Late breaking news!! I finally located the lady who had the
records of the other Gegenheimers in Indiana. She is Joann Rees
of Hartford City, IN. Her ancestor was August Gegenheimer of Baden-Baden,
Germany. Born Nov. 11, 1842. Came to America in 1859.
The interesting
part is that Baden-Baden is just a few miles from Freckenfeld
where my ancestor came from, but the date he came to America seems
to agree more with your ancestor. I suspect they were all related.
But her ancestor is probably one of the three brothers mentioned
in your history. I believe she told me that he had two brothers
and a sister that came over. She is sending me more, and I will
pass it on to you. She also heard of another Gegenheimer that
has a Home Page on the Web.
She also told me of being in New Orleans and seeing a lot of
Gegenheimers in the phone book. She called them and many were
blacks who had been slaves and took the names of their master.
I don't think the master would be of my branch because Jacob was
an only son. Maybe a cousin came over later.
