For six generations, the life of one family was written down in Latin by the parish priests of Rangendingen — a village in Hohenzollern, in the shadow of the castle. Baptisms, betrothals, marriages, a confirmation: a few lines each, entered in the register and left there.
This is the paternal line, record by record, from the baptism of Vitus Dieringer in 1664 to the day his great-great-great-grandson Coelestin stepped off a ship in New York in 1850.
From the Rangendingen parish registers · FamilySearch microfilms 335 & 650
Parents: Joannes and Barbara Dieringer
Note “Veit” is the Latin version of “Vitus.”
On the twenty-ninth of October 1681, the honorable young man Vitus Deiringer and the chaste maiden Christina Wild, both of Rangendingen, celebrated their betrothal according to the Holy Canons, before me, with the required witnesses Jacob Edelman the elder and Michael Widman.
Note Vitus marrying at age 17 was unusually young.
Note Christina Wild must have died between 1681 and 1687. Susanna Daner is from Grosselfingen, a town 20 miles from Rangendingen.
Note Women’s names are designated with the “in” suffix, so “Daner” becomes “Danerin.”
Parents: Vitus Dieringer and Susanna Daner
Godparents: Michael Sailin[?], Catharina Metzger
In the same year and on the same day, Michael Dieringer and Christina Strobl also entered into betrothal, with the honorable married man Johann Baur and the honorable young man Michael Dieringer [another young man with the same name] as witnesses.
Parentes: Michaël Dieringer, Christina Stroblin
Patrini: Silvester Schor[?] and Anna Maria Stroblin
Minister: Joannes Christophorus Mang
Witnesses: Michael Edelman and Petrus Dieringer
Parents: Martinus Dieringer and Ursula Lobmüllerin
Godparents: Mathias Wannamachor and Elyabela Nesan
Parents: Martinus Dieringer and Ursula Lobmüllerin
Sponsor: Joannes Dieringer
Witnesses: Simon Widmayer, Xaverius Dieringer
Note Mathias and Antonia had a son, Martinus, who follows. Antonia died before 1788, in which year Mathias remarried and had additional children.
Parents: Mathias Dieringer and Antonia Widmayer
Godparents: Antonius Dieringer and [illegible]
Witnesses: Carolus Dieringer and Francisca Dieringer
Note H.J. — Latin “honestus juvenis,” English “honorable young man.” P.V. — Latin “pudica virgo,” English “chaste maiden.”
Parents: Martinus Dieringer and Catharina Koun
Godparents: Antonius Dieringer and Magdalena Kallbacher
Note Coelestin is his parents’ 8th child, born 19 years after their marriage.
Note Coelestin’s age should be 20.
One hundred eighty-six years in a single parish, ended by an Atlantic crossing. Coelestin Dieringer arrived at the Port of New York with his brother Macarius on May 13, 1850, and the family’s story continued in America.