Lillie).
In 1847, four years after arriving in Texas, mother Maria died and was buried at the Cat Spring homestead, age fifty-one. Father Carl later moved to Fayette Co. to live with daughter Elisabeth, and was shown on the 1866 US Tax Lists in High Hill, occupation saddlery. Carl died at High Hill on 20 Jul 1866, age seventy-two years and nine months.
Our second matching y-tester, who matches our HANOVER-TEXAS Wellhausen family, is a Wellhouse tester on the HANOVER-WAYNE line, tracing back through Wayne County, Ohio, to JOHN ERNST CHRISTIAN WELLHAUSEN. John had a son Christian in 1751 in Adelebsen, Gottingen, Hanover (now Lower Saxony, Germany). Christian's birthplace in Adelebsen is located only about twenty-five miles west southwest of Herzberg, birthplace of our first Welhausen tester's Earliest Known Ancestor, Ernst Christophe Carl Wellhausen.
This second matching test on this line confirms and verifies the profile back to the Most Recent Common Ancestor of the two matching testers.
D. WELLHAUSEN SURNAME IMMIGRATION TO UNITED STATES AND CANADA
US census records show only isolated individual Wellhausens in the United States before 1850. Some of the earliest Wellhausens on the US census included the following:
FRED WELLHAUSEN (c. 1806 Hesse GE – aft. 1880 Cook IL), m. Maria (c. 1807 – aft. 1880 IL)
ANDREW WILLHOUSE (WILLHOUS) (c. 1792 GE - aft. 1860 North Bloomfield Morrow OH); m. Elizabeth (c. 1799 GE - aft. 1870 Morrow OH); immig. c. 1837 bef. 1840 census; children Jacob, 21, Louis, 17, (both b. GE), Andrew, 13 (b. GE or OH) and Harry, 8 (b. OH).
GEORGE WELLHOUSE (c. 1789 GE – aft. 1860 Wayne OH), farmer, $20,000 RE, immig. bef. 1820 OH census, m. Eliz. (b. 1799 MD – aft. 1850), children Mary, Caroline, Hannah, George
CHRISTIAN WELHAUSEN (c. 1812 - aft. 1880 Racine WI), (lived in Milwaukee in 1860), m. Wilhelmina (c. 1835 Pomerania – aft. 1860)
JACOB WILLHOUSE (c. 1817 GE – aft. 1850 Grant WI), miner, m. Mary (c. 1828 GE – aft. 1850 WI); chidren Mary, Caroline, born WI
GOTTLIEB WELLHAUSEN (c. 1819 Hesse-Kassel–aft.1880 Milwaukee WI), cabinet maker, house carpenter, saloon-keeper, immig. bef. 1850 census, m. Wilhelmina (c. 1826 Hanover– aft. 1880 WI); children Margaret, John, Gustav, Carl, Julius, Augusta, August, Henriette (all children born WI)
AUGUST WELHAUSEN (c. 1824 Braunschweig GE – aft. 1880 Richland Washington WI LKA), shoe-maker, m. Sophie (c. 1829 Braunschweig GE – aft. 1870 Washington WI); children Wilhelm, Louisa, Augusta
Wellhausens began immigrating from Germany to the US in increasing numbers in 1850-70, slowed in 1870-80, continued large increases in 1880-1910, and then declined in 1910-30 (perhaps due to German-American tension in World War I). (Source: ancestry.com) The surname spellings went through normal variations in the 1800's and were often americanized. By 1880 the Wellhausen surname spelling had become most common, perhaps because that spelling was closer to the earlier spellings in Germany. Or perhaps later Wellhausen immigrants and later census takers were more careful with their spelling.
SURNAME TOTAL / 1850 18601870 18801900 1910 19201930
Wellhausen - 755 / --- 8 ---- 7 ---- 30 --- 55 - 128 - 150 - 170 - 207
Welhousen - 394 / --- 14 ----2 ---- 27 ---- 1 --- 17 --- 68 - 164 - 100
Willhouse --- 355 / ---- 6 --- 26 --- 43 --- 16 --- 68 - 108 -- 58 -- 29
Wellhouse -- 346 / --- 23 --- 35 --- 23 --- 33 --- 67 -- 84 -- 45 -- 34
Welhausen - 155 / ---- 4 ---- 8 ---- 12 --- 24 --- 23 -- 36 -- 26 -- 22
Wellhousen -- 68 / ---- 0 ---- 4 ---- 0 ---- 16 --- 17 --- 22 --- 6 --- 3
Wilhouse ----- 65 / ---- 0 --- 10 ---- 0 ---- 16 --- 12 -- 25 -- 12 --- 0
Willhausen --- 48 / ---- 0 ---- 1 ---- 0 ----- 5 ---- 7 --- 19 --- 16 -- 0
Wilhaus ------ 43 / ----- 0 ---- 0 ---- 3 ----- 2 --- 10 --- 21 --- 7 --- 0
Welhaus ------ 31 / ---- 0 ---- 0 ---- 1 ----- 0 --- 19 --- 0 ---- 11 -- 0
Wilhausen ---- 26 / ---- 0 ---- 1 --- 13 ---- 1 ----- 0 --- 6 ----- 4 -- 1
Other* --------- 68 /
TOTAL ---- 2,354 / --- 55 -- 94 -- 152 – 169 - 368 -- 539 - 519 - 396
% Increase per Decade ---- 71 % 62 % 11 % 59 % 46 % (4%) (24%)
Other* Wellhausen-surname variations found during 1850-1930 include Willhousen 19, Willhaus 18, Wilhous 16, Willhause 9, Welhous 5, Welhause 1.
The 1911 Canada census shows smaller numbers of Wellhausens:
11 Wellhausen (Ont.)
11 Welhouse (Ont.)
8 Willhouse (Sas.)
Considering the Wellhausen surnames with the largest US populations, we do not find in 1911 Canada any Welhausen, Welhousen, Wellhousen, Wellhouse, Wilhouse, Wellhaus, Welhaus, Wilhaus, Willhaus, Willhausen, Wilhausen, etc.
E. COLLECTION OF TESTS FROM WELLHAUSEN LINES IN GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND
The second major phase of this study is to collect tests representing the various principal Wellhausen lines in Germany and Switzerland, including Hanover, Thurgau, and other places. Our plan is to identify the different major Wellhausen lines that produced the Wellhausens now in Germany and Switzerland, and to obtain tests from each of the major lines for comparison and tracing.
The following Wellhausen patriarchs in Germany have been identified so far by internet data not confirmed by this website:
ADAM WELHUSEN (b. c. 1663 - 1731 Lodingsen, Gottingen, Lower Saxony), m. Catharine Margaretha Wienneken (c. 1673 Bolltenson - 1752 Lodingsen)
JOHANN HERMAN (HARM) WELLINGHAUSEN (1673 - 1735 Osterhagen, Hanover), m. 1699 to Anna Catharina Memke, b. 1677
ARNOLD WILHUSEN, (b. bef. 1736), m. Alheit Elizabeth Unk
Child Henrich Wilhusen (b. 1752 Fahrendorf, Hanover)
JOHANN ERNST WELLHAUSEN (1736 - d. Wibbecke, Gottingen), m. Dorothea Margarete Schafer (1737 Barterode Gottingen - 1815 Wiebecke Gottingen), son Johan Christian Ernst (b. 1773 Wibbecke)
FRIEDRICH AUGUST WELLHAUSEN (b. bef. 1795), m. Friederike Dorothee Meyer, child Wilhelmina Friederike Charlotte Wellhausen (b. 1811 Deckbergen, Schaumburg, GE)
LUISE WELLHAUSEN (1798 Eisbergen GE - 1864 Eisbergen GE)
Mother: Wilhelmine (Zellen) WELLHUSSEN, b. 1765 Eisenberg GE
m. Gottlieb LANGENER
JOHANN FRIEDRICH WOLTHUSEN (c. 1800 GE - c. 1900 GE), m. Johanna Friedericke BARTELS, children
Charles Ernst b. 1833 Alt Kentzlin GE
Emil Friedrich b. 1835
William b. 1836
F. COLLECTION OF TESTS FROM DUTCH WELLHAUSENS IN WISCONSIN AND HOLLAND
A special pocket of Dutch Wellhausen immigrants has been found in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, apparently coming down from the following immigrant ancestors:
JOHN WELLHOUSE (FKA Wellhausen)(c. 1793 Holland – aft. 1860 Alto, Fond du Lac, WI), farmer, m. Henrika Egberts (c. 1793 Holland – aft. 1860); immig. 1 Nov. 1847 from Antwerp, Belgium;
Plus likely children on same 1847 immigration record:
1. GERRIT WELLHAUSEN, f., (b. c. 1818),
2. JACOB WELLHAUSEN (b. c. 1835),
Plus possible children on same 1860 Alto census page:
3. MARTIN WELLHOUSE (c. 1820 Holland), m. Esther (b. c. 1831 Holland); children (b. WI) Henry, 6, Frederick, 4, Henryetta, 2; immig. bef. 1854).
4. HENRY WELLHOUSE (HERRICK, HENDRICK WELLHOUSEN)(c. 1822 Holland), m. Gina (c. 1826 Holland), Children (all b. WI) John F., 11, Anna, 8, Derrick, 6, Dina, 5, Garretdina, 1; immig. c. 1849.
5. AUGUST WELLHOUSE (c. 1834 GE), farm labor;
Dutch Immigrants to America, 1820-1880, of Ancestry.Com, shows that the following Wellhausens departed 1 Nov 1847 from Antwerp, Belgium, to the United States with no specific destination listed:
Jean Wellhausen 55 M,
Henrika Nee Egberts Wellhausen 55 F,
Gerrit Wellhausen 29 F, and
Jacob Wellhausen 12 M.
We conclude that JEAN WELLHAUSEN (WELLHOUSE) and wife HENRIKA (EGBERTS) WELLHAUSEN traveled to America in 1847 with unmarried daughter GERRIT and youngest son JACOB, and settled in Alto, Fond du Lac Co., Wisconsin. They were possibly later followed and joined in Fond du Lac by their three older sons MARTIN, HENRY, and AUGUST and their families.
The most recent available census in 1930 shows that at least 19 Wellhouses were still living in Fond du Lac Co., Wisconsin. The oldest family heads were:
HENRY J. WELHOUSE (c. 1859 GE – aft. 1930 Fond du Lac WI LKA), 71. living in Alto, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, with sister Eliz. 68, and brother GARRIT WELLHOUSE, 62 – all born in Wisconsin, and all having both parents born in Holland.
GRACE WELLHOUSE (c. 1868 Holland – aft. 1930 Fond du Lac WI LKA), 62, head, born in Holland, living in Waupun with daughters Alyda, Johanna, and Ada.
JACOB WELLHOUSE (c. 1881 Fond du Lac WI – aft. 1930 WI LKA), m. 1910 to Johanna (c. 1885 Iowa – aft. 1930 WI), living in Metomen, with both having both parents born in Holland.
We need a test from the Dutch Wellhausens in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and Holland to find out whether the Dutch Wellhausens were related to the German Wellhausen lines.
G. FAMOUS AND NOTABLE WELLHAUSENS
JULIUS WELLHAUSEN (1844 Hanover GE - 1918 Gottingen GE) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist, noted particularly for his contribution to scholarly understanding of the origin of the Pentateuch/Torah (the first five books of the Bible). Born at Hamelin in the Kingdom of Hanover, the son of a Protestant pastor, he studied theology at the University of Göttingen and became a lecturer on Old Testament history there in 1870. In 1872 he was appointed professor of theology at the University of Greifswald. He resigned from the faculty in 1882 for reasons of conscience. He became professor of oriental languages at Halle, was elected professor at Marburg in 1885, and was transferred to Göttingen in 1892 where he stayed until his death.
Prof. Wellhausen was best known for his Prologue to the History of Israel, a detailed synthesis of existing views on the origins of the first five books of the Old Testament. Wellhausen's contribution was to place the development of these books into a historical and social context. The resulting argument, called the documentary hypothesis, remained the dominant model among biblical scholars until later in the 20th century. Wikipedia.
CAPT. CHARLES WELHAUSEN (1835 Hanover GE - 1916 Lavaca TX), immigrated from the Palatinate to Texas as an eight-year-old boy with his father, German Immigrant Patriarch ERNST CHRISTOPHE CARL WELLHAUSEN, and family. Charles grew up on the family homestead at Cat Spring in Austin Co. and moved to High Hill in Fayette Co. to open a saddle shop in 1856 when he was twenty-one.
On 22 May 1861, Charles enlisted for Confederate army service as a 4th sgt. with the Lyons Mounted Riflemen of Fayette Co. Later transferring to artillery, Charles fought with distinction as a battery officer with Spaight's Battalion on 8 May 1864 at the Battle of Calcasieu Pass. In this little-known action on the southwestern coast of Louisiana, Lt. Welhausen's battalion surprised, attacked and captured two Union iron-clad gunboats (later converted to Confederate use) plus 16 guns, 166 Union soldiers, 200 head of horses and 350 head of cattle that the Union force had obtained. Based on Charles' handwritten records, Judge Paul C. Boethel gave a detailed account of Lt. (later Capt.) Welhausen's battery and Spaight's Battalion during the battle in his book, THE BIG GUNS OF FAYETTE, Von Boeckmann-Jones Co., Austin, TX, 1965.
After the war Charles developed progressively as a south Texas farmer, saddler, rancher, land-owner, businessman, justice of the peace, county commissioner, state legislator, and banker. In 1867 Charles married Eliza Amsler (1843 Austin TX - 1921 Lavaca TX). They had four sons -- Charles Bismark (1871 - 1949), Philip (1874 - 1936), John (1878 - 1879), and Herbert "Peck" (1885 - 1957) -- and one daughter, Mamie (1880 - 1917). Charles ran successfully for state legislator in 1888 when he had moved his family to Flatonia in Fayette Co. In 1890 he moved his family to Shiner in Lavaca Co. and started his own bank. "Capt. Charley" passed away in 1916 while napping at his Shiner national bank, age eighty-one.
Dr. EDWIN JOHN WELLHAUSEN (1907 – 2001 CA), noted agricultural researcher, received the E. C. Stakman Award for plant pathology from the University of Minnesota in 1982 when he was with the Rockefeller Foundation in Mexico. A plant breeder, Dr. Wellhausen was director of the corn and wheat improvement center, CIMMYT, in Mexico. Dr. Welhausen wrote the Caribbean Educational Bulletin, an agricultural research report on his mission to the Caribbean Region sponsored by Inter-American Development Bank and UNICA. He recommended the organization and operation of a Regional Agricultural Development Service to work directly with the Ministries of Agriculture and the research and development personnel in the Caribbean countries. Dr. Wellhausen wrote or co-authored numerous articles on agricultural research. Named in his honor, the E. J. Wellhausen & R.G. Anderson Plant Genetics Resources Center has been described as the world’s collection of maize and wheat germplasm held in trust for future generations.
Other Wellhausen notables and patriarchs in Europe and America will be identified as our study develops.
Our Wellhausen - Amsler - Fricke Family History DNA Study welcomes Wellhausen, Amsler and Fricke descendants and researchers of all spelling variations from all countries. This all-volunteer international family history investigation is designed to trace Y-DNA profiles of different Wellhausen, Amsler and Fricke family direct paternal lines in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, America, and everywhere else back to their earliest detectable origins, to jump over brick walls, and to find and either prove or disprove relationships between and within these family lines. The umbrella surnames Wellhausen, Amsler and Fricke are used on this website to include all similar and related spellings. Wellhausen, Amsler and Fricke became allied families in Hanover and Austin Co., Texas.
If you or your Wellhausen, Amsler or Fricke surname male relative decides to test, you can find out as soon as your test is processed whether you are related to the Wellhausen, Amsler or Fricke families of
ERNST CHRISTOPHE CARL WELLHAUSEN (1793 Herzberg, Hanover - 1866 Lavaca TX) (who married MARIA ELISABETH FRICKE) on the HANOVER-TEXAS line, for which we already have a Texas descendant Welhausen tester, or
JOHN ERNST CHRISTIAN WELLHAUSEN on the HANOVER-WAYNE line married before 1751 and had children in Adelebsen, Hanover, for which line we already have a Wellhouse tester who y-matches our Hanover-Texas line Welhausen tester.
ULRICH AMSLER I (b. ca. 1560 Schinznach, Canton Aargau, Switzerland) and his AARGAU-TEXAS line of immigrant descendants. His descendant HANS ULRICH AMSLER (1788 Schinznach - 1828 Schinznach) and wife BARBARA SCHAFFNER AMSLER (1790 Schinznach - 1857 Austin TX) had 12 children in Schinznach. Decades after his death his widow Barbara immigrated to Texas in 1855 to join most of her children while others of her 12 children remained in Switzerland. Here we already have a Texas descendant Amsler tester who y-matches three Amsler-descendant testers born and living in Switzerland.
CARL CONRAD AMSLER (1808 Schinznach - 1874 Hempstead Waller TX) (m. Maria Lowenburger),
VERENA AMSLER (1807 Schinznach - 1881 Millheim Austin TX) (m. SCHAFFNER),
MARCUS AMSLER (1812 Schinznach - 1886 Brenham Washington TX) (m. Mary Christina Elisabeth Meier),
JAKOB AMSLER (1813 Schinznach - Peoria IL LKA),
FRIEDRICH/FRITZ AMSLER (1816 Schinznach - 1863 Brenham TX) (m. Marie Wirz),
JOHANNES AMSLER (1819 Schinznach 1819 - bef. 1854 New Orleans?),
SAMUEL AMSLER (1821 Schinznach - aft. 1860 New Orleans?) (m. Margaretha Imhof),
BARBARA AMSLER (1823 Schinznach - 1887 Swiss Alp Fayette TX) (m. Henry SEEBERGER),
VERENA SOPHIA AMSLER (1825 Schinznach - 1911 Kenney Austin TX) (m. and div. Henry SEEBERGER), and
SUSANNA AMSLER (1827 Schinznach - 1918 Millheim TX) (m. Samuel HILLBOLDT).
CASIMIR AMSLER (c. 1820 SW – 1875 St. Louis MO) and wife ELIZABETH TRIER (1826 SW – 1900 St. Louis MO), on the SWISS-ST.LOUIS line of immigrants who sailed from Antwerp to NYC in 1853 on the Uncas with children Joseph, Johanna and Philippine. CASIMIR served in the US MO 2d Infy Regt in the Civil War. Children Joseph (c. 1845 SW – aft. 1861 MO) (also served in US MO 2d Infy – probably died in Civil War - pension filed 1886 by mother); Philippine (1848 SW – 1928 St. Louis MO), m. Chas J Billmeyer in 1867; and Theodor (1855 St. Louis MO – 1939 St. Louis MO), m. Louise Zorn (1856-1931); and others. CASIMIR was the son of JOSEPH AMSLER (1787 SW – 1869 SW) and wife MARIE STRAUB (1786 SW – 1850 SW).
If we can obtain the tests we want in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, America, Denmark and elsewhere, you can test for a possible match with:
- the Swiss Wellhausens of Thurgau Canton,
- the Dutch Wellhausens (Wellhouses) of the Holland-Fond du Lac line,
- the Wisconsin Wellhausens of Milwaukee (from Prussia, Hesse, Hanover) and Richland (from Prussia),
- the Dutch Welhouse (Welhuis) family of Outagamie County, Wisconsin,
- the Danish family Wellejus of Erie County, Pennsylvania,
- the Illinois Wellhausens of Cook County (from Hesse & Prussia),
- the Missouri Wellhausens of Saint Louis (from Prussia),
- the Texas Welhausens of Fayette County (from Hanover),
- the Texas Wellhausens of Bell County (from Germany through Louisiana),
- the Louisiana Wellhausens of New Orleans (from Hanover),
- the New York Wellhausens of Manhattan (from Germany),
- the AARGAU-TEXAS AMSLERS from Schinznach, Switzerland,
- the SWISS-ST.LOUIS Line of CASIMIR AMSLER and wife ELIZABETH TRIER, and so on.
WELLHAUSEN SURNAME ORIGINS:
The SURNAME WELLHAUSEN is thought to have originated as a German habitational name from the Swiss town of Wellhausen in the canton of Thurgau. DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN FAMILY NAMES, Oxford University Press. Wellhausen was a town in the district of Frauenfeld, canton of Thurgau, on the Swiss northeastern border with Germany. In 1983 it merged with Felben to form the town of Felben-Wellhausen (population 2,286, area 2.8 sq.mi., elevation 1,296 feet). WIKIPEDIA. It will be interesting to see if our testing program with the right testers can find out whether the different Wellhausen families came originally from this Swiss town when surnames were being adopted in Europe 700-800 years ago.
The SURNAMES WELLHOUSE, WELHOUSE, WILLHOUSE AND WILHOUSE are believed to be americanized versions of Wellhausen or related surname spellings from Germany and Holland (WELHUIS). The US census shows that the family heads having these surnames who were not born in the US, came from Germany and Holland, such as GEORGE WELLHOUSE (c. 1789 GE - aft. 1860 OH) (immig. bef. 1820), FREDERICK WILLHOUSE (c. 1826 GE - 1901 OH), JACOB WILHOUSE (c. 1817 GE - aft. 1850 WI), JEAN WELLHAUSEN (WELLHOUSE) (c. 1793 Holland - aft. 1860 Fond du Lac WI) (immig. 1847), and GERRIT JAN WELHOUSE (GERHARDUS JAN WELHUIS) (1827 DeLutte, Overijssel, Netherlands - 1890 Buchanan, Outagamie WI), None of the American immigrants with these English-sounding surnames came from Britain. None of these surnames are listed in the DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN FAMILY NAMES. We would like to find out whether any American families apparently having variants of the surname WELLHAUSEN could possibly have come from the Danish surname WELLEJUS (WELLEIUS), and whether any of the WELLHAUSEN and WELLEJUS families are genetically related.
AMSLER SURNAME ORIGINS - from ancestry.com
Swiss-German: habitational name from Amslen in Switzerland
German: occupational name for a fowler (bird-catcher), from an agent derivative of Amsel.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from Amsle, Yiddish name of Nams (l-) au in Silesia
Note: Amsel is the German word for a blackbird, which is shown on some Swiss Amsler coats of arms.
B. HOW TO GET STARTED WITH DNA TESTING
The Y-DNA test for Wellhausen, Amsler and Fricke-surname males, swabbing the inside of the cheek, is EASY and QUICK -- two swabs at 60 seconds each. No blood is involved. No medical or other information is recorded or obtained. The testkit comes in the mail to the tester's home and is returned by mail after completion of the swabs. To order a testkit, use the Join button above and follow the sequence.
Y-DNA testing measures specific characteristcs on the male tester's Y-chromosome -- markers passed down on the direct paternal line from a father to his son, to his son, to his son, etc., with relatively few changes or mutations over the centuries. These genealogical markers usually (but not always) follow the surname back through the generations many hundreds of years ago to the time in history when surnames were first generally adopted, and then continue to follow the genetic profile back through the Middle Ages and beyond. A second test is recommended to confirm and verify each line back to the Most Recent Common Ancestor and to preclude a possible DNA sidetrack from the expected paternal line due to an unrecorded adoption, name change, friendly neighbor, or research mistake.
Female Wellhausen, Amsler or Fricke descendants and male descendants not having the particular surname can readily participate and advance the study by encouraging their Wellhausen, Amsler or Fricke surname brothers, cousins or other relatives to submit a Y-DNA test representing their common surname line. Also, any descendant -- including females and non-surname males -- can participate by doing the Family Finder test. It's a great bang for the buck. Its remarkable technology uses at-DNA to search for matches on all the ancestor-surname lines on both sides of the tester's family and for matching ancestor-union profile blocks reaching back typically around 6-7+ generations, subject to random recombination and reduction of blocks each generation.
A Y-DNA test of any number of markers is welcome and can always be upgraded later - sometimes without a new swab if enough material is still on file from earlier test swabs. But we strongly recommend tests of at least 37 markers in order to avoid false positive matches, which are very common with 12m tests and fairly common with 25m tests. Tests of 67 or 111 markers are recommended as progressively more accurate and detailed for long-range tracing and use of TiP Report comparisons.
We use FamilyTreeDNA, the leading testing company with the largest Y-DNA databank of test results. No one with our study has any interest in the testing company or any related entity, or receives any type of compensation in connection with the testing program.
Privacy of test results and samples is protected by the strict protocols and guidelines followed by the testing company, as required by federal and state law. Each tester has his own password-protected testkit page where he can see his own results and any matches with other testers. On this surname group website's Y-DNA Results page, each tester can choose to identify his test results by his earliest known ancestor's name, or by surname and place of origin, or by surname only, etc. Moreover, Y-DNA marker results contain only lineage information (markers showing how closely the tester could be related to another tester with similar markers), and not medical information.
Our group has no funds except its own limited member contributions, but may be able to share part of the testing cost for a surname branch or line not previously tested. Please inquire if the cost-sharing contribution is available for your line. Anyone who wishes to help advance our investigation may do so by contributing to future key tests through this group's General Fund.
Y-DNA testing as a vital part of our Wellhausen - Amsler - Fricke Family DNA study has the potential to discover solid, highly reliable information of unique value on the history of our different ancestor surname family lines that cannot be gained through any other means with any level of expense or effort.
C. COLLECTION OF TESTS FROM WELLHAUSEN LINES IN AMERICA -- IMMIGRANT PATRIARCHS
Each immigrant Wellhausen line from Germany or Holland or Switzerland to anywhere else represents an interesting snapshot of Wellhausen DNA coming down from Germany or Holland or Switzerland at the time of departure and place of residence. Consequently, the first major phase of our tracing program is to collect tests representing the various principal Wellhausen lines immigrating from Germany, Holland and Switzerland to America. We hope to obtain tests from the lines of the following Wellhausen family concentrations, and with Wellhausen Immigrant Patriarchs to be identified as this study develops:
The 1880 US census shows 64 WELLHAUSEN and WELHAUSEN families concentrated in the following six states, with country origins as reported on the census:
Wisconsin - 36 % (23 / 64) - Milwaukee (from Prussia, Hessen, Hanover) and Richland (from Prussia),
Texas ------- 36 % (23 / 64) - Fayette Co. (from Hanover) and Bell Co.(from Germany through Louisiana)
Louisiana ---- 6 % (4 / 64) - New Orleans (from Hanover)
New York ---- 6 % (4 / 64) - Manhattan (from Germany)
Illinois --------- 5 % (3 / 64) - Cook Co. (from Hessen & Prussia),
Missouri ------ 5 % (3 / 64) - Saint Louis (from Prussia).
Similarly, the 1920 US census shows 48 WELLHAUSEN and WELHAUSEN families that have become more dispersed in forty years, but are still concentrated in the following five states:
Wisconsin - 19 % (9 / 48)
Texas ------- 15% (7 / 48)
Illinois ------- 10 % (5 / 48)
Minnesota --- 6 % (3 / 48)
Missouri ------ 6 % (3 / 48)
So in order to develop an overview picture of whether and how the different American immigrant families may relate to each other, our priority in the American phase is to develop tests on the principal Wellhausen lines in Wisconsin, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, and Louisiana. These same tests may also show how the German and possibly Swiss families relate to each other.
Here we have developed our first test on the HANOVER-TEXAS LINE identified as coming down from GERMAN IMMIGRANT PATRIARCH ERNST CHRISTOPHE CARL WELLHAUSEN (sometimes called Carl Conrad Welhausen) (1793 - 1866). Carl was born at Hertzburg, Hanover (now in Lower Saxony, Germany), and worked as a ducal estate keeper in Hildesheim, Hanover. Carl married MARIA ELISABETH FRICKE (1796 GE - 1847 TX) before 1831. All their children were born in Hildesheim.
In 1843 Carl, Maria and their five children immigrated by steamer to the new Republic of Texas -- seven years after Texans won their independence from Mexico by defeating Gen. Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, and two years before Texas joined the Union in 1845. They docked at Galveston, traveled by ox-cart to Austin's former colony, and settled on a farm in the German agricultural community of Cat Spring in Austin Co.
Carl and Maria had two sons (Henry and Charles) and three daughters (Sophie, Adolphine, and Elisabeth), who produced at least thirty-six grand-children. SOPHIA Charlotte Augusta "Sophie" (1832 GE - 1917 TX) married Frederick Wilhelm Flato (1820-1899) of Flatonia, TX, in 1848, and had fourteen children -- ten boys (Charles H., Frederick Wilhelm, Joseph, Henry, Rudolph, Edmund, Paul, Oscar, Max, Herman) and four girls (Elizabeth, Sophia, Alma, Erna “Alma"). HENRY (c. 1833 GE - 1890 Fayette TX) married Josephine "Josie" Langhammer (c.1840 Austria - 1936 Bexar TX), and had eight children -- three sons (George, Rudolph, Bernard) and five daughters (Ella, Valesa, Clara, Mary, Bertha). ADOLPHINE (1834 GE – 1906 Schulenburg Fayette TX) married Robert Wolters in 1850. They had at least four children (Rose Augusta, Edmund, Louisa, Othelia) and possibly others. CAPT. CHARLES (1835 GE - 1916 TX) had five children, as discussed below. Charles' twin sister ELISABETH (1835 GE - 1891 Schulenburg Fayette TX), married Capt. Edmund Creuzbaur (1826 Baden - 1871 Fayette TX) and had five children (Otto, Emil, Emma, Edward, Lillie).
In 1847, four years after arriving in Texas, mother Maria died and was buried at the Cat Spring homestead, age fifty-one. Father Carl later moved to Fayette Co. to live with daughter Elisabeth, and was shown on the 1866 US Tax Lists in High Hill, occupation saddlery. Carl died at High Hill on 20 Jul 1866, age seventy-two years and nine months.
Our second matching y-tester, who matches our HANOVER-TEXAS Wellhausen family, is a Wellhouse tester on the HANOVER-WAYNE line, tracing back through Wayne County, Ohio, to JOHN ERNST CHRISTIAN WELLHAUSEN. John had a son Christian in 1751 in Adelebsen, Gottingen, Hanover (now Lower Saxony, Germany). Christian's birthplace in Adelebsen is located only about twenty-five miles west southwest of Herzberg, birthplace of our first Welhausen tester's Earliest Known Ancestor, Ernst Christophe Carl Wellhausen.
This second matching test on this line confirms and verifies the profile back to the Most Recent Common Ancestor of the two matching testers.
D. WELLHAUSEN SURNAME IMMIGRATION TO UNITED STATES AND CANADA
US census records show only isolated individual Wellhausens in the United States before 1850. Some of the earliest Wellhausens on the US census included the following:
FRED WELLHAUSEN (c. 1806 Hesse GE – aft. 1880 Cook IL), m. Maria (c. 1807 – aft. 1880 IL)
ANDREW WILLHOUSE (WILLHOUS) (c. 1792 GE - aft. 1860 North Bloomfield Morrow OH); m. Elizabeth (c. 1799 GE - aft. 1870 Morrow OH); immig. c. 1837 bef. 1840 census; children Jacob, 21, Louis, 17, (both b. GE), Andrew, 13 (b. GE or OH) and Harry, 8 (b. OH).
GEORGE WELLHOUSE (c. 1789 GE – aft. 1860 Wayne OH), farmer, $20,000 RE, immig. bef. 1820 OH census, m. Eliz. (b. 1799 MD – aft. 1850), children Mary, Caroline, Hannah, George
CHRISTIAN WELHAUSEN (c. 1812 - aft. 1880 Racine WI), (lived in Milwaukee in 1860), m. Wilhelmina (c. 1835 Pomerania – aft. 1860)
JACOB WILLHOUSE (c. 1817 GE – aft. 1850 Grant WI), miner, m. Mary (c. 1828 GE – aft. 1850 WI); chidren Mary, Caroline, born WI
GOTTLIEB WELLHAUSEN (c. 1819 Hesse-Kassel–aft.1880 Milwaukee WI), cabinet maker, house carpenter, saloon-keeper, immig. bef. 1850 census, m. Wilhelmina (c. 1826 Hanover– aft. 1880 WI); children Margaret, John, Gustav, Carl, Julius, Augusta, August, Henriette (all children born WI)
AUGUST WELHAUSEN (c. 1824 Braunschweig GE – aft. 1880 Richland Washington WI LKA), shoe-maker, m. Sophie (c. 1829 Braunschweig GE – aft. 1870 Washington WI); children Wilhelm, Louisa, Augusta
Wellhausens began immigrating from Germany to the US in increasing numbers in 1850-70, slowed in 1870-80, continued large increases in 1880-1910, and then declined in 1910-30 (perhaps due to German-American tension in World War I). (Source: ancestry.com) The surname spellings went through normal variations in the 1800's and were often americanized. By 1880 the Wellhausen surname spelling had become most common, perhaps because that spelling was closer to the earlier spellings in Germany. Or perhaps later Wellhausen immigrants and later census takers were more careful with their spelling.
SURNAME TOTAL / 1850 18601870 18801900 1910 19201930
Wellhausen - 755 / --- 8 ---- 7 ---- 30 --- 55 - 128 - 150 - 170 - 207
Welhousen - 394 / --- 14 ----2 ---- 27 ---- 1 --- 17 --- 68 - 164 - 100
Willhouse --- 355 / ---- 6 --- 26 --- 43 --- 16 --- 68 - 108 -- 58 -- 29
Wellhouse -- 346 / --- 23 --- 35 --- 23 --- 33 --- 67 -- 84 -- 45 -- 34
Welhausen - 155 / ---- 4 ---- 8 ---- 12 --- 24 --- 23 -- 36 -- 26 -- 22
Wellhousen -- 68 / ---- 0 ---- 4 ---- 0 ---- 16 --- 17 --- 22 --- 6 --- 3
Wilhouse ----- 65 / ---- 0 --- 10 ---- 0 ---- 16 --- 12 -- 25 -- 12 --- 0
Willhausen --- 48 / ---- 0 ---- 1 ---- 0 ----- 5 ---- 7 --- 19 --- 16 -- 0
Wilhaus ------ 43 / ----- 0 ---- 0 ---- 3 ----- 2 --- 10 --- 21 --- 7 --- 0
Welhaus ------ 31 / ---- 0 ---- 0 ---- 1 ----- 0 --- 19 --- 0 ---- 11 -- 0
Wilhausen ---- 26 / ---- 0 ---- 1 --- 13 ---- 1 ----- 0 --- 6 ----- 4 -- 1
Other* --------- 68 /
TOTAL ---- 2,354 / --- 55 -- 94 -- 152 – 169 - 368 -- 539 - 519 - 396
% Increase per Decade ---- 71 % 62 % 11 % 59 % 46 % (4%) (24%)
Other* Wellhausen-surname variations found during 1850-1930 include Willhousen 19, Willhaus 18, Wilhous 16, Willhause 9, Welhous 5, Welhause 1.
The 1911 Canada census shows smaller numbers of Wellhausens:
11 Wellhausen (Ont.)
11 Welhouse (Ont.)
8 Willhouse (Sas.)
Considering the Wellhausen surnames with the largest US populations, we do not find in 1911 Canada any Welhausen, Welhousen, Wellhousen, Wellhouse, Wilhouse, Wellhaus, Welhaus, Wilhaus, Willhaus, Willhausen, Wilhausen, etc.
E. COLLECTION OF TESTS FROM WELLHAUSEN LINES IN GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND
The second major phase of this study is to collect tests representing the various principal Wellhausen lines in Germany and Switzerland, including Hanover, Thurgau, and other places. Our plan is to identify the different major Wellhausen lines that produced the Wellhausens now in Germany and Switzerland, and to obtain tests from each of the major lines for comparison and tracing.
The following Wellhausen patriarchs in Germany have been identified so far by internet data not confirmed by this website:
ADAM WELHUSEN (b. c. 1663 - 1731 Lodingsen, Gottingen, Lower Saxony), m. Catharine Margaretha Wienneken (c. 1673 Bolltenson - 1752 Lodingsen)
JOHANN HERMAN (HARM) WELLINGHAUSEN (1673 - 1735 Osterhagen, Hanover), m. 1699 to Anna Catharina Memke, b. 1677
ARNOLD WILHUSEN, (b. bef. 1736), m. Alheit Elizabeth Unk
Child Henrich Wilhusen (b. 1752 Fahrendorf, Hanover)
JOHANN ERNST WELLHAUSEN (1736 - d. Wibbecke, Gottingen), m. Dorothea Margarete Schafer (1737 Barterode Gottingen - 1815 Wiebecke Gottingen), son Johan Christian Ernst (b. 1773 Wibbecke)
FRIEDRICH AUGUST WELLHAUSEN (b. bef. 1795), m. Friederike Dorothee Meyer, child Wilhelmina Friederike Charlotte Wellhausen (b. 1811 Deckbergen, Schaumburg, GE)
LUISE WELLHAUSEN (1798 Eisbergen GE - 1864 Eisbergen GE)
Mother: Wilhelmine (Zellen) WELLHUSSEN, b. 1765 Eisenberg GE
m. Gottlieb LANGENER
JOHANN FRIEDRICH WOLTHUSEN (c. 1800 GE - c. 1900 GE), m. Johanna Friedericke BARTELS, children
Charles Ernst b. 1833 Alt Kentzlin GE
Emil Friedrich b. 1835
William b. 1836
F. COLLECTION OF TESTS FROM DUTCH WELLHAUSENS IN WISCONSIN AND HOLLAND
A special pocket of Dutch Wellhausen immigrants has been found in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, apparently coming down from the following immigrant ancestors:
JOHN WELLHOUSE (FKA Wellhausen)(c. 1793 Holland – aft. 1860 Alto, Fond du Lac, WI), farmer, m. Henrika Egberts (c. 1793 Holland – aft. 1860); immig. 1 Nov. 1847 from Antwerp, Belgium;
Plus likely children on same 1847 immigration record:
1. GERRIT WELLHAUSEN, f., (b. c. 1818),
2. JACOB WELLHAUSEN (b. c. 1835),
Plus possible children on same 1860 Alto census page:
3. MARTIN WELLHOUSE (c. 1820 Holland), m. Esther (b. c. 1831 Holland); children (b. WI) Henry, 6, Frederick, 4, Henryetta, 2; immig. bef. 1854).
4. HENRY WELLHOUSE (HERRICK, HENDRICK WELLHOUSEN)(c. 1822 Holland), m. Gina (c. 1826 Holland), Children (all b. WI) John F., 11, Anna, 8, Derrick, 6, Dina, 5, Garretdina, 1; immig. c. 1849.
5. AUGUST WELLHOUSE (c. 1834 GE), farm labor;
Dutch Immigrants to America, 1820-1880, of Ancestry.Com, shows that the following Wellhausens departed 1 Nov 1847 from Antwerp, Belgium, to the United States with no specific destination listed:
Jean Wellhausen 55 M,
Henrika Nee Egberts Wellhausen 55 F,
Gerrit Wellhausen 29 F, and
Jacob Wellhausen 12 M.
We conclude that JEAN WELLHAUSEN (WELLHOUSE) and wife HENRIKA (EGBERTS) WELLHAUSEN traveled to America in 1847 with unmarried daughter GERRIT and youngest son JACOB, and settled in Alto, Fond du Lac Co., Wisconsin. They were possibly later followed and joined in Fond du Lac by their three older sons MARTIN, HENRY, and AUGUST and their families.
The most recent available census in 1930 shows that at least 19 Wellhouses were still living in Fond du Lac Co., Wisconsin. The oldest family heads were:
HENRY J. WELHOUSE (c. 1859 GE – aft. 1930 Fond du Lac WI LKA), 71. living in Alto, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, with sister Eliz. 68, and brother GARRIT WELLHOUSE, 62 – all born in Wisconsin, and all having both parents born in Holland.
GRACE WELLHOUSE (c. 1868 Holland – aft. 1930 Fond du Lac WI LKA), 62, head, born in Holland, living in Waupun with daughters Alyda, Johanna, and Ada.
JACOB WELLHOUSE (c. 1881 Fond du Lac WI – aft. 1930 WI LKA), m. 1910 to Johanna (c. 1885 Iowa – aft. 1930 WI), living in Metomen, with both having both parents born in Holland.
We need a test from the Dutch Wellhausens in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and Holland to find out whether the Dutch Wellhausens were related to the German Wellhausen lines.
G. FAMOUS AND NOTABLE WELLHAUSENS
JULIUS WELLHAUSEN (1844 Hanover GE - 1918 Gottingen GE) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist, noted particularly for his contribution to scholarly understanding of the origin of the Pentateuch/Torah (the first five books of the Bible). Born at Hamelin in the Kingdom of Hanover, the son of a Protestant pastor, he studied theology at the University of Göttingen and became a lecturer on Old Testament history there in 1870. In 1872 he was appointed professor of theology at the University of Greifswald. He resigned from the faculty in 1882 for reasons of conscience. He became professor of oriental languages at Halle, was elected professor at Marburg in 1885, and was transferred to Göttingen in 1892 where he stayed until his death.
Prof. Wellhausen was best known for his Prologue to the History of Israel, a detailed synthesis of existing views on the origins of the first five books of the Old Testament. Wellhausen's contribution was to place the development of these books into a historical and social context. The resulting argument, called the documentary hypothesis, remained the dominant model among biblical scholars until later in the 20th century. Wikipedia.
CAPT. CHARLES WELHAUSEN (1835 Hanover GE - 1916 Lavaca TX), immigrated from the Palatinate to Texas as an eight-year-old boy with his father, German Immigrant Patriarch ERNST CHRISTOPHE CARL WELLHAUSEN, and family. Charles grew up on the family homestead at Cat Spring in Austin Co. and moved to High Hill in Fayette Co. to open a saddle shop in 1856 when he was twenty-one.
On 22 May 1861, Charles enlisted for Confederate army service as a 4th sgt. with the Lyons Mounted Riflemen of Fayette Co. Later transferring to artillery, Charles fought with distinction as a battery officer with Spaight's Battalion on 8 May 1864 at the Battle of Calcasieu Pass. In this little-known action on the southwestern coast of Louisiana, Lt. Welhausen's battalion surprised, attacked and captured two Union iron-clad gunboats (later converted to Confederate use) plus 16 guns, 166 Union soldiers, 200 head of horses and 350 head of cattle that the Union force had obtained. Based on Charles' handwritten records, Judge Paul C. Boethel gave a detailed account of Lt. (later Capt.) Welhausen's battery and Spaight's Battalion during the battle in his book, THE BIG GUNS OF FAYETTE, Von Boeckmann-Jones Co., Austin, TX, 1965.
After the war Charles developed progressively as a south Texas farmer, saddler, rancher, land-owner, businessman, justice of the peace, county commissioner, state legislator, and banker. In 1867 Charles married Eliza Amsler (1843 Austin TX - 1921 Lavaca TX). They had four sons -- Charles Bismark (1871 - 1949), Philip (1874 - 1936), John (1878 - 1879), and Herbert "Peck" (1885 - 1957) -- and one daughter, Mamie (1880 - 1917). Charles ran successfully for state legislator in 1888 when he had moved his family to Flatonia in Fayette Co. In 1890 he moved his family to Shiner in Lavaca Co. and started his own bank. "Capt. Charley" passed away in 1916 while napping at his Shiner national bank, age eighty-one.
Dr. EDWIN JOHN WELLHAUSEN (1907 – 2001 CA), noted agricultural researcher, received the E. C. Stakman Award for plant pathology from the University of Minnesota in 1982 when he was with the Rockefeller Foundation in Mexico. A plant breeder, Dr. Wellhausen was director of the corn and wheat improvement center, CIMMYT, in Mexico. Dr. Welhausen wrote the Caribbean Educational Bulletin, an agricultural research report on his mission to the Caribbean Region sponsored by Inter-American Development Bank and UNICA. He recommended the organization and operation of a Regional Agricultural Development Service to work directly with the Ministries of Agriculture and the research and development personnel in the Caribbean countries. Dr. Wellhausen wrote or co-authored numerous articles on agricultural research. Named in his honor, the E. J. Wellhausen & R.G. Anderson Plant Genetics Resources Center has been described as the world’s collection of maize and wheat germplasm held in trust for future generations.
Other Wellhausen notables and patriarchs in Europe and America will be identified as our study develops.