The Menges Family History Pages

Menges Research in Germany

Proven connections to Menges families in Germany lead to those Menges located in Hebstahl, Erbach, Hessen, Germany. This area is located in the Odenwald or Oden Wood/Forest, a low mountain area of Hessen, in west-cental Germany. Records for these Menges families date back to 1678. In a Research Status Report, compiled in 1992 by Roger P. Minert of German Language Services, Woods Cross, Utah, the following observations and conclusions were reported.

Geography:
"The most interesting factor in this research is the position of Hebstahl between two parishes of the Evangelical Church--one a few miles to the north in Beerfelden (Erbach, Hessen) and another a few miles south in Eberbach (Eberbach, Baden). The surname Menges is found in three villages in the former and many villages in the latter, but the Hebstahl Menges apparently did not mix with the Menges who lived in the Eberbach parish.

Pedigree Chart Extension:
Johann Conrad Menges was born on 6 July 1731, and was christened in the Eberbach parish as the last of 6 children. His parents, Johann Menges (master miller) and Anna Margareth Paulus, had been married in the Beerfelden parish, where their first child was christened. Why Johann and Anna M. changed parishes is the major question here and many theories could be advanced. In any case, only the christenings of their last 5 children were performed in Eberbach; all other events took place in the Beerfelden parish.

All of the ancestors of Johann Conrad Menges who can be identified were either born in the Beerfelden parish or died there or both. The earliest records consist of a census conducted in each village in the Beerfelden parish starting in April of 1678. Thanks to this census it is possible to identify all four sets of great-grandparents of Johann Conrad Menges. The census includes ages of most parents and all of the children living in their homes (estimates and roundings of those ages account for many disagreements with death entries in later years). Immediately after the census was compiled, the recording of individual christening, marriage, and death events began. Whereas all christenings in the parish were done in the church in Beerfelden where possible, a number of the parishioners were buried in what was called the Sensbach cemetery (Ober-Sensbach was the most common residence for Menges families after Hebstahl).

Earliest Menges:
The oldest Menges parents identified are Peter and Margretha. Fortunately, she died just after the census for Hebstahl was compiled in 1678. Her age was given as 84 years and she was identified as the widow of Peter Sr. (who thus died before 1678).

End Of Line:
Unfortunately, there is nowhere to go before 1678 to find information on the Hebstahl residents. There was apparently a church there such that there was no need for the people to attend the church in Eberbach. One might assume that there were simply no records for the Beerfelden parish before 1678 or that the records were lost or destroyed, perhaps as a result of the wars of that era. Attempts to connect the Beerfelden Menges with the Eberbach Menges were unsuccessful. Many of the given names are similar across parishes, but there is sufficient detail to separate the families and prevent confusion. Several dates from the Mosbach Menges line (Hunter List family) were substantiated in my search of the Eberbach records, but the two main branches of the Menges family in this region (the Hebstahl people and the people from the Eberbach parish villages to the south) must have split before 1615 when the Eberbach records started--if they are indeed from the same ancestors, which is more than likely.

Where To Go From Here: This is the end of the ancestry of Johann Conrad Menges. The attached family group records* show the inclusion of the great majority of the siblings of direct line persons as well as the spouses of those siblings. Children of those siblings and parents of the spouses** have not been collected but are present in great numbers in the Beerfelden parish."

*Data from these group records have been incorporated in the Menges family genealogy section under MEET MY FAMILIES: MENGES.
**Future research projects are planned to collect these siblings and the parents of the spouses.