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Janssen/Phelan Family History
Our German Heritage
Covering the families Rupiper, Alby, and others
I am one eighth German, through my great-grandmother Mary M. Rupiper. The origin of the name Rupiper, often spelled Rupieper in the old country, comes from the Low German “Rohrpieper”. Loosely translated as “reed piper”, this could either be a reference to the nickname for a bird—the marsh pipit—or an occupational name for a musician who plays a reed pipe.
The story of our German heritage is the story of two families, the Rupipers and the Albys. Both families came from the Recklinghausen district of Germany. Recklinghausen is a city on the west side of Germany, due west of Berlin, near the border with the Netherlands. This region is sometimes referred to as the Ruhr Valley, after the river that runs through it. In the 19th century this district was part of Westfalen (aka Westfalia, Westphalen, etc.). There was a great deal of political upheaval going on in Central Europe in the 1800s, and at times Westfalen was a part of Germany, at times a part of the Prussian Empire, and at times an independent state. When the Rupipers and Albys crossed the Atlantic, it was a part of Prussia. Today Recklinghausen is located in the German province of Nordrhein-Westfalen. It is known as an industrial center, sort of like the Pittsburgh of Germany. The largest city nearby is Essen.
I have traced the Rupipers back to my great (x 6) grandparents, Johannes Rupiper and Elisabetha Gisen. Johannes was born about 1675 in Suderwich, a town near the city of Recklinghausen. His son Johannes Hindricus Rupiper was born in Suderwich 20 Feb 1709, and married Elisabetha Dietermann. They had at least four children, one of whom was Bernardus Rupiper, my great (x 4) grandfather, born in Suderwich about 1759. He married Maria Elisabetha Volmer. They had nine children. Of these nine children I know very little. The eldest was my great (x 4) uncle Joannes Gregorius Rupiper. The youngest of the nine children was my great-great-great-grandfather Johann Henrich Wenceslaus Rupiper. All of the Rupipers in America (at least those who immigrated before 1930) are related to each other, and all are descendants of these two sons.
United States of Rupiper
The chart below is an overview of the different branches of the Rupiper family, and how they are connected to one another. I have pieced together the various branches of the family that exist around the country, and constructed what I think is the largest Rupiper family tree anywhere on the internet. You can get a more detailed look by browsing through the Rupipers listed in the database portion of my site. Of course, there are many more Rupipers and Rupiepers in Germany, and I have not yet determined how we are connected to all of them.
My great (x3) grandfather Johann Henrich Wenceslaus Rupiper was born 28 Dec 1801 in Recklinghausen. He married Johanna Maria Nieman. They came to America in 1846, settling first in Cincinnati, then Milwaukee, and then on a farm four miles from the village of Waterford, Racine County, WI. I have found one mention of a Wenzel Rupiper, born in Recklinghausen in 1801, who worked as a cap maker in Germany and emigrated to Racine County in 1846 with a family of six. This is probably our man. Johann and Johanna Maria show up on the 1860 census in Waterford as John W. and Mary A. Rupiper. His occupation is listed as “gentleman”. I assume this means gentleman farmer. The 1870 census shows him working as a tailor, which would be more in keeping with my theory about the cap maker.
John and Mary had six children, though I only have detailed knowledge of what became of three of those children. Wilhelmina Rupiper married Balthasar Wind, and they had two children, Alois and Frances. Joseph A. Rupiper was a carpenter and a Civil War veteran. In 1879 he moved to Clay County, NE where he opened a furniture and undertaking business. He married Fidelia Mary Foat, and they had a daughter Josie who married Thomas Bennett. Julius W. Rupiper was my great-great-grandfather. Like his brother, Julius worked as a carpenter, and also as a cooper. Julius married Henrietta Alby, whose official birth name was Maria Gertrude Alby.
From the Alps to America
The name Alby originated in Alsace (now a part of France, but historically a German province), and comes from “Alb,” the German word for the Alps. Franz Alby, my great (x 6) grandfather, was born around 1710 in the region known as the Schwäbische Alb (neither a state nor a district, but a mountain range). At some point during his life he moved to Recklinghausen, where he died about 1770. His son Franciscus Alby was also born in the Schwäbische Alb, around 1740, and moved to Recklinghausen.
Franciscus married Maria Josepha Gertrud Clara Lohoff, daughter of Wilhelm Lohoff and Clara Elisabeth Berste. They had at least three children, one of whom was my great (x 4) grandfather, Johannes Theodor Franciscus Alby, born 28 Mar 1776, in Recklinghausen. Theodore, as he was known, married Anna Maria Moellers in 1799. Anna was the daughter of Wilhelm Moellers and Maria Catherina Maybaum. The name Maybaum seems obviously a Jewish name. Though Maria Catherina probably practiced Christianity, having married a Christian man, it seems likely her ancestors were Jews. Since she is my great (x 5) grandmother, that would make me 1/256 Jewish, in a family tree populated almost entirely by Catholics.
Theodore and Anna Maria had at least seven children, one of whom was my great-great-great grandfather, Johann Nicolaus Alby. Johann married Maria Carolina Albertine Ziegler on 11 Sep 1827 at St. Agatha Catholic Church in Dorsten, a town in the Recklinghausen district. She was the daughter of Johann Ziegler and Agnes Alfs. In 1847, Johann and Carolina Alby immigrated to America with their six children, and from then on were known as John and Caroline. They settled on a farm in Norway Township, Racine County, WI. They had six children who were born in Prussia and made the journey to America with them. One of these was my great-great grandmother Henrietta (Maria Gertrude) Alby. As I mentioned earlier, she married Julius W. Rupiper.
Reunion
These two families from Recklinghausen, the Rupipers and the Albys, had settled in western Racine County, which in the days of horse and buggy was somewhat removed from the big city of Racine, which lies on the east side of the county, along Lake Michigan. Western Racine county has two cities, Waterford, to the north, and Burlington, to the south, that lie within five miles of each other. Norway Township, where the Alby farm was located, was just to the east of Waterford. The two cities were close enough to each other that there was plenty of travel back and forth between the two, and families relocating from one city to the other.
The Rupipers and Albys were already acquainted with one another in Germany. Julius Rupiper and Henrietta Alby were born a few townships apart, and were playmates as children. After both families ended up in the Waterford area, the two became reacquainted, and their childhood friendship turned into love. The two families were brought together in matrimony on 8 Apr 1856 in Burlington, WI when Julius and Henrietta married in St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
Alby Cousins
I have found a great deal of detailed information on our Alby cousins, thanks mostly to the web site of the Burlington Historical Society. The data from this site paints a picture of Burlington as a real-life Mayberry, with one of our cousins taking on the role of Sheriff Taylor, another acting as Floyd the Barber, another as Otis the loveable town drunk, and so on. All kidding aside, the Alby family and their descendants seem to have been integral to the development of Waterford, Burlington, and western Racine County.
For example, John Gerhard Alby, my first cousin thrice removed, was the town blacksmith in Waterford in the early 1900s. He also built and repaired wagons. In 1917, John G. sold an interest in the business to his son Everard Joseph Alby, known as Abe. They were smart businessmen, smart enough to see that blacksmithing would go the way of the dinosaur. So they bought out somebody’s welding business and started up an automotive repair garage. Soon after they also ventured into auto sales, dealing first in Cleveland Cars, then in Overland Automobiles, and then Whippet brand cars. The family business continued to expand, and became known as Alby Motor Co. Abe took some time off from the auto business and became a policeman for about a decade, but then got back into it in the 1940s and opened a Pontiac dealership. Several other Albys were involved in automotive businesses—garages, dealerships, filling stations—and some of these companies may still exist in Waterford and Burlington today.
Another family business that’s still going strong in Waterford is Alby Materials, Inc. The company was founded by Ronald D. Alby and his wife Marianne Meyers in 1969. It started out as a ready-mix concrete and mining operation, but has since branched out into all matter of construction materials. The company now has two locations in Waterford, as well as additional locations in Elkhorn and Pewaukee, WI. Ronald Alby died in 1989. His son Terry Alby, my fourth cousin, is currently president of the company.
Among the families in western Racine County who are related to us, through the Albys, are those with the surnames Kortendick, Maney, Mealy, Patrick, Plucker, and Willich. One relative worth mentioning is Shirlee Emmons, my third cousin once removed. She is a world-renowned soprano who has performed all over the globe. She was the daughter of Myron Frederick Emmons and Irene Marie Kortendick. She did not grow up in Waterford or Burlington, but in Stevens Point, WI, where her father owned a stationery and office supply store. She attended Lawrence University in Appleton, WI and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, PA. Her professional achievements are too numerous to list here, but I will mention one. The Stevens Point Daily Journal had an interesting story about a two-month tour she took through Brazil in 1953, as part of an artist exchange program. She performed 24 concerts there and was treated like royalty, receiving gifts of jewelry, “leopard” skins (probably jaguar?), and crocodile purses. She has taught vocal music at Princeton, Boston University, Rutgers, and other prestigious schools, and has written at least three books on vocal music. Shirlee Emmons now teaches privately in New York, where her students include members of the Metroplitan Opera and New York City Opera.
The Children of Julius and Henrietta
Let’s leave the Albys and their cousins, and return to the Rupipers, already in progress. Julius Rupiper and Henrietta Alby had 10 children: Louisa, Julius, Augusta, Wilhelmina (Amena), Ida, William, Sophia Elizabeth, Charles Gerard, Mary, and Rudolph. The Burlington Standard newspaper of 13 Jan 1883 reported that the family moved to De Pere, Brown County, WI. I don’t know the reason for the move, but I’m glad it happened, because otherwise the Rupipers never would have met the Janssens. Julius Sr. died in October 1911, and Henrietta died 18 Aug 1916.
Anna Maria Louisa Rupiper, called Louisa, was born 18 Mar 1857. She married Joseph W. Sanders. Joseph, like his wife, was born in Waterford, Racine County, WI to German inmmigrant parents. Joseph and Louisa married in De Pere, WI on 5 Nov 1878. This means they were living in De Pere before the rest of the Rupipers. Perhaps they convinced the family to follow them. Joseph worked as a laborer in a brick yard and later as a section man for the railroad. Joseph and Louisa Sanders had eleven children: Cecilia, Louis B., Mary F., Wilhelmina, Julia, Josephine, Benedict, Frances, William, Joseph W. Jr., and Anna.
Julius Rupiper Jr. was born 15 Nov 1858. Julius was a saloon keeper. The building in which his saloon was housed is still standing in West De Pere. I believe the tavern was eventually taken over by Henry Rupiper, a cousin, and passed to his son Leland (Curley) Rupiper, who retired in 1976. When I was a kid the tavern was called Wishart’s, but it still had the name Rupiper painted on the side of the building. Every time we drove by the place, my parents would point at the Rupiper sign and say, “You’re related to them.” Since then the Rupiper name has either been sandblasted off the brick or painted over, and the tavern is now called The Sports Corner. Julius was also involved in local politics, and served on the Brown County Board. He married Mary Rooney about 1880. She immigrated from French Canada, though her parents were born in Ireland. Julius died in July 1912 from injuries suffered in an accident with a runaway horse. His horse took fright and ran down a hill toward the river. Julius and Mary were thrown from their carriage onto the railroad tracks. Julius suffered a fractured skull, and Mary’s arm was broken in two places.
Augusta Rupiper, born 4 Mar 1861, married George Grover. He was a carpenter, born in Iowa. They had nine children: Clare, Harland J., Bessie, Theresa, Ruth A., Alma, Florence A., Wilbur J., and Raymond. Two of the daughters, Clare and Florence, moved to Los Angeles County, CA, and married Norman Jackson and Grover Loggins, respectively. Harland J. Grover moved to Stevens Point, WI. He had three wives, but no children. Ruth married Joseph Patterson and moved to Kaukauna, WI. Alma married Ferris Nelson, Wilbur married Philomene Kaye (probably a cousin of ours from the Belgian side of the family), and Raymond married Clarissa Duaime.
Wilhelmina Rupiper, born 2 Apr 1863, married James Robertson. They had seven children: William, Myrtle, Augusta, Henrietta, Julius, John, and James.
Maria Sophia Elizabeth Rupiper, born 1 Feb 1870, married George Barth. They lived in Green Bay, WI, where he worked as a cigar manufacturer. They had three daughters: Alta, Oda, and Erma.
Charles Gerard Rupiper, born 23 Sep 1872, died at the age of 19, unmarried.
Joseph Friedrich Rudolph Rupiper was born 16 Sep 1878. He married Wilhelmina (Minnie) Vander Zanden. Sometime around 1919, Rudolph was mayor of De Pere. He also served as city councilman and on the school board. He died 6 Jan 1955. Minnie died in 1967.
Ida Johanna Maria Rupiper, born 2 Aug 1865, married Henry J. Janssen. They had a daughter named Viola. William Rupiper, born 18 Oct 1867, married Annie Janssen. William was a machinist and mechanic. Mary M. Rupiper, born 24 Apr 1875, married Jacob Janssen. These three Janssens were siblings, the children of William Janssen and Wilhelmina Geenen.
Mary M. Rupiper and Jacob Janssen were my great grandparents. Mary’s nickname was “Mate”, which appears in her obituary and on her funeral prayer cards. Mary was a lifelong member of St. Boniface Church in West De Pere. She sang in the church choir for over 50 years, and was a member of the Christian Mothers. Mary and Jacob Janssen were married 24 Oct 1899. They had two children, Carl and Marion. To read more about the Janssens, and the continuation of this story, see my essay on Our Dutch Heritage.
I have not included any footnotes within these historical essays. For information on my sources look up the names of individuals in my genealogical database (links below). All source information is listed there.