The Nehrenz Network
Newsletter
Vol. 1. Number 1
May 1995
 


 



A. ABOUT THE EDITOR - Yours truly must apologize that it has taken so long for me to get this first newsletter published!

I am a husband of one wife, a father of 4 children, a pastor of nearly 600 people, an administrator of a vicar at our church who helps me conduct our campus ministry at the University of Oklahoma and our DCE overseeing education programs. My hobbies include sailing, and writing and performing music for guitar and voice.

In the midst of all this, I am trying to do Nehrenz research and Newsletters.

I AM NOT TRYING TO IMPRESS YOU WITH ANY SUPPOSED ACCOMPLISHMENTS, I AM SIMPLY TRYING TO MAKE THIS POINT--I NEED YOUR HELP IN THIS ENDEAVOR!

As far as computers, I have an old IBM XT here at home, this is done in First Choice. At the office I have a 486DX with Microsoft Word, so if ANYONE HAS INFO TO SEND ME ON A DISK (EITHER 3.25 OR 5.25) I can access it.

HERE ARE THE WAYS YOU CAN HELP:
1.If you are on the INTERNET, can you access a national phone directory to get phone # etc. for all the Nehrenzs in the U.S.? (once I get a better computer at home with a modem, we need to set up an e-mail network for all Nehrenzs on-line)

2.Please send copies of any old photos you have (dig through boxes and have them copied at a copy
store) and label them.

3.Can anyone help in contacting Nehrenzs in Germany through newspapers there or even by travel?

4.I WOULD LIKE TO PUBLISH THIS NEWSLETTER QUARTERLY, IS ANYONE INTERESTED IN HELPING ME PUBLISH THEM? PLEASE FILL OUT THE SHEET BELOW, CLIP AND MAIL TO ME, I AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE! D.R.N.

So far, the Nehrenzs I have located all descend from one of the children of Johann Christian Theodor Nehrenz b. 3 Mar 1820, m.17 Oct 1843 to Johanna Maria Elizabth Lempke and d.23 June 1888.

Their children were Friedrick Christian Martin Nehrenz b.5 May 1844, d. 28 Aug 1906; Johann Christian Friedrick Nehrenz b.7 Apr 1846; Johann Carl Friedrick Theodor Nehrenz b. 27 Sep 1848; Caroline Wilhelmine Friedrike Nehrenz b. Nov 1850; Carl Ludwig Wilhelm Nehrenz b.27 Dec 1853?1857?, d.8 Dec 1928; Johanne Friedrike Caroline Nehrenz b.26 Jun 1855?1860?; Heinrick Christian Theodor Nehrenz b.12 Aug 1861, d.6 Nov 1906.

We have the ship's passenger list for their arrival in
the U.S.A. They sailed from Hamburg, Germany on 30 Oct1869 on the ship named BORUSSIA to the port in New York.There is a picture of this ship in my files. Johann was a farmer and 49 when they emigrated, his wife Maria was 50, Christian was 23,
Wilhelmine was 18,  Wilhelm was 12, Johanna was 9 and Henry was 7.

From the picture of the ship, one can see that it was
a combined steamship and sailing vessel. One can only surmise that research can probably be done on Ellis Island records to see if there is information about the family there. It is also very interesting for you history buffs to study the history of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
(where Trollenhagen was lo-cated) to discover what was happening during the 1860s. The little bit of reading I have done informs me that from 1860-71, 50,000 people emigrated from Mecklenburg, some settled in Hamburg, others came overseas. Why? Time for more research!

Since my space is limited here and the type is small
let me also share additional info with you.

We have some information also about Johann Christian Theordor's family. His parents were Christian Matthias Nehrenz and Maria Dorothea Scharff, m. 19 Oct 1810.

Their children were Johann Nehrenz b.4 Aug 1811 and twin Christian Friedrich; Hanna Maria Sophia Nehrenz b.7 Nov 1812; and Johann himself was also a twin! Johann was born 3 Mar 1820 and his twin sister was Maria Bernhardine Friederika Nehrenz!

Now there are many genealogical computer programs available on which info like this can be put in "tree" form and be much easier to understand. Most of this information comes through Claire Talbert who has accessed the LDS records from Salt Lake City, which information I now also am researching and examining.

Concerning the Nehrenz folks who live in this country
we obviously have much more information. Presently I have a list of about 60 families which have a Nehrenz connection.

You are on this list since you have received this newsletter!

If you are wondering where you fit in, let me use myself as an example. I am David Robert Nehrenz (pastor), my father is Clyde Theodore Nehrenz (painting contractor), my grandfather was John William Nehrenz (dentist), my great grandfather was Henry Christian Theodore Nehrenz (telegraph operator), my great, great grandfather was Johann Christian Theodor Nehrenz (farmer and laborer in the U.S) and my great, great, great grandfather was Christian Matthias Nehrenz (?farmer) and my great, great, great, great grandfather was a Daniel Nehrenz (about whom I know nothing else. - his name has just recently been found)

One can see that if Christian Matthias was born in 1810, then his father Daniel was born probably around 1790 or earlier. Now to fit yourself in here, this is what seems to be the situation. The Nehrenzs I have located all seem to descend from one of 3 sons of Johann
Christian. These sons are Friedrick, Wilhelm (William), and Heinrich (Henry). A fourth brother- Christian, had only daughters so the name did not continue. But obviously these daughters married and there are Nehrenz descendants through them. Also, the two sisters of these four brothers, Wilhelmine and Johanna, also came to this country, would have married and had children also and these too would be Nehrenz descendants.

Who are all these descendants and what are there names? Where did they settle in this country? You can see that there is a lifetime of research that could be done!

It is clear then that of the Nehrenzs we know about, we all go back to Johann Christian Theodor Nehrenz.

From there on back we share a common ancestry. This is just an introductory newsletter, and I realize that for all this to make sense, you need to get a genealogy chart and fill in the names and dates I have given here for yourself. I have a film copy of the parish church register of the Lutheran church in Trollenhagen at my disposal at the local LDS church here. Over time, I plan to copy the pertinent pages (which are handwritten in old German script) and translate it to garner as much info as can be found there about the Nehrenzs who were born, baptized, married, buried.

1. RESEARCH OF TROLLENHAGEN PARISH
CHURCH RECORDS
- to continue

2. LOCATING ALL THE NEHRENZS IN THE US
It would aid this work greatly if we could get the names, addresses and phone numbers of all the Nehrenzs who
live in all 50 states.

3. LOCATING THE NEHRENZS IN GERMANY
There are certainly Nehrenzs in the Mecklenburg area and throughout Germany. If we can even locate descendants of Christian Matthias over there now, we will have hit a gold mine in further research, since their records about our ancestors would be much more extensive.

4.WRITING A NEHRENZ HISTORY BOOK
This is my ultimate long-term goal!



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