Carl Heinrich Conrad "Conrad" Rehmann was born on October 2, 1796 in Thedinghausen, Luneberg National District, Lower Saxony, Brunswick, Germany. His parents were Johann Carl Nicholas and Margaretta (Oldenberg) Rehmann.

He married Sophie Heineke on Wednesday, July 4, 1821. She had been born on October 22, 1797 in Hanover, Germany.

At the time of the marriage, he was list as a "Häusler in der Bürgerei" which translates as a "Cottager in the community". (See below)

They had eight children:

  1. Margaretta Rehmann

  2. Elisabeth "Liese" (Rehmann) Kempker (1823-1876)

  3. Charles Rehmann (1826-1892)

  4. Anna Marie (Rehmann) Huester

  5. Heinrich Frederick "Henry" Rehmann (1832-1921)

  6. Dorothea "Dora" (Rehmann) Doerfel (1836- )

  7. Wilhelm Rehmann (1839-1869)

  8. Christopher Rehmann, Sr. (1842- )

In April of 1852, Conrad, Sophia and family boarded the SS Louise Marie for the trip to America. They landed in Philadelphia on May 6th. Conrad became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. on January 20, 1859 in Philadelphia.

At the time of Conrad's death on February 4, 1877 at the age of 81, they were living in Folsom Borough, Buena Vista Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey. This is about 35 miles east of Philadelphia. He was buried at the Zions Reformed Lutheran Church cemetery in Folsom Borough, Buena Vista Township, New Jersey.

Sophie passed away on January 14, 1880 at the age of 82 while living in Hammonton in Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey. She is also buried at the Zions Reformed Lutheran Church cemetery.

Häusler = Cottager: A German cottager (historical) was a rural worker or petty commodity producer who owned a small house, a garden, and minimal land for animals. Because their plots were too small to sustain a family, they relied heavily on wages and supplemental "cottage industries," such as weaving or spinning.

In the Rehmann Family many events since the mid-19th century have occurred at two churches located at 1341 Mays Landing Road in Folsom, New Jersey. (Some sources list the address being in Hammonton, NJ.) There can be some confusion since names of these churches are spelled in slightly different ways depending on the date or the document.

Starting in 1848, the original church was established as St Jacobus Lutheran Church to serve the local German immigrants. It was located on a 12 acre plot of land which included a cemetery.

In 1853, conflicts over theological issues caused a split in the congregation. The land was divided into two six acre sites and one was used to construct what is now St James Lutheran Church, originally St James Evangelical Church. Charles Rehmann (1826-1892) was on the St. James committee. A second facility called Zion Evangelical & Reformed Church was founded at that time. It is sometimes listed as Zion's or Zions.

About 1998 around the 150th anniversary of the original church, the two congregations reunited into St James Lutheran Church. The cemetery is often referred to by either name, St. James or Zion.

Of the ten families covered on this website, eight originated in Germany. Members emigrated to America from the mid to late 19th century.

The Heiden, Rambow, Knaack, Kanseyer, Dreier and Milhan families all lived in the Mecklenburg-Schwerin region (now called Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) We have followed the Roggerman family back to Rügen Island in the Baltic Sea.

So far, in the documentation for the German members of the Rehmann family, places in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate have appeared. We will continue to investigate this unusually widespread distribution in the future.