Kreller family from Germany who emigrated for Canada

[my-irish-family]

I am currently researching my friend's family.  Their surname is Kreller and are recorded as Johann Friedrich Kroeller and Katharina Herle in the 1851 Ontario Census for Canada.  They married in Germany, and had their first three children there:

Wilhem (William) Kreller abt. 1836
Margaret Kreller abt. 1837
Frederick Kreller 27 June 1840.

They arrived in Canada prior to their son Jacob being born June 1847 in Ontario.

Could anyone possibly advise if there is anyway I could locate the marriage details of Johann and Katharina or the birth details of the Johann, Katharina or their children?

Furthermore, could someone kindly advise on the likelihood their surname was indeed Kreller, while living in Germany?  On the 1851 Canadian census they were listed as Kroeller, and Groeller on the 1861 census, but I am unsure if it would have been spelled another way originally and this is an englified way of pronouncing/spelling their name.  They were of Lutheran religion.

I cannot locate them leaving Germany or arriving in Canada as passenger records do not appear to have been recorded then.

Any help or direction would be incredibly appreciated!

Thank you.

[davecapps]

Both names, Kröller and Kreller, can be found in Germany.

On the marriage certificate of their daughter Margaret in 1885, the parents are stated as being
Frederick Kreller and Catharina Herle

Dave

[my-irish-family]

Hi Dave,

thank you very much for your reply.  So it would be safe to assume they would have gone by the name Kreller while in Germany too, as well as possibly Kröller?

Johann was referred to as Fritz in subsequent records also.  I feel, unless I can somehow establish what part of Germany they would have lived in during the 1830s, I may not find any birth or marriage details for them in Germany.  I have been searching the online heritage books for possible Kreller families, however this is proving rather fruitless given the search format is designed for the searcher to know the location of the family...

However, there does not appear to be any information in any canadian records I can locate that states where they came from, other than "Germany" sadly.

Thanks again for your help!

Lara

[davecapps]

a very elusive family.

I searched, Ancestry and FamilySearch using these name variations:

Kreller, Kroller, Kröller, Kraller, Kreuler, Groeller, Greller, Groeler
Herle, Herrle, Haerle, Härlin

all to no avail.

I think the name Herle or Herrle is from Baden Württemberg in the south of Germany.
Names ending in "le" are quite commen there. If you cross the border to Switzerland you´ll find scores of names that end in "li"

Bearing that in mind and the fact they were lutheran, the ARCHION site could be a possibility.
ARCHION is an online database for Protestant church records.

https://www.archion.de/de/browse/?no_cache=1#https://www.archion.de/de/browse/?no_cache=1&path=121390
Scroll down to the bottom for Württemberg

You´ll need to subscribe to attain access to the records
Then you would have to check all these places using the birth details for Friedrich Kreller 27 June 1840
long shot

Dave

[davecapps]

Here´s another long shot.

Town archive in Erlangen

https://www.erlangen.de/Portaldata/1/Resources/030_Leben_in_er/dokumente/amt45/stadtarchiv/Findmittel_Bestand_6_Stadtmagistrat.pdf

page 114, 4th entry

Johann Kreller (Kröller), glass polisher,
application for a residence permit 1821

Erlangen is also in the south

[my-irish-family]

Thank you Dave,

they are a very elusive family indeed!  I may give the Archion a shot as you suggested.

Thank you for the other entry also.  I admit to not being very educated on German ancestry, all mine are based in Ireland (which brings with it its own separate issues!) but I offered to help her out as my friend had no idea where to even begin.

It may be she has to accept, for now, that they cannot be traced in Germany.  But I will certainly look into Württemberg for her also and see if I can find out any further information on the Lutheran religion in Germany at that time.  I have been trying to find out general reasons why they may have moved from Germany in the 1840s, would it have just been the economy was poor and it offered a new life then?  Was the fact he was a farmer had anything to do with it?  They appeared to be the only Krellers in that area so it doesn't appear they moved to be with other family.  So many questions to find answers to...

Lara

[davecapps]

Hi Lara

Emigration from many parts of Germany to America intensified between 1830 and 1848 (Revolution), reaching it´s peak in 1854. The economic situation was disastrous. People left in the hope of finding a better life. 
To help reduce their social expenditures, many local authorities supported poor people in funding their emmigration. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_revolutions_of_1848%E2%80%9349

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty-Eighters

[Svenja]

There are no Kreller, Kroller, Kröller, Kraller, Kräller, Kreuler, Groeller, Groller, Greller, Groeler, Graller, Gräller
in the database of the Auswanderer from Südwestdeutschland of the Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg.

http://www.auswanderer-bw.de/index.php?sprache=de&suche=1

Regards
Svenja

[my-irish-family]

Thanks Dave, that made for some very interesting reading! I’m sure my friend will find the history quite fascinating also.

Svenja, thank you so much for letting me know about there being no results for those names in the database. That is really appreciated.

Thank you so much for all the help I have received thus far!!