The Beer (Behr) Family
The following is an excerpt from the book "Ancestry and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegen Immigrants to Virginia 1714-1750" by B. C. Holtsclaw on page 488. At this time, this is all I know about this line of the family.
Goebel (Gebel) Beer of Seelbach was the grandfather of Ehla (Beer) Stuell. In 1563 he was lessee of the Wildenburg farm, one of the four farms of which the settlement of Seelbach consisted at that time, and was still living at Seelbach in 1583, the only Beer there. Goebel Beer was probably born ca. 1535-40, and may have been a brother of Johann Beer, who appears in 1566 in Siegen as a member of the Miner's Guild. Guebel Beer was dead before 1599, in which year two Beers, apparently his sons, were living in the Siegen judicial district, Jacob Beer in Seelbach and Johann Beer in Klafeld.
Jacob Beer of Seelbach, son of Goebel Beer and father of Ehla Stuell, was born about 1565-70, and died at Seelbach after 1629, when his daughter, Anna, was godmother of Anna, daughter of Jost and Ehla Stuell. In 1624 he was Heimberger, or chief administrative officer, of Seelbach. In addition to Ehla and Anna, Gerlach Beer, godfather of Gerlach Stuell in 1631, also seems to have been one of Jacob Beer's children. Another son may have been Johannes Beer, who was a member of the militia at Birlenbach (in the Klafeld township) in 1624, though this Johannes could have been a son of Johann Beer of 1599 in Klafeld. This Johannes Beer of Birlenbach was the godfather of Johannes Fischbach, father of Philip Fishback, the 1714 immigrant, which may indicate that Johannes Fischbach's mother, Liess or Elizabeth, was a Beer.
The History of Seelbach, Germany
Seelbach, Germany is a town in the district of Ortenau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is located on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Schutter Valley.
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The town of Seelback has a website located at: https://seelbach-online.de/ click on the preceding link or the picture above. The site is in German, but Google will translate it by clicking the icon located in the URL bar on the far right side.
Silver was often mined in the Black Forest, as well as some iron ore, copper, lead and other metals. Now there is only one active mine in the Black Forest - fluorite and barite are extracted from the Clara mine in Oberwolfach.
Silver was often mined in the Black Forest, as well as some iron ore, copper, lead and other metals. Now there is only one active mine in the Black Forest - fluorite and barite are extracted from the Clara mine in Oberwolfach.
Castle Hohengeroldseck
For a more thorough history of the castle, see the Wikipedia website at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohengeroldseck
- The Castle is located between Biberach and Seelbach in the Middle Black Forest. It was built in approximately 1260 and destroyed in 1688.
- The ruins of the castle on Schönberg hill can be seen from far and wide and offer magnificent views in every imaginable direction from above. The short walk (approx. 45 min) to the castle ruins from the parking area for hikers at the top of the pass between Biberach and Seelbach is therefore well worthwhile on this account alone.
- The castle, of which the approx. 10 m high outer walls (lower castle) and the main building (upper castle) have been preserved, was built around 1260 as the family seat of the Lords of Geroldseck. After an eventful history, it was destroyed by French soldiers in 1688. Nowadays the society for the preservation of the ruins of Castle Hohengeroldseck sees to it that they do not fall into further decay. In addition to this, the society organizes a big castle festival every September.
For a more thorough history of the castle, see the Wikipedia website at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohengeroldseck