Tag: Germany

Marshall Whistleman Survives German POW Camp

March 16, 2012 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Veatta Derrie was married to Marshall Whistleman in 1958. Although he never spoke of it, Marshall was a WW II veteran with horrible memories. Born in Staunton, VA, he was living in Baltimore Maryland when he enlisted in the Army in 1943 at the age of 18. It was during the middle of the war, and Marshall was assigned to the infantry and sent to the European Theater. There he saw action in France and Germany, earning three Bronze stars which are for “heroic or meritorious achievement or service”.

He was taken prisoner by the Germans near Strasburg, France on Nov 25, 1944. He was first taken to the Stalag 12A POW transition camp near Weisbaden and later transferred to the Stalag 9B work camp near Bad Orb. Thankfully, Marshall was freed May 8, 1945 when the Germans surrendered. The living conditions were especially awful at Stalag 12A and on the transfer trains. About half of all POWs died, but Marshall was one of the lucky ones.

After the war ended, he completed his service in the Army at Fort Myer, VA, where he served as a guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. He left the Army in 1947 at the rank of Corporal.

Peter DÜRRENBERGER, the Immigrant for the DERRIE Line

December 13, 2011 Dennis Ayers 3 comments

The British encouraged Protestant groups to settle in their American colonies, and in particular, Pennsylvania and North Carolina actively sought German and Swiss Palatines who were eager to become colonists.

Three Dürrenberger brothers, Hans Stephan, Hans Jacob and Hans Michael arrived in America on the ship Robert and Alice which sailed from Rotterdam, Holland making a call at Dover, England and arriving at Philadelphia on 11 September 1738. On board were 159 German and Swiss Palatines. Upon disembarkation, they were required to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown.

Passenger records of that time were not very complete or accurate. There is no record proof, but it is believed that the three brother’s father, Johann Peter Dürrenberger, along with his wife, Eva Catharina, and five of his other children probably also immigrated to the colonies at the same time, since they all disappear from Alsatian records after that. Therefore, this suggests that Johann Peter Dürrenberger was perhaps the first, or “The Immigrant”, of our Derrie ancestors to come to America.

In old records the German naming convention was for sons to precede the given name with either Hans or Johann (both of which translate to John), and for girls to precede the given name with the mother’s name. So, Johann Peter would most likely have been called Peter. The family was from a region were the pronunciation (i.e.: D = T, and ü = erh, with silent r’s) makes “Dürrenberger” sound strangely close to “Terryberry.” Subsequently, as was common of the period, a wide variation in spelling ensued. Both family surnames, Dürrenberger and Terryberry are thus reported in colonial documents in a variety of spellings. Soon Derryberry was added to the mix. Thanks to recent DNA test data, a bloodline connection has been proven, and Derryberry, Derreberry, etc. are considered to be derivatives of Dürrenberger. Furthermore, as you will see in later posts, Derry and Derrie are also known derivatives of the bloodline.

After arrival in Philadelphia, the Dürrenbergers made their way up the Delaware and Musconetcong Rivers of West Jersey to the German Valley, now Morris County, New Jersey, where they settled rather than in Pennsylvania. As mentioned before for the Ayers line, records in northern New Jersey from that time period are scarce. From information available it appears that Peter probably died in Morris County sometime after 1749. Research has accounted for his son Stephen’s death in Morris County and all his descendants. Peter’s son Jacob died in New Jersey in 1794 with no children mentioned in his will. The whereabouts of the third son, Michael, after 1749 are unknown due to lack of records.

Other Gemans who immigrated with the Dürrenbergers in 1738 on the ship Robert and Alice, landing in Philadelphia, are known to have made their way south to western North Carolina. It is now thought by some family historians, that Michael also later made his way to western North Carolina perhaps by way of the Carolina Road (see post dated 31 March 2011), or the Great Wagon Road through the Shenandoah Valley to become the originator of the Derryberry families of Burke County.

Our DÜRRENBERGER Forebears in Europe

December 2, 2011 Dennis No comments exist

As mentioned previously, the DERRIE surname originated as DüRRENBERGER in Europe. Extensive information about the Dürrenberger families in both Europe and later in the United States has been gathered by Brian Anton and other researchers, and Brian maintains an impressive website appropriately called “The Dürrenberger Family“ (freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~fams/durrenberger). From his website and others, I have assembled a very quick summary of the origins of the Dürrenberger name.

The earliest Dürrenbergers of record lived in the Basel-Landschaft region near Basel, Switzerland, which is located where the borders of Germany, France and Switzerland come together. People in that part of Switzerland speak German and the name is Germanic in origin referring to someone who comes from a Dürrenberg or dry and barren mountain. The Dürrenbergers were thought to be Calvinists (Protestants) after the Catholic Reformation in the 16th century, and some of them migrated to the Alsace region to the north of Switzerland.

Alsace is a region between the Rhine River and the Vosges Mountains, with portions in eastern France and western Germany. During the 17th century, the region’s association with Germany which had lasted for hundreds of years was terminated in 1648. This marked the conclusion of the Thirty Years War, when Alsace became a part of France.

The Thirty Years War (1618 – 1648) had its roots in the ongoing religious struggle between the Protestants and Catholics. It was mainly fought in Germany, but spilled over into many other countries as well. A major impact of the war was the extensive destruction of entire regions, ravaged by the foraging armies. Then episodes of famine and disease significantly decreased the population of some regions including Alsace. With many towns nearly empty, the local feudal lords encouraged repopulation of Alsace by the Swiss. As a result, many Swiss people migrated northward to Alsace seeking land and economic opportunity. Several Dürrenbergers were among them, coming from Basel-Landschaft and settling in both northern and southern Alsace. Mertzwiller was one of the towns in the North to which our ancestors relocated probably sometime after 1650. Their new homeland in France was roughly 100 miles from their previous homeland in Switzerland, not far by today’s standards, but greater back then.

Under their new political masters in Alsace, the Swiss people continued to speak German and follow German customs. But the changes were especially hard on the German and Swiss Protestants, or “Palatines”, as they came to be known. The hardships were associated with the persecution of Protestants everywhere at that time in central Europe by the Catholic majority. In addition to the Germans, Swiss and French Protestants (Hugenots) were also subject to harassment and persecution.

As Alsace’s population grew, people again sought economic and religious opportunity elsewhere. By the early 1700’s, a mass migration of these people ensued which took thousands from their ancestral lands down the Rhine River to Holland and then to England on their way to a new life in America, with the Pennsylvania and Carolina colonies as primary destinations. Some Alsatian Dürrenbergers arrived in the American Colonies as early as 1738, and it appears our Dürrenberger ancestors were among this first group.