Genealogy Wise

The Genealogy & Family History Social Network

Are Your Ancestors from Venne, Osnabrück region of Germany?

I became solidly hooked on Genealogy when our friend and historian Udo Thoerner showed my husband and me the Büning ancestral home, a farm cottage, in the village of Venne, Germany with the names of his 4th-ggrandparents inscribed over the door and the year 1704 by the builder's name . What led us to this discovery was Thoerner's twenty years of curiosity and research about what happened to over 2000 emigrants from his home village of Venne and neighboring farm communities in Westfalen, northwestern Germany in the 19th century. These ancestral families are recorded in his book Venne in America, published in English nine months prior to Thoerner's untimely death at the age of 44 in 2008.

The immigrants settled primarily in villages of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Missouri, but Thoerner also describes the settlers in Iowa, Pennsylvania, and New York. You can view a brief history of Venne and some of the 2000 surnames on Thoerner's website http://www.venne-families.de/ . I will post a review of the book in a separate blog.

I would like to hear from you if your ancestors are from the farm villages around Venne. In the near future I intend to create a blog for Venne descendents in America.

Views: 2384

Comment

You need to be a member of Genealogy Wise to add comments!

Join Genealogy Wise

Comment by Melanie Lucas on July 16, 2010 at 2:24am
Carolyn, I was given a copy of the book and was told it was very factual and probably was not the best read to read it through. In fact, I found it very interesting and am still reading on it. I found a lot of helpful information and am sharing some of the information with others who are not able to buy the book. I also found out that the first place the Rittmanns settled was probably the hardest to clear into land suitable for anything. I know where I get my tough nature from!!! I would love to be a part of anything having to do with the Vene immigrants. I feel that we are very special people and have that passionate spirit in us!!!
Comment by Carolyn Bening on July 11, 2010 at 4:01pm
Melanie, You will enjoy Udo Thoerner's book Venne in America since it explains in detail how and why so many immigrated from Venne to places like Indiana and Illinois. You may order it from Hamilton County Chapter of Ohio Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 15865, Cincinnati, Ohio 45215. Please make check out to HCCOGS for $32 which includes $4 postage. Thank you for your inquiry. Carolyn
Comment by Melanie Lucas on May 20, 2010 at 8:54am
Carolyn, I am a descendent of Christian Frederick Wilhelm Rittmann. I am his 4th generation grandchild. His son, WIlliam Henry Rittman was my great great grandfather. I would love to be able to get a copy of that book. I want to know why they all came to America. I am glad they did!! I may not ever be here if they didn't!!!

Members

© 2024   Created by IIGSExecDirector.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service