Research Notes:
Notes about Ulrich Mellinger [1]:
Hans Ulrich (b.~1641, Swiss, died ?) likely had three sons -- two died young (Christian Ludwig and Jonas) and a third, named Vincenz (born 1668 in Ger., died at Ruchheim, 1748) is well documented in a family sketch made by his [Vincenz's] son Martin.
Vincenz had seven children (Johann Jacob, Martin, Ester, Anna, David, Veronica, and Joseph). Only Ester emigrated to Lancaster County in America in 1726 -- all her siblings lived and died in Germany. Many thought Vincenz's family was the source for most Mellingers in America but it turns out very few descendents of these remaining six siblings came to America.
Vincenz's oldest son Johann Jacob was a very famous clockmaker at Neustadt, Germany, who had eleven sons and one daughter -- all clockmakers! Only one these sons is identified as having come to America -- Heinrich (born ~1762, Neustadt, died America) -- most likely lived in or near Philadelphia in the 1790s. Vincenz's oldest son Friedrich was a royal clockmaker to the Prince Elector of the Palatinate until his death in 1767. Months later, Friedrich's only son to survive to adulthood, Friedrich Jr, came to America and lived at Lancaster City, Pennsylvania where he married Anna Hug and had a large family. I have not yet identified any American descendents of either Heinrich or Friedrich. It is possible that there are more descendents of Johann Jacob who came to America who have not yet been identified.
I thought I would share my recent findings on the earliest Möllinger / Mellinger ancestors. There was the continuing assumption that most Möllingers in Germany and most Mellingers in America were descended from a common progenitor named Hans Ulrich Möllinger who left Switzerland and arrived in the Palatinate in the 1670s. I now know this is not true. A second ancestor named Benedict Möllinger was at Ruchheim in the Palatinate as early as 1654. It appears Hans Ulrich had a son named Vincenz and probably also had sons Christian Ludwig and Jonas. Benedict appeared to have sons Jacob, Johannes, and Benedict. Though Ruchheim was "in the Palatinate," it formally fell outside the jurisdiction of the ruler of the Palatinate. Therefore, there was no Mennonite census records that included Ruchheim. This means that many Mennonite Mellinger ancestors at Ruchheim were unaccounted for. My research indicates that it is probable that the majority of Mellingers in America are descendents of Benedict -- not descendents of Ulrich. This helps explain why the name Benedict is so prevalent in many early Mennonite Mellinger families in Germany and America. Also of interest, a ship record from 1653 identifies William and Ann Mellinger arriving in Virginia. I think it possible that William and Benedict (brothers?) both left Switzerland in the 1653 / 1654 time frame. This could make William one of the earlier Mennonites in America -- although I have found no descendents of William in America.
Ulrich Mellinger, shown here as an uncle of Jacob, has alternatively been named as the father of Jacob. We seek further documentation about the parents of Jacob Mellinger. [2] [3]
Ulrich Möllinger was ancestor of all branches of the Möllinger families living in Germany. They were Mennonites.
After the Bern Edigkt it was no longer possible for them to live in Switzerland. In two waves around 1650/71 and in 1709/11 Swiss farmers and craftsmen moved to Baden and the Electoral Palatinate in Alsace.
With the first wave of immigration, Ulrich Möllinger also came to the Palatinate. He came from today's Bernese Oberland Zurzach Ahrgau and settled down as a farmer on the Mayntzischer Hofgut zu Gunthersblum near Worms.
Around 1684 he had the Kirchgartshäuser Hof b / Mannheim on the Wittgensteinichen Gut in Temporel stock = time lease.
When he was born, resp. died is not known to date.
He had 4 sons listed below.
A. Jacob Möllinger: 1660 + 1725 on the Hemshof - Ludwigshafen, at times he also lived in Ruchheim / b. Frankenthal.
B. Christian Ludwig Möllinger: 1662 + ___? baptized in Gunthersblum in 1684.
C. Jonas Möllinger: 1666 + 1674
D. Vincenz Möllinger: November 22nd, 1668 ad Kirschgartshäuser Hof b / Mannheim - January 9, 1692 in Düren near Sinzheim. Married Veronika Naglin or Maylin * 8. 2. 1674 - +8. 3. 1753. They lived on the Nonnenhof b / Bobenheim in 1710; lived in Eppstein b / Frankenthal in 1714. They had 4 sons and 3 daughters.
[1] Philip Mellinger, Early American Descendents of Hans Ulrich Möllinger (May 4, 2001).
[2] C. Mervin Mellinger, Some of the Descendants of Benedict Mellinger (1982), 3.
[3] http://thewatchmaker.eu/Mollinger/stammbaum.html, Accessible on the WaybackMachine