It is interesting to see how the ancestors of our Germanna immigrants were dispersed in Europe. For example, the Blankenbaker family emigrated to America from Neuenbuerg, Kreis Kraichtal (not to be confused with Kraichgau), in what is now Germany. This is near the Rhine River. The male line of the family can be definitely traced to Gresten, Austria, in the 1600 time frame. This is a large geographical distance by the standards of that day. The reason for the move to the west appears to be religious, but other reasons are possibilities. Just because a family moved, it should not be assumed that it was for religious reasons.
I believe that the Scheible family followed a similar path to the Blankenbakers' moving from Austria to western Germany. This is not a proven fact, but the circumstantial evidence supports the idea. The Plankenbichl farm is about one-half mile from the Scheiblau farm in Austria. Both Blankenbakers and Scheibles were found at Neuenbuerg. George Scheible had his land patent in the midst of the Blankenbakers and their close kin in Virginia. These kinds of associations are very powerful.
Perhaps the Kaefer (Käfer) family made a similar move, but the evidence, even circumstantial, is weak. John Nicholas Blankenbaker married Apollonia Kaefer in Germany. What is unusual about this is that they were not near neighbors. Neuenbuerg and Zaberfeld were about eleven miles apart (the home villages of the groom and the bride). This is not a common event unless the two families were acquainted with each other. The name Kaefer is still found today in Gresten, Austria, and I suspect a branch of the Kaefers emigrated with the Blankenbakers and the Scheibles from Austria to Germany.
The male ancestors of the Andreas Gaar family can be traced rigorously back to Kolmbach, a farm in the extreme southeast corner of Bavaria, Germany. This is only about fifteen miles from the Austrian border. Members of the Gaar/Garr family in Germany today believe that the family did originate in Austria. Francis Hieronymus married Elisabeth Rector (John, John, Jacob). He said he was from Vienna, Austria. Vienna may be a better-known substitution for a lesser known village.
I suspect that there were other people from Austria who immigrated to the Colonies from Germany, having originally come to Germany from Austria, but I have not proved it. Saying that the Blankenbakers, Scheibles, Kaefers, and Gaars were Austrian is a bit misleading because these are male lines and the Austrian emigrants to Germany married Germans. In the next Note, let’s note the families with a strain of Swiss ancestors. Your contributions are invited. (04 Nov 05)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.