Johann Nicolaus³ Diederich (Cornelius², Peter¹) was born 19 May 1784 at Dürbach (now part of Lierstal), Province of the Rhineland, West Germany, the son of Cornelius and Anna (Laux) Diederichs.

He died 9 April 1849, age almost 65, at Lierstal. The funeral was held 13 April at St. Remigius Roman Catholic Church at Retterath, and he is probably buried in the adjoining cemetery. Retterath is a small community about a mile and a half north of Lierstal.

He married Anna Maria Catharina Esper about 1811, but we have not yet located the record of their marriage.

She was born 15 April 1785 at Masburg, Province of the Rhineland, the daughter of Paul and Maria Magdalena (Haubrich) Esper. She died 11 April 1840, age almost 55, at Hambuch, Province of the Rhineland. The funeral was held ___________________ at _________________ Church and she is probably buried in the cemetery of St. Remigius Catholic Church at Retterath.

Johann Nicolaus Diederich's birth and baptism are recorded in the baptismal register of St. Remigius Catholic Church. Sponsors were Johannes Nicolaus Laux and Anna Catharina Haubrich. See Kirchenbuch Retterath, Abt. 560/124, now preserved in the Bistumsarchiv (diocesan archives) at Trier. Retterath is in the Archdiocese of Trier.

His death is recorded both in the St. Remigius church register and the civil register of Virneburg. Entry No. 17 of the church register for April 1849 reads:

9th, died at Lierstall Nicolaus Diederich, all last sacraments properly administered, widower of the late Anna Maria Esper, sixty six years old, and was buried ritually on the 13th.

See Kirchenbuch Retterath, Abt. 72/585, no. 4, p. 76. The civil register reads:

In the year one thousand eight hundred forty nine, on the tenth of April, at eight o'clock in the forenoon, appeared before me Carl Friedrich Hermes, Burgomaster of Virneburg, Officer of the Civil Register, Michael Gundert, thirty years old, a farmer by profession, residing at Lierstall, who said he was a brother-in-law (sic., he was a son-in-law) of the deceased, and Johann Nicolaus Karst, thirty nine years old, a farmer by profession, residing at Lierstall, who said he was a son-in-law of the deceased, and both of them said, that on the ninth of April, one thousand eight hundred forty nine, at ten o'clock in the evening, Johann Nicolaus Diederich died, sixty five years old, a native of Lierstall, Governmental District Coblenz, a farmer by profession, residing at Lierstall, Governmental District Coblenz, a widower of the deceased Anna Maria Esper, formerly of Lierstall, son of the deceased Cornelius Diederich. The mother's name is unknown to the declarants, and these declaring persons undersigned this document together with myself, after it had been read out to them.

Anna Maria Catharina Esper's birth and baptism are recorded in the baptismal register of the Catholic Church at Masburg. She was baptized Maria Catharina. Sponsors were Casper Esper and Maria Catharina Josten of Masburg. See Kirchenbuch Masburg. Her death is also recorded in the civil register of Virneburg.

According to the civil record of their son Peter's birth in 1831, Johann Nicolaus Diederich and his family resided in house No. 31 in the village street of Lierstall.   Lierstall was then a small village of about 200 inhabitants. Mannebach, Retterath, Masburg, and Hambuch are all similarly sized villages within a few miles radius of Lierstall.

These small villages are in the Eifel Mountains, about 40 Kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the Rhine River city of Koblenz. The Eifel district is bounded on the north, east and south by the world-famous rivers and vineyards of the Ahr, Rhine, and Mosselle. To the west, the district passes into the forest of the Ardennes of Belgium and Luxembourg. It is not a particularly prosperous region today, nor was it then. Quite hilly and wooded, the cleared areas surrounding each village are divided into many small farm plots.

Unlike the United States, where farmers live on their land, the farmers in the Eifel district cluster together in small ancient villages. This is the result of land cultivation practices during the feudal system, which lasted for hundreds of years.

Under this political system, large territories were controlled by secular or ecclesiastical rulers who granted fiefs to their vassals in return for military assistance and a portion of the profits from the land. These vassals, in turn, further subdivided their fiefs into more minor fiefs allocated to lesser vassals and so on down to the lowest unit, which was normally the manor.

The stewards of the manor parceled out the surrounding land to the peasants who farmed their plots for their own subsistence and gave a portion of their produce to the manor in return. The peasants were also required to work a certain number of days each week or month on lands under the direct control of the manor.

Thus, the peasants normally built their huts around the manor, and it was from these small clusters that the villages evolved.

Each peasant was assigned a small plot around his hut for growing vegetables and raising geese, chickens, and bees. Grain for bread was grown in the assigned fields, and in this endeavor the entire family, including wives and children, worked. Cattle were grazed on the common meadow. If the peasant acquired hogs, he paid a fee to the manor for grazing them in the woods, and normally he could obtain wood for winter fires from the fallen timber in the woods as well. But he was forbidden to hunt in the woods or fish in the streams—these were reserved for the pleasure of the lord of the manor.

The peasant did not actually own his land, but the right to till it normally passed down by inheritance from one generation to the next and was often subdivided among the male children. In time, this created a problem since the plots of land might eventually become too small to support a family, particularly in a year of crop failures.

Over time, some peasants were forced to hire themselves out as day laborers or become artisans (weavers, blacksmiths, millers, carpenters) in order to supplement the meager returns from their small plots.

Eventually, these men migrated from the farm villages to towns to practice their trades, and over time it became more practical to use minted money as a medium of exchange than the barter and sharecropping system. Once the cash economy became widespread in a territory, the feudal system died out, and more people began to migrate to areas where relatively large tracts of land, including woods for hunting, could be bought cheaply.

Johann Nicolaus and Anna Maria Catharina (Esper) Diederich had at least six children whose names are recorded in the baptismal register of St. Remigius Catholic Church:


ii. Anna Maria Diederich

B. 2 February 1816 at Lierstall, Province of the Rhineland, West Germany. She was baptized the day she was born at St. Remigius Catholic Church at Retterath. Her sponsors were Anna Maria Schmitz and Paul Esper. See the baptism records of the church.

M. 17 November 1841 - Johann Nicolas Karst at St. Remigius Roman Catholic Church at Retterath. Reverend _______________ presided. The witnesses were ___________________ and ________________. See the marriage records of the church. The Civil marriage ceremony was 12 November 1841 at Virneburg. Also see Virneburg civil records.

He was born _______________ at _____________, _____________, the son of Matthias and Maria Catharina (Kreuser) Karst. See _________ birth records. He died _____________, age __, at _____________, ____________ and is buried in ___________________ Cemetery at __________________.

D. ______________, age __, at _______________, ____________ and is buried in _________ Cemetery at _________. See _________ death records.


iii. Maximillian Nicolaus Ferdinand Diederich

B. 4 June 1819 at Lierstall, Province of the Rhineland, West Germany. He was baptized Nicolaus Ferdinand the day he was born at St. Remigius Catholic Church at Retterath. His sponsors were Nicholaus Ferdinand Hartmann and Agnes Schaeffer. See the baptism records of the church. The civil record of his birth gives his name as Maximilian Niklaus.

M. ___ _______ ____ - _________ _______ at ____________ Roman Catholic Church at _____________, __________________. Reverend _______________ presided. The witnesses were ___________________ and ________________. See the marriage records of the church.

She was born _______________ at _____________, _______________, the daughter of ___________ and _________ (__________) ________________. See ___________ birth records. She died _____________, age __, at _____________, __________ and is buried in ___________________ Cemetery at __________________. See ___________ death records.

D. ______________, age __, at _______________, ________________ and is buried in ____________________ Cemetery at ___________________. See ______________ death records.


iv. Peter Diederich

B. 7 November 1824 at Lierstall, Province of the Rhineland, West Germany. He was baptized the day he was born at St. Remigius Catholic Church at Retterath. His sponsors were Peter Esper and Anna Maria Schaeffer of Limburg. See the baptism records of the church.

M. No.

D. before April 1831, age __, probably at Lierstall, and is probably buried in the cemetery of St. Remigius Catholic Church at Retterath.


v. Peter Diederich

B. 7 April 1831 at Lierstall, Province of the Rhineland West Germany. He was baptized 8 April 1831 at St. Remigius Catholic Church at Retterath. His sponsors were Peter Arens of Kaleber and Anna Maria Berg. See the baptism records of the church.

M. (1) 28 October 1855 - Catharina Schneider at St. Remigius Roman Catholic Church at Retterath. Reverend ______________________ presided. The witnesses were _____________________ and _________________. See the marriage records of _____________ Church, p. ____.

She was born _______________, at _____________, the daughter of Nicolaus and Anna Maria (Michels) Schneider. See __________ birth records. She died ________________, age __, of _____________, at __________, Brown County, Wisconsin and is buried in ___________________ Cemetery at __________________. See _________ County death certificates, v. ___, no. ____.

M. (2) __ _______ 1892 - Sarah ______ Stafford, a widow, at ________ Church at Town of _______________, Brown County, Wisconsin. Reverend ____________________ presided. The witnesses were _____________________ and _________________. See the marriage records of _____________ Church, p. ____. Also see _____________ County marriage records, v. ______, no. ______.

She was born _______________, at _____________, _____________ County, _____________, the daughter of ________ and _________ (_______) Stafford. See __________ birth records. She died ________________, age __, of _____________, at __________, ______________ County, _______________ and is buried in ___________________ Cemetery at __________________. See _________ County death certificates, v. ___, no. ____.

D. 1 February 1893, age 62, of ______________ at Town of Lawrence, Brown County, Wisconsin and is buried 5 February 1893 in Cady Cemetery, DePere, Brown County. See Brown County death certificates, v. ______, no. ________.