(Last updated: Sunday May 10, 2009)

    During the 1830's and 1840's, several Benitz from Endingen settled in north-eastern USA, most in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania, USA) and the surrounding area.  Many Germans settled in this area and they became known as Pennsylvania Dutch.

    The Benitz immigrants were from Endingen (Baden-Württemberg, Germany), and they were all children of Anton Böniz (master cooper) and Maria Anna Wagner.  They appear in the census records with Benitz spelled in a variety of ways (Bönitz, Bennitz, Bennittz, Bennetz, Bennettz - and sometimes anglicized with the Z replaced by an S) but always at the same addresses.

    From this page you can access information on the following individuals:

Cousins:

    Anton Benitz [NOTE: This entry needs a major update - see Benitz Queries for April'02 e-mails from Kamala James and James Bell.] (born in Endingen, Germany, 1803) lived most of his life in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania, US) where he died in 1852.  In the census of 1860, Anthony Bennetz is listed as a 46-year-old brewer and inn-keeper from Germany.  According to that same census, his wife (May, age 45) was born in Germany and their children were all born in Pennsylvania, which means he and his wife arrived in Pennsylvania on or before 1840.  He is not listed in the 1850 Pittsburgh census but in 1852 his brother Wilhelm wrote to him there.

    In the Pittsburgh City Directory of 1859-1860, there are listed Mrs. A. Benitz (beer hall) and John Benitz (brewer) residing at the same address.   John was very likely Anton's brother Johan Evangelist Benitz.    It is also likely Anton had died (see below) and Mrs. A. Benitz was his widow.

    In May, 1852, Anton copied Wilhelm's letter to their brother Thaddaeus in Germany and included the following: This last year I have built a new brickhouse and had two cellars opened up, which now are filled with barrels of Lager-beer, as good as in Munich. I am doing quite well, and my family is healthy; there are 2 boys and 2 girls, and one couple died.

    Anton seems to have done well but had health problems, because in March, 1855, his brother Wilhelm writes to Thaddaeus: A short time ago I received the first letter from our brother Anton, saying that he had been ill for a long time, and wants $2.000.- from me, which under the present circumstances is impossible. I heard he is very well off.

    Per the "History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania" (page 738), published in Chicago by A. Warner & Co., 1889, Frank Baumann, born in Endingen, was the son of Frank Baumann and Appolonia Benitz.    He emigrated to the United States in 1874:

FRANK BAUMANN, Glenfield, was born Feb. 6, 1853, in Endingen, Baden, Germany, son of Frank and Appolonia (Benitz) Baumann, former of whom was at one time a merchant, and now lives retired in Freiburg, Germany.  Frank Baumann, the subject of this sketch, was educated in his native home, and there learned the brewer’s trade.  After having traveled considerably in Europe, he came to America in 1874, and followed his trade in Pittsburgh for a couple of years, then engaged in the hotel business, and subsequently turned his attention to fruit-growing.  He now owns a farm of thirty acres, and has been very successful.  Mr. Baumann married Augusta Schuahmann, a native of Prussia, and they have one daughter, Emma [Baumann], and one adopted daughter, Lizzie Baumann.  In politics Mr. Baumann is an independent.

    He was born Franz Xaver Böniz on 16 October, 1816, in Endingen, Germany, the youngest son of Anton Böniz (master cooper) and Maria Anna Wagner.   During or before 1837: he emigrated to the US, possibly with brother Anton, settling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  1837: he married Alexandrine Josephine Seeger, from Sutthausen, Hanover [today Lower Saxony], Germany.  1841: they moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where they invested her inheritance from her father in a grocery store.  1860: Franz was sued for unpaid debts; shortly after he left his wife and joined his brother Wilhelm at Fort Ross in California.  1866: Franz joined a group of Californians emigrating to Argentina, where he was a founding member of "Colonia California", Santa Fé.  1873: reappears in California.  1874: re-emigrates to Argentina with Wilhelm & his family.  1880: Franz died at estancia "La California", Santa Fé.  1888: Alexandrine died in Cleveland, Ohio.  They had 3 children: Amelia (b. 1840, married George W. Ott), Elizabeth (b. 1844, married William McNamara), and William (b. 1845).

    For greater detail and supporting documentation, click on Franz X. 1816 in the People menus.

    We don't know much about Johann (John).   He was born Johann Evangelist Bönitz in Endingen, 12 December, 1812.

    In the Pittsburgh City Directory of 1859-1860, there are listed Mrs. A. Benitz (beer hall) and John Benitz (brewer) residing at the same address.   Mrs. A. Benitz was likely Anton Benitz's widow, and John was very likely Anton's brother Johann.

    Joseph Böniz was born on 4 February, 1807, and died 25 March of the same year, per the baptism record in Endingen, Germany (see below).

    However, there is another Joseph Bennitz listed in the 5th Ward of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania, USA) census of 1860 with country of origin: Germany, age: 53 (i.e., born about 1807), and occupation: cooper.  Joseph Benitz is also listed as a cooper in the 1859-1860 Pittsburgh City Directory.  He and his son Charles are both listed in the Pennsylvania censuses of 1850 and 1870.  Seems almost too much of a coincidence, particularly as his likely brother Anton is listed (as Anton Bennetz) in the 1860 census as living in the same ward.  Per that census, Joseph Bennitz was married (wife Susan, age 40, born in Germany) with three children, the first two born in Germany, the last born in Pennsylvania, USA, which suggests he and his family left Germany after 1844 and arrived in Pennsylvania before 1850.

    Nany Benitz was born Maria Anna Bönitz (1819, Endingen, Baden, Germany), the youngest child of Anton Böniz (master cooper) and Maria Anna Wagner.  She married Urban (Arban) Mahrer, probably in the US.  They lived in Cleveland, Ohio, (close to brother Franz) and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (close to brother Anton).  In 1874 they joined brother Wilhelm and his family when they (and Franz) emigrated from California to Argentina, arriving on the 9th October, 1874.  However, Nany and her husband remained only a very short time in Argentina, returning to the US - location unknown, probably Pittsburgh.  Alfred A. Benitz (their nephew) kept a dairy, his entry for 12 December, 1874 (Rosario, Santa Fé), reads in part: This afternoon we all were astonished by Mahrer saying he was going in the brig Blitz to Rio Janeiro, and then to the United States. The Blitz is going tomorrow morning early, so he has to be on board tonight. After supper we went with him to the wharf to see him & wife off. We had to wait until 8:30 P.M. and then he was in a boat to the ship. Good Bye Mr. Mahrer and Aunt.

    Barbara Becker (beckerba@hotmail.com) has been investigating her Mahrer ancestors and is almost certain that the Mary Anna Mahrer buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is Nany Benitz.

    From letters written to Nany's brother Thaddaeus in Germany, we have the following excerpts: