Johannes Riedesel was born October 15, 1842 in Wunderthausen. He was the fourth of five known children of Johannes and Florentine (Ruppert) Riedesel who lived in the house then known as Känels, which no longer exists. The family was most likely poor even by the local standards.

It is almost certain that Johannes/John came to America on the ship “Union” out of Bremen, landing in New York on October 21, 1867. The passenger list said he was bound for Illinois. But on January 20, 1869, he was married in St. Louis to Maria Katherine Lauber, also a native of Wunderthausen. She was born there on January 14, 1848 and was probably aboard the “Union” with her future husband.

Their first three children in St. Louis appeared to have died young. Then in 1878 they had what appear to have been twins, only one of whom survived. By 1881 they were living in Milwaukee which–like St. Louis–had a very large German population. Their only son and one more daughter were born there.

John died by his own hand on October 15, 1891 in Milwaukee. Maria was still alive in 1910, but that is all we know.

Ancestry of John Riedesel
Ancestry of Maria Katherine Lauber
Descendants