A Hill in Switzerland

This small hill, to the northwest of the city of Langnau-im-Emmental, in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, was completely unknown to me as of this past Tuesday.  Yet, I've been looking for it for over twenty years, even though I never knew it existed.

I know that my family history is about as exciting to you, as your home movies would be to me.  But given the popularity of programs like, "Who Do You Think You Are?" and similar "find your ancestor" programs featuring sports stars, celebrities, and politicians, you may be familiar with the quest being made by many Americans to trace their family history and find their ancestral roots.  I've been on mine for over twenty years.

My quest began after my mom died in 1992.  I was going through her papers and found a typed funeral text for my paternal great-grandfather, Albert Riddlesbarger.  The minister (in the Grace Brethren Church) preached on Philippians 1:21: "to live is Christ, to die is gain."  It was a wonderful sermon focusing upon the resurrection.  But I had never heard of Albert Riddlesbarger.  I did not know that he was born in Illinois in 1857, or that my family had ever lived there.  My dad died when I was young, so did my grandfather, so this kind of information was never passed down to me. 

It bothered me so much to not know my own family history (there was a family legend that my grandfather Glenn had prepared a family tree but it was now long lost), that I started looking in earnest.  I began work on a detailed history of our family for my own sons, and have posted it on-line for any long-lost cousins who might find their way to it (A History of the Riddlebarger Family)

I quickly discovered that my grandfather had started his research back in the 1930's.  Along the way I made contact with grandsons of several of the Riddlebargers (in Pennsylvania) with whom my own grandfather had corresponded sixty years earlier.  That was wonderful--cousins I never knew I had! 

Eventually, I got back as far as "the boat."  I can document how the first of my line, Christian Retelsberger, came to America, arriving in Philadelphia in 1733.  He was a co-founder and an elder in a Reformed church (in South Carolina) which adhered to the Belgic Confession, the Augsburg 1540, and the First Helvetic Confession (that too was a pleseant surprise).  He's also the ancestor of anyone you meet or know named "Riddlebarger," "Riddleberger," "Riddlesberger," or "Riddlespurger" (or any variants therefore).  I know that the ship he arrived on--the Pink Mary--left Rotterdam earlier that same year.  But there the trail goes cold--the proverbial brick wall.  How do you find European ancestors from before 1730, when you are not even sure of the spelling of the surname, and have no clue as to your country of origin, except they were German-speakers?

So, I took a y-DNA test, and actually found a living European cousin from the Rotlisberger family of the Canton of Bern.  He and I are an exact match, which means we share a common ancestor somewhere between twelve and fifteen generations ago.  I wanted to know more, so I took a more thorough DNA text, and found a link to yet another living Rotlisberger, also in the Canton of Bern. 

So, I know that my family name was anglicized from Rotlisberger to Riddlebarger, and that Christian Retelsberger's family originally had come from Bern (probably settling in the Alsace for a generation or two, before he came to America).  I also know my haplogroup type is G-P303 (rare for Europeans, and originates in the Levant--maybe I had ancestors among the Ninevites!).

When the possibility arose of a speaking engagement in Europe this fall, I began making tentative plans to visit Langau-im-Emmental, just to get a sense of where my kin once lived.  I thought I'd email one of these European cousins to see if he knew of any places I ought to visit.  I was about to get the surprise everyone looking for ancestors hopes to get.

He replied several days later--in a matter of fact way--"oh, yeah, there's a hill near Langau named the Rotlisberg, where our family lived.  If you come here, I'll take you there."  There's a hill in Switzerland for which my family is named?  You gotta be kidding me! 

The picture above is indeed the "Rotlisberg," and with that "matter of fact" reply, I found the one thing which every American looking for their ancestral roots can only hope to find, their ancestral home.  But I never even knew to look for the place because I had no idea such a place existed.  I now know where my family lived (before 1500 AD), that I have living European cousins, as well as a new addition to my bucket list.

My quest is finally over.  Well, no, not really.  Not until, Lord willing, I stand on the Rotlisberg and see it with my own eyes.  The hill might not be very big in size, but to me, it is huge!

A Very Pleasant Surprise

One of my first post-Christmas purchases out of my Amazon cart was Phil Brigandi's new book, Orange County Chronicles (Orange County Chronicles).  I love local history and read much about the early days of OC. 

When I was looking through my newest acquisition, I soon discovered this picture on page 126.  The dark-haired young lady behind the counter next to Walter Knott is my mother, Marian Morris.  I had seen the picture before in the Knott's museum, and in an out of print book on the life of Walter Knott, but to find it in Brigandi's book was a pleasant surprise indeed.  Now I've got my own copy.

This was about the time my mom met my dad, Clayton.  He was a college student who showed up looking for a part-time job.  My mom liked his looks, and talked her sister Virginia (who was Mr. Knott's first secretary) into hiring him.  They were married on June 21, 1941.  My dad served in the FBI during World War 2.  My folks would later open a Christian bookstore at Knott's in May of 1956 (in Fiesta Village).  Our store was eventually relocated in 1983 to a vacant office complex on Grand Ave., just a few feet from where this photo was taken 1940.  How's that for irony.  We closed the store in January of 1994.

By the way, Brigandi's book is a good read.

US 395 and the Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge Railroad

I've always loved trains.  During the winter of 1960, my folks stopped in Independence CA (in the Eastern Sierras on US 395) to take my picture in front of the then recently-retired 1911 Baldwin-built narrow gauge locomotive #18.  Known as the "Slim Princess," #18 along with her sister #9, (now in the Laws, CA, museum) were the last operable Southern Pacific narrow gauge steam locomotives.  My dad took this picture with his old Polaroid camera in 20 degree weather.  But there I am (about 6 yrs. of age), getting my photo taken and freezing my rear-end off.

My wife and I have made countless trips to the Eastern Sierras through the years, and my two sons always had to stop and look at #18.  Those of you who frequent the Eastern Sierras will know exactly where and what I mean.  When he was a toddler, my oldest son (now almost 26) wanted his picture taken in the same spot where my parents took a picture of me.  We obliged.  This picture was taken about 1990.  

My reason for posting these photos is let those of you who love US 395 (and its beauty and history) know that #18 may actually live again.  A group of railfans (from throughout the West) along with local historians (of the Eastern Sierras and the Owens Valley) are in the process of restoring #18, and may actually have it running again in a few years. 

Here's the link to the website of the Carson and Colorado Railway (Click Here).  The folks doing the restoration are making remarkable progress.  Next time you head from So Cal to Mammoth, Tahoe, or Reno, you won't see #18 in its familiar park setting in Independence (much of it is being rebuilt off the highway).  But perhaps one day in the not too distant future you just might able to watch it run between Bishop and Laws under full steam. 

And, Lord willing, one day I'll post a picture of me with my grandkids in front of a fully restored #18, as we are about to go for a ride. 

The Rotlisperger Coat of Arms

It may be ugly, but it is authentic! 

Not only did my recent y-DNA test concretely tie my family to the Rotlispergers of Bern (and to a Cunradt Rötlisperger who was born in 1530), this family also has an official "coat of arms."  It will take me a while to decipher what all the symbols and colors mean, but this was quite a find. I am thinking of all the things I can plaster this on; T-shirts, a new sign in my yard, an emblem on my car, stationary, etc.  Perhaps even a tattoo?

We all have grandparents and aunts and uncles who bought generic "coat of arms" from companies promising to tell you the origin of your surname and provide you with "authentic" heraldry, although most of them (if not all) are fakes and nothing but a crass marketing ploy.  No fake here--who would fake this?

Yet one other fascinating consequence of my y-DNA test is the discovery of new family connections previously unknown.  I know that my own surname went through nearly 50 permutations once Christian Retelsberger arrived in Philadelphia in September of 1733, well before Riddlebarger became standardized.  Hard to believe that "Riddlebarger" is the greatly anglicized version of anything! 

My y-DNA also connects me to several large families with whom I never suspected any ties.  If you are a Ringelspaugh or a Rindlisbacher you too descend from good ole Cunradt!  Some immigration official had as much fun with your last name as they did with mine.  I am also tied by my DNA to the Redelsperger family of France--some of whom now live in America.

Perhaps the most moving discovery from all of this is seeing Cunradt's name in the 1561 baptismal record from the Reformed church of Langnau Im Emmental when he presented one of his  children (and presumably one of my ancestors) for baptism.  Wow!  Unto at least 15 generations and still counting!

The Genes Tell the Story

All along I thought I was a German.

A while back I decided to take a y-DNA test to see if I could figure out my European ancestry.  I know who my first ancestor in America was, Christian Redelsberger, and that he arrived in Philadelphia in September of 1733.  I also knew that Christian left Rotterdam by ship earlier that summer.  The trail goes cold at the dock.

As for where Christian was before that, I had no clue.  I had a few guesses, but nothing concrete.  That is, until I took the y-DNA test, and the results came back on Monday.  Now I know.  My guess was right.

I got a definitive y-DNA hit to someone living in Europe with whom I share a common male ancestor 12-14 generations ago.  This man contributed his sample a few years ago, and even better, has traced his family back to a Cunradt Rotlisperger, who lived in the Canton of Bern in 1540.

Now, that doesn't tell me when or how Christian's family left Bern, but we do know that a number of the Rotlispergers were Anabaptists and left Switzerland in the early 1600's and settled along the Rhine (in the Alsace), and even perhaps in the Province of Limburg (along the Meuse).  Some of these folk were also Reformed.  Somewhere among them are my ancestors.

So, I'm not a German.   I am Swiss.  The genes prove it!

Calling All Riddlebargers, Riddlebergers, Riddlesbergers, and Riddlespurgers

For any of my cousins who might be lurking about, or doing google searches on our family history, I finally posted my latest update to the family history.

The document shown is the list of "Palatines" who arrived in Philadephia on September 29, 1733 on the Pink (the type of ship) Mary.  Christian Retelsberger (Riddlespurger) is the first of our clan to arrive from Rotterdam, via Portsmouth.

Here's a link to the updated file of Christian's descendants -- anyone named Riddlebarger, Riddlesberger, Riddleberger, or Riddlespurger.

If you have any additional info, corrections, etc., please let me know.  Or just let me know that you are out there!

Descendants of Christian Riddlespurger

A Picture Doesn't Always Tell the Whole Story

Many of you will recognize the famous "Berry Market" from Knott's Berry Farm (one of America's first and most famous amusement parks).  This picture was taken in the 1930s, and I saw it a few days ago on an Orange County history blog I frequent.  The building is still there, now part of larger complex.

I had seen the picture before and thought about my own family's history--and our deep ties to this building and the Knott family.  The picture doesn't tell that story . . .

My mom, Marian, worked here about the time the photo was taken (in the late 1930s).  There's a famous picture of Walter Knott and his son Russell selling boysenberries inside right behind the large window.  My mom (in her late teens) is standing next to them.

My aunt, Virginia (my mom's sister), was Mr. Knott's first secretary, and when a handsome Woodbury College student showed up looking for work, my mom liked his looks and talked my aunt into hiring him.  That young man was Clayton Riddlebarger, my father.

My folks left Orange County during the war (my dad was in the FBI by that time) and returned to open a Christian bookstore at Knotts in 1955.  By that time, my grandmother, Juliet, had retired from teaching, and ended up running the nursery--also pictured in the above photo!  Some of her favorite shrubs still reside in my backyard.

After Knott's opened Camp Snoopy in 1981, our bookstore was relocated . . .  you guessed it . . . just up the street a few doors from this building pictured above.  We finally closed the store in 1994.  By then I had a new vocation.

Oh, and lest I forget, although my wife and I went to the same elementary and high schools, guess where I met her again after we both graduated from high school a few years before?  At Knott's.  My wife worked a few doors down from our bookstore in Knott's accounting department, about 50 yards from the building pictured above.

So forgive me, if that picture stirs me more than it does you!  Man, if those walls could talk!

Orange County Is Older Than 1950?

Those of you who live in the east may get a chuckle out of this, but we Orange Countians have some history too!

This is a photo of an area near my home, taken in 1890 (how cool is that?).  For those of you who know the Orange County area, this is a block north of Knott's Berry Farm on Beach (Grand Ave., back then).

The original rancho (at the base of the hills) was built on land granted the Nieto family by the king of Spain in 1783.

There's now a golf course (Los Coyotes Country Club) and some nice homes in the hills (Bellhurst), with strip malls, tract houses, two freeways (5 & 91) and two railroad lines where those old homes once stood.

If you live in the big OC, or have any interest in the history of the area, you'll love this blog (http://ochistorical.blogspot.com/).

I am a fourth-generation Orange Countian, and have six great-grandparents buried here, so you'll have to cut me some slack on this one.

Sick 'Em Senator Harry!

One of the great joys of researching family history is running across a scoundrel (we have some) or a "character" in the family tree.  US Senator from Virginia, Harrison Holt Riddleberger (1844-1890) is truly a character! My second cousin four times removed, Senator Riddleberger was affectionately known by his constituents as Senator "Harry."  (Click here: Harrison H. Riddleberger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Senator Riddleberger had been a Captain in the Confederate calvary and was at Gettysburg, serving in Lee's headquarters guard. An attorney by trade, Harry became editor of a controversial newspaper in the Shenandoah, and was later author of the "Riddleberger Bill" which dealt with reparations to the State of Virginia when West Virginia was formed after the Civil War. He was also one of the founders of the Re-Adjuster party (composed mostly of freed blacks and Republicans in a region of Democrats), a short-lived political party in the years of Reconstruction. He served one term in the US Senate (1883-1889).

Senator Harry was certainly an enigma. One newspaper report describes him angrily protesting the US Senate holding a session on a Sunday--something as a Christian man he whole-heartedly opposed.  To express his disgust with his fellow senators, Harry showed up to vote completely inebriated and was forcibly escorted out of the Senate chamber by the sergeant of arms.

But his most "illustrious" moment was probably the day he arranged two duels with political opponents shortly before before becoming Senator.  Harry didn't like being called a "liar and a scoundrel" in an editorial.  So, he sought a little frontier justice . . .

The following appeared in the NY Times (October 16, 1881):

__________________________________ 

Riddleberger’s Two Duels

Exchanging harmless shots with Wise –

An unfought duel with Mr. Beirne.

Richmond, Va., Oct. 15 – A hostile meeting took place this afternoon, at 4 o’clock, about 10 miles from Richmond Station, between Capt. H.H. Riddleberger and the Hon. G.D. Wise. Four rounds were fired without either being hurt. Mutual explanations and amicable adjustment followed.

In yesterday’s first edition of the State there appeared an editorial, written by Richard f. Beirne, junior editor, in reference to the alleged confession of W. Leigh Wilson about the Blair letters, in the course of which Mr. Beirne denounced Capt. H.H. Riddleberger as being unworthy of belief. In the later edition of the same paper there appeared the card of the H. George D. Wise, telegraphed last night, also denouncing Capt. Riddleberger as a liar and a scoundrel. Since that time the public has been much excited, in anticipation of hostile meeting between the men named, and during today there has been much anxiety to hear news from them. At about 6 o’clock this evening Capt. Riddleberger and two friends were seen to alight from a carriage at the office of the Whig, and soon thereafter it became generally reported that he had had a meeting with both. From the best information now obtainable the following particulars are given:

Immediately upon the appearance of the paper containing Mr. Beirne’s editorial Capt. Riddleberger sent that gentleman a challenge to mortal combat, and only a short time after the second edition, with Capt. Wise’s card, made its appearance, the latter gentleman received a similar invitation from Capt. Riddleberger. All the men left the city last evening to avoid arrest, and all the arrangements were speedily made for the two affairs. Messrs. Beirne and Riddleberger, accompanied by their respective friends, met at 8 o’clock this morning, near Ashland, in Hanover County. But when everything was in readiness and the seconds proceeded to load the weapons it was found that, by an oversight of Mr. Beirne’s friends, no caps had been provided for the pistols. The result was that hostilities were, for the time, suspended, as it was impossible to obtain the necessary ammunition within any short time. Capt. Riddleberger would wait no longer and left the ground in order to fulfill the engagement he had with Capt. Wise. The place chosen for the second meeting was near the Henry County turnpike, about 10 miles from Richmond. Both men were promptly on the ground at 4 o’clock this evening. In this case nothing had been left undone or unprovided, and in a few moments the principals were placed opposite each other at a distance of 10 paces, armed with regular smooth-bore dueling pistols and prepared for deadly work. Upon the first fir Capt. Wise’s weapon snapped, but he remained unhurt by his opponent’s fire. This was followed by two other rounds, without either of the combatants being hurt. It is reported that Capt. Wise’s hat was perforated by a ball, while Capt. Riddleberger’s coat was pierced by a ball. At the end of the third round the friends of both stepped forward and declared the vindication had been ample, and that hostilities should cease. A mutual explanation was then made, and an amicable adjustment reached. Both gentlemen are reported to have behaved bravely, holding their positions without change during the whole time occupied by the three rounds. Capt. Wise was accompanied by Mr. Richard Dunlop as second and Dr. George B. Johnston as surgeon. Capt. Riddleberger’s second was Capt. A. Rogers, and his surgeon Dr. J.A. Wheat. Col. A. W. Jones, of Georgia, was with the party as referee. All the persons concerned, except Capt. Riddleberger and Col. Jones, are of this city. Capt. Riddleberger had been previously announced to address a Readjuster meeting here tonight, and he reached the city in ample time and fulfilled his engagement.

Later information is to the effect that Mr. Beirne and his second, Mr. Ryan, of the State staff, having replaced the caps which had been lost, made an attempt to have another meeting with Capt. Riddleberger, but failed. They were arrested about 3 p.m. at a point three miles from the scene of the Wise-Riddleberger encounter, where they were awaiting its result. They were each placed under $1,000 bonds to keep the peace. Capt. Wise was arrested after his fight with Riddleberger. The latter has not yet been arrested.

The New York Times

Published: October 16, 1881

Copyright The New York Times

My Identity Crisis

Those of you who know me, know that I've always considered myself a proud German.  I sure have a Germanic temperament.  I've long thought of myself as one of the few Germans in a federation of men, most of whom are of Dutch ancestry (the URCNA).

Ten years or so, ago I became interested in family history.  Over time, doubt started creeping in about my German ancestry as the evidence began to point away from Germany (even the Palatinate, i.e., the region around Heidelberg) toward Switzerland and those Reformed families, who, as refuges from Roman Catholic persecution, relocated to the Alsace along the Rhine in the 1680's.  I could live with that.  My family might have lived in France, but they were not French, they didn't even speak French at first, and they liked France so much that within a generation at least one of them had emigrated to America.

In genealogical research, the creed is document, document, document.  Here's what I know for sure.  The first of my kin in America was one Christian Redelsberger, who arrived in Philadelphia on September 29, 1733 (Click here: Riddleblog - Old Family Photos and Documents - chrrsig.bmp).  The vessel which brought him sailed from Rotterdam six weeks before. 

I also know that Christian Redelsberger moved to South Carolina in 1742 and that he was one of the founders of the "Dissenting Protestant Church" (whose confessional documents were the Walloon [Belgic] Confession, the First Helvetic Confession and the Augsburg Confession of 1540).  The founders of the Dissenting Protestant Church didn't much like the pietists among the Swiss Reformed, nor did they like the very anti-Reformed Lutherans, who happened to live just to south (across the Savannah River, in Georgia, of all places).

It always troubled me that Christian would choose the Walloon confession.  If he were a Palatine, he'd be a Heidelberger.  If he were Swiss Reformed, he'd be a Helvetic man.  One of the other founders of the Dissenting Protestant Church was Swiss, which explains the use of the First Helvetic Confession.  The fact that they lived among mostly Swiss and Germans (in the Saxe-Gotha region of South Carolina!), probably explains the use of the Augsburg Confession.

Then there's the surname.  People often stumble over "Riddlebarger," but that is the highly anglicized version!  To date, I have found 51 different spellings for Christian's surname in PA and SC.  Many have a "Rhetels," "Rhedels" or "Ricktels" variant.  Since people recorded Christian's surname phonetically in public documents, we don't know what it was originally.  We just know how it sounded to the English ear.

That leads to my identity crisis.  In a moment of writer's block, I did a quick google search for "Riddelsperger" (the way Christian's son John spelled his name) and to my amazement got a hit for a Christian "Retlispergh" (and a number of other obvious family members) in a European church register in 1703.  I'm not yet sure this is our guy or not--it needs to be documented, which means looking through rolls of microfilm of church registers and going blind in the process--but for a whole bunch of reasons I won't bore you with, this is the first time I have ever had a concrete lead on my ancestors in Europe.  This may well be the real deal.  We'll see . . . document, document, document.

Here's the catch.  The name appears in a church register (Catholic) in Broekhuizen.  Broekhuizen is in the province of Limburg in what is now the Netherlands . . .  OK, you can stop laughing!

The problem is that if this is where Christian's ancestors lived before he set sail to the New World from Rotterdam in 1733, the region was not under control of the Dutch at the time, but a mixture of German, Walloon, French and who knows what else.  Broekhuizen is but a couple of miles from the modern border with Germany.  Between 1600-1800, the region was ruled at various times by Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.

To add to the difficulty of documentation, Limburg even has its own dialect ("Limburgish" and no, I am not kidding) which is recognized by the EU as an official European dialect!  Some combination of German and Limburgish might explain the odd spelling of our surname (it is probably not German), as well as Christian's otherwise strange allegiance to the Walloon Confession.

Now comes the crisis--how am I to behave if I am a Limburger?  I know what Germans do, but what about Limburgers?  Will I have to learn Limburgish?  I have never even met another Limburger . . .  Have you?

I feel lost and confused . . . but I will find some way to carry on . . .