Family History

Jacob Reigel (Reichel) was born to David (Sr.) and Anna Reichel in Dietel, Russia. He was one of seven children: David Jr., Peter, Jacob, Katherine, Andreas, Eva, and Marie Elizabeth. The following information is what we know about Jacob Reichel and his siblings.

Four of David and Anna's sons and two of their daughters went to America in the early 1900's with their spouses and children. Two of the sons (David and Peter) became dairy farmers in Wisconsin and had adjoining farms which are still occupied by Reichel descendants.

The oldest son, David, was born July 24, 1866, in Dietel, Russia. He married Elizabeth Yeager on December 29, 1892, and immigrated to American in the early 1900's, settling in Bruce, Wisconsin. David and Elizabeth had eleven children: Eva, David, Jacob, George, Elizabeth, Mary, Kathryn, Alexander, Henry, Frieda, and Emma. The first six children were born in Dietel, Russia, and the last five were born in the U.S.

Peter Reichel was born January 29, 1872, in Dietel, Russia. (NOTE: Just recently, we connected with a great-granddaughter-in-law of Peter's, Carol Reichel, and she was able to provide some "missing links" in our family history! In addition, Carol has been in touch with a descendant of David, Peter's brother, which is where we received the information above for that part of the family. Thanks to Carol, here's the information we now know about Peter.) Peter married Kathryn Ring and they had nine children: Jacob, Peter, David, Andrew, Elizabeth, Leda, twins Alexander and Frieda, and Lydia. Peter and Kathryn immigrated to American and settled in Bruce, Wisconsin.

Jacob Reichel, Sr. was born May 17, 1876, in Dietel, Russia. He married Sophie Ruff, and they had a total of 15 children (three of those children died before the age of five). Jacob and Sophie immigrated to American in 1902 and settled in Ft. Collins and then in Longmont, Colorado. Because this webpage is mainly focused on the offspring of Jacob and Sophie, much more information may be found under the Family Tree link.

Katherine Reichel was born December 10, 1878, in Dietel, Russia. She married David Busch. They immigrated to America in the early 1900's and settled in Worland, Wyoming. Katherine and David had nine children: George, David Jr., Henry, Elizabeth, Andrew, Jacob, John, Peter, and Lydia.

Andreas Reichel was born in Dietel, Russia, although we do not know his date of birth. He married Marie Elizabeth Kramer. They immigrated to America but returned to Russia some time later (after 1917). Click on this link for more information on Andreas and his family.

Eva (AKA Eflis) Reichel was born in Dietel, Russia, although we do not know her date of birth. She married Jorg David. Eva and Jorg never immigrated to America but instead stayed in Russia. From letters written from Russia, it is clear that they had at least three children but there may have been more.

Marie Elizabeth (AKA Marilis) Reichel was born in Dietel, Russia. Although we do not know her date of birth, it is likely that she was the oldest daughter, born between David Jr. and Peter. She married David Ring and they had six children. They came to American but returned to Russia some time before 1917. The only other information known about this family is that one of their daughters was crippled, and David Ring contracted typhoid fever in 1923 leaving him blind, which was a huge hardship on the family.

Sophie Ruff was born to David Ruff and Effie Keller in Dietel, Russia. Sophie's mother, Effie, died in childbirth, leaving Sophie as an only child for a short time. Sophie's father married Margaret Pitch, and they had eight children: David Jr., Eva, Elizabeth, Jacob, George, Andrew, Henry, and Mary.

We have no information on Effie Keller, Sophie's mother. David Ruff was the son of George Ruff and Anna E. Lutz. Sophie's step-mother, Margaret, was the daughter of Christian and Christina (David) Pitch. We do not know how many, if any, siblings Effie, Margaret, or David had. All three families (the Ruff's, Keller's, and Pitch's) were from Dietel, Russia.

David and Margaret Ruff and their nine children emigrated to America shortly after the twins (Henry and Mary) were born in 1902. Sophie was already married to Jacob Reichel at the time they came to America and was pregnant with her first child, a female infant who was born in Topeka, Kansas and died shortly after birth. The entire family eventually settled in Ft. Collins, Colorado.

We know that Sophie was like a second mother to her younger half-siblings and helped raise them while raising her own children. Her half-siblings, twins Henry and Mary, were less than two years older than her own first (living) child, Jacob Jr.