Friday Finds: Philipp Peter Greulich

According to my grandfather’s research, his ancestor Charles (Karl) Philipp Greulich’s step-brother (or maybe half-brother) Philipp Peter Greulich, who remained in Haag after Charles emigrated from Germany to the U.S., never married and never had any children.

Imagine my surprise when a half-hearted search on FamilySearch.org found in the IGI for Germany a marriage in Haag for Philipp Peter Greulich to Anna Elisabetha Berger. Haag is the village the family came from where Philipp inherited the shoe shop from his father Georg Philipp Greulich. The birth and death dates given were also a match.

All of a sudden, instead of a dead end in Germany there’s the possibility of family in Germany! Here’s what I knew about Philipp Peter Greulich.

Philipp Peter Greulich was born 13 Dec 1806, son of Maria Katharina Lindebach. She married Georg Philipp Greulich on 17 Dec 1815 in Haag, Germany. Georg adopted her son and he was given the surname Greulich. Philipp’s biological father is unknown, but I was told that there was the possibility that Georg was the father. If that were the case, I have no idea why they waited to marry until Philipp was 9. Katharina died 29 Oct 1832 and Georg married again in 1833 to Anna Margaretha (Wurzel) Jakob. His second married produced Eva Katharina and Karl Philipp in 1834 and 1838. Margaretha died in 1854 and Georg died in 1855, leaving his shoe shop to his eldest son Philipp.  The orphans Eva Elisabetha, age 21, and Karl (later to become Charles), age 17 left Germany for the United States.

I always wondered—if Philipp hadn’t married and didn’t have kids—why would Eva Elisabetha and Karl leave Germany? Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to stay and help with the business in Haag? The information I found in the IGI actually makes sense of their emigration.

I found the marriage of Philipp and Elisabeth (Berger) Greulich on 27 Mar 1832 in Haag, Germany. I also found record of four children:

1. Anna Margaretha Greulich, born 15 May 1833 and died 20 Sep 1833 in Haag
2. Georg Philipp, born 13 May 1834 and died 11 Sep 1852 in Haag
3. Georg Adam, born 17 May 1837 and died 12 Nov 1837 in Haag
4. Philipp, born 29 Apr 1841 in Haag

There may have been other children; these were the only ones I found.

So, the departure of Philipp’s siblings for America makes sense to me if he was married and had a family to support. He would not have needed assistance with the business. His son Philipp would have been 14, old enough to help out. If there were other surviving children, then there most likely wouldn’t have been enough revenue from a village business to support a brother and sister as well.

And so begins the start of a future research project: the Greulichs of Haag, Baden, Germany.

• Category: Research