Welcome to the Dreisbach-Dresbach Family Association Genealogy family tree. This family tree is accessible to all without a password. Data on living persons is omitted for privacy. It is maintained by:

ABOUT THE DREISBACH-DRESBACH FAMILY ASSOCIATION (THE DDFA)

You are invited to join the Dreisbach-Dresbach Family Association! Anyone with an interest in our family history is welcome. Dues are $15 a year for everyone living at a single address, payable as a three year membership lump sum of $45. To join go to one of the websites listed below where you will find all the information.

The DDFA is an association of people who are interested in the genealogy and history of the Dreisbach family (in all its many spellings). The DDFA maintains a website, produces two historically based newsletters/journals, sponsors large 3-day family reunions once every three years and maintains a genealogical database. Members' dues help to pay for all these functions. Membership application can be made through the DDFA web site: http://www.dreisbachfamily.org. or at the alternative site https://www.dreisbach-dresbach.org/. The web site also gives further information about the family, recent published material, and details about upcoming and past family reunions.

Records of the Dreisbach family date back to 1500s in the principality of Wittgenstein located in the central part of what is now Germany. The earliest known Dreisbach in our records is Georg Dreisbach from the village of Balde, who lived from about 1550 to about 1610. Spelling variations of our surname have developed over the centuries. Besides the Dreisbach and Dresbach spellings, we have Driesbachs, Treisbachs, Tricebaughs, Trespachs, Dresbacks and many more. 

There are over 36000 names of descendants and their relatives in this family tree, most stemming from three Dreisbach immigrants to the colony of Pennsylvania in what is now the United States in the mid-1700s. They are:

•	Simon Dreisbach I (1698-1785) who came in 1743 with his wife Maria Katharina Keller 
        (1696- 1768) and six children.
•	Martin Dreisbach (1717-1799) who came in 1751 with his wife Anna Eva Hoffman (1722-1789) 
         and three children.
•	Henrich, or Henry Dreisbach (1735-1808) who came in 1754 as a single man.

Articles about early emigration from Germany, and about these three individuals in particular are to be found on the Dreisbach/Dresbach family Association web site. See in particular the Dreisbach Emigration Research reports section of the DDFA web site. Further articles, especially about settlers in America, are found in DDFA newsletters at the same site.


ABOUT THE DREISBACH-DRESBACH GENEALOGY DATABASE

Dreisbach-Dresbach genealogy was compiled over several decades by dedicated family history researchers. The original family tree was published in "The Dreisbach Book" in 1998 and which is now out of print. Since publication, important discoveries were made about early Dreisbachs. The DDFA has active researchers who periodically update genealogical information. Both versions of the DDFA web site, listed below under "Useful Links", list DDFA newsletter, several recently published books and "DERR" (Dreisbach Emigration Research Reports) which contain histories of early Dreisbach ancestors. One of the 2014 DERR reports chronicles the beginnings of Dreisbach family research carried out in the early 20th century. Our Dreisbach genealogy researchers are fortunate to be aided by researchers and historians in Siegen-Wittgenstein, Germany, who have provided valuable information on German Dreisbachs from the 16th through 18th centuries.

SUGGESTIONS TO USE THIS DATABASE
You can look for a given individual using the white search box at the upper right on this screen. Entries for many individuals are marked with small colored squares - red for ancestors and descendants of Simon Dreisbach, blue for ancestors and descendants of Martin Dreisbach, and green for ancestors and descendants of Henrich Dreisbach. This allows you to trace back from your known ancestor to one of the patriarchal families. Some pages have photos; click on them to see captions. You can also generate a report, showing the descendants or ancestors of a given person, by clicking on “Report” under the VIEW” heading.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT NAMES
There was a German custom, also practiced in Pennsylvania as late as the 1800s, to baptize some, but not all, children with a “church name” preceding their given name. This church, or baptismal, name was seldom, if ever, used in the child’s later life. For example two of the above immigrant patriarchs were baptized as Johann Simon Dreisbach and Johan Henrich Dreisbach. Their baptismal first name of "Johann" was never used in any later church or public records. Maria was a commonly used church name for female baptisms. It is not always clear for other individuals with double names if the first name is a never-again-used baptismal name or was used in daily life. Readers using this and other family trees should look up people using each name, individually.

RECENT UPDATES
Recent updates to this tree are listed below, as they occurred. Note that the family tree, and the database from which it is derived, contains inevitable errors and omissions, which hopefully will be corrected with time.


Nov.  1 2019     Establishment of this site.
Nov. 21 2019    Site upgraded to a paid site. Explanation of baptismal names, and removal of 
                       baptismal names from immigrant families.
Dec. 12 2019    Eliminated Abraham of Balde for lack of evidence.
                       Inserted history of earliest known Dreisbach - Georg (ca. 1550-ca. 1615)
Dec 18 2019     Inserted histories of Georg's sons: Daniel and Johann. Corrected some dates and 
                       names of early Dreisbachs. Added/corrected details on Henrich Dreisbach (1735- 
                       1808) and his parents.
Dec 20 2019     Inserted history of Simon Dreisbach's son Jost Dreisbach (1721-1794).
Jan 12 2020      Corrected name of Susanna Koerber (1724-1805).
Sep. 25 2020    Home page revisions.
                         Corrections to names, dates and places to Simon Dreisbach (1698-1785), his wife and 
                         children. Removal of Magdalena Dreisbach as a daughter of Simon.
                         Correction to surname of Maria Dies, first wife of Simon Dreisbach 
                         (1732-1773).
Sep. 27 2020    Links to articles about the Simon Dreisbachs Sr. (1698-1785) and Jr. 1730-1806), Jost 
                         Dreisbach (1721-1794), Henrich Dreisbach (1735-1808), Johannes Dreisbach 
                         (1735-1796), Elizabeth Waldman (1742-1821),  Anna Eva Hoffman (1722-1789), 
                         Martin Dreisbach (1717-1799) and Rev. John Dreisbach (1789-1871) inserted on 
                         their pages.
Sep. 29 2020    Headstone photos inserted for Simon Sr. and Jr., Katarina, Jost, Johannes, Elizabeth 
                         Waldman, Jacob Sr. and Jr., Martin and Anna Eva.
Oct. 1 2020       Reference to books about Martin Dreisbach (1717-1799) and Simon Dreisbach Jr.
                         (1730-1806) in their respective histories. Life of Henrich Dreisbach (1735-1808) in
                         Pennsylvania.
Oct. 2 2020      The story of the birth of Henry Dreisbach (1800-1890). Updates to Daniel Dreisbach
                         (1827-1863) and to his daughters Sarah and Emily, who sat on Abraham Lincoln's lap.
                         Update to Daniel's son Ammon. Update to George William Dreisbach (1733-1809)
                         and his family.
Oct. 27 2020     Links to two versions of the DDFA web site added.
Nov. 7-9 2020   Updates to: Rudi Harcourt (1950-2020); Joseph Bauman (1774-1822); Martin Wolfe 
                          (1833-1927); George Croll Dreisbach (1896-1960).
Nov. 15 2020     Correction to story of Martin Dreisbach (1717-1799). Corrections to families of Clifton
                          Dresbach and of Charles Dresbach.
Nov. 26-30 2020     Updates to family of Howard Nicholas Baker (1903-1973), John H. Galbraith
                          (1863-1908) and John W Adams (1849-1909), J.H. Cheesman (1931-2004), 
                           Raymond Driesbaugh Jr. (1920-1992).
Dec. 3-16 2020    Updates to family of Edward L. Reedy (1842-1925), Claude Hughes (1893-1960),
                           Arthur Harold Dreesbach (1889-1972), Samuel Mantz (1853-1921) Herman Horn
                           (1816-1902).
Jan. 4 2021         Updates to family of Harvey W. Dresbach (1883-1946).
Feb. 13 2021       Correction to wife of Henry Bauman (1781-1873)
Aug 13 2021        Update to family of Augustus Fuchs (1803-1879).
Sep. 26 2021       Added photo of Mary Catherine Dreisbach (1769-1849). Updates to her descendants.
Mar. 25 2022       Added photo of tombstone of Jacob Dreisbach (1750-1804). Updated his details 
                            and those of his wife Magdalena (aka Leadiah).
Jun 28 2022        Updates to families of Ralph E. Sharp and Mable Hawk and of Charles W. Hank and
                            Martha Hawk
Jun 29 2022         Corrected death date and place for George William Dreisbach (abt 1733-aft 1809).
Jul 22 2022         Update to descendants of John Weaver (1878-1942) and Harriet Endly (1878-1953). 
                           Thanks to Polly Cox.
Sep 24 2022       Removed birthdate of Abraham Dreisbach, son of George William Dreisbach. 
                           Research ongoing.
Oct 8 2022          Corrections to dates of Sophia Catherine Jung, Margareta Sassmannshausen, Leisen
                           Hein and Magdalena Buchs. Corrections to stories of Martin Dreisbach (1717-1799)
                           and to his father-in-law. Thanks to Stephen Roediger.
Oct 22 2022        Merged the former Jacob Dreisbach and the former John Jacob Dreisbach as a son of 
                           John George Dreisbach and Sophia Catharina Jung (and not a son of William 
                           Dreisbach and Sophia Schmidin). Thanks to Stephen Roedinger for the correction.
Nov. 1 2022         Corrections to vital info on Daniel Dreisbach (1764-?), Simon Dreisbach (1754-1769) 
                            and Adam Dreisbach (1761-1842). Correction to name and parents of wife of 
                            Zebedee Dresbach. Thanks to Stephen Roediger.
Nov. 20 2022.       Under the “VIEW” header on the home page, you can now generate a “Report”,
                              showing the descendants of someone.
Nov. 22 2022       Site data corrupted after upload of new data. 
Dec. 1.  2022.       Updates to descendants of Henry Dreisbach (1755-1814), Jacob Dreisbach 
                            (1750-1804) ) and Rebecca Margareta Dreisbach (1748-1825 ), thanks to Rachel 
                            Meyer.    Site problem fixed.
Dec. 27 2022        Updates to family of Jost William Dreisbach (1775-1857). Thanks to Melody Snyder
                             Jones.
Aug. 27 2023       Corrections and additions to children of Martin Dreisbach and Anna Eva Hoffman
Jan. 15 2024        Updates to descendants of Russell Erwin Dreisbach (1886-1945). Thanks to Craig
                            McDonald.
Apr. 9 2024          Update to Earl W. Dreisbach (1933-2024)