Newsgroups: soc.roots
Date:         Sat, 2 Jan 1993 16:37:19 -0600
Reply-To:     RIGAUT@FRURBB51.BITNET
From:         RIGAUT@FRURBB51.BITNET
Subject:      Re: HENKLE

After deleting the original mail about the surname HENKLE and a response by
Tom Lincoln <lincoln@iris.rand.org> , I had some second thoughts.
Tom had shown that HENKLE is not unknown as a name, using authors' names in
MELVYL.
I ran myself MELVYL, but on HENKEL and HENCKEL, thinking that they sounded
very German and rather common. I also compared with HENKLE (and HENCKLE).
The results are I think quite rewarding. First, some statistics:
- Author, HENKLE: 31 hits (mostly American).
    "     HENCKLE: 1 hit.
    "     HENKEL:219 hits !!! (in majority German).
    "     HENCKEL:43 hits.
After that, a likely hypothesis would be that the original name was HENKLE
OUUUUPS !!  I mean HENKEL  (or HENCKEL), and that HENKLE (and HENCKLE) were
modifications in America after emigration.
- Subject: here, I only tried HENKEL and HENCKEL, as I guessed that Tom would
have already found any HENKLE family history book if therewas one. And I found:
  Subject, HENKEL: 14 hits ! Intelligently, MELVYL found also the few HENCKEL
in the same lot.

Many were just names of authors without any genealogical implication, but note
that, among the HENKEL ones, the first names (and usually the publisher)
evoked several times a German origin. Ah yes, at this point I should mention
that I have no facility for downloading the results of MELVYL searches into
my computer, so I will copy the most interesting references, as faithfully as
possible. Some other authors, as will be seen below, were from the USA.
Here are the genealogically relevant references:

     The Henkel memorial association. The Henkel memorial, historical,
genealogical, and bibliographical; a serial publication devoted to collecting
and preserving the history of the Rev. Anthony Jacob Henkel (known in history
as Rev. Gerhart Henkel) who ...   York, PA, A. Stapleton, 1910-1919.
CSL Sutro CS 71 H4953 1910-1919

     Henckel genealogy: branch information. S.l.:s.n., 1972.
CSL Sutro CS 71 H4953 1972

     Junkin, William Sumner, 1880-: The Henckel genealogy, 1500-1960: ancestry
and descendants of Anthony Jacob Henckel, 1668-1728, pioneer Evangelical
Lutheran minister, emigrant from the German palatinateto America in 1717.
New Market, VA: Henckel Family Association, 1964. Series title: Genealogy and
local history; 997.
CSL Sutro MICRO-FICHE G3 G997

     A vindication of the character of the Rever'd David Henkel: residing in
Lincoln County, N.C.,by the elders, etc., of his several congregations.
S.l.:s.n., 1820?  Series title: SCHS; 55-148.
CSL Sutro MICRO-FICHE SC8 55-148

I do hope that our rooter friend Henkle descends from this family with these
two reverends, as he would then find easily his ancestry since 1500  :-)  !!
In any case, this search is certainly in favour of a German origin. Maybe
one of the books above will mention a more recent change of spelling from
HENKEL to HENKLE ?  (Incidentally, note that the same Reverend Anthony Jacob
was spelled HENKEL or HENCKEL.)

I hope that this will be of some help. Whoever the original poster was, please
keep me informed.

Jean Paul RIGAUT     University of Paris 7, France
rigaut@frurbb51