Family ca. 1919
This website is intended primarily for the Megel Family from Spencer Township, Jennings County, Indiana, including the twenty-six grandchildren of Nicholas Jacob Megel and Elizabeth Gerth Megel and their descendants. In addition we would like to invite any of the numerous descendants of the Megel, Gerth, Oliger and related families who settled in the Four Corners area in the mid-Nineteenth Century to visit and participate in our website. Everyone is encouraged to share family memories and to discuss topics of common interest. To participate in our site please register as a Member using the link to the left. In the Biographical Information section be sure and tell us how you are connected to our Megel family. If you would like to make a comment, or contribute to our site, please contact us using the Email link to the left.
Dan and Paula Wedig
2019
Family Stories
MEGEL AND OLIGER ORIGINS 1600 - 1880
Both the Megel and Oliger families trace their lineage back to Nicholas Megel, who was born about 1610 in Schweix in the ancient duchy of Lorraine in northeastern France. Benoit (Benidict) Oliger, his wife Barbara Demerle, and their family emigrated to America from Walschbronn
in the early 1830s, settling in Hamilton County, Ohio. Later, in the 1850's, some members of the family moved west to Jennings County, Indiana.
Jean Nicholas Megel , was born in Liederscheidt , near Walschbronn in 1833. He emigrated to America in about 1855, where he joined the Oligers in Ohio. Then In early 1859, he married Mary, daughter of Wendel Oliger, in Cincinnati, after which the family moved to the farm in Jennings County, Indiana.
MEGEL AND GERTH HISTORY 1830 - PRESENT
Michael Gerth was born in Lochwiller in Alsace in 1831 He married Magdalena (Lena) Muller Gerth in Lochwiller in 1867. The couple emigrated to America shortly thereafter, ultimately settling on a farm adjacent to the Megels in Indiana. Nicholas Jacob Megel, the youngest son of Jean Nicholas and Mary Megel married their daughter, Elizabeth Mary, in 1900. Today's Megel Cousins are the grandchildren of this couple.
IN MEMORIUM
This section provides links to obituaries of members of the Megel Family, including:
John Jacob Megel, Anna Mae Hester Megel, Victoria Megel Winter, Jerome Heuerman, John Bernard Kohls
DAVE CARR'S GENEALOGY PAGES
Thanks to David Carr for putting together a listing of the descendants of Jean Nicholas Megel and Mary Anna Oliger
ELSNER COUSINS
In 2018 the Megel Cousins website was contacted by several members of the Elsner Family. The Elsners had emigrated from Germany and settled on a farm adjacent to the Megels near Four Corners at about the same time as the Megels first arrived in Indiana. In 1891 Henry Elsner married Rose Megel, daughter of Jacob Megel. Later, William Elsner married Emma Oliger, further extending the connections between the two families. The Elsner Family is planning a reunion for August 6-7, 2022 at the Family farm in Four Corners and at the adjacent St. Joseph Catholic Church. For information contact The Elsner Family through the Elsner Cousins Website
