The Durrenberger Family
This site is devoted to the genealogy and history of the Durrenberger family of Alsace, Switzerland, the United States, and wherever else its members may be found.
The centerpiece of this site is the ever-growing database of Durrenbergers and their descendants, made possible by the generosity of numerous researchers in the family. The ultimate theoretical goal is to connect all the branches of the Durrenberger family in one large tree. I am continually collecting information about the family and periodically updating this site, so please check back from time to time. Here is an overview of the site:
If you are already familiar with this site, you can go directly to the database from here.
Note: For those interested in genealogy of northern Alsace, I now have a sister site devoted to the Jung family of Engwiller (Bas Rhin), Alsace. The URL is http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~fams/jung/index.html
The earliest Durrenbergers of which we have evidence lived in canton Basel-Landschaft (the district around Basel city), Switzerland, which following the Reformation was a Calvinist region. According to Reformed Church records from the region, the surname was already numerous there at the turn of the 17th century. The name is clearly Germanic in origin: the suffix -berger refers to someone hailing from a place ending with -berg, meaning mountain, and the prefix drren- means dry or barren. Hence, the surname was probably originally taken by someone who had come from Drrenberg, a dry or barren mountain.
The surname is still concentrated in the region around Basel today, but in the intervening centuries, the Durrenbergers have spread far and wide, most notably to Alsace in France, and from there to the United States. Changes in time and space have caused the name to take on many different spellings. In Switzerland, France, and Germany, the spellings Durrenberger, Drrenberger (Duerrenberger), and Dirrenberger predominate. In the United States and Canada, the name has also become Derrenberger, Derenberger, Dernberger, Durenberger, Terryberry, Derryberry, Derreberry, Dayberry and many other variants.
Following the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), the area lying between France and Germany known as Alsace had become drastically depopulated as a result of the fighting and the ensuing famine and disease. With many towns nearly empty and economic activity at a standstill, local feudal lords encouraged repopulation by the Swiss, and as a result many Swiss migrated north to Alsace seeking land and economic opportunity. Several Durrenbergers were among them, coming from Basel-Landschaft and settling in Alsatian towns like Mertzwiller and Birlenbach in Bas-Rhin (northern Alsace), and Ribeauvill(c) in Haut-Rhin (southern Alsace). Their descendants, some Lutheran and some Catholic, were numerous, and the name Durrenberger to this day is concentrated in Mertzwiller and environs.
As Alsace's population grew, people again sought economic opportunity elsewhere, and in the 18th and 19th centuries the destination of choice was America. Some Alsatian Durrenbergers arrived in the American Colonies as early as 1738, but many more Durrenbergers from both Alsace and Switzerland came in the 19th century with the great waves of immigration from Europe to the United States. One goal of this website is to connect the descendants of all these separate immigrants. I currently have some miscellaneous information on 18th century Durrenberger immigrants to America here.
Another goal is to connect various other Durrenberger branches to the Swiss family if such connections exist. Two large families whose connection to the Swiss/Alsatian Durrenberger family is not yet known are (1) Heinrich Durrenberger, born in the Palatinate circa 1696, but moved to Alsting in northern Lorraine, where he has numerous descendants, and (2) Gephart Ignatius Durrenberger, born in Wurttemberg in 1818, but moved to Minnesota, from which his many descendants have fanned out across the United States. There are yet other German families by the names of Duernberger and Dornberger, but their connection to the Durrenberger family is much less certain, and are considered beyond the scope of this website.
The database / family tree is an ongoing project that is being continually updated. The primary focus of the database is on people with the surname Durrenberger (or variations thereof), but many Durrenberger descendants with other surnames (as a result of maternal descent) have been included as well. To limit the size of the project as well as protect the privacy of living descendants, the database includes only those persons born about 1910 or earlier. Furthermore, ancestors of non-Durrenbergers (e.g. parents of spouses of Durrenberger descendants) are also not included as separate entries except where they shed light on sibling relationships; however, when known, they are generally described in the notes.
The database has been created for the Web using the Gedpage program. Entering brings up a list of all surnames included, and clicking on a surname then brings you to a list of all persons in the database with that surname. Clicking again on an individual brings up the appropriate Family Group Sheet. One current limitation of the database is the inability to properly display source information. I do keep records of the source of all the information I have entered in the database, and the other contributors have source information for the content they have included, so until such time as I can get the source information on the web database, if you have any questions about sources or references, please contact the appropriate contributor.
All persons are hyperlinked to one another to the extent that their relationship is known. At the moment, not everyone in the database is connected to everyone else, although one ultimate theoretical goal of the project is to make such connections if they exist. A list of the earliest Durrenberger ancestor of each of the discrete trees in the database is useful for getting a sense of how many unconnected families are currently represented in the database, and can be found here.
This site was last updated October 6, 2009
Oct 6, 2009. As a result of the discovery that George Derreberry, one of the original 7 Derreberrys of Burke Co., had only daughters, two more unconnected Derryberrys have been connected to the larger tree. John Deraberry/Deberry of Monroe and Itawamba Cos., MS, has been added as a son of Andrew Derryberry and Sarah Rucker; and Rebecca Derryberry of Russell Co., VA has been added as a daughter-in-law (husband's name still unknown) of John and Edey Derryberry of Burke Co., NC. The family of Charles Frederick Durrenberger, an Alsatian immigrant who lived in Saratoga Springs, NY, has also been added.
Jul 24, 2009. The family of George Derreberry, one of the original 7 Derreberrys of Burke Co., NC, has been added; George died in 1807, leaving widow Nancy O'Kelley and 3 daughters. In addition, the DeBerry family of Robertson Co., TN has been added; they descend from James F. and John V. DeBerry, two sons of Michael Derryberry and Mary McCormack of Kentucky. John Deraberry of Monroe and Itawamba Cos., MS, formerly unplaced, has been added as a child of Andrew Derryberry and Sarah Rucker. E. A. Derryberry of Wilson Co., TN, formerly unplaced, has been confirmed as Ephraim, son of John T. and Phoebe Derryberry of Maury Co., TN. Finally, thanks to help from Donna Fortman, 2 daughters of Jacob Terryberry of Grimsby Twp. in Ontario, have been added, namely Nancy (wife of Adam Beamer) and Mary (wife of William Henry). Much other information on the Derryberry and Terryberry families has been updated.
Jun 14, 2009. Much new information about the Derryberry family (thanks for help from Guy Fay Derryberry and Bob Derryberry) and the Terryberry family (thanks for help from Donna Fortman) has been added, and other information has been corrected. Children of William Derenberger of Morris Co., NJ have been added, and Elizabeth Terryberry (wife of Garrett Pittenger) has been removed as a daughter of Philip Derenberger and Mary Ann Hann, and set off as an unconnected family, since her parents are now unknown. Several other unconnected Durrenberger families have been added, particularly those that immigrated from Switzerland and Alsace to the U.S. in the second half of the 19th century. See here for a complete list of unconnected families.
Feb 7, 2009. Information from WV vital records added to the Derenberger family. Information from Canadian death records added to the Ontario Terryberry family. Edith Terryberry of Philadelphia, formerly unconnected, is now known to be a daughter of Herman Terryberry of Ontario, who later moved to Philadelphia. Information from the Texas death records added to the Derryberry family. Finally, a new, unconnected family has been added, that of Jacob D. Barker of Delaware Co., PA, now known to have been a Durrenberger immigrant from Switzerland. Many thanks to Becky Ekins, Mary Parks, Beth Rippel, and Philip Barker for information about this family.
Dec 14, 2008. Information about the Derryberry family from Alcorn Co., MS funeral home records and many other sources has been added
Oct 26, 2008. More information about the Derryberry family from Tennessee and North Carolina marriage and North Carolina death records has been added. Also, much information from published books of local (typically county-level) U.S. history has been added. Many such books were written between about 1880 and 1920, and contain biographical sketches of prominent local residents. The genealogical information in these sketches appears reasonably trustworthy, as the books were written contemporary to the subjects.
For a complete update history, click here.
www.durrenberger.org : an excellent website pertaining exclusively to the descendants of two Durrenbergers in particular: (1) Gephart Ignatius Durrenberger, born 1818 in Wurttemberg and immigrated to Minnesota, and (2) Joseph Durrenberger, born about 1820 in Alsace and immigrated to Erie Co., NY, and many of whose descendants went to Texas. Gephart's connection to the Swiss/Alsatian family is unknown, but Joseph was probably born in Mertzwiller. This site also has general information on the history of the Durrenbergers. (There is an older version of this site here.)
Early Families of Northwest New Jersey : a large database of families who settled northwest New Jersey in the 18th century, and their descendants. Included in the database is Stephan Durrenberger (called Stephan Terryberry), son of Peter Durrenberger of Mertzwiller, and some of his descendants.
A Terryberry Family : another website devoted to Stephan Durrenberger and his descendants, authored by Gene Singer. It focuses on one particular line of descent from Stephan which went to Ontario, Canada in the early 19th century. It is written in story format, with biographical details of each descendant.
The National Derryberry Family Association: this page is devoted to the Derryberry family which has been traced back to Burke Co., NC in the late 18th century. Although their connection to the Durrenberger family has not yet been documented, results of DNA testing shows they are almost certainly a branch of this family. There has been much speculation that this family is descended from siblings of Stephan Durrenberger (son of Peter Durrenberger of Mertzwiller and founder of the Terryberry family of northwest New Jersey), but no connection has yet been proven.
Fannie Helena "Lena" Derryberry : this page is devoted to the ancestors and descendants of Lena Derryberry of Collin Co., TX. She was a daughter of Civil War soldier Henry A. Derryberry and Mary Lasley, who came to Texas from Missouri.
The Drrenberger Family of Diegten : this page, mostly in French, is authored by Robert Drrenberger of Switzerland, and contains information about the history of the family in general and his particular line of Drrenbergers from the town of Diegten, KT Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland.
The Derryberry Families In America : The 1995 first edition of Bob Derryberry's exhaustive book on this family is now available online through LDS. An extensively revised second edition was published in 2006, and so this online version has a considerable amount of outdated information and needs to be used with caution, but it remains a useful volume.
GenForum's Durrenberger discussion group : a public message board devoted to the Durrenberger surname. Post your queries and comments for the general public here. A separate GenForum group exists for the Derryberry surname.
Ancestry.com discussion groups for Durrenberger, Derenberger, Dernberger, Terriberry, Terryberry, Derryberry, Derreberry, and Dayberry: more public message boards devoted to particular spelling variants of the surname. The Derenberger group pertains primarily to the West Virginia branch of the family (see also the Derenberger Genealogy page mentioned below), the Dernberger group so far pertains to the Oakland Co., MI branch, and the Terryberry group has attracted several family branches using close variants of that spelling.
Cercle d'histoire et d'arch(c)ologie de l'Alsace du Nord : a website (in French) pertaining to the history and archaeology of northern Alsace, authored by Daniel Peter, an archivist at the Archives D(c)partementales de Bas-Rhin in Strasbourg (see below under Contributors). A good source of general information about the region of northern Alsace from which many members of the Durrenberger family hail.
Alsabase : a website devoted to Alsatian genealogy presented by the Cercle Gnalogique d'Alsace which should be very helpful to anyone researching Alsatian ancestry. It includes databases of Alsatian surnames and the towns in which they can be found, a large collection of links for Alsatian genealogy, and contact information for researchers. Primarily in French.
Derenberger Genealogy : a website authored by Skip Derenberger devoted to the history and genealogy of the Derenberger family of West Virginia. I believe this family to be the descendants of Peter Drrenberger of Gundershoffen who emigrated to America in 1791. Further details on this family are forthcoming.
The Alsatian Durrenberger and Dirrenberger families of Birlenbach and environs.
The Alsatian Durrenberger family of Ribeauvill(c) and environs. The IGI suggests that the Durrenbergers of Bowling Green, KY have their origins in this area.
The Alsatian Durrenberger family of Eschbourg. (Durrenbergers/Durenbergers from this town emigrated from Alsace in 1817.) Also Durrenbergers in Eschbach (late 1700's) and Walbourg (1805-1850).
The following people have all generously contributed their research to the database. Please contact them if you have any questions about their respective branches of the family. (Replace the "#" with "@" in the email addresses. While less convenient than the old direct links, this helps guard against automated email-seeking programs used in spamming.)
Sallie McHenry has contributed her exhaustive research on the Derrenberger family who lived primarily in Holmes and Ashland Counties, Ohio; they are descendants of Michael Durrenberger who was born 1779 in Mertzwiller, Alsace, and Catharina Margaretha Leininger who was born 1781 in Mietesheim, Alsace. This area of research is still ongoing; she is continuing to post new information to this website all the time, so please check back frequently for updated information. Sallie can be contacted at SALLIE123#webtv.net.
Karen Tavernier has contributed a large amount of research on the Dernberger family of Warren County, New Jersey and Oakland County, Michigan. This family is descended from George Frederick Durrenberger or Dernberger, who came to what is now Warren County from neighboring Morris County, NJ in about 1790. Many of his descendants migrated west to Michigan between 1835 and 1865. Her research is ongoing, and she can be contacted at kdtavernier#hotmail.com.
Ella Foster has contributed her research on the descendants of Thomas Terryberry in Schuyler and Steuben Cos., NY and environs, particularly the family of his son Minard Teribury. She has provided many newspaper articles and important documents related to this family. She can be contacted at blueemf607#yahoo.com.
David Faux has contributed transcribed birth and death information from the family Bible of Philip Terryberry and Dorothy Swackhammer; these transcripts were received from the late Florence Watson, and may be the only extant records of many of these events. He can be contacted at fauxdk#yahoo.com.
The late Barbara Sprik kindly contributed her research on the descendants of Sarah Derenberger and Philip Hetzer of Meigs County, OH, including information from the Hetzer-Derrenberger family Bible. Sarah was the daughter of John Peter Derenberger who settled in Wood Co., WV.
Betty Harley has contributed information on the descendants of Samuel Terreberry and Catherine Moore. Samuel was a son of Philip Durrenberger of Morris Co., NJ who settled in what is now Welland Co., Ontario in the early 19th century. Betty can be contacted at betty#vaxxine.com.
Donna Fortman has contributed her research on several branches of the Terryberry family of Ontario, most particularly those in Grimsby and Saltfleet Twps. She can be contacted at Dmayteach#sympatico.ca.
Joyce Garrott has contributed information on the descendants of Adelphia Dunbargar (Dunbarger) and Martin Barringer of Washington County, OH and later Dayton, OH. Adelphia was the daughter of John and Sarah Dunbargar, and great-granddaughter of John Peter Derenberger of Wood Co., WV. Joyce can be contacted at joyk8#yahoo.com.
Mike Apgar has contributed the descendants of Mary Jane Terriberry of Hunterdon County, NJ, a granddaughter of Jacob Derenberger and Rachel n(c)e Fritts. Mike is currently Vice President of the Apgar Association. He can be contacted at maapgar#comcast.net.
Daniel Hieronymus has contributed information on the descendants of Peter Durrenberger, youngest son of Christian Durrenberger and Anna Margaretha Graff of Mertzwiller. Peter's descendants, primarily the Pfeiffer family, moved from Alsace to Lorraine in the 19th century. Daniel can be contacted at daniel.hieronymus#esstin.uhp-nancy.fr.
Jean Nicolas Bouschbacher has contributed his research on the Durrenberger family of Alsting, Lorraine and environs. They are descendants of Heinrich (Henri) Durrenberger, who was born about 1696 in Neuleiningen, Palatinate and moved subsequently to Alsting in northern Lorraine. Jean Nicolas can be contacted at jnbetz#rtvc.fr.
Gilbert Hoff has contributed information on the descendants of Johannes Durrenberger, son of the Catholic Christian Durrenberger and Margaretha Reymann of Mertzwiller. Married first to Catharina Jochem, Johannes moved from Mertzwiller to Sturzelbronn, Lorraine between 1780 and 1793, when he married there a second time to Catharina Otter. Gilbert can be contacted at gilbert.hoff#free.fr.
Benjamin Durrenberger has contributed the ancestry of Jacob Georges Durrenberger of Mertzwiller. Jacob Georges is descended from three different Durrenberger lines: Adam Durrenberger and Lisbeth Lemmer, Eva Durrenberger and Georg Ledig, and Barbara Durrenberger and Georg Abt, all of Mertzwiller. Benjamin can be contacted at durrenbergerbenjamin#yahoo.fr.
Daniel Peter has written several books in French which contain invaluable information about the lives of the Durrenbergers in Mertzwiller, Alsace and environs, and may be of interest to anyone researching this family. Daniel can be contacted at dabri#free.fr.
Peter, Daniel. Natre, vivre, et mourir dans l'Outre-Fort (1648-1848). Strasbourg, 1998 (2nd edition).
Peter, Daniel. Mertzwiller du village au bourg. Mertzwiller, 1986.
Brian Anton is the author of this website and maintainer of the database. I am a descendant of Michael Drrenberger who was born 1861 in Gundershoffen, Alsace. Michael and his two brothers, George and Philipp, immigrated to New York City in the 1870s/80s. I am actively researching the Durrenberger families of northern Alsace and Switzerland. I can be contacted at anton#neb.com.
All contributions (both additions and corrections) are welcome and strongly encouraged, so please, if you have Durrenberger roots or even just run across information pertinent to the family, contact me by email at anton#neb.com.
Author: Brian Anton
Email (replace "#" with "@"): anton#neb.com
Last updated: October 6, 2009