Married on September 7, 1893
Karl Albert Ferenbach and Katharina Allgaier
Arrived in Fieldon, Illinois in 1881 from Neukirch, Baden; Germany
Ten Generations from Germany to the U.S.A. -

DE1.  Martin Ferenbach (b. 5-?-1684; d. 9-17-1757) at Bilmartinshof (his farm which was
named for him) outside of Furtwangen, Baden
Married ?
Barbara Heptingerin (b. 5-?-1688; d. 12-17-1744)
They had nine children, Urban Ferenbach was the eighth child.

DE2.  Urban Ferenbach (b. 5-1731; d. 5-15-1813)
Married 11-14-1757
Anne Maria Wehrle (b. 1733; d. 1-11-1800)
They had eight children, Anton Ferenbach was the sixth child.

DE3. Anton Ferenbach (b. 1765; d. ?)
Married 2-14-1821
Verena Scherzinger (b. 8-19-1791; d. 6-1-1857)
They had ? children, Silvester Ferenbach was the ? child.

DE4. Silvester Ferenbach (b. 12-31-1798; d. 9-4-1886)
Married on 4-11-1831
Mechthilde Dilger (b. 2-19-1805; d. 8-23-1881)
They had five children, Wilhelm Ferenbach was the second.

DE5.  Wilhelm Ferenbach (b. 5-6-1864; d. 8-9-1881)
Married 8-11-1858 in Furtwangen, Baden
Helene Fehrenbach (b. 1-11-1835; d. 9-22-1891)
They had eleven children, Karl Albert Ferenbach was their second child.

DE6/US1.   Karl Albert Ferenbach (b. 1857 Neukirch, Baden; d. 9-6-1928 in Fieldon, Il.)
Came to Fieldon, Il. in 1881
Married 11-17-1883 in Fieldon, Il.
Augusta Schmoeler, she bore him one child, and soon after died
Married 9-7-1893 in Fieldon, Il.
Katarina Allgier (b. 2-22-1870 in Waldkirch, Baden; d. 12-2-1945 in Fieldon, Il.)
They had 11 children, Bertha Elizabeth Ferenbach was the ninth child.

US2. Bertha Elizabeth Ferenbach, (b. 1908 in Fieldon, IL, d. 1998 in St. Louis, Mo.)
Married June 4, 1932, in Jerseyville, Illinois
Floyd Thomas Morgan (b. 1904 in East St. Louis, Il., d. 1953 in St. Louis Mo.)
They had 11 children, of which Margaret Mary Morgan is the oldest.

US3.  Margaret Mary Morgan (b. 1933 in St. Louis, Mo)
Married June 21, 1952 in St. Louis, Mo.
John Anthony Maurer, Jr. (b. 1952 in St. Louis, Mo.)
They had six children, of which John A. Maurer, III is the second of six children

US4.  John A. Maurer, III  (b. 1954 in St. Louis, Mo.)
Married on August 3 and August 4, 1973 in St. Louis County, Mo.
Pamela Anne Siems (b. 1953 in St. Louis County, Mo.)
They had three children and John Anthony Maurer, IV was the oldest child.

US5. John Anthony Maurer, IV (b. 1977, St. Louis County, Mo.)
Married on May 17, 2002 in Colorado Springs, Co.
Kasey Elisabeth Barton (b. 1977, Colorado Springs, Co.)
They have one child, Desmond Barton Maurer.

US6. Desmond Barton Maurer (b. 2007 in Boulder, Co.)
Both of Grandmother Morgan's parents were born in the Black Forest area of Germany and immigrated to
the United States in the late 1800s.  Her mother was born in 1870 and grew-up in the little town of
Waldkirch, in the Elz River valley, was christened Katharina Allgaier.  A century later, in 1972, Grandmother
Morgan traveled to Waldkirch, in the Baden-Wuerttemberg area of Germany, to visit with the German
relatives still living in the area.  While there she also visited the places her mother described to her over
the years, especially her parish church.  She enjoyed walking the streets where her mother walked as a
youth, and seeing the ruined Kastelburg castle, situated on a hilltop overlooking Waldkirch, where her
mother used to play as a child.

Her father Karl Albert Ferenbach, was born in 1857, in the Black Forest town of Neukirch, which is just four
miles from the town of Furtwangen and about twenty miles from Waldkirch.  His parents, and five
generations of Ferenbachs before them, were owners of the same family farm outside of Furtwangen.  The
farm was named Bilmartinshof after Martin Ferenbach, my mothers great great great great great
grandfather, who died on the farm on September 17, 1757.

Karld Albert was the second of the eleven children of Wilhelm and Helene Ferenbach, the twentieth
owners of Bilmartinshof.  Because the farm was not large enough to sustain more than one family, and
because the eldest child was the one entitled to inherit the farm, Albert realized quite early on that his elder
sister Wilhelmine would inherit the family farm and he would need to make a living as a farmer elsewhere.
 He immigrated to America in 1881, and then to Fieldon, Illinois, when we was just 23 years of age.  Two
years later, on November 17, 1883, he married Augusta Schmoeller of Fieldon.  She bore him a son,
whom they named Karl Gustav, and shortly thereafter she died, when she was just twenty-three years of
age.  Seven years later, on September 7, 1893, Albert married Katarina Allgier, who would become my
great grandmother.

Albert, as he was called, lost an eye in a childhood accident, but obviously did not consider himself to be
handicapped.  He spent three weeks crossing the Atlantic Ocean.  It is believed that his uncle Pius
Ferenbach, one of his father's brothers and himself an immigrant who became owner of a clock store in
Boston, MA., took care of Albert upon his arrival in the States.  Pius, who was born in 1829, would have
been fifty-two years old at the time.  It was probably Pius who helped finance Albert's travels and who
advised him to head to Fieldon, IL, if he wanted to eventually own a farm in his newly adopted country.  
Quite a few farmers who had immigrated from the Black Forest area of Germany had already successfully
established themselves in the Illinois communities of Fieldon and Jerseyville.

Great Great Uncle Pius, who never had children of his own, helped finance three of Albert's younger
siblings in their immigration to America and subsequent travel to the Fieldon area.  These siblings were
Jakobina (1862-1901), Ignaz (1865-1895), and Emilie (1870-1901).  Emilie contracted typhoid fever and
could not care for her four children, so Jakobina came to the aid of her younger sister only to contract the
disease herself.  Both sisters died in 1901, leaving a total of nine children without their mothers.  Ignaz
died four years later from pneumonia.  Three of his four children preceded him in death, two of them dying
the same year as he did.

Albert himself lived until his seventieth year.  His second marriage, to Katharina Allgaier, brought eleven
children into his world.  Although three of these children succumb to childhood diseases when they were
between one month and two years of age, and another lost his battle with the pandemic 1918 Spanish
Flue while serving in the military, the other seven lived an average of eight-six years.  It was their eighth
child, whom they christened Bertha Elizabeth, who became my grandmother.  She had eleven children of
her own and lived until her ninetieth year.
Karl Albert Ferenbach (b. November 23, 1857
Neukirch, Germany; d. September 6, 1928,
Fieldon, Illinois) married Katharina Allgaier (b.
February 22, 1870 Waldkirch, Germany; d.
December 21, 1945, Fieldon, Illinois) on August 7,
1893.  They had eleven children:

1. Ernest Ludwig Ferenbach (b. 1894, d. 1977)
2. Johann "John" Fridolin Ferenbach (b. 1897, d.
1918)
3. Anna Paulina Ferenbach (b. 1898; d. 1899)
4. Francis Pious Ferenbach (b. 1900; d. 1982)
5. Mary Magdalin Ferenbach Biel (b. 1902; d. 1992)
6. Emma Katharina Ferenbach (b. 1903; d. 1905)
7. Theresa Helena Ferenbach (b. 1905; d. 2002)
8. Bertha Elizabeth Ferenbach Morgan (b. 1908;
d. 1998)
9. Karl Albert Ferenbach (b. 1/1/1911; d.
1/30/1911)10. Lorenz Joseph Ferenbach (b. 1911;
d. 1990)
11. Robert Stephen Ferenbach (b. 1915; d. 1996)
Winter and Summer pictures of the Black Forest area of Neukirch, Baden; Germany.
The vacation-town of Furtwangen is situated in the heart of the Black Forest; at an
altitude of 870 m it is said to be the highest place in Baden Württemberg. The
highest mountain is the so called "Brend" at 1149 m. From its tower you have great
sights to the "Vogesen" and the alps. The different altitudes from 800 to 1150 m
attract the tourists through an abundance of beautiful views and hiking paths. There
are about 100 km of paths and walkways
in this district only. The alternating mild and rough climate is suitable for health cures
and holidays, due to the good bioclimatic conditions throughout the whole year.
Furtwangen is widely known as the "town of clocks". It was here that in the middle of
the 18th century clock manufacturing was developed from individual home factories
into a considerable branch of industry. The "German Clock Museum", displays the
history of clocks in the area from the beginning to its
most modern development.

From Neukirch (5km away from Furtwangen) you can get to the 3 km distant
Hexenlochmühle (with coven mill). It was built in 1825 and is a typical example of a
beautiful, old Black Forest mill. The mill has been in the possession of the Trenkle
family since 1839 and is now in the hands of the 4th generation. The mill was
originally built as a saw mill. The mill wheels, the larger of which has a diameter of 4
meters, are driven by the river Heubach (300 litres per second) and
can produce 13 HP. There is a shop inside where you can get: Black Forest Cuckoo
clocks, Black Forest hand painted plate clocks, Home clocks, wooden-nativity
models, hand-carved wooden figures, Country specialities, etc.)
Rudi Fehrenbach

For more than 50 Years Rudi Fehrenbach has been working as a Master
Woodcarver. The Fehrenbach's have worked for FIVE generations hand carving and
assembling the finest quality cuckoo clocks. Rudi and his son, Bernd, like the
generations before them continue in the "TIME HONORED" tradition of hand carving
and assembling cuckoo clocks in the Black Forest Region of Germany. The
Fehrenbach's have established their own successful business.
Their business is located in the heart of the beautiful Black Forest area in the
southern part of Germany. Many tourists visit this area to spend their vacations at all
times of the year. Guests often watch Rudi at his daily work and watch while he
performs the unique work of hand carving cuckoo clocks. To make the art of hand
carving clocks more popular, Rudi and his son, Bernd, leave the Black Forest
Region to attend exhibitions, craft fairs, and Christmas markets. Most exhibitions
were previously national in nature, however, most recently the fairs and markets
have become international and the clocks are marketed in the United States, Austria,
and Japan to name a few.

Rudi Fehrenbach
Schillerstraße 24
78136 Schonach

www.clocks-online.de
Trying to establish our possible family ties.
Rudi Fehrenbach and his son Bernd
Neukirch
Flag of Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany
Three scenes of Neukirch
Karl Albert Ferenbach
Karl Albert and Katharina Allgaier Ferenbach
Berha E. Ferenbach
Bertha E. Ferenbach
Jerseyville Courthouse
Street grid of Fieldon, Illinois
Lone Star School in
Jerseyville served
as a stop on the
underground railroad
Jerseyville Inn, typical style of many area farm homes
Fall in Jersey County, Illinois looking south
and west across the Mississippi River
Granite City, Illinois where Bertha and Floyd
stopped to have wedding pictures taken
Three of Karl Albert Ferenbach's siblings came to the U.S.A. and died from illness.
Emilie Ferenbach Widman
b. 20 May 1870
d. 23 Oct. 1901
Ignaz Ferenbach b. 25 June
1865, d. 13 Nov. 1895
Jakobina Ferenbach Traunecker
b. 28 Sept. 1862
d. 5 Dec. 1901
Bertha Elizabeth (nee Ferenbach) Morgan was born on August 14,
1908. She lived with her family in a modest farmhouse on the
Schmeider homestead, located near Fieldon, Illinois, until she was
about twelve years old, at which time her family was able to move onto
their own farm property near Dow, Illinois. Fieldon is just ten miles
west of Jerseyville, IL, and Dow is about twenty miles south of
Fieldon. Bertha grew up in a family of eleven children herself, but
nothing could have prepared her for having to raise most of us eleven
on her own.

At the time of her death, on January 28, 1998, in her ninetieth year,
she left a major part of herself on this earth through 11 children, 38
grandchildren, 51 great grandchildren, and one great, great
grandchild.  Ten additional great grandchildren plus a second great,
great grandchild have been born since then.  
The old St. Mary's Catholic Church and rectory near Fieldon, Il.  
Photo not dated.  Note the horse-drawn buggy on the left.
The words at the top of the photo were written
by Ernest Ferenbach, "Where we lived on the
Schmieder farm for ten years."
Taken from back porch of Ferenbach farm on 7 Sept. 1927
Francis and Frieda Ferenbach's 25th Wedding Anniversary
Front: Francis and Frieda; Leonard and Theresa Ferenbach Fessler; Robert Ferenbach.
Back: "Toots" & Joseph Ferenbach; Catherine & Ernest Ferenbach
Spring 1926 Ernest and Bertha Ferenbach
Feb. 21, 1943 Robert, Francis, Theresa, Ernest,
Katherina and Joseph Ferenbach
Feb 21, 1943 Katherina, Theresa & Leonard, Freda, Robert, Francis, Toots, Catherine, Joseph.
Front: baby John Ferenbach held by Dolores, Maurice and Paul Kenny Ferenbach
Back view of Ferenbach homestead.
Ernest Ferenbach 1918
Fall 1922: Bertha, Theresa, Joseph, Karl Albert and Katherina, with Robert in front.
Katharina with Bertha
John and Ernest Ferenbach. John went as a Private to Camp Forest, Ga., on 6 Sept. 1918.  He was placed with
the Engineers Replacement Troops.  At Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., he contracted pneumonia, following an attack of
Spanish Influenza and died in the hospital there are the age of 21.  Upon arriving at Camp Forest he bough a
$10,000 life insurance policy.  Upon his death it was the mainstay of the family.  Part of it was used to purchase
the family cemetery plot at St. Mary's Woodside.  The other for down payment on the Ferenbach farm.  John died
October 12, 1918 at 4:00 pm.

This story didn’t end that day. It ended a year or two later when a life insurance policy that John had signed up for
when he joined the Army paid Albert Ferenbach  $10,000.  John had literally “bought the farm” by his death
because until his insurance money arrived the Ferenbach family were sharecroppers.  They were given sixty
acres of land to farm on by their landlord, a Mr. Schmieder, with the agreement that he would be given all profits
derived from the farming of half of those acres. With the windfall of money they received from son John, however,
the Ferenbachs were able to buy their very own farm.  You might say that the story doesn’t even end there.  When
Floyd and Bertha were about to be evicted from the place they were renting on Garnier Street, in that the house
was being sold out from under them, they were able to use their portion of the inheritance from the sale of the
family farm to put a down payment on their very first house.  That was in 1946, shortly before Christmas, and the
house was on Michigan Avenue in the Carondelet area of South St. Louis.
Ferenbach can be spelled with an H in some lines of the family (Fehrenbach)
Although Bertha herself had not learned how to speak English until
she attended St. Mary’s Catholic School and later the Irene School (the
one-room school house pictured above), she decided not to teach her
own children the German language because of the hostilities that
eventually led to America joining the allied movement against
Germany in the Second World War.   
Wilhelm Ferenbach (father of Karl Albert) left Bihlmartinshof to his eldest, Wilhelmine who married
Gottfried Flammer.  They had two children Gottfried 1883-1965 and August 1886-1967. At the time of
the transfer 8-9-1881 the farm was deep in debt.  Wilhelmine and Gottfried Flammer sold it on
4-13-1910 to the manufacturer Felix Ketterner for (46,000 Marks) as they were deeply in debt.  The
estate was closed.
Fehrenbach (Ferenbach)
German: habitational name from any of
several places so named (earlier
Vöhrenbach) in Württemberg and Thuringia.
Allgaier
German: variant of Allgäuer, a regional name
for someone from the Allgäu, a district of
southern Bavaria, named with Old High
German alb ‘mountain pasture’ + gouw
‘area’, ‘region’.
Black Forest Coat of Arms
Dancers in Furtwangen
Church in Neukirch