Introduction - The Research Project

There have been other books written about the Gliedts and Poeppelmeiers, but this is the first book to present an in depth chronicle of the Gliedts and Pöppelmeiers in Germany and America. I have always been fascinated about the Glied(t)s and Pöppelmeiers. Where did they come from in Germany? What was their life like in Germany? Who came to America and why? In an attempt to answer some of these questions, I began to research the Glied(t)s and Pöppelmeiers. This book is the accumulation of many hours of research and numerous correspondences with various family members. The family story begins in Germany with the first documented ancestor in the early 1700s and ends in America in 1993.

In 1981, I had the opportunity to take several classes on how to do genealogy and I discovered the immense record collection of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The first time I visited one of their branch family history centers, I found our Pöppelmeier ancestors listed on the International Genealogical Index for Germany. I couldn't believe my luck. From that day on, I was hooked on researching. I started researching the Glied(t), Pöppelmeier and Dönnig lines in 1981. In 1984, I published the Dönnig Family Book and in 1986, the first supplement to it. By 1986, I was ready to write a book on the Glied(t) and Pöppelmeier families, but when I surveyed several family members, I discovered there was very little interest in another Glied(t)/Pöppelmeier book. So I put my rough draft away, and started researching another line. In 1990, there was a renewed interest in having a Glied(t)/Pöppelmeier book, so I dusted off my rough draft.

My specialty is German research. I enjoy reading the old German records. It's like doing a puzzle. If you find a missing piece of information on a person, you can usually extend the family line back. I found the Glied(t) line especially interesting. First, I wrote to the Evangelical Church Archives in Herford, Germany for information on the Glieds and Pöppelmeiers. In return, I received extractions of some of the church records. I also ordered the microfilms of the original German church records at the LDS Family History Center. Right away, I found Gottlieb, his parents, Hermann and Anne Glied nee Steffen, and his grandparents, Albert Henrich and Anna Ilsabein Glied nee Westerwelle. Then came the challenge of determining the parents of Albert Henrich Glied. Albert Heinrich Glied's 1865 death record stated that he was the illegitimate son of Albert Henrich Glied and Anne Marie Ilsabein Wörheide. His death record also stated that he was born zu Jöllenbeck on 20 May 1786 and that his second marriage took place on 6 Dec 1806 here (meaning the Münstergemeinde Church in Herford). This was the first clue to the identity of his parents. The next clue was found on Albert's marriage records. On the 1806 marriage record, Albert was described as the illegitimate son of Albert Henrich Glied from Schildesche and Anne Marie Ilsabein Wörheide, who were both living (1806). The 1806 marriage record also gave the date of his first marriage, 15 Apr 1804. So I now had a another clue--that is, both of his parents were still alive on 7 Dec 1806 and that his father Albert Henrich Glied was living in Schildesche. Albert's marriage record for 15 Apr 1804 stated that Albert Henrich Glied was baptized in Jöllenbeck and that his mother was the wife of the Heürling, Johann Friedrich Bohlmann and lived in Oldinghausen in the parish of Enger. It also stated that Albert had been a member of the community since he was a youth. Next, Albert's birth record was found in the Jöllenbeck church records for 1786. It listed him as the illegitimate son of Albert Henrich Glied and Anne Marie Ilsabein Wörheide. No further clues were found on this birth record. Another clue to help identity of Albert's parents came from the baptismal witnesses for his children. The witness for Albert's first son was the Erbpächter, Albert Henrich Glied from Schildesche, who was probably Albert's father. If this person was Albert's father, then the clue to his father's occupation was provided. On the baptismal record for 21 Jan 1816, the first baptismal witness for Albert's son was Johann Friedrich Bohlmann from the parish of Enger. This indicated that Albert's step-father was still alive in 1816 and living in the parish of Enger. The next step was to use these clues to find the birth record of Albert's father in Schildesche. In searching the Schildesche church records I found several Albert Henrich Glieds who could be Albert's father. In order to determine which Albert Henrich Glied was his father, I extracted all of the Glieds from the Schildesche, Jöllenbeck and Enger parish registers. In the end, I narrowed the list of possible fathers to two. The first possibility was Albert Henrich Glied, born on 8 Jun 1765 at Bauerschaft Vilsendorf #6, in the parish of Schildesche who wed Anne Margrethe Ilsabein Bökermann at the Evangelisch Church in Schildesche on 14 Nov 1788, and died on 2 Mar 1818 at Bauerschaft Schildesche #12. He was a Heürling and Erbpächter. The second possibility was Alberdt (Albert) Henrich Glied, born on 17 Feb 1760 at Bauerschaft Oberjöllenbeck #3 who wed Anne Marie Ilsabein Rabe at the Evangelisch Church in Jöllenbeck on 23 Sep 1785, and died on 1 Nov 1834 at Oldinghausen in the parish of Enger. He was a Heürling and Erbpächter. On examining the two possibilities, I feel that the first one is Albert's father for the following reasons: He lived in the parish of Schildesche which matches the aforementioned clue for location. Second he was still alive in 1806. Third he was an Erbpächter. Fourth, his given name was always spelled Albert, not Alberdt. So if the first possibility is indeed Albert's father, then the line continues through his parents-Jobst Henrich and his wife Anna Ilsabein Glied nee Schürmann of Schildesche to Jobst Henrich's parents, Johann Eberdt and Anna Maria Ilsabein Glied nee Trebbe(n) of Jöllenbeck. Even if the line continued through the second possibility, the first known ancestor would still be Johann Eberdt and Anna Maria Ilsabein Glied nee Trebbe(n) of Jöllenbeck. The clues for Albert's mother, Anne Marie Wörheide, were that she was married to Johann Friedrich Bohlmann by 1804 and that she was lived in the parish of Enger. Even though no marriage record for Johann Friedrich Bohlmann and Anne Marie Wörheide was found in any of the surrounding parishes, it is still believed that she was married to Johann Friedrich Bohlmann for the following reasons: First, Albert's 1806 marriage record listed Anne as the wife of Johann Friedrich Bohlmann, second the birth records of Anne's children indicated that they were legitimate births, and third, her death record listed her as the wife of Johann Friedrich Bohlmann. Her death record gave her age, and month and year of birth, but not the place of her birth. So far, her birth record has not been located. In conclusion, the Glied line was traced from Philipp Gottlieb Glied(t) to Hermann Henrich Glied to Albert Henrich Glied to Albert Henrich Glied to Jobst Henrich Glied to Johann Eberdt Glied.

I found it very interesting that Albert Henrich was named after his father and that he was given his father's surname. Usually the father was not listed on the birth record of an illegitimate child. It was unusual for illegitimate children to be given the father's surname when they were baptized. They were usually baptized with the mother's surname except in the event the couple was engaged to be married and the child was born before the marriage. The second thing I found interesting was the close ties Albert had with his father. His father was a baptismal witness for Albert's first born child. Another thing I found interesting was the close relationship his mother had with the second possible father, Alberdt Henrich and Anne Marie Ilsabein Glied nee Rabe. Which leaves me with more questions: Why didn't Albert Henrich Glied and Anne Wörheide marry? Why was Albert Henrich named for his father? Why did two sons of Johann Eberdt and Anna Maria Ilsabein Glied nee Trebbe(n) leave Bauerschaft Jöllenbeck for Bauerschaft Schildesche? Where did Johann Eberdt Glied originally come from? The church records indicate he didn't come from the surrounding area, especially the area to the north. It's possible that he came from the south, near Orlinghausen, where the Glied surname was also found.

The Pöppelmeier line was interesting because the Kespohls were of the Reformiert Confession. In researching the Pöppelmeiers, I had to search both the Evangelisch and Reformiert church records. The Pöppelmeiers lived in Ahmsen, which is located in the modern day state of Lippe, Germany, but they attended church in Herford. The Pöppelmeiers were found in the church records after 1804 which indicates that our first known ancestor, Johann Bernhard Henrich Pöppelmeier, was a new resident in Ahmsen. It's possible he came from the area near Blomberg, Lippe, Germany. More research is needed in the Blomberg area to prove or disprove this.

In regards to the Gliedts and Poeppelmeiers in America, there are still some unanswered questions. The St. Louis records revealed that there were more than one Gliedt/Glitt families living there at the same time as Philipp Gottlieb Glied(t). Was there a relationship between the other Gliedt families and Philipp Gottlieb Gliedt? When and where did Gottlieb's mother died? What happened to Gottlieb's sister, Justine, after her husband, Johann Heinrich Meyer, died?

As anyone knows who does genealogy, the research and questions never seem to end. The time usually comes when for some reason or another the researcher calls off the search until another day. A family history book is never completed. By the time the last word was typed in this book, our family had already changed with the passing of Gesina Kaiser on 1 Mar 1993 and Oscar Heimsoth on 6 Jul 1993.

Due to the length of this book, I have not included information on the related lines of the Westerwelles, Eickmeyers, Steffens, Breders, and Greifes. Nor the information on the other Glied(t)s who also lived in St. Louis, MO or on the Poeppelmeiers who lived in Warren Co., MO. If anyone is interested in any of these lines, please let me know and I will send the information printed on family group sheets for the cost of postage.

The stories of Gottlieb Gliedt's children during their early years were similar. I treated each child as an individual and so some of the chapters may sound repetitious.

No work is perfect, particularly in the field of genealogy. I am only human so it is possible that mistakes might be found in this book. Extreme care was taken in transcribing the German records. They were read more than once, usually three or more times, any discrepancies checked and double checked. The final version of the book has been proofread three times, once by the author, then by another person, and again by the author. This type of book is very difficult to proofread because of all the dates. The current information is only as good as the family member submitting it.

THIS IS NOT MY BOOK. THIS BOOK IS YOUR BOOK !!!! Enjoy.