Hello Listers, Sorry this isn't in German - but I can sort of understand German if someone is able to respond.
My name is Jaclyn Reesman Harrell and I am searching for ancestors
and origins of my GGGGGG grandfather, Philip Reesman/Ritzman who
emigrated from Europe by himself (age 15) out of Rotterdam on the
Minerva in 1770. Philip could not write his own name and paid for
his passage by serving a term of indenture. We believe that he was
German because of the following: Went to PA and married in the
Lutheran Church in New Hanover, PA and some of his older sons kept
records in German and had the name Ritzman inscribed on their
tombstones - HOWEVER - no one thought to leave us a record of
Philip's town of origin - jeez 
I am starting with nothing much to go on except a thought to start in
areas near rivers that lead to Rotterdam. I am looking to find out
if the name Ritzman/Reissman/Reesman was a common name in Germany or
if it may have been localized. Also looking to find out if anyone in
Germany has been doing Ydna testing at all -- as we have the Genetic
Profile for our PA Reesmans and could potentially make a match that
way either by finding a match with a Ritzman in Germany -- or
matching with other Ritzman/Reesman's in the state who know their
origin in Germany.
Thanks, Jackie
Hi,
this seems to be a very difficult search, given the fact that Ritzmann
is a family name of a normally frequent distribution all over
Germany.
Enter "geogen" in google, and then "Ritzmann" in the search field,
click on the choice for absolute (not relative) distribution and you
will find how many Ritzmann telephone connections there are all over
Germany and where they are today. The origin of many Ritzmann families
seems to be in the Main region, where they concentrate.
In this case of such a frequent name it is imperative to try and get
more clues, i.e. where did other passengers of the ship Minerva come
from ? Is an exact birth date available ?
Best regards
Friedrich Huettenberger
[1]www.huettenberger.homepage.t-online.de
Hello Jackie,
Ritzmann is a common name in Dielkirchen at this time. But I Couldn't tell
you more at the moment.
Best regards
Ewald Dittmar
Jackie,
There are 2 places you can write regarding emigration from Germany that may
have information:
Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe
Nördliche Hildapromenade 2
D-76133 Karlsruhe
E-Mail: glakarlsruhe@la-bw.de
or
Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv
Schönfeldstraße 5-11
80539 München
E-Mail: poststelle@bayhsta.bayern.de
Maybe they can help you. The Generallandesarchiv has a lot of informations
about emigrants during the 18th century. I use the built-in Microsoft
translator, there are also online versions. I have had good responses from
these archives.
Good luck.
Jerry Thompson