Mike Chandler, grandson of Richard & Anna Marie Rachuig, sent me this link to the marriage registry for Washington County, Texas which was the first stop for many of our family groups when they migrated from Germany to Texas.
Notice that my branch of the family is given even another spelling of the family surname: RACHOUG. This is probably a transcription error, or misreading when the typist transcribed the original, hand-written ledger. It's just another example of how names can acquire variant spellings.
Also notice the number of RACHUI entries. As I've said before, my branch of the family has the same spelling on the US Census for 1880. It's likely we are related.
(Update) I got a note from Dorothy Rachui pointing out the entry labeled RACHIN is actually a RACHUI, too. There's another mispelling of our surname.
Link to Washington County, Texas Marriage Registry
I've made a very rough, first draft of an extended family tree from what I currently know about our extended family. PLEASE feel free to send me more information, so I can add detail & correct mistakes.I've included some in-law familys because we have extensive relations with them. In several cases they have inter-married multiple times. We'd like in laws to attend the reunion if they're interested in our joint family history.More (I hope) on this later.Rough draft of extended family tree
My aunt, Mayme Rachuig Hause, sent me this photo of the Krueger family. They settled in Washington County & migrated to Bosque County with several other families, including the August Rachuigs. These joint migrations indicate the closeness of the ties between these in-laws.You see Ida, Robert, Otto & Lena in the back row. Emma, Emilie, & Will, Sr. are in the front. (Will married August & Henrietta Rachuig's granddaughter, Hilda Rachuig.) I don't have a date or location for this picture.
These photos show the Wilhelm Frederick Bernhardt family. I understand he was the youngest brother of Henrietta Bernhardt Rachuig & Caroline Bernhardt Harmel.
Frederick's family lived in Olney, Texas. He was instrumental in forming the Lutheran Church there. No doubt he & his family were well-known to the Kunkel family & the Richard Rachuig family who also lived in Olney for a considerable time.
This first photo shows Wilhelm.
This next photo shows his children with their spouses. None of them show up in a search of my Family Tree Maker data base, so I have no information on them.
The Kunkel family is linked to the August Wilhelm Rachuig family through his son, Richard Henry Rachuig. His wife was Anna Marie Kunkel, whom he met while living in Olney, Texas.
The image (and text retrieved by the link below) shows Henri Kunkel's request for a US passport, so he could travel back to Posen (I presume) in 1913. Notice the Kunkels are another Posen family that followed the trail from coastal Texas to upper central Texas in the late 1800s.
Link to text version of image
I've had a lot going this past year, so I haven't been able to post much to this blog. I want to restart posting items in the run up to this year's reunion. I'll try to post things every week.
One of the questions I've received is how the Rachui - Rachuy - Rachuig families are related. I hope I can give a comprehensible answer to that question soon. The best I can do right now is point some research my aunt, Mayme Rachuig Hause, has done.
She has discovered that Theodore's father, Johnann Rachuy, is very likely August Wilhem Rachuig, Sr.'s brother. They all settled in Washington County, Texas in the mid-1800s.
You should note that the spelling varied within branches of the family. For example, the August Rachuig family is also listed as Rachui on some US censuses. I still have no idea why or exactly when my branch of the family added a 'g.'
I hope to have more definitive info for you soon.
I also want to point out that we have several in-law families that have close ties to us, like the Kruegers, Kunkels & Bernhardts - not to mention the Schulzes who have combined their annual reunion with the Rachuigs for several years now. We hope they'll all join us at the family reunion at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Norse, Texas in July.
I'll have more details about the reunion on this blog. I hope to see you there.
