The Felchles and Weingaertners of Teplitz, Bessarabia
Submitted by Elaine Morrison, April 19, 2011
My interest in Germans from Russia genealogy and history was initiated and much encouraged by a Felchle descendant, Herb Poppke. My first trip to Russia was with a group of American nurses during the Cold War; I was in Kiev but was not given permission to go further into Ukraine. The picture on the right was taken during the 1996 Tour to the Homeland when Vera, a Tarutino resident, showed me German tombstones in the Alt Postal cemetery. My third visit was with a group of four that we named “The Bessarabian Team.” In Teplitz we were invited into a house that quite likely had been that of the Weingaertners and we thought that we had found the old Felchle house. The inscriptions on many tombstones were quite legible, and it was exciting to find markers for many relatives.
My family data begins in several locations in what is now Germany and France. The Beckers, along with the Hauck and Eberhart ancestors, went to Kassel in the Glueckstal area; my Mauchs along with the Berreths took up residence in Worms in the Beresan area. The Felchles and Weingaertners went to Teplitz, Bessarabia in 1817.
My maternal great grandparents, Ludwig and Elisabeth Weingaertner Felchle.
My paternal great grandparents, Johann and Anna Maria Berreth Mauch.
Paternal grandparents Daniel and Katharina Eberhrdt Becker family.
My father Emil is far right, beside his (seated) mother.
My maternal grandparents, John and Barbara Felchle Mauch.
My parents, Emil and Marie Mauch Becker.
My Felchle lineage is taken from Theophil Handel’s book, Teplitz Sippenbuch. Theophil is a Village Coordinator for Teplitz.
- Johann Georg Felchle and Catharina Kuhn, my 5th grandparents. The earliest mention of this family is in Neckartailfingen, Wuerttemberg.
- Johan Georg Felchle(1742-1814) and Maria Fischer (1749-1824). Neckartailfingen
- Johann Georg Felchle (1775-1849) and Barbara Schuster (1775-1841). To Teplitz in 1817
- Georg Friedrich Felchle (1806-1856) and Ursula Bahnmueller (1810-1857)
- Ludwig Felchle (1840-1912) and Elisabeth Weingaertner (1845-1931). To ND in 1894
- John Mauch (1873 in Worms – 1949 Lodi, CA) and Barbara Felchle (1873 Vakarsiye Khutor – 1930 Goodrich ND)
- Emil Becker (1896 Kassel, Glueckstal-1958) and Marie Mauch (1901 Goodrich ND – 1978)
- Charles Morrison (1929-Yakima WA) and Elaine Becker (1930-Hutchinson, MN).
- Charles’ mother, Anne Fornfeist was a daughter of August Fornfeist and Helen Lemke. August’s ancestral home was in Lower Silesia. He was born 29 Jan 1849 in Brockendorf to Gottlieb and Christine Schwartz Fornfeist. Helen Lemke was born 8 Dec 1859 in Bukowitz, West Prussia to Andreas and Sophia Jenke Lembke. They were married 23 Dec 1880 in Rozyszye, Volhynia.
August and Helen Fornfeist were “wandering Volhynians” and several times made the trek between Germany and Russia where the first three of their children were born. They immigrated to Saskatchewan, Canada in 1893 and then to Washington, USA in 1895. Daughter Anne was born at Deer Park, WA 24 Oct 1898 and married Charles Morrison 30 Jun 1925. Their ½ German-Russian son married me, so our four children are ¾ Ger-Rus, four grandchildren are 3/8, two grandchildren are totally Chinese (but call me “Oma”) and the two great grandchildren are only 3/16 Ger-Rus.
This photograph shows August and Helen Lemke Fornfeist family. Anne, my mother-in-law is the youngest daughter.
*Special thanks to Elaine Morrison for sharing her German-Russian family history and photographs.
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