Emigrants
There are many members of the Stoerkel family who emigrated to America, mostly independent from each other.
First of all, the descendants of Adam Sterkell, who emigrated as a first step to Russia. From there about 100 years later several families emigrated to the USA. As far as I can see, those "Russian" families did this also independent from each other. Hence, they also settled in different regions of the United States. However, I don´t have the complete picture here.
From the "Johannes-line" several people emigrated, often complete families with children. At about 1850, Konrad Stoerkel with his wife Elisabetha Kriegsmann emigrated.
At about 1880, the brothers Heinrich Peter (*1852; many descendants of him live in New York City today) and Johann Karl (*1855; his descendants live primarily in Texas) emigrated to America. Together with her sister Katharina Sabina, the brothers are the children of Margaretha Stoerkel. I don´t know if their sister emigrated as well or if she had stayed here. I also don´t know if the brothers made the step together. There are some hints that Johann Karl first went to Augsburg, Bavaria (where he also married), before her moved on to the USA. While Heinrich Peter went via Baltimore to New York City, Johann Karl first went to Missouri and then to Texas.
Emigrated to America is also Wilhelm (in the year 1838). Probably he is from the "Johannes-line". In the same year a man called Johann emigrated as well, however, I could not assign him so far.
From the Peter-line five children of Johann Peter Stoerkel (Wirtspeter) emigrated. Daniel (with wife and two children) and potentially three of his sisters probably emigrated together. Very likely that another sister of them has lived already there. From the direct descendants of Daniel I know a lot. But I almost know nothing from his sisters. In America, Katharina had married a man called Johann Philipp Reis and had lived with him at several places, among others in Ohio. Maria had married a man called Herberd Bird and has also lived in Ohio (Cincinnati). Many years later, her American descendants had donated a window for the church in Erbstadt. Anna Margaretha potentially might have returned to Erbstadt, from Dorothea Elisabetha (in case that she actually emigrated to America) I don´t know anything at all.
Daniel´s family first settled in Indiana. He reach the age of 85 years and, still today, the grave of him and his wife Maria/Mary (and the one at least one of their daughters) can be found in the town Brookville. His son Friedrich Karl (Fred C. Starkel) was „Town Marshall“ in Brookville. Among the children of Fred is Chester Starkel. At least part of Chester´s descendants still live in Indiana (Reed family). However, I don´t have any contact to them. In contrast, my family knows the descendants of Francis Henry Starkel, another son of Fred, very well. Robert „Bob“ Starkel has visited us in the 1980´s. And 30 years later we have met his daugher and his niece. This family lives in parts in Arizona and in parts still in Indiana. Bob has also given a couple of family belongings to a museum in Fort Wayne. These objects help there to document the history of migration.
The document shown here is a page of a record of the local court of Hanau. Today it is kept at the federal archive in Marburg. In this record, Daniel is requesting the permission to emigrate from Hesse, for himself and for his wife and his two children Karoline and (Friedrich) Karl. He justifies his wish to emigrate with the argument that one of his sisters would already live in America. He says that he would hope that he would live there as good as she lives there. He is disclosing his property and his assets. Obviously, the authorities of Erbstadt as well as the local court of Hanau (as representative of the state) had to agree to the emigration.
In Brookville, Indiana, the church community remembers more than 150 years later the arrival of Daniel and many other immigrants.
