A woman by the name of Barbara Feick in Ohio had made a website detailing her family genealogy. It seems her mother (I think) had researched the family some time ago tracing them way back in Germany. A group of brothers came over in the mid 19th century and made a name for themselves in the building industry and like good Lutheran Germans of old, they procreated like crazy and now there were LOTS of Feicks right in the Sandusky Ohio area.
↓This is her website with links to her genealogy and some of her other interests↓
Check it out. An interesting, talented, many-faceted woman. The word eccentric maybe comes to mind but you should know that endeared me to her more. I don't have to agree with everyone but I really do respect a person with well thought out opinions who's willing to defend them. Had I hit the motherlode this quickly? I emailed this Barb and I will tell you she is also a really nice person. Understandably, they had traced their American Feicks from the mid 1800's back. We are recent Feicks and she couldn't confirm how we may be related and they did not trace family members in Germany who did not emigrate. I had a gut feeling that in spite of all the time passed we were somehow related and for these reasons:
•Feick (alternately spelled Feik) is not a common name and although we all know not everyone with the same name is related, Germany had surnames unlike my Scandinavian ancestry where patronymics was the rule.
•Groß-Bieberau is a relatively small town, not even noted on some maps. Today the population is only 4,700. It stands to my reason that those in the town and surrounding area with the same name are most likely related.
•The Ohio Feicks traced their family back to Steinau. Researching Steinau I found it is not really a town but a very small area just west of Groß-Bieberau, where our Feicks were from and my husband was born.
•The Ohio Feicks that immigrated were Lutherans as originally were our Feicks (Germany is perhaps half Lutheran and half Catholic). And where did many of the Ohio Feick's ancestors baptize their children? You guessed it, the Groß-Bieberau church.
•Questioning my sister in law she tells me that my father in law once mentioned they had "cousins in Ohio" and then my hubby chimes in with. "Yeah in the early 60's we drove out to visit a cousin, I think it was in Youngstown." NOW you mention this?
•Barb's Feicks came a hundred years ago. That would make them cousins 3/4/5 times removed, their descendants unlikely to have known my father in law. However, it stands to reason that other Feicks, of later times, perhaps hearing of the success of Barb's Feicks, also came to Ohio.
I am only an amateur family historian but I early on learned the danger of hopping across generations. You search for primary and secondary sources to cite and move back in time only 1 person at a time. Even so I was pretty sure I had something here and bookmarked the website for the future.
It was difficult and took a few years to bridge the gap between Barb and myself. I will be blogging about my search, but I can now say fairly confidently (and proudly).
Thank you, Barb!
you are my hubby's fifth cousin
