http://mctiernan.com/benhis.htm 4-5-2025

The History of the Bender Family from Rettigheim & Mühlhausen, Baden, Germany

from c. 1510 on

There are 19 known generations in our Bender family line. The earliest known direct member of my Bender family is Hans Bender, the older, c. 1510--<1596, who was the same generations as Martin Luther who by nailing his objections on the church door triggered the Reformation which in turn caused a massive crack in the cultural wall of the German agrarian based society at the time of our earliest known ancestor.  If I have it right Leo Wilson is the Great Grandson of Chuck Geoppo and if so that would make 19 generations of known Bender descendants.  As of December 19, 2014 there are 33,000  known descendants of Hans Bender, the older, c. 1510--<1596. 

Even though our Bender line emigrated from the small village of Mühlhausen, Baden almost all of our Bender ancestors are originally from the very small village of Rettigheim, Baden which is about 2 miles SW of Mühlhausen. The Bender family immigrants that came west ended up not only in Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota in America but also in Canada. The ones that went south ended up in Mexico, Chile and other parts of South America. The ones that went east ended up in Serbia and Hungary. The ones that went north ended up in Russia and Poland. Our ancestor 2.1.2.2.3.1.1.1. Elisabeth Fellhauer, nee Förderer holds the known travel record taking 96 days to cross the Atlantic by sailing ship to America in 1846.

It appears the first destination point for my line of the Bender family is Kimmswick, Rock Township, Jefferson CO, Missouri, right on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis, MO. Many of the Benders and the Herrmanns were there in the 1860 census. Most likely Jean Michel Blaies met his wife Theresia Bender in that area before they moved to Mascoutah, IL around 1864 after they married. Also, four unconnected Benders are living with a Müller family in Rock Township, Jefferson CO and are listed as stepchildren. They are all listed in the 1880 Jefferson CO census. See http://mctiernan.com/bnotes.htm