This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: tquinn6935 Surnames: Dreidlein, Quinn, Ritzel, Grow, Love Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.montana.counties.meagher/80.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Hi Mary, I believe we are distant relatives through the Pottsville, PA Dreidleins. Below are a few excerpts from a letter that might be of interest to you. I'd love to find out more about the Native American connection. We have a similar story in my family with little evidence. I'm also interested in Stephen's father Richard. According to my Aunt Clara, he was a Hessian soldier fighting for the British in the Revolutionary War and was given a land grant in PA. I'd also like to confirm Elizabet Dreidlein's maiden name. My Great Aunt Clara, who wrote this letter, is living in Florida. I hope to hear from you, Tom Quinn Jr.,fourth great grandson of Richard Dreidlein, Philadelphia ... >From a 1976 letter to Thomas Quinn by his aunt Clara Quinn McKnight as told to her by her mother, Hattie Ritzel Quinn: I was with my mother the last five years of her life and I would often just sit and talk to her about her Pennsylvania Dutch Ancestors. It was very interesting. My mother was in bed with a stroke for almost five years. Often when she would have "small" strokes, she would revert back to her childhood and could only remember the German dialect. Sometimes it would last for days at a time. It would be difficult for me to understand her. ... I understand Richard Dreidlein came to this country to fight with the British. He was a Hessian soldier. After the war, The Hessian soldiers were given a choice of going back or remaining in this country. Your grandfather elected to stay here. I understand he was given a grant of land to settle on somewhere in Penna. Uncle Leo told me he often saw the papers for the grant of land when he would go to visit Grandmother Ritzel in Pottsville, Pa. He said they were kept in a trunk in the attic. Don't know what ever happened to them. The Dreidlein homestead was in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. They had a large sheep ranch and a store on Main Street. They would butcher the sheep and sell it in their store. Stephen Dreidlein was a very strict German. If any of the sheep became lost while the children were supposed to be watching them, he would make them go out to the mountain and would not allow them to come home until the sheep were found. He did not believe in any formal religion. He read the bible aloud to the family everyday. All the major decisions were made by him picking up the bible, opening the book, and making the decision by what was on that page. He raised all the children to select their own religion, if they so wanted, when they were old enough to do so. As the West opened, part of the Dreidlein family moved out to Montana where they continued to raise sheep. I imagine the East was getting too crowded for sheep raising. If you remember your old western movies, you will remember the great battles between the cattlemen and the sheep ranchers. Your kin were probably in the thick of it. The Dreidleins spoke the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect always. My mother said the most difficult thing she can remember was when she went to school ( her mother turned Catholic) and had to try to speak and write high German. The nuns would make fun of her German dialect. ... My mother (Hattie Ritzel) told me she often heard her mother (Minnie) speak about her Indian grandmother. My mother said that she was the daughter of an Indian chief. Your Great Great Grandmother. Elizabeth Dreidlein, said she remembered her Grandmother in Indian dress, smoking a pipe, sitting by the fireplace. She also kept her Indian hair braids all her life. That's all I know, only what mother told me. ... Great great grandmother's [Elizabeth] name before marrying Steven Dreidlein was "Grow" [spelling?]. Before that, the name was "Love." That is as far back as I know. My mother wasn't sure of the name "Love," but to the best of her knowledge, "Love" is right. I believe great grandmother's family was in this country before the American Revolution. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.