While searching for my roots I discovered that eleven of my ancestors were on the BEN NEVIS that brought the large immigration of Wends to Texas in 1854. There were seven on my father’s (Otto Biar) side and four on my mother’s (Lydia Biar, nee Moerbe) side.
Three of the seven ancestor’s on my paternal side had the surname of Biar:
(1) Johann Biar (1823) – great grandfather
(2) Magdalene Biar, nee Moehle – great grandmother
(3) Andreas Biar – grandfather
One ancestor had the surname HATTAS (HOTTAS):
(4) Andreas Hattas – great great grandfather
The other three ancestors had the surname of KIESCHNICK:
(5) Johann Kieschnick – great great grandfather
(6) Agnes Kieschnick, nee Kalich or Kohli – great great grandmother
(7) Magdalene Hattas, nee Kieschnick – great grandmother
One of the four ancestors on my maternal side had the surname of MOERBE:
(8) Ferdinand Jacob Moerbe – great grandfather
The other three ancestors had the surname of DUBE:
(9) Michael Dube – great great grandfather
(10) Johanna Rosina Dube, nee Tanniger – great great grandmother
(11) Johanna Rachel Moerbe, nee Dube – great grandmother
One ancestor, on my paternal side, came to Texas with a small group of Wends in 1853:
(12) Johann Hattas (Hottas) – great grandfather
Note: After Johann Hottas married Magdalene Kieschnick he adopted her daughter, Maria Therese.
The last foreign-born ancestress, on my maternal side, came to Texas in 1879:
(13) Ernestine Moerbe, nee Michalk – grandmother
The baptismal records at Baruth, Saxony, list the surname of Mrs. Agnes Kieschnick, Kalich or Kohli (6) as BUETTNER. In the marriage records the name is KOHLI. In her obituary by Pastor Kilian the surname is KALICH. For more details see FROM CHĔČNIK TO KIESCHNICK (Kieschnick family history).
One of the above did not make it to Texas. He was Michael Dube (9), who died on the BEN NEVIS and was buried in Ireland. F. Jacob Moerbe’s (8) first wife, Anna, nee Holfeld, also died en route.
All of the above were of Sorbian or Wendish origin and were born in Upper Lusatia.