Reisdorf Family Page
Welcome to The Reisdorf Family Page, which furnishes historical detail beyond the site index, exploring four generations of Reisdorfs in the line of Jacob Reisdorf of Germany.
9. Catherina (Catharine) Reisdorph (Weatherwax)--The mother of Lorenz Widerwax and wife of Andries Wiederwachs, Catharina Reisdorp (Reisdorf) was baptized May 10, 1745 in Red Hook, Dutchess Co., New York and her parents are listed as Lorens Reisdorf & Margeda Sarenbergrin (U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989). Catharina's mother's name is given as Anna Marguretha Sarenberger in other documents. Marriage records show that Catharina Reisdorp married Andreas Wederwaks in 1763 (U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900). The couple appears in the 1790 census (in Rhinebeck, Dutchess Co., NY), the 1800 census and 1810 census show them in Chatham, Columbia, New York. The 1820 census lists Andrew Weatherwax in Greenbush, Rensselaer. Co.,NY, as a widow (Catherina died in January before the August census enumeration that year). Catherina was the first born of 8 children. Her siblings were: Anna Margaretha (b.1747), Johannes (b.1750), Elisabetha (b.1753), Anna (b.1755), Leonhardt (Leonard, b.1759), and Magdalena (b.1762). Per Find-a-grave, Catharina died Jan. 18, 1820 and is buried in the Weatherwax Cemetery in East Greenbush, Rensselaer County, New York.
10. Lorentz (Lawrence) Reisdorf--The father of Catharina Reisdorf Weatherwax, Lorentz was born ca.1718 in Rhinebeck, Dutchess, New York to Johannes & Anna Margaretha Reisdorf. Lorentz joined the Red Hook Lutheran Church in 1741 and married Anna Marguretha Sarenburger (b.ca.1720, NY) around 1744. He is listed in Capt. Abraham Van Aernam’s Company in 1767. Lorentz’s will is dated 1792 & probated Feb.9, 1813, so he probably died in early 1813 at the age of 95. His wife died in 1812 at age 92 and is mentioned on Lorentz' 1792 will as Margaret. The names of her parents are not known, though a Leonhardt Sarenburger is listed with Anna Marguretha as a sponsor (perhaps a brother). Margaret also left a will dated May 1810 and probated Nov. 10, 1812 in which she mentions her five daughters, beginning with "Caty, wife of Andrew Witherwax." The other children of Lawrence and Margaret Reisdorf were: Ann Margaretha (1747-1799), Johannes (1750-1790), Elisabeth (1753-1739), Hannah or Anna (1755-1824), Leonard (1759-1733), and Magdalena (1762-1813). There is a 1750 birth record from Linlithgo, NY of Johannes Reisdorf which lists his parents as "Laurentz Rysdorp and Greitje Salsberger" (U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989), so it appears that Greitje was part of Anna Margaretha's name.
11. Johannes Reisdorf--the father of Lorentz, Johannes, was born in Germany in 1693. His first wife, Anna Margaretha Friederich, was also born in Germany in 1679 and they married in 1705. According to Henry Z. Jones (The Palantine Families of New York), the Reisdorff ancestral home appears to have been at 6551 Waldbockelheim (4-1/2 km. NW. of Niederhausen). The Reisdorf family (along with Johannes' brother) immigrated on Capt. Johann Ranneld’s ship, the third party of Palatine Germans traveling through Rotterdam to England in 1709. Johann is listed as a husbandman and vinedresser. They traveled with their first two children, arriving in the colony of New York in 1710. It is thought that Johannes' wife, children and his brother died during the overcrowded, disease-ridden ocean voyage. (There is a naturalization record index that lists Anna M.S. Friedrich in NY, although, if this were Johannes' wife, we would expect her surname to be listed as Reisdorf). Johannes is listed as a single man upon arrival in NY. Per Jones, the Hunter's list of immigrants to NY indicates that Johannes married a second wife soon after arriving who was also named Ann Margaretha (he speculates that her surname may have been Coert). She was the mother of their further children, including Lorentz. She might possibly be Maria Margaretha Kuhn Coert who arrived in NY from Germany in 1710 along with primary immigrant Johann Christoph Coert (U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s). Johannes settled in the East Camp (Rhinebeck, NY) and died in Dutchess, New York ca. 1734. Johannes' six children were: Maria Catherina (b.1706), Johannes (b.1708), Anna Rosina, Anna Catherina, Catherina Elisabetha (b.1716), and Lorentz (b.1718, NY). Johannes' parents were Jacob Reisdorf and Helena Clütten.
12. Jacob Reisdorf--The German father of Johannes Reisdorf, Jacob (or Jacobus) was born ca. 1634 in Luttenglehn, Rhein-Kreis Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and died there in 1714. Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1533-1950 lists "Jacob Reissdorffs" as the father of Johannes Reissdorff. Jacob's wife is thought to be Helena Clütten, born ca.1640 in Glehn, Neuss, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany and died in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany (date of death unknown). The couple married ca. 1677. Some Ancestry trees cite Jacob Reistorff Sr. (b. 1610) as the father of Jacob but without records to verify this. No further information is known about the Reisdorf family line.