The Routzahn Family

The Routzahn Family

Some family names carry more than people — they carry a whole road map. Ours winds back through Indiana and Pennsylvania to a little village in Germany, and this page is where the road is kept.

The Routzahn story begins with Johann Ludwig Rauenzahner, who left Beerfelden, Germany in 1750 with his wife and their first four children. Over two centuries the name traveled by foot, by wagon, and by marriage — Rauenzahner, Rauenzahn, Routzahn, Routson — through Berks and Adams Counties in Pennsylvania, and on into Indiana, where the family put down roots in Connersville.

Two generations back, Paul K. Routzahn married Kay Danner and raised their family here. Their story, his letters home from the war, and the albums of every Christmas in between are all on this site — this page is their home base.

Rauenzahner To Routson: A Family on the Move

RAUENZAHNER TO ROUTSON: A Family on the Move. By John P. Dern and M. Marjorie Waidner. 779 pp. Numerous illus, Appendices, 20,000+ entry index. Smythe sewn and hard cover. 1997 (1993) "The book is excellent and surely the definitive book on the Routson families of America" - Western Maryland Genealogy "Many maps of land holdings and excellent footnotes make this the most complete prolific family" - Carroll County Times One of the most comprehensive Pennsylvania German genealogies ever, and already in its second printing! The late John Dern is well known for many decades of work on 18th century German immigrants. He was ably seconded here by Marjorie Waidner. Johann Ludwig Rauenzahner (1711-1778) emigrated in 1750 from Beerfelden, Germany with his wife and first four children. They settled first in Rockland Twp, Berks Co., Penna. and then moved in 1774 to Germany Twp, which was then in York Co. and now is in Adams Co., Pennsylvania. By the time of his death he had established a large family whose descendants spell their name in 39 different forms. There are major concentrations in Frederick County, MD and vicinity. This book follows descendants of both sons and daughters in each generation, in many cases right down to the present time. Because lines are followed out of the Rauenzahner surname, there is an enormous amount of information on descendants whose surnames today are not variant of Rauenzahner. In addition, the appendices give genealogical data on immigrants surnamed Lang, Steck, Volk, Kennard and Reck. If you have Rauenzahner blood, this is your story! If you are researching the great German Migration, this book will be extremely useful--and the massive 20,000 plus entry Every Name Index may even help you locate that elusive German emigrant you haven't yet been able to pin down!

Keepsakes

The family keeps its own record — not in one book, but in boxes: photo albums, letters home from the war, obituaries saved in the drawer, and home movies on tape. Everything below is the family's own archive, kept the way the family keeps things.

The family tree itself, as kept in Family Tree Maker — every name, date, and branch as far back as we've traced it. The files open in Family Tree Maker (or any genealogy program that reads .ftw).