Compiled by Georg Eller, Bannzaunerweg 7, 6530 Bingen 1,West Germany; translated by Louise Eller, 2932 Homeway Dr., Beavercreek, OH 45385
The evangelical Lutheran Ellers from Dolgesheim in Rheinhassen (formerly county of Leininger-Guntersblum goes back to JAKOB ELLER, a farmer, (also innkeeper) and juror that was born about 1590. He came to Dolgesheim shortly before the start of the 30 Year War. First mention of him is in 16@@l when his name appears on one of the Leiningen documents taking the oath of allegiance. In earlier documents (1598 and others) and in resident directories of villages belonging to the sovereign territory of Leiningen , the name Eller is not registered.
The wife of this Jakob Eller, name unknown, descends from a respected, propertied, farmer family from Dolgesheim. One may assume that Jakob Eller must have been of good culture and origin (juror although a newcomer).
According to oral history, the Dolgesheim Eller lineage originated from the middle Hessian area around Offenbach on the Main- Frankfurt on the Main. The presumable ancestor (of these Ellers), HENN ELLER, a cellarer (wine master) of Seligenstadt on the Main, was born about 1430 and had a son, HENN, according to documents in which he was registered by the family name "Eyler".
In the chronicles of Dolgesheim there is talk of "the old Eller generation." The name, supposedly derived of ancient German, means "quick, fast, hurried".
JOHANN ELLER, a grandson of the previously mentioned Henn Eller of Seligenstadt on the Main, lived in Frankfurt on the Main around 1500. He was listed there as a citizen and supposedly was a wine merchant and councilman. A son of this Johann Eller, by the name of ANTON ELLER, was mentioned in 1541 as a councilman and in 1548 as host (innkeeper) and friend of Phillipe Melanchton, a theologian and' closest colleague of Martin Luther.
A daughter of RUDOLPH ELLER, brother of Anton Eller, was married to Emmerich Scheffer from Dietz/ Lahn, a cellarer and senior civil servant of the County of Nassau. In 1592 she is referred to as widow and manager of the Dietz wine cellar.
Important economic connections existed between Frankfurt on the Main and vicinity, and Rheinhessen and its wine. . . One can assume with certainty that Jakob Eller, ancestor from Dolgesheim, also had social connections to Dolgesheim, whereby the Lutheran community most likely did not play an insignificant role. The Leininger subjects, in correspondance with their rulers, joined the Reformation very early and were orthodox Lutherans.
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Jakob Eller died in 1640 and, as far as is known, left 3 sons and 1 daughter:
| 1. | JOHANNES ELLER, born about 1618. |
| 2. | JAKOB ELLER, born about 1625. |
| 3. | PAUL ELLER, born about 1628. |
| 4. | BARBARA ELLER, born about 1620/21. She married the widower, Hans Hinkel (also Johannes Hunkel) from Ginsheim on 3.8. 1647 in Oppenheim. He was clerk of records for the court in Ginsheim. He died in the latter part of 1683. |
The widow of Jakob Eller remarried in 1641. Her second husband,Conrad Kohlman, a widower and farmer, was a resident of Eimsheim. He was a descendant from an old local Lutheran family. On behalf of Jakob Eller's widow the court of Dolgesheim filed a petition for permission to marry and move to Eimsheim, which was granted by the rulers of Leiningen. The minor children, Barbara and Paul, moved with their mother to Eimsheim to live with their stepfather. Both sons, Jakob and Johannes, already of legal age, stayed in Dolgesheim. They presumably took over management of their paternal inheritance. This separation formed two family lines, the Dolgesheim lineage and the Eimsheim lineage.
The Dolgesheim line separated again. Some of their descendants stayed in Dolgesheim, others settled all over Rheinhessen and beyond. They probably were farmers at first. But many had occupations like innkeeper, craftsmen (blacksmith, baker and etc.), commercial businessmen (such as wine merchants, paper manufacturers), and academic professions like teacher, veterinarian and pastor.
SAMPSON ELLER, tenant of Frankenstein farmstead, is said to have been mayor of Dolgesheim from 1746-1765. Many descendants of this line were court clerks, mayors, town councillors and holder of other honorary posts.
PAUL ELLER, farmer and originator of the Eimsheim lineage, married Margaret Kohlmen in 1652. She was the daughter of his step-uncle, Christian Kohlman, mayor of Eimsheim. Paul Eller succeeded Christian Kohlman as mayor of Eimsheim from 1664-1680. Except for a brief interruption during the Catholic period in the Palatinate the position of mayor stayed in the family for three generations. After Paul Eller and his son, Christian Eller (mentioned in 1707), Johann Friedrich Eller, son of Christian Eller, is mentioned as mayor in 1753.
Additional sons born in Eimsheim of Mayor Paul Eller were, as far as is known:
| 1. | HANS CONRAD ELLER, born 30.3.1659, married a daughter of the Mayor of Eimsheim, Johan Eberhard (mentioned in 1659). |
| 2. | JOHANNES ELLER, born 20.3.1659, mentioned in 1680 as independent farmer in Eimsheim. |
| 3. | HANS KARL ELLER, born 12.4.1669 in Eimsheim, but probably married in Bechtheim. |
| 4. | PHILLIPP LEONARD ELLER, born 26.3.1664. He married Juliane Dorothea Marhofer, daughter of a farmer and juror- of Guntersblum. He moved to Guntersblum, capital of the County of Leiningen. He originated the Guntersblum-Friesenheim-Schwabsburg-Nierstein lineage, to which the author belongs. The sequence of ancestors of this lineage can be documented without interval. The descendants of this lineage were farmers at first, later shoemaker-masters and vintners during three generations. |
The descendants of ancestor Jakob Eller and both succeeding principle lines of Dolgesheim and Eimsheim are spread numerously all over Rheinhessen and far beyond. To the present time they are active in positions as mayors, councilors, honorary judges, jurors, and many other honorary public posts and enjoy good reputation
........................................................... Georg Eller
(Eds. In support of the above account Georg Eller provides a bibliography and a detailed Ancestoral Chart. These will be provided to interested researchers upon request and an SASE. We will publish the chart in a later Newsletter when translations are completed. Many names from the charts are identical to those of early Eller immigrants to America (such as Jacob,, Johan, Johannes, Conrad, Johann Jakob, Henrich, Christian, Frederick, Leonhard, Susanna, Michael,, Georg, and Barbara; the name, Johan Casper, also appears. This tempts one to believe that the two groups were related and subsequent research may very well prove this true. However, one must go further than mere similarity in names. For example, we have information which will be published later for long established families of Ellers in Switzerland whose names are also quite similar to those of early Eller immigrants to America. For location of Eimsheim and Dolgesheim see map on inside back cover of Feb. 1988 Newsletter.)
Query- From Byron H. Eller, M.D., 6507 Jack Hill Drive, Oroville, CA 95966: JOHN CLEVELAND ELLER moved from NC to Iowa,, with older brothers. Family and younger brothers remained in NC. JESSE FRANKLIN ELLER, Co. K, 53rd Regt., C.S.A., became a Captain. Two other brothers died in the War. I wish to correspond with descendants of these men. I am especially interested in the life story of Jesse Franklin Eller.
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