EMRICH


Jehoshua Eliakim
 Josef
(1647-1723)
 Feiss
(1684-1747)
 Josel
( -1794)
 Feiss EMRICH
(1754-1823)

Gitele
Moses Mayer
 Wolf
 Zippora


Abraham?
 Hebele
( -1798)
Zadok
( -1723)
 Baruch
( -1763)
 Liebmann
( -1772)
 Moses
( -1766)
 Bräunle SCHRIESHEIM
(1766-1823)
Gitel
( -1732)

Miriam

Herz
 Ester
Löw
 Hayum
(1692)
 Maier
( -1775)
 Zerle
( -1803)
Juettle
David
 Freudche

Wolf
 Hanna
( -1763)
Moises (1786)
  Esther BREIDENBACH
(Mendel {Marx, Madel} & Hanne {Feitel})
 Bräunle (1825), Hannah (1828),
Feiss (1830), Amalia (1833),
Moses (1836)
Liebmann (1792-1861)
Beile OPPENHEIMER (1799-1855)
(Herz {Juda Löb, Rechle} & Rebekka {Isaak})
 Joseph (1823), Regina (1826),
Feiss (1830), Isaak (1833),
Moses Aron (1839)
Zipera (1795)
 Sara (1829)
Abraham (1801-1876)
Mina STERN
(Lazarus & Guttel)
 		Babette (1836), Feiss (1840),
Jette (1842), Lazarus (1845),
Moses (1846), Isack Aron (1848)
Sarah (1804)

Brothers Isaac (1637-1720) and Josef (1647-1723), sons of Jehoshua Eliakim, were among the earliest recorded Jewish residents of Hemsbach. They first appear in the Hemsbacher Gerichtsbuch (Court book) in the 1670s, in the period of Jewish settlement following the Thirty Years' War. Josef married Gitele and had a son, Feiss (1684-1747). Feiss, an Untereinnehmer (tax collector) in Hemsbach, married Zippora, daughter of Wolf of Rohrbach, and had a son, Josel ( -1794). Josel married Hebele, possible daughter of Abraham[1], and had children: Feiss (1754-1823) and Elkele. In 1809, when Jews in Baden were required to adopt permanent surnames, Feiss Josel became Feiss EMRICH. His sister Elkele's husband Moises Feiss became Moises PFÄLZER.

Feiss EMRICH of Hemsbach, son of Josel, married Bräunle SCHRIESHEIM[2] from Mannheim, daughter of Moses Liebmann and Zerle nee BENSHEIM, and had children: Moises (1786), Liebmann (1792), Zipera (1795), Abraham (1801), and Sara (1804). Feiss and Braünle both died in Hemsbach in 1823.

Research Notes

1. The names of the children of Feiss and Bräunle appear to have been chosen systematically:
  1. Moises (1786): the first preference for whom their first born son would've been named after is probably Feiss' father or, secondly, his father's father. However, his father Josel was still alive and Josel's father was also named Feiss. So, both were out of contention. Therefore, the next preference would've been Bräunle's father, Moises, which was the name chosen.
  2. Liebmann (1792): the next son still could not be named after Feiss' father or paternal grandfather for the same reasons as above. The first son was named for Bräunle's father's, so it seems that the next preference would have been Bräunle's father's father, Liebmann.
  3. Zipera (1795): the preference would've been Feiss' mother Hebele. However, she was still alive. Next preference would've probably been Bräunle's mother, Zerle, but she was also still alive. Seemingly, the next preference would've been Feiss' father's mother, named Zippora.
  4. Abraham (1801): now we arrive at the mystery name. Let's take stock of the available male ancestors whom he could've been named after. The most obvious choice would've been Feiss' father, Josel, who, by this time, was deceased (died in 1794). However, for some reason, this third son was not named after him. Perhaps there was another son, born between Zipera and Abraham that was named Josel and died as a young child. We don't know. The only other options (within three generations - further back than that is unlikely) are Bräunle's mother Zerle's father Maier (who died in 1775) and Feiss' mother Hebele's father (name unknown). Clearly, he was not named after Maier, so this leaves only Hebele's father. Thus, it seems likely that Hebele's father's name was Abraham.
  5. Sarah (1804): by this time, both Feiss' mother Hebele and Bräunle's mother Zerle (a variant of Sarah) were deceased. It's not clear why the daughter was named after Zerle rather than Hebele, but either would've been a logical choice.
    So, four of the five children's names seem to have been logically and directly named after ancestors. Therefore, it seems quite likely that the fifth (fourth in birth order), Abraham, would've also been named after an ancestor, in this case Feiss' maternal grandfather. Who could this Abraham be? His presumed daughter, Hebele, died in 1798, probably in her 60s/70s. If so, she would've been born in the 1720s/30s and her father probably would've been born around the turn of the century. In that case, we would expect to see Abraham in the 1722 census of Kurpfalz and likely in and around Hemsbach, where Hebele lived with her husband Josel. In that census, there are no Abraham's in Hemsbach itself and also none in the neighboring town of Laudenbach. Zooming out a bit further, we get to the Oberamt (district) of Ladenburg which, at that time, consisted only of Hemsbach, Laudenbach, and the town of Ladenburg itself. Only one Abraham is listed in the district: Abraham Lazarus of Ladenburg. He is our current leading candidate for Hebele's father!

2. Since Braünle was married and both of her parents died before official surnames were adopted in 1809, her maiden name is listed variously as "Schriesheimer" 1 (her father's family name), "Bensheimer" 2, 3 (her mother's family name), and "Lorsch" 4 (her mother's last husband's family name).

3. Photo source: Obituary of Ferdinand Emrich in Cleveland Jewish Review & Observer, 23 November 1900.

4. Photo source: Cleveland, Its Aim: Progress, Perseverance and Public Spirit. Cleveland, Ohio: 1897. (digital)

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Jeff Sugarman for his help in uncovering the history of this family.