The Roethlisberg near Langnau-im-Emmental, Switzerland, near Bern—the ancestral home of the Rötlispergers
and “ground zero” for our family’s origins
A Brief History of Riddlebarger, Riddlespurger, and Related Families (with a y-DNA Synopsis 2022)
1). Our y-DNA (the male line) has been identified as H2-P96 (Wikipedia on y-DNA Haplogroup H2-P96). Our H2-P96 DNA ancestors probably arrived in Europe during the Neolithic Period (the New Stone Age: 10,000 BC-4500 BC) about the time the Ice Age was ending. Our ancestors were among the very first early modern humans to enter Europe and were associated with the spread of agriculture. A recent study determined that one path taken by H2-P96 peoples was along the Danube River into Eastern and Central Europe, the other was along Mediterranean trade routes (the route, apparently, taken by our y-DNA subgroup).
Note: H2-P96 made up about 10% of the Neolithic European population, but is very rare today. Our terminal SNP (the deepest level of DNA testing) is currently classified as H-FTA2663. Since there are so few European HP-96s who have tested at this deep level, our current SNP classification will continue to change with more data.
2). The oldest H2-P96 human remains to date were found in Israel (dated about 7000 BC). Other H2-P96 human remains have been found in Turkey (6500 BC), Hungary (5700 BC), and Spain (3500 BC). There have been recent finds of Neolithic H2-P96’s in Germany (on the German side of the Rhine, across from Mulhausen, France), in Fleury-sur-Orne in France, and three H2’s in Ireland. All of these were farmers migrating into northern Europe from Anatolia (Turkey) and our ancestors were likely among them.
Note: There has been a significant H2-P96 find in ancient Egypt. A mummified governor, Nakht-Ankh from Shashotep, Egypt, who lived sometime between 1991 BCE – 1802 BCE, is known to be the son of the Lady Khnum-Aa, and the older brother of Khnum-Nakht. His y-DNA has been classified as H-Y21618 (close to us on the H2-P96 branch) and is the earliest person in all of human history whose Y and mtDNA haplogroups we can identify. He lived 100 years before Hammurabi of Babylon.
3). What limited evidence we have points in the direction that later arriving populations of people known as Proto Indo-Europeans, drove H2-P96 peoples into remote areas of Europe, such as the Alps, and Sardinia. Very likely, our ancestors have been in the Alps (Switzerland, near Bern) for several thousand years.
Christian’s initials upon entrance into the Port of Philadelphia in 1733
4). The Riddlebarger, Riddlesbarger, Riddleberger, Riddlesberger and Riddlespurger families now in America all descend from the Rötlisperger family in Switzerland. Y-DNA testing ties us directly to the Rötlisperger family of the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, specifically to the region known as Heimisbach, near Langnau-Im-Emmental. The Rötlispergers trace their well-documented history back to the 1520's. DNA tests establish a near-certain relationship at some point between 12-24 generations ago–I have a match near 100% to Mr. Urs Rötlisperger of Bern. The y-DNA line of Riddlebargers and related families is Swiss. The hill pictured above (the Roethlisberg) was either named for the family, or the family took their name from the hill. This is our ancestral ground zero.
5. Our first Rötlisperger ancestor to arrive in America was Christian Retelsberger (his name was spelled phonetically by an English-speaking dock clerk) who arrived in Philadelphia on September 29th, 1733 on a ship named Pink Mary coming from Rotterdam, in the Netherlands (his port of departure). We do not yet know the exact connection between Christian and the Rötlispergers from the time he or his immediate ancestors left Switzerland, until the time he departed from Europe on the Pink Mary bound for the British colonies in the new world. We only know that DNA proves there is a direct connection. There is a possibility that a Rötlisperger family left Bern (in the 1600's), moved into the Alsace (the French side of Rhine across from the German Palatinate). Christian likely came to America several generations after the family left Switzerland and relocated along the Rhine. There were significant numbers of German speakers from the Palatinate region and the Rhine valley who immigrated to America during the early 1700’s. Christian Retelsberger was among them.
Note: If you are wondering about our immediate family relationship to Ben Roethlisberger (the retired NFL football player), apparently our two lines diverged about 1520.
6). After arriving in PA 1733, Christian was a witness (in 1736) to a baptism in the First Reformed Church of Lancaster, PA, indicating Christian was a Protestant. In the early 1740's, he left PA, moved down the Shenandoah Valley, marking land but not settling. By 1742, Christian made his way to South Carolina and received a land grant near the present city of Orangeburg (then Saxe-Gotha), eventually buying 1600 acres closer to Charleston on the old Charleston Road (near the current village of Rosinville). Christian established an inn, and produced rice and indigo in an area known as Four Hole Swamp (see the Mouzon map below). Once in SC, Christian’s surname is most often spelled Riddlespurger (although there are many variations in the spelling). He died in 1790, leaving behind a substantial will, much property, and sadly, fourteen slaves.
7). Christian had two sons by his first wife, Ann Struck: John Riddelsperger (1741-1827) and Abraham Riddlespurger (1750-1838). Christian had four children by his second wife Elizabeth Uldrick: Christian II, Thomas, David, and Ann (the Riddlespurgers of GA, AL, MS, and TX, descend from these sons of Christian and Elizabeth).
8). Christian’s oldest son John, a blacksmith, made his way back to Pennsylvania by 1767 (in Franklin County, near Waynesboro), and then moved south near Fincastle in Botetourt County, Virginia, in 1787–buying acreage very close to land which Christian had marked on his journey down the Shenandoah (see # 6 above).
9). John Riddelsperger had at least three sons. John II (whose descendants are the Riddlesbergers of PA), Samuel (also identified as John-Samuel causing much confusion) whose descendants are the Riddlesbargers, Riddlebargers, and Riddlebergers of VA and OH, and Jacob, whose descendants are the Riddlesbargers and Riddlebargers of IL, KS, OK, ID, and CA (my line). Many of John’s immediate descendants were blacksmiths and/or gunsmiths.
10). DNA testing indicates a direct y-DNA connection between the Ohio and the IL, KS, OK, ID, and CA Riddlebargers (establishing both lines as descendants of John Riddelsberger of SC, PA, VA).
11). Y-DNA tests also connect the OH and CA Riddlebargers to the Riddlespurgers of GA, AL, MS, and TX, confirming that both lines descend from Christian Retelsberger (Riddlespurger) who arrived in Philadelphia in 1733.
12). There is no merit to the claim that Christian Riddlespurger is connected to the Georgia Salzburgers or came from Germany or Austria (as many, including me, once thought). Both traditional ancestral research and y-DNA testing proves this not to be the case.
Note: Many of the commercially available ancestral/family trees for our family (Ancestry, My Heritage, etc.) are filled with inaccuracies and erroneous information—this is especially true with the first generations in America. Use with caution!
Riddlebarger (Rotlisperger) Family History Links
A History of the Riddlebarger Family (2019)
Five Generations of Descendants of Christian Retelsberger (Rotlisperger)
Sorely Tested By an Epidemic -- A Riddlesberger Family Tragedy
Family History Gallery
Rotlisperger Family Crest (designed by Urs Rotlisperger) from historic, regional sources
Christian Retelsberger’s Initials in Ship’s Log upon Entrance into Philadelphia (September 29, 1733)
A Receipt from the State of South Carolina (with CR’s initials) for Pork, Potatoes, and Ewes for the Carolina Militia
Receipt from the State of South Carolina (July 2 1782) for Six Head of Cattle to
General Nathaniel Greene’s Continentals During the Revolution
The famous “Mouzon Map” of South Carolina. Created by Henry Mouzon in 1776, Christian’s plantation appears just above “St. George’s” on Four Hole Swamp
There is a road named for the Ohio R’s in Harrison Township, Scioto County, OH
Famous Kin With Links
Harrison Holt Riddleberger — U. S. Senator from Virginia (1883-1889)
Encyclopedia of Virginia Article on US Senator Harrison Holt Riddleberger
James Williams Riddleberger (1904-1982) — U. S. Consul to League of Nations,
Senior Administrator of the Marshall Plan, Ambassador to Yugoslavia and Greece.
Wikipedia Entry on US Ambassador James Williams Riddleberger
For a time, Jesse Riddlesbarger (1800-1883) was the richest man in Kansas City. He made his fortune outfitting settlers traveling on the Santa Fe Trail. During the Civil War, he was evicted from Kansas City by Union General Thomas Ewing because of Jesse’s pro-slavery newspaper and his vocal anti-union views (taunting Union soldiers). This is the oldest known family photo (c. 1850’s)
The History of the Jesse Riddlesbarger Mansion in Kansas City
Jesse Riddlesbarger: The Richest Man in Kansas City who Lost It All
Denny Pitched for the Washington Senators (1971-1972) and the Cleveland Indians (1972).
Every family has a black sheep. Ours is Rufus Riddlesbarger (1883-1968). Aviation pioneer, inventor of birth control devices, defrauded a wife (Fay), accused of rape in Arizona (1948), fled to Tanganyika to flee extensive legal and tax troubles.
Buried on the slope of Mount Kilimanjaro.