Welcome
This website presents my ongoing research into my family history. The primary research is organized into eight documents, each devoted to one branch of my family, each beginning with one pair of great-great-grandparents. Each document presents records for up to thirty individuals, generally covering the period from the 1700s through the early 1900s. No recent genealogy is included.
Note that these documents are not narrative histories. They are collections of mostly primary-source records, organized biographically and chronologically, carefully cited, and presented with descriptions, transcriptions, and research notes. I have posted the work here mainly as a resource for other researchers, but also for family members who may wish to explore and learn more about earlier generations of our family.
FAMILIES OF GERMAN, SWISS, AND ALSATIAN ORIGIN
Bell and Breuch
Genealogical Records of Stephan Bell, Anna Maria Breuch, and Three Generations of Their Ancestors
Entries: Stephan Bell, Anna Maria Breuch, Johann Peter Bell, Anna Elisabetha Klein, Peter Joseph Breuch, Maria Elisabetha Kraus, Peter Bell, Barbara Hilger, Matheis Klein, Maria Magdalena Klapperich, Johann Philipp Breuch, Anna Maria Seul, Johann Peter Kraus, Catharina Kraus, Simon Bell, Anna Maria Hartz, Paul Hilger, Christina Durben, Mathias Klein, Anna Klapperich, Bartholomäus Klapperich, Anna Maria Sons, Carl Joseph Breuch, Maria Gertrud —, Hilbert Seul, Maria Rosina Schneiders, Johann Wilhelm Kraus, Anna Steup, Simon Kraus, Veronica Nachtsheim
Primary locations: Rheinland-Pfalz (Burgbrohl, Hausten, Morswiesen, Niederlützingen, Weibern), Wisconsin (Dane and Iowa Counties), Missouri (Lafayette County)
Revised October 2026
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The recent ancestors of Stephan Bell and Anna Maria Breuch lived in two clusters of villages in the northern portion of Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany, situated between the Rhine and the rolling highlands of the Eifel. They included one linen weaver and a host of farmers. All were Catholic, and all spoke German. Records from the life of Stephan Bell are particularly rich. German cadastral records document his inherited landholdings in Germany; a personal letter from 1854 has been preserved in which he enthusiastically describes the rich farmland of Wisconsin; deeds document his three successive farms in Wisconsin; and newspaper records provide details of his last years in Lafayette County, Missouri.
Born and Friedli
Genealogical Records of Benedikt Born, Maria Anna Friedli, and Three Generations of Their Ancestors
Entries: Benedikt Born, Maria Anna Friedli, Jacob Robert Born, Anna Maria Fluri, Johann Joseph Blasius Friedli, Anna Maria Barbara Haas, Johann Jacob Born, Anna Maria Kölliker, Ulrich Fluri, Magdalena Fricker, Niklaus Martin Friedli, Anna Maria Glanzmann, Franz Joseph Michael Haas, Anna Maria Barbara Glanzmann, Niclaus Born, Maria Magdalena Jung, Jacob Kölliker, Barbara Werder, Heinrich Fluri, Elisabeth Roth, Martin Fricker, Anna Maria von Arx, Niklaus Friedli, Elisabetha Gertrud Brun, Peter Glanzmann, Anna Barbara Steffen, Joseph Haas, Maria Verena Thalmann, Blasius Niklaus Glanzmann, Barbara Portmann
Primary locations: Solothurn (Balsthal, Klus, Mümliswil, Ramiswil), Luzern (Marbach), Missouri (Lafayette County)
Revised October 2026
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Related research: Johannes Born: Records from Solothurn, Ohio, and Missouri
The recent ancestors of Benedikt Born lived in villages in the small Swiss canton of Solothurn. Maria Anna Friedli’s family came primarily from the village of Marbach in the foothills of the Alps. All of their ancestors were Catholic, and all spoke German. Many of their estate records from Solothurn have been preserved, including inventories of their property. Records from the life of Benedikt Born are especially descriptive. He was a locksmith, placed in a national competition of target shooting, and was married three times. The house in the village of Klus in which he and his family lived still stands. His estate records include inventories of his property and correspondence from Lafayette County, Missouri, where his widow and children emigrated in 1880.
Apprill and Vogel
Genealogical Records of Philipp Apprill, Margaretha Vogel, and Three Generations of Their Ancestors
Entries: Philipp Apprill, Margaretha Vogel, Frantz Joseph Apprill, Barbara Schmitt, Joseph Vogel, Anna Maria Stöcklin, Johannes Apprill, Maria Rosina Logel, Johannes Schmitt, Maria Eva Sonn, Johann Baptist Vogel, Maria Catharina Meyer, Frantz Joseph Stöcklin, Magdalena Stöcklin, Jacob Apprill, Anna Maria Mathis, Johann Jacob Logel, Magdalena Müller, Andreas Schmitt, Barbara Steffen, Johann Jacob Sonn, Catharina Irr, Marcus Vogel, Anna Maria Tschopp, Johannes Meyer, Catharina Nebel, Johann Jacob Stöcklin, Anna Maria Sütterlin, Johannes Stöcklin, Maria Apollonia Vögtli
Primary locations: Bas-Rhin (Gunstett, Preuschdorf), Basel-Landschaft (Aesch), Missouri (Gasconade County)
Revised October 2026
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The recent ancestors of Philipp Apprill lived in villages in the northern portion of Alsace, while Margaretha Vogel’s recent ancestors came from the village of Aesch, near Basel. All were Catholic, and all spoke German. Their trades included farming and masonry. Cadastral records and estate records of Philipp’s father, Frantz Joseph Apprill, document his holdings and the location of his residence (no longer standing) in Preuschdorf. Estate records of the Vogels in Aesch provide a glimpse into their landholdings. The Vogel family migrated in 1849 to Gasconade County, Missouri, an area rich with German and Swiss immigrants. Philipp arrived later; he married Margaretha in 1863 and soon after purchased the Vogel farm.
Klott and Weber
Genealogical Records of Edward Klott, Mary Weber, and Three Generations of Their Ancestors
Entries: Edward Klott, Mary Weber, Jakob Klott, Maria Franziska Dollriess, Johann Baptist Jacob Weber, Anna Saum, Camill Klott, Elisabetha Hof, Joseph Dollriess, Maria Magdalena Meyer, Johannes Weber, Maria Agatha Lienert, Georg Saum, Barbara Kürner, Lorenz Klott, Anna Maria Feuerbach, Johann Heinrich Hof, Katharina Köbel, Augustin Dollriess, Maria Johanna Neubert, Franz Xaver Meyer, Maria Seraphia Miller, Joseph Weber, Maria Elisabetha Sum, Johannes Lienert, Maria Anna Demuth, Christian Saum, Maria Rombach, Lorenz Kürner, Maria Dold
Primary locations: Hessen (Ober-Wöllstadt), Bayern (Hainsfarth), Baden-Württemberg (Gengenbach, Sankt Peter, Stegen, Welschensteinach), Missouri (Gasconade and Warren Counties)
Revised October 2026
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The records of these families document four separate migrations from Germany to Missouri. Jakob Klott, a young shoemaker, migrated in 1847 with a large group from Ober-Wöllstadt to St. Louis and settled in Gasconade County. His third wife, Franziska Dollriess, came from a family of masons in the Bavarian village of Hainsfarth. Johann Weber, as he signed his name, was born in Gengenbach, the son of a carpenter, and was working as a baker near Freiburg when he was lured to America by a brother in Ohio; he eventually settled in Warren County, Missouri. His wife, Anna Saum, came to Missouri from the village of Stegen, also near Freiburg. Her immigration records indicate that she owned only a change of clothes and bedding when she left Baden in 1845.
FAMILIES OF EARLY AMERICAN AND BRITISH ORIGIN
Cady and Rogers
Genealogical Records of Nelson Cady, Hannah T. Rogers, and Three Generations of Their Ancestors
Entries: Nelson Cady, Hannah T. Rogers, Orrin Cady, Beulah Stebbins, Noah Rogers, Sarah Phipps, Reuben Cady, Lydia Wood, Jesse Stebbins, Phebe Bishop, Levi Rogers, Johanna Truesdell, Samuel Phipps, Sarah Merwin, Timothy Cady, Mehitabel Davis, Thomas Wood, Dinah Perry, Jesse Stebbins, Beulah Munn, Josiah Rogers, Lydia Goodsell, Richard Truesdell, Lydia Linsley, Solomon Phipps, Abigail Fosdick, Stevens Merwin, Mehitabel Clark
Primary locations: Connecticut (Branford, Stafford, Wallingford), Massachusetts (Charlestown, Lenox, Monson), New York (Broome, Chenango, and Otsego Counties), Wisconsin (Vernon County)
Revised October 2026
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Related research: Belle K. Stebbins: Records from Otsego County, New York
The recent ancestors of Nelson Cady and Hannah T. Rogers originated in Connecticut and Massachusetts and settled in Broome and Otsego Counties, New York. Most were farmers, though Josiah Rogers was a blacksmith and farmer in Branford, Connecticut; Stevens Merwin, a woodworker from Wallingford, Connecticut, served in the French and Indian War; and Samuel Phipps, born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, served throughout the American Revolution. Nelson and Hannah, married in Broome County, spent the late 1850s and early 1860s in Wisconsin and the late 1860s and early 1870s in the planned community of Vineland, New Jersey, before returning to central New York.
Davies and Beddow
Genealogical Records of Evan Davies, Elizabeth Beddow, and Two Generations of Their Ancestors
Entries: Evan Davies, Elizabeth Beddow, David Davies, Ann —, Henry Beddow, Margaret Evans, Benjamin David, Catharine —, William Beddow, Elizabeth —, William Evans, Martha —
Primary locations: Carmarthenshire (Llanllawddog), Glamorgan (Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil), Staffordshire
Revised October 2026
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Evan Davies, born into a family of tenant farmers in rural Carmarthenshire, settled in Aberdare by 1851, where he took up work as a coal miner. The family of his wife, Elizabeth Beddow, were brickmakers who had come to Merthyr Tydfil from Staffordshire around 1800. Records are particularly rich for Elizabeth’s father, Henry Beddow, who worked for most of his life at the brickworks of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil. Elizabeth’s life at 224 Cardiff Road in Aberdare is also well documented: her family attended the Welsh non-conformist Saron Chapel, and her daughters worked as domestic servants in Cardiff. Two of Elizabeth’s siblings and two of her daughters emigrated to Missouri.
Carter and Bales
Genealogical Records of Jefferson D. Carter, Fannie Bales, and Three Generations of Their Ancestors
Entries: Jefferson D. Carter, Fannie Bales, Landon Thomas Carter, Nancy Bates, John Calvin Bales, Mary Clarinda Jacobs, Presley H. Carter, Charlotte T. Davis, Charles F. Bates, Susannah Fleming Bates, John Bales, Mary Cates, Baylor Jacobs, Mary Kendrick, Edward Carter, Martha Violett, Edward Davis, Elizabeth Triplett, Charles Bates, Mary Martin, Matthew Bates, Mary Brooks Jones, William Bales, Elizabeth Adamson, John Cates, Mary Harrington, Thomas Jacobs, Benjamin Kendrick, Anna Funk
Primary locations: Virginia (Culpeper, Frederick, Halifax, Loudoun, and Pittsylvania Counties), Tennessee (Bedford and Jefferson Counties), Kentucky (Madison County), Missouri (Ray County)
Revised October 2026
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Jefferson D. Carter and Fannie Bales married in 1883 in Ray County, Missouri. They came from diverse families that had come to Missouri from the Upper South, especially Virginia and Tennessee. The Carter, Jacobs, and Bates families had come to Missouri from Loudoun, Culpeper, and Loudoun Counties, Virginia, respectively. They included Methodists and Baptists. The Kendrick family, originally Mennonite, had come to Missouri from the area around Front Royal, Virginia. The Bales family, originally Quaker, had come to Missouri from eastern Tennessee. Aside from census records and deeds, Virginia chancery records also offer particularly valuable genealogical and biographical detail for this history.
Baker and Nance
Genealogical Records of George W. Baker, Eliza Ann Nance, and Three Generations of Their Ancestors
Entries: George W. Baker, Eliza Ann Nance, William Baker, Ann Richards, Jackson Nance, Martha Campbell, Leonard Richards, Nancy Adams, Reuben Nance, Frances Ingram, Jeremiah Campbell, Elizabeth Vanderpool, Reuben Nance, Amy Williams, John Ingram, Susanna Billups
Primary locations: Virginia (Henry, Lunenburg, and Mecklenburg Counties), Tennessee (Bedford and Williamson Counties), Indiana (Bartholomew County), Missouri (Platte and Ray Counties)
Revised October 2026
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Related research: Anthony Vanderpool: Records from North Carolina, Tennessee, and Missouri
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George W. Baker and Eliza Ann Nance married in 1868 in Ray County, Missouri. Their families, primarily farmers and mostly Baptists, came to Missouri from Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and southern Indiana. The Nances, prominent in Henry County, Virginia, in the late 1700s, came to Missouri via Tennessee. The Campbells and Vanderpools came to Missouri from Campbell County, Tennessee. This work includes new and conclusive research, based on deeds and court records, on the family of Leonard Richards and Nancy Adams of Bartholomew County, Indiana, who migrated to Platte County, Missouri, in the mid-1840s and to Ray County in 1849.
© 2025–2026 Patrick Bell