Philippe, Vandelin
Probably the first thing that should be said is that the family is from Alsace-Lorraine, and while the records are in French, the American side of the family appears more German in character and tradition. A number of the family descendants don’t use Valentin but his Wendel nickname.
The records for Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France are non-existent for relative birth records but comment in related records from the Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France parish and later death records from the Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France parish support these dates and relationships. The Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France parish shows marriage to Madeleine Stollé, who was always referred to in the United States by the German Magdalena.
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Vandelin (Valentin or Wendel) Philippe
Born: 25 Apr 1796, ReipertsWeiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Married: 30 Mar 1830, Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France
Died: 18 Jun 1874, Morges, Carroll, Ohio
Vandelin’s parents were:
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Nicolas Philippe
Born: 1769, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Married: 1789, Reipertweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Died: 1820, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France -
Madeleine Sahling
Born: Abt 1770, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Died: Abt 1860, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Nicolas’ parents were:
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Laurent (or Lorrent) Philippe
Born: Abt 1744, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Married: 1764, Reipertweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Died: Bef 1810, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France -
Regine Kirchweignt
Born: Abt 1744, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Died: Bef 1810, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Madeleine Sahling’s parents were:
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Jean Sahling
Born: Abt 1745, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Married: 1769, Reipertweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Died: Bef 1810, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France -
Catherine Müller
Born: Abt 1750, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
Died: 23 Dec 1817, Reipertsweiler, Bas-Rhin, France
The family appears to have opted to leave France in 1844 or 1845. The embarked from Le Harve late July or early August 1845 for New York, New York, USA. The following shows the family’s immigration arrival on the Francois Premier in New York in 1845 (screen shot from Ancestry.com):
The details from the passenger list are shown in the following:
Then, we see that they’ve settled in Ohio in the 1850 Federal Census. This is the first time that the second l is added to the name, making it Phillippe. The Joseph Phillippe is most likely the one who marries Elisabeth, who is according to her French baptism, Marie Elisabeth. Elisabeth was 16 years old when they got married. They were married 13 Jan 1851 in Morges, Ohio and she was born 30 May 1834 in Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France.
The family appears to have been missed in the 1860 Federal Census but husband and wife are found in the 1870 Federal Census under the surname of Phillip. The most interesting tidbit between the two census records is that the birth place change from Germany in 1850 to France in 1870. Alsace-Lorraine was a district more German in characteristics than French but a bargaining chip over the centuries and administered by both governments.
The entire family is found in the post Napoleonic records for the Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France Catholic parish. Part of the family also came from Reipertsweiller, Bas-Rhin, France but there are no records to support that beyond the references in the Lichtenberg parish book that reports Reipertsweiller (an adjoining but more isolated parish in the forest).
Madeleine Stollé’s paternal grandfather was Ignatius Stollé. Ignatius was a wounded Austrian soldier left by the retreating army, who married a local girl after the 7 years war. My current research project for this summer is to trace his military regiment to the Austrian muster lists and determine where he came from in Austria.
Who are these children and who did they marry? They’re listed below with name of preference in parentheses if a translation and it isn’t their first birth name or italicized when it’s part of their birth name. Nick names are italicized and in double quotes:
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Pierre (Peter) Philippe
Born: 23 Mar 1832, Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France
Married: Magdalena Locker, 8 May 1858, Morges, Carroll, Ohio
Died: 13 Sep 1896, Morges, Carroll, Ohio -
Marie Elisabeth Philippe
Born: 30 May 1834, Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France
Married: Joseph Philippe, 13 Jan 1851, Morges, Carroll, Ohio
Died: 26 Jan 1901, Saint Wendel Township, Stearns, Minnesota -
Catherine Philippe
Born: 9 Dec 1836, Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France
Married: Sabus (Sebastian) Dieringer -
Madelaine (Magdalena) “Lana” Philippe
Born: 19 Apr 1839, Bas-Rhin, France
Married: Jacob Darr
Died: 18 Sep 1928, Morges, Carroll, Ohio
Buried: 21 Sep 1928, Morges, Carroll, Ohio -
Jacob Philippe
Born: 24 Oct 1841, Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France
Married: Julianna Locker
Died: 16 Apr 1912, Morges, Carroll, Ohio
Buried: 18 Apr 1912, Malvern, Carroll, Ohio -
Mary Ann Philippe
Born: 27 Oct 1845, Morges, Carroll, Ohio
Married: Peter Linder -
Sophia Rose Philippe
Born: 8 Jan 1848, Morges, Carroll, Ohio
Married: Peter Maurer
Died: 26 Jun 1897, Malvern, Carroll, Ohio
It’s interesting to note that Marie Elisabeth Philippe’s granddaughter was named for her as Elisabeth when she was born in 1878. She named in turn gave her youngest daughter the middle name of Rose that belonged to her grandmother’s baby sister.
If you arrive at this page and have information to share please leave a comment.
Another web page on this family is maintained by Mike Schwitzgebel. Mike provided the marriage record that supported my grandmother’s oral history that explained Joseph and Elizabeth were married in Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Ohio. My grandmother didn’t recall in the 1970s which Saint Mary’s Catholic Church but fortunately other family members did recall it.
My grandmother, Mary Margaret Atckison, knew her maternal grandmother well. Her name was Magdalena Phillippi (in Minnesota Territorial and Federal Census Records) and according to my grandmother she was named for her grandmother Magdalena Stollé. Her first name was also given to my grandmother’s older sister Bertha Magdalena Atckison (both sisters are in a photo of this blog post).
Magdalena’s nick name was Emma and it appears in some of the official records. Emma appears on her first civil marriage certificate. Her surname was recorded incorrectly on her first marriage certificate as Philips, which made it very hard to find even though we knew the date and location of the marriage. That marriage ended in divorce and there was a great effort to disguise its existence. Interestingly, the child from this marriage doesn’t appear to have know about the real father until around 1910. A conjecture because she changes the birth state of her father to correspond to that of Oscar E. Johnson instead of the adoptive father David Fern.