Life in Motion: A Collection of Action Shots

ANCESTORS of CHARLES MINNIX  /  MINIX  SR , FRANKLIN  CO  VIRGINIA , Liber IV (6) 

 by MICHEAL B. MINIX, SR., M.D., F.I.C.S.

MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER 365.

Alliance Coat of Arms

 https://www.minnixmischler.com/MINNIX-MISCHLER.pdf  Best reference; click or swipe and paste.

This Genealogy is organzed in the following Book that this reporter donated to 'The Franklin County Historical Society' that was chartered by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1968 for the stated purpose of collecting and preserving the history of Franklin County, Virginia. In 2005, we added “sharing” to this mission. This reporter receives no compensation for this book: Charles Minnix Sr. ($50 plus $8 s/h) 

'The Franklin County Historical Society' stated, "Scholarly work on the Minnix family. Sources carefully documented including German resources."

Old High German language surname, Münch, is the German spelling for the Latin word Monachus meaning Monk. Dominus Hugo Monachus I, 1185 AD, Dominus Cunrat Monachus I, de Basilea, 1191 and Hugo Monachus II, 1221 AD were the first family members with the Latin surname Monachus in the Münch Dynasty family. Utilization of Münch surname translation from Latin afterwards began. See rules for pronunciation below. Konrad Münch, Old High German surname, married Katharina von Löwenberg in 1371. Löwenberg means Lion Mountain. 

The Münch Dynasty acquired and ruled Muttenz, acquired from the Löwenberg Dynasty, Switzerland and assimilated the Löwenberg maternal properties with Münch paternal properties. 

After the marriage, the Lion Castle coat of arms, inherited by Katharina, heir of the Löwenburg Dynasty and the Münch coast of arms were united.  

An alliance between the two great dynasties and an alliance coat of arms, pictured above, resulted. The original Münch von Münchenstein coat of arms has only the Monk on shield. The Dynasty became a Holy Roman German Empire Reichstag, imperial state, until about 1499. 365. 

Family crest on tomb of Konrad Münch von Landskron (d.1371) and in St. Arbogast Church when repaired following 1356 earthquake p36-37.

Translation: “At the first written mention in 1196 Münchenstein was still called Kekingen, in 1270 appeared in a deed of donation of the cathedral of Basel the name Geckingen.” 

“In 1259, the hamlet with mill, between the New World and St. Jakob was already mentioned in documents as the property of the Basel cathedral provost. The current place name Münchenstein appears for the first time in 1295, it means: "Burgfels der Münche" (castle rock of the Münich).” 

The word Münch is the Old High German word for monk. “Münchenstein was the castle named after them, the episcopal ministers from the family of Münch. The word stien was a name for stone and castles that stood on rocks. The place of residence for the Münch Family Dynasty was von Münchenstein, 

“Historically, soon after its construction, the castle Münchenstein was subordinated to the feudal power of the Counts von Pfirt. With the death of the last Count von Pfirt, Ulrich III. In March 1324 in Basel, the feudal power was transferred to the house of Habsburg-Austria. Hereditary Countess Johanna de Pfette (1300-1351) was by marriage to Duke Albrecht II of Habsburg (1298-1358), Duchess of Austria. After that, the Münch von Münchenstein had their feudal property confirmed at irregular intervals in a document.

“In 1334, the name change was explicitly mentioned in a document issued by the Domstift Basel: "Geckingen que nunc Munchenstein appellatur" ("Geckingen, which is now called Munchenstein"). 

“The Basel earthquake in 1356 also affected Münchenstein, on the afternoon of October 18, 1356 an earthquake shook the city of Basel. The villages and castles of the area were severely damaged, the epicenter of the quake was about 10 km south of the city on the edge of the Jura hills between the Gempen and the rear Leimental. During the great earthquake in Basel, the 1334 completed castle in Münchenstein was damaged, but soon rebuilt. 

Ruins of Münchenstein Castle

“In 1421 the umlaut "ö" was used and the village Mönchenstein was written. This name could hold until 1881, with the municipal law of 1881, the place name Mönchenstein was officially introduced. The use of ü and ö has waxed and waned. 

“Hans Friedrichs' Münch pawned the village and the castle to the city of Basel in 1470 to finance his meercenery army and heavy knight service. The Treaty of Basel of 22 September 1499 was an armistice following the Battle of Dornach, concluding the Swabian War, fought between the Swabian League and the Old Swiss Confederacy.[1]

Münchenstein-Muttenz and Basel were imperial cities and governed by the Münch Dynasty withing the German Kingdom. 

“From Hans Friedrichs' Münch heavy knight service, in which he provided soldiers to the 5000 Swiss mercenaries and heavy armor, a pledge shank (loan) from German Kingdom, King Maximilliam, enabled Hans Friedrichs to hold the Reichstag Münchenstein-Muttenz, the Imperial Estate and Government intact, was concluded. 

“Münch dynasty lost control of Basel and as other Swiss cantons and Basel severed its relationship with the German Kingdom. Thus provided the rule of Münchenstein for the first time in municipal hands. See details page 16. [Münchenstein [map/sat/sites/3D/street, aus Wikipedia, der freien Enzyklopädie]

English word monk is from the Latin term, Monachus and Old High German term, Mönch / Münch. In 1185 Hugo I Münch was first mentioned and, thereafter, repeatedly in official documents or in public records, derived from his prior forenames and surname, Hugo cognomento Monachus, Hugo cognomine Monachus or Hugo Monachus. See page 12.

The Old High German phonation of Münch /Münnich in before 19th Century sounds like Menk /Minck and Minnick / Mennix when 3 Old High German language rules are applied to the Münch /Münnich surname:

1. umlaut, -ü is translated-to / sounds-like -ae, -ee or -i Mü = Mee or Mi or Me, long or short e
2. surname undergoes dialect lengthening and -nch becomes –nich, Minch = Minnich. The original Latin surname, Monachus, was a lengthened form. The Latin had been Old High German shortened from the beginning. Minnich / Minnix was the lengthened form. 
3. High German graphemic shift -ich to -ix is applied Minnich = Minnicks / Minnix

The Old High German dialect was different because it was the written classical Church Latin and spoken Alemanni German. The interface was the resultant language. The Old High German Period was from 800-1050AD. The Old High German spoken language was first written in Classical and Church Latin, was preserved years after the period. The Latin written language was used by the Roman Catholic Church to enhance the suppression of paganism and spread Christianity. Old High German was derived from Latin. 350. 

The process utilized in Münch Dynasty descendant’s research was a method of Data Mining Genealogical Spreadsheets for Diminutive Surnames searching for 

•  informative, analytical, multiple surnames, "alliance names" (Allianznamen)
•  and multibarrelled surname chains 
•  and abbreviated multibarrelled surname chained letter sequences with patterns and trends, 
•  which were adopted and became abbreviated, diminutive surnames, 
•  which were derived from the noble compound surname: 
•  MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER, 
• after The Münich Dynasty Imperial Reichstag collapsed and nobility in the newly formed Swiss Confederation became unlawful. 
• When the Münich Dynasty collapsed and lost their noble status, the middle class descendants adopted diminutive surnames formed in this family from
• 1. Münch Dynasty subdivisions. See page 9. 
• 2. And in this Minnix-and-Mischler family from the subdivision alliance surname MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER from the core surname Latin Monachus [L.] and core Swiss German 
• Münch / Mönch / Münnich / Mönnich / Bernese Swiss German legal Lutheran Church Minnig / Münnix / others
• 3. and Basel Swiss French Münchler and Bernese Swiss French Amish Mennonite Mueschler / Meeschler / Mischler / Mishler / Messler / manyothers from the compound noble alliance surname: 
• MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER
• a. formed from abbreviated dimenutive letter sequences, or a chain of abbreviated letters, with missing letters derived from the complete compound surname above. These double surnames are "alliance names" (Allianznamen), sometimes attached in whole by hyphens and sometimes multibarrelled whole "name chains" surnames.  
• “The Habsburgs (who were associated with the Münch Dynasty) were European champions at this, with an ever-lengthening imperial name listing all their land possessions. It was a nightmare for officials, but proclaimed just how ‘noble’ the family was. A 5-barrelled surname from the above compound surname with abbreviated letters, not whole surnames from each of the 5 was more practicle. [Three surnames for one person. Too many? By Chris Bowlby, BBC News, 8 May 2009] 
• b. For example, "Losantiville" settlement, founded in 1788 was the first name for Cincinnati, Ohio. The original surveyor, John Filson, named it from 4 terms, each of different language. It means "The city opposite the mouth of the (Licking) River", "ville" is French for "city", "anti" is Greek for "opposite", "os" is Latin for "mouth", and "L" was all that was included of "Licking River". [History of Cincinnati, Ohio]
• c. Or from the Swiss suffixes -ler and -lerin which are usually attached to nouns and designate a person with a particular function.
• d. Original family functions of family descendants were administrative aristicrats of the Habsburg Dynasty, Bishops of Basel, mercenary soldiers, governors, lordsand civil servants of the MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER Reichstag, and then civil servants of the Swiss Confederation after nobility loss
• 4. and other surnames
• 5. Descendants then spread far and wide to every continent 

Münchenstein Castle

“The Latin word Monachus means monk; (Medieval Lat.) monk; Münch is the Old High German translation of Latin word Monachus and also means monk.

Münch :  ü is an umlaut and pronounced -e or -I and ch pronounced -cks -x, Menicks , Minicks / Menix, Minix

“Münchenstein Castle located in Schlossgasse, Munchenstein, Switzerland, 4142 is In the canton of Basel Landschaft,  Switzerland and is a landmark above the village. The ruins can still be visited and viewed, but are under private ownership.

Around 1260, the up-rising cavalier (warrior monks) family Münch acquired the village on the hills adjacent to the river Birs and established their estate there. The exact dates of the castle erection remains unclear, but most likely building began in the time between 1260 and 1270.

The founders of the castle on the rock were the father and son Hugo II Münch and Hugo III Münch. Then, under Hugo Münch IV, the castle was expanded and extended and a ring wall was built around the village during the following 60 years. The cavalier (warrior monks) Münch named themselves henceforth Münch von Münchenstein. 

After 1279 the village Geckingen was called Münchenstein. In 1280 the castle captured by Graf von Pfirt, who then lent it to the Münchs in fief.

In March 1324, after the death of the last Graf on Pfirt, Ulrich III, the castle and the village of Münchenstein was inherited by the Herzog of Austria, as heiress Johanna von Pfirt (1300-1351) was married to Herzog Albrecht II von Habsburg (1298-1358).

In the year 1334, the castle was completed and was at its largest. A few years later, the castle was damaged by the Basel earthquake on 18 October 1356, but it was soon restored to its original condition. 

At this time Konrad VIII (1324-1378), son of Hartmann I Münch von Münchenstein resided in Münchenstein castle. Konrad VIII (called 'Hape') married Katharina, the hereditary daughter from Löwenburg, in 1340. Katharina Münch von Münchenstein-Löwenberg died in 1371 and Konrad VIII inherited governance of Muttenz and the three fortresses in the district Wartenburg.

During the 'Old Zürich War', just before the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs on 26 August 1444, the Solothurner conquered the castle on 17 June 1444 and they kept it occupied. Not until the year 1469 did the Münchs get their estate back. During 1470, Konrad Münch von Münchenstein had to sell the deeds to the city of Basel, but because he was the city reeve, he was allowed to live there in fief.

During the first half of the 15th century, the dynasty of the Münchs began to diminish, and because of the high fiefdom costs, they had to sell the estate to the city. The village and castle were reigned for 283 years by the city of Basel. 

This reign ended, however, after the French revolution and village and castle were sold to the municipality Münchenstein, who themselves sold (passed on) the properties to the villagers. The castle was also sold and used as a stone quarry to build new houses.

The ruins of Münchenstein Castle are situated on a long, but narrow rock. There are only slender remains of the walls to be seen, these are directly above the centre of the village. References: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnchenstein Castle)

MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER offered the opportunity for many extremely different diminutive immigrant pioneer surnames to America and other countries and which was too lengthy for any register, military muster, minister and census accountant to record.

Münchmeier, Münchberg, Münnich, Münnix, Minnix, Minnick, Miesch, Mischler and Mantz and all the Meyer, Mayer, Meier derivatives were among the most frequent altered, diminutive surnames. There were many, many more.

This publication advances the conclusion that Jacob Ulrich Mischler II (OHB French) aka Jacob Ulrich Minachmyer (OHB German) was the father of Charles Minnix, Sr., Franklin County, Virginia, who was named for ancestor  Count von Pfirt, Ulrich III feudal power of castle Münchenstein see above.

“Historically, soon after its construction, the castle Münchenstein was subordinated to the feudal power of the Counts von Pfirt. With the death of the last Count von Pfirt, Ulrich III.  

All names are possible, but how was this conclusion unraveled i.e. this researcher’s 6thGreat-Grandfather, Jacob Ulrich Mischler II aka Jacob Ulrich Minachmyer and 7thGreat-Grandfather, Jacob Ulrich Mischler I displayed different surnames, than 5thGreat-Grandfather Charles Minnix, Sr.? 

• And in this Minnix-and-Mischler family from the subdivision alliance surname MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER from the core surname Latin Monachus [L.] and core Swiss German 
• Münch / Mönch / Münnich / Mönnich / Bernese Swiss German legal Lutheran Church Minnig / Münnix / others
• 3. and Basel Swiss French Münchler and Bernese Swiss French Amish Mennonite Mueschler / Meeschler / Mischler / Mishler / Messler / manyothers from the compound noble alliance surname: 
• MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER

Charles Minnix, Sr., was listed in the German Church Records of the Monocacy Lutheran Congregation and Evangelical Lutheran Church, Frederick, Maryland and was associated with the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Franklin Co., VA. All will be verified in records that follow in this report.

Historic Parish Records of Evangelical Lutheran Church, Frederick, MD Marriages 1743 – 1811 (Volume I) Introduction & General Notes This is a record of Marriages recorded from 1743 – 1811 in Volume I of the historic parish record books of Evangelical Lutheran Church, Frederick, MD. This is the initial volume of historic parish records. While the congregation itself was established in 1738, this initial record book was begun in 1746 when the congregation purchased the first record book. Some of the marriages predate this 1746 purchase since members asked for earlier marriages to be recorded from their private records using marriage certificates and family bibles as documentation.  https://faithconnector.s3.amazonaws.com/twinspires/downloads/evangelical_lutheran_church_historic_parish_records_marriages_1743_1811_volume_i.pdf 

The records of the ANCESTORS of CHARLES MINNIX  /  MINIX  SR , FRANKLIN  CO  VIRGINIA began in Historic Parish Records of Evangelical Lutheran Church, Frederick, Maryland and were derived form the complex Switzerland surname : MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER. The recorded  Historic Parish Records surnames were mere fragments of the complex Switzerland surname as viewed below.

This reporter's 5th Great Grandfather CHARLES MINNIX  /  MINIX  SR was a corporal in the Frederick, Maryland German Flying Camp during the Revolutionary War 1776-1781.

  Historic Parish Records of Evangelical Lutheran Church, Frederick ,MD Marriages 1743 – 1811 (Vol I)

• Charles Manor is a neighborhood in Fallston Maryland
• 2 September 1778 Patrick Ryley Hannah Price Tobias Guyn; Charles Gnux; Elisabeth Riddle; Cathar. Beeur; Eleonora Taylor; by licens The German-Swiss Carl is English Charles and Gnux was conncluded an abbreviation for Menig where g is explained and pronopunced Menux in translation.
• 20 October 1778 Daniel McDavid Ann Carlile Mt. Gomery [Montgomery] County (sic) Patrick James; Robert McDavid; Charles and Catharina Menax; Elisabeth and Ann Wayne by licens
• 14 June 1779 Lahey Flannigen Jane Barnett Charles Manix; David & Mary Harvey; Margrith Huchcroft by licens
• October 1777 John Plesterer Mary Porter, Hugh Porter's surviving widow on Busch Creek Henry Handshoe; Joseph Meneca Procl. Aug 31, Sept. 7, 14
• 19 May 1778 Adam Mensch, Widower until now Enniga Linsin, daughter of Joh. Lin both in Frederick County Philipp Nollert and his daughter Anna Maria Nollert; Georg Jung Proclaimed May 3, 10, and 1
• 4 February 1781 Heinrich Schoen Catharina MenschinPeter Schoen & Catharina Procl. Jan. 21, 28, Feb. 4 
• 12 November 1785 Henrich Thiel Margareth Nollert Phillip Nollert; Adam Mensch by licens
• 16 October 1774 Franz Mantz Maria Burckhardtin by license 
• 20 October 1776 Valentin Rall Margreth Vogeln, both residing on Charles Manor in Frederick County Michael Stocker, Andreas Haym, Gabriel Thomas Procl. October 2
• 4 July 1779 Adam Beyer Charlotta Mantz Rosina Walther; Jacob Beyer; Adam Fischer; Jacob & Joh. Comper; Henrich Gross; Capt. Devall; Edward Hall by licens
• 14 September 1779 William Blackburn Ann Carr Joseph Manaca; Christina Davis by licens
• 7 February 1780 Caleb Philips Sarah Darbey Joseph Manakey; Jacob Haux by licens
• 27 October 1782 David Mantz Elisabeth Müller/Muller Caspar Manz and Jacob Jüller, together with children and friends by licens
• 28 April 1785 George Dent Suzanna Cromwell Samuel Devall and wife Priscilla; William Ritchie and wife Francis; Jacob Jung and wife Eleonora; Peter Mantz by licens
• 28 May 1786 William Williams Keziah Johnson, widow Eleonora, wife of Henrich Bruder; Fridrich Bucher; 12 November 1785 Henrich Thiel Margareth Nollert Phillip Nollert; Adam Mensch by licenseby licens
• 5 June 1786 Francis Dowlin Mary Lawson, on "Carl's Manor" John Clancey and wife Elisabeth 
• October 1786 Isaac Mantz Charlotta Bucher Henrich Bruder and wife Eleonora; Fridrich and Jacob Bucher; Maria Mantz by licens
• 21 March 1780 Elias Kiefenreuter Susanna Eisenmengern David Schmid; Christian Menges; Jacob Wismann; Marx Oster and wife Mar. Cath.; Margreth Eisenmengern by licens
• 3 March 1801 Mr. Jacob Hildebrandt Maria Schmidt both from Frederick County Isaac Mantz; Peter Haumann; Daniel Mueller By license in the house of Widow Hildebran
• 17 February 1772 Sebastian Meyer, Ludwig Meyer'ssurviving 4th legitimate single son Charlotta Appelin, Peter Appel's 2nd legitimate daughter, both residing on "Oenscricck" [Owens Creek] Frederick County. Proc. by Pastor Wildbahn and married by me [Krug Feb. 17, 1772
• 27 April 1773 Johannes Delader Sibylla Meyern by licens
• 28 April 1773 Georg Meyer Anna Maria Kiefhaberin by licens
• 17 August 1773 Johannes Meyer Hannah Bray by license 
• 29 November 1774 Johann Hasseldon, widower until now Anna Elisabeth Meyern, Georg Meyer's single daughter Procl. Nov. 13, 20, 27. Married by Pastor Wildpabn on Israel's Cree
• 11 January 1778 Jacob Stephen Elisabeth Keen Joh. Betts and his wife Catharina; Peter Burckhardt; David Ele; Andreas Spaeth; Susanna Meyern; Gertraud Steigern by licens
• 4 August 1778 Johannes Meyer Gertraud Weihrin Were the above [Wilhelm and Herbert Weiher; Jacob Brengel; Fridrich Schittenhelm; Maria Dernin; Sus. Schmidin] Proclaimed by Mr. Heno
• 10 April 1780 Johannes Schneider Dorothea Waltz Jacob Sched; Georg Valentin; Daniel McBride; Frid. Meyer; Peter Waltz; Georg Heil; Margreth Schell; Margreth Dexter by licens
• 6 February 1781 Christoph Nied Sophia Wagnern, both widowed. Wilhelm & Christian Wagner; Henrich Meyer; Georg Braun; Mich. Friess; Henr. Immel; Margreth Tisc hon Procl. Jan. 28, Feb. 4, 
• 27 February 1781 Wilhelm Merckell Maria Beyern Jacob & Adam Meyer; Jacob Weigel by licens
• 19 March 1782 Johann Georg Eder Nancy Williams, James William's daughter in Frederick County Conrad Kruger; Abraham Eder; Richard Linnings (page worn); Anna Fein; Henrich Meyer Proc. March 3, 10, 17
• 24 August 1782 Jacob Meyer Susanna Karchin Christian Leidi; Fridr. Theodor Haux by licens
• 28 September 1783 David Schultz Eva Meyern Conrad Doll and wife Anna Maria; Rudolph Rohr and wife Anna Margreth; Joh. Widmer; Maria Schüstlern By Licens
• 26 October 1784 Joseph Lang Elisabeth Meyern Martin Lang and son Jacob; Eva Dieterichin; Adam and Fridrich Meyer; Elis.Michelsin [Mischler / Amish Mennonite - mbm]; Jacob Heins; Salomon Kretzinger Procl. 3 time
• March 1785 Johannes Meyer Sarah Mohnd Georg Krüger; Henrich Krüger; Abraham Albach and sister Magdalena Procl. 3 time
• 13 March 1785 Johann Fridrich Roloff Maria Meyern at Glass Factory Georg Hack; Christian Brand; Georg Wessel; Georg Abraham; Georg Feuerback; August Meyer Procl. 3 times

Historically, the Ulrich Mischler family was described as immigrants from Schwarzenburg, Switzerland. Mischler was described as a Mennonite family name [Schelbert, L. & Luebking, S. (1978). Swiss Mennonite family names: An annotated checklist. SAHS Newsletter, 14(2), 2-32] and Mischler was listed in Mennonite records. [Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mennonite Vital Records, 1750-2014]

Thus, the answer is simple (sic, any thing but simple). The family spoke both very difficult to understand Old High Bernese Swiss (OHBS)-French, when the records identified Anabaptists, Jacob Ulrich Mischler I and II and OHBS-German, when records identified son and grandson, Revolutionary War German Flying Camp Unit veteran, Cpl Charles Minnix, Sr., from the core surmane Münnix/Münnich/Münch. 

• And in this Minnix-and-Mischler family from the subdivision alliance surname MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER from the core surname Latin Monachus [L.] and core Swiss German 
• Münch / Mönch / Münnich / Mönnich / Bernese Swiss German legal Lutheran Church Minnig / Münnix / others
• 3. and Basel Swiss French Münchler and Bernese Swiss French Amish Mennonite Mueschler / Meeschler / Mischler / Mishler / Messler / manyothers from the compound noble alliance surname: 
• MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER

Charles Minnix, Sr.’s military service in the German unit and frequent entries in German Church Records, Frederick County Maryland plus Jacob Ulrich Mischler’s business and Anabaptist, Old Order Swiss Brethren, Mennonite associations are the concluded reasons. Although families migrated to America for religious freedom, religious freedom was not instantaneous. 

Immigrants have been described as Nicodemite. The descendants appeared to adopt Americanized splinter religious congregations and vacillate from Mennonite to German Church Records, Frederick County Maryland in order to have properly documented births, baptisms and citizenship. 

The following Revolutionary War entries are from Frederick, Maryland U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 SOLDIER, VETERAN & PRISONER ROLLS & LISTS and U.S. Compiled Revolutionary War Military Service Records, 1775-1783

Adam Mong / Adam Myers / Adam Musler / Adam Mussler are one and the same person i.e. Adam Mönchmyers Old High Bern Swiss German and Adam Mischler Old High Bern Swiss French name variations. Bern Switzerland has / had 2 legal languages Bern Swiss German and French.

Note the different discharge dates from active duty. Different names were possibly intended for increased pay and/or pension revenue. Associating the Münnichmyer (OHBSGerman) and Mischler (OHBSFrench) surnames, as in the abive records, are Rare Record Finds. 

The following are names of probable surname family members, while searching for Charles Christian Minnix. Their dates of service are listed in more detail at Ancestry.com, Revolutionary War soldier rolls referenced above.

Charles Menix corp Middle District Frederick, Maryland German Flyning Camp, Chrisn Mentges corp, Charles Majors, Christopher Myers, Christopher Miers, Jacob Medler, Jacob Myers, John Mick, John Mine, Jonh Minnig, John Majors, John Geroge Meyers, George May, Peter Meagher, Peter Maire, Gilford Minike, Gueld’d Menitry, Nic. Manger Lt., Saml. Maires (Majors aka Mayers) (searching for MinnixMayer / Münnichmeirs)

The family appeared to settle on the diminutive surnames Minnix, Minnick, Minnich and other closer variants derived from the original surname:. MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER.

“When in Rome and Colonial America do as the Romans and American do.”

"There are in Botetourt County, Virginia, Germans who spell their name differently i.e. (Minnic, Minnix and Minnich)." Exactly quoted. 222.

"The Münches (sic pronounced Menixes)....spoke both French and German"....who migrated to Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Exactly quoted. 399.

More specifically, they spoke Old High Bernese Swiss-French Amish Mennonite and Swiss–German legal Lutheran Church surnames. Important to remember Old High Switzerland dialects were uniquely their own.

The Old High Bernese Swiss-French was pronounced with a silent nasal –n. the following is an example of the –n when pronounced and not pronounced:  Hans Maschmeyer, Campbell, CA AKA: Hans E Manschmeyer, Hans E M [MyLife].

Do not despair, the following is how Münch sounds like Minnix. For complete pronunciation rules see: 

• Liber I - THE ANCESTORS OF CHARLES Minnix, Sr., FRANKLIN COUNTY, VIRGINIA, BY MICHEAL B. MINIX, SR., M.D., 2004
• LIBER II - THE ANCESTORS OF CHARLES MINNIX, SR. FRANKLIN COUNTY, VIRGINIA BY MICHEAL B. MINIX, SR., M.D., MARCH 24, 2014 
• Both are available at the Franklin County Historical Society (FCHS) (Virginia) located in new facilities located at 460 S. Main Street, Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151. Liber I is also abailable in the DAR Library 1776 D St. NW, Washingtonk DC 20006 and other local libraries.

  A brief description follows. The Old High German phonation of Münch /Münnich in 17th and 18th Centuries sounded similar to Menk /Minck and Minnick / Mennix when 3 Old High German language rules are applied to the Münch /Münnich surname:1. umlaut, -ü and ö are translated-to and sounds-like -ae, -ee or -i Mü = Mee or Mi or Me, long or short e2. surname undergoes dialect lengthening and -nch becomes –nich, Minch = Minnich. The original Latin surname, Monachus, was a lengthened one word form. The Latin had been Old High German shortened from the beginning. Minnich / Minnix was the dialect lengthened form similar to Monachus. 3. Old High German graphemic shift from -ich to sound like -ix when applied to Münch / Münnich became Minnicks / Minicks / Minnix / Menix. 

The Old High German dialect was different because it was the written classical Church Latin and spoken Alemanni German. The interface was the resultant language. The Old High German Period was from 800-1050AD. The Old High German spoken language, first written in Classical and Church Latin, was preserved years after the period. The Latin written language was used by the Roman Catholic Church to enhance the suppression of paganism and spread Christianity. Old High German was derived from Latin.  350.

As the reader will find in this publication, Jacob Ulrich Mischler II was also identified in recrods, when Germanized, Mock, Minach, Meier and Myers or Mockkmeier, Minachmyers, because the family descended from the ancient noble Basel, Switzerland, Münch Dynasty, Münch von Münchenstein-Muttenz von Löwenberg de Meier, the complete, lengthy, compound surname.To begin, “surnames (last names) were not introduced throughout Germany and Europe at the same time. They were introduced in Zurich in 1145 and Basel, Switzerland in 1168 and in Middle Germany in the 13th Century and North Germany 14thCentury. ‘Noble” families were lengthily surnamed first.”“At the beginning of the 12th century there were 68 men named Burkhard in Basel and 73 men named Heinrich in Zurich, Switzerland without last names. It was confusing. Additional name differentiation was necessary.” Surnames began. 

“To distinguish the differences, they added personal occupations, titles, name of residence, personal characteristics and other variants to the core surname i.e. father’s son, der Sohn Jacob, Jacobson;” son of Hans, Meyerhans. “The title de Meier, represented a government official, minister official, balif, mercenary soldier i.e. Münchmeier, Münchmayer, Münch-la-Meier, Müncher; place of residence von Münchenstein, Monachus [Latin] monk, stein, stone, a monk stone fortress; personal characteristic Münch der Ritter, soldier, Müncher. Diminutives were single or compound in Old High German; z often denoted an abbreviation of the rest of the diminutive core name suffix Münchenstein-Muttenz to Munz, Mantz. [The Pennsylvania-German, Volume 8, Philip Columbus Croll, Henry Addison Schuler, Rev. P.C. Croll, 1907 - Pennsylvania Dutch]Beginning in the 12th Century, 832 years ago, 1185, during the Middle Ages (1100 to 1453), the Latin one word simple surname, Monachus, from the Latin word meaning monk was adopted and began the Münch Dynasty surname development.  

After nobility was bestowed on the family, from religious appointments (Bishops), governance (administrative aristocrats for the Habsburg dynasty), members of council and military (mercenary soldiers) service, membership in the Holy Roman Empire German Kigdom, the surname became more and more compounded as additional noble landholdings and noble marriages expanded the surname until the compound surname Münch von Münchenstein-Muttenz von Löwenberg de Meier was maximized and evolved, from which the simple surnames Münnix / Minnix, Möschler / Mechler / Mischler were derived.“In 1273 Rudolf IV Hapsburg was elected as the first Holy Roman German Emperor from the Hapsburg Dynasty. 

Prior to 1273, Rudolf spent much of his life violently and cleverly accumulating land for his family.” “The Hapsburgs held their possessions collectively, unlike other families that split their lands among their progeny, resulting often in the disappearance of both the family and its inheritance.” “Rudolf inherited 7 lordships, and by the time of his death he had nearly 50, captured lordships, from marriage, purchase and pressure. The Bishop of Basle experienced this pressure he was under siege by Hapsburg troops when he heard of Rudolf's Ascension to the throne, and then prayed out loud: “Hold onto your seat Lord, or else Rudolf will surely grab it.“ [Rain Magazine, Eugne, Oregon, Archive‎ > ‎1991‎ > ‎ Medieval Movements and the Origins of Switzerland http://www.rainmagazine.com/archive/1991-1/medieval-movements-and-the-origins-of-switzerland ]

The Münch / Muenich (pronounced Menick / Menix) Family Dynasty became the administrative aristocrats of the Laufenburg branch of the Habsburg Dynasty. Some of the Münch (Menick / Menix) came into the civil service of the Bishop of Basel. They were appointed governors of Basel, Switzerland by the Habsburgs and managed the province, the abbatial ecclesiastical principality of Basel from about 1100-1545 AD.In 1185 Hugo I Münch was first mentioned and thereafter repeatedly in official documents or in public records, alternatively as named Hugo Cognomento Monachus, Hugo Cognomine Monachus or Hugo Monachus. 

“Cognomen was honored to distinguish branches of the family and highlight an individual's achievement, typically in warfare, made important feats, names of valor.” i.e. Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, who’s Cognomen Magnus was earned after his military victories under Sulla's dictatorship. When already a Cognomen, the title was advanced and individual was awarded another exclusive higher name, Agnomen. Roman legioneres who hailed from certain regions or serverd valientely in certain regions bore certain cognomen. The evidence was inscribed on stones and within Roman Legion reconrds, papryi. One conclusion was certain in the following research, the meaning of the word Cognomina was inclusively uncertain in all Roman cases. [Lindley, Richard Dean (1916). "A Study of the Cognomina of Soldiers in the Roman Legions". Princeton University. p. 284] 

Most probably Cognomen / Cognomento was intended in the beginning of about 1300 Switzerland when the group of feudal dependencies were formed without a name part of the Holy Roman German Empire and peasants lived under feudal traditions of their lords of ‘common blood’. See page 17The Münchs rose to commissionaires of the bishop of Basel. During this period the bishops' mentors and consultants were a privileged society. The first knight Münch was mentioned in 1232 and he lived in Burg, one of the most exclusive and aristocratic areas in the city, near the Basel Münster. Munster, Münster is etymologized from the Latin Monasterium, ‘monastery’. Munster is a topographic name for someone who lived near a monastery. ["Minster". Oxford English Dictionary Online.]

Münch Dynasty acquired and ruled Münchenstein and Muttenz, Switzerland and other properties were acquired from the Laufenberg branch of the von Hapsburg Dynasty as reward for Münch family mercenary military service. [Doris Huggel: "Die Münch on Münchenstein - Aufstieg und Niedergang eines Geschlechts" Kulturkommission der Bürgergemeinde Münchenstein 1999.]

The Münch von Münchenstein took over the Münchenstein-Muttenz lordship fief and the 3 fortresses of Wartenberg Castle which overlooked the Roman Road and the beginning of the Rhine River flow into Germany, then the Netherlands, ending in the ocean. Below are pictures of ruins of Wartenberg Castle, Muttenz, Swiss.  On May 2, 1515, the city of Basel was finally able to purchase the front and middle castle on the Wartenberg from the Münch descendants. At this time Konrad Münch was only writing about a castle. The two castles were no longer inhabited and disintegrated. 

“The princes of the House of Hapsburg, who were rulers of Austria and occasionally Holy Roman Emperors, tried vainly for two centuries, from 1315, to defeat Swiss self-rule and to keep a growing number of villages and districts from chucking their nobility and "turning Swiss". “The Swiss Confederation, opposed to nobility and the Münch Dynasty, had no single leader, and was held together loosely by regular negotiation among many small rural, town and church interests. 

By 1525, with loss of the Münch (Menick) Dynasty Reichstag, their properties that joined the Swiss confederation ensured self-rule and withdrawal from Holy Roman German Empire.”[RAIN MAGAZINE, Eugne, Oregon, Archive‎ > ‎1991‎ > ‎ Medieval Movements and the Origins of Switzerlandhttp://www.rainmagazine.com/archive/1991-1/medieval-movements-and-the-origins-of-switzerland ]

The following are examples of actual names in the Switzerland and Germany indices, but by no means complete. Additional genealogy research is encouraged.The Münch (Menick) Dynasty were the administrative aristocrats who managed the Laufenburg branch of Habsburg Dynasty property in Switzerland.

    Web: Netherlands, Genealogie Online Trees Index, 1000-2015 (in Dutch)

Name

Birth 

Birth Place

Death 

Relatives

Rudolf I Ottosohn von Habsburg

Abt 1100

Habsburg, Brugg, Aargau, Die   Schweiz

Otto II,
 Hilda

Rudolf von   Habsburg-Laufenburg/ III

Abt   1198

Switzerland

6   jul 1249

Rudolf   'der,
 Agnes,
 Gertrud

Hugo Monachus I

[Latin means Monk] 

(Münch Dynasty)

1185

Basel, Zwitserl (Switzerland)

Koenraad Monachus 

[Latin means Monk]

(Münch Dynasty) 

[Münch is Monk in Old High German]

1220

Basel, Zwitserl

Hugo

Each Münch Dynasty family subdivision represented acquisition of additional land and lordships for that subdivision of the Münch Dynasty. That subdivision became “Landed Reichstag’, because, unlike the Hapsburg Dynasty, the Münch Dynasty divided lands among their progeny.

Münch Dynasty subdivisions:

Dominus Hugo Monachus I, 1185 AD 

Dominus Cunrat Monachus I, de Basilea, 1191 AD 

Hugo Monachus II, 1221 AD

Now note that the 5 children of Hugo Monachus II became the family subdivisions: 

von Münchenstein 

von Mönchsberg 

von Büren

Hugo III Münch von Münchenstein, 1242

Berchta Münch von Münchenstein, 1254

Hugo IV Münch von Münchenstein, 1259 

Otto II Münch von Münchenstein

Kunrad III Münch von Mönchsberg 1258

Sigfried Münch von Mönchsberg 1266

Götzman I Münch von Büren

Kunrad Monachus II (I), 1221

Now note that the 2 children of Kunrad Monachus II became the family subdivisions:

Münch von Münchenstein von Landskron 

Münch von Münchenstein von Stettenberg

Heinrich I, Münch von Landskron, 1251 

Günther I, Münch von Stettenberg, 1262  25., 26., 365.  

Münch von Münchenstein-Muttenz von Löwenberg de Meier was another family compoundation activated by the allegiance of these 2 noble families, the Löwenberg Dynasty and Münch Dynasty. Münchenstein-Muttenz denoted that the name of the family imperial estate was a Reichstag. “The Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire ( 962–1806) was the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, called in Latin: Dieta Imperii or Comitium Imperiale; called in German: Reichstag.”

This publication is Liber III – THE MINNIX AND MISCHLER ANCESTORS OF CHARLES MINNIX, SR., FRANKLIN COUNTY, VIRGINIA, BY MICHEAL B. MINIX, SR., M.D., 2017

365. The family is well described in this reference. For complete references however see: 

Liber I - THE ANCESTORS OF CHARLES Minnix, Sr., FRANKLIN COUNTY, VIRGINIA, BY MICHEAL B. MINIX, SR., M.D., 2004 available at the FRANKLIN COUNTY Historical Society

LIBER II - THE ANCESTORS OF CHARLES MINNIX, SR. FRANKLIN COUNTY, VIRGINIA BY MICHEAL B. MINIX, SR., M.D., MARCH 24, 2014 available at the FRANKLIN COUNTY Historical Society

Later, the descendants of the Münch Dynasty, Münch von Münchenstein-Muttenz (Reichstag) von Löwenberg de Meier, underwent a diaspora from theirMünch Dynasty’s feudal noble properties, following prohibition of nobility in Basel, Switzerland resulting from 3 significant events:

1) Schwabian War 1499. The Treaty of Basel of 22 September 1499 was an armistice following the Battle of Dornach, concluding the Swabian War, fought between the Swabian League and the Old Swiss Confederacy.[1]

From Hans Friedrichs' Münch heavy knight service, in which he provided soldiers to the 5000 Swiss mercenaries and heavy armor, a pledge shank (loan) from the German King Maximilliam enabled Hans Friedrichs to hold the Reichstag Münchenstein-Muttenz, the Imperial Estate and Government intact. 

Münchenstein-Muttenz and Basel were imperial cities and governed by the Münch Dynasty withing the German Kingdom. Hans Friedrich Münch was unable to repay his loan, for heavy mercenary armored service in battle, to the German Empire King, and eventually lost control of Basel and as other Swiss cantons, Basel severed its relationship with the German Kingdom. 

“At the beginning of about 1300 Switzerland was a group of feudal dependencies and formed without a name part of the Holy Roman German Empire with peasants living under feudal traditions of their lords of ‘common blood’. Basel, Berne, Lucerne and Zürich were important markets and industrial centers and the only significanat cities. There was no unity.

“The Habsburg Dynasty was an important landholder and territoral prince, an emperial eccleseastical principality. A struggle ensued for dominance and control for ‘rights of soverereignty over the ‘valleys’ and lasted between the Habsburgs’ Empire and eventual Swiss Confederation. When Austian Rudolf of Habsburg became German emperor or king (1273-1291) the struggle became even more complicated. Imperial rights and Habsburg ‘blood rights’ continued in parallel until the death of Rudolf 1291 and the Swiss Confederation was born. The Cantons felt free from the ‘Austrian Habsburg territoral complex’. 

“The Rutli Council representing the Cantons began meeting regularly at the foot ob the Münchenstein at a place called Rütli. The objectives were to overtake the Babsburg castles and drive out the Austrian governors. The Cantons were were constituted and estate of the Empire and imperial law was administered to protect them from violence from the Habsburgs. Opposition to Habsburg controll was relentless and continued. Scirmisches were frequent between the Austiran Habsburgs and the Cantons. Feudal lordships could not be established by the Habsburgs over the Cantons. The Federation continued to grow and a treaty was signed in 1318. The Habsburgs had no soverign rights over the Cantons.

“The victory of Laupen 1339, a battler of feudal hereditary and freedom for communities’ nobility and secured Berne’s dominating infludence in Western Switzerland. Then the Eastern and Western regions were called Switzerland. Basel became a federated member of German citiy leages 1384. The virus of democracy spread.

“Battles continued. A 7 years treaty, Sempach Compact, was reached between Austria Habsbergs hereditary principalities and the Confederation in 1389. The Confederates were to retain all the castles, towns, fortresses, valleys, land and people taken from Austria and held at that point. [The Beginnings of Modern Europe (1250-1450) by Ephraim Emerton, Ginn & Company, 1917, 550 page]

“From about 1400 the Swiss Confederatin was 8 Cantons, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zürich, Zug, Lucerne, Berne and Glarus. It was a definitive ‘nation’ within the larger Holy Roman German Empire. The Confederation became more loosley connected to the Empire with time, as the bonds between the Cantons tightened. 

In the The Treaty of Basel of 22 September 1499, the Cantons were acting as an independent state and the Empire recognized it as so. The Confederatin became totally exepmt from imperial jurisdiction and service to the Empire. 

The Swiss Confederacy took control and Basel became free of imperial German Kingdom jurisdiction and taxation and became an independent, non-imperial principality, free European state in 1499. 

Basel was no longer a member of the Holy Roman German Empire, nor obeyed the German Reichstag. [History of Switzerland 1499-1914, by Wilhelml Oechsli, June 13, 2013] [Georg Kreis: Federal city in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 20 March 2015]

2) “The Swiss Reformed Church (Evangelisch-reformierte Kirchen der Schweiz) refers to the Reformed branch of Protestantism in Switzerland, which began in the 1520s in Zurich, then in Bern 1528, then to Basel, Germany and Alsace, France. [Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.. www.oikoumene.org]

“The Swiss Reformed were called Anabaptists, because they did not believe in baptism and sprinkling before the age of accountability and only believed in immersion baptism, hence Anabaptism. “Ana-baptism in Switzerland began as an offshoot of the church reforms instigated by Ulrich Zwingli. As early as 1522 it became evident that Zwingli was on a path of reform preaching when he began to question or criticize such Catholic practices as tithes, the mass, and even infant baptism. 

“The division between Zwingli and his more radical disciples became apparent in an October 1523 disputation held in Zurich. To the radicals, the Bible was the final authority of church reform. Feeling frustrated, some of them began to meet on their own for Bible study. As early as 1523, William Reublin began to preach against infant baptism in villages surrounding Zurich, encouraging parents to not baptize their children.

In the lists Swiss of births, census and marriages herein included, Manz was found a Münch / Mönch dimutive terminated with Z. 

“Felix Manz, a citizen of Zurich and a Hebrew scholar, began to publish some of Karlstadt's writings in Zurich in late 1524. By this time the question of infant baptism had become agitated and the Zurich council had instructed Zwingli to meet weekly with those who rejected infant baptism "until the matter could be resolved." Zwingli broke off the meetings after two sessions, and Felix Manz petitioned the Council to find a solution, since he felt Zwingli was too hard to work with. The council then called a meeting for January 17, 1525.

“Dissatisfaction with the outcome of a disputation in 1525 prompted Swiss Brethren to part ways with Huldrych Zwingli. The Council ruled in this meeting that all who continued to refuse to baptize their infants should be expelled from Zurich if they did not have them baptized within one week. Since Conrad Grebel had refused to baptize his daughter Rachel, born on January 5, 1525, the Council decision was extremely personal to him and others who had not baptized their children. Thus, when sixteen of the radicals met on Saturday evening, January 21, 1525, the situation seemed particularly dark. The Hutterian Chronicle records the event:

“After prayer, George of the House of Jacob (George Blaurock) stood up and besought Conrad Grebel for God's sake to baptize him with the true Christian baptism upon his faith and knowledge. And when he knelt down with such a request and desire, Conrad baptized him, since at that time there was no ordained minister to perform such work.

“After Blaurock was baptized, he in turn baptized others at the meeting. Even though some had rejected infant baptism before this date, these baptisms marked the first re-baptisms of those who had been baptized as infants and thus, technically, Swiss Anabaptism was born on that day.

“Manz was born and died in Zürich, where his father was a canon (principle) of Grossmünster church.  Though records of his education are scant, there is evidence that he had a liberal education, with a thorough knowledge of Hebrew, Greek and Latin.  

“Manz became a follower of Huldrych Zwingli after he came to Zürich in 1519. When Conrad Grebel joined the group in 1521, he and Manz became friends. They questioned the mass, the nature of church and state connections, and infant baptism. After the Second Disputation of Zürich in 1523, they became dissatisfied, believing that Zwingli's plans for reform had been compromised with the city council.

“Grebel, Manz and others made several attempts to plead their position. Several parents refused to have their children baptized. A public disputation was held with Zwingli on 17 January 1525. The council declared Zwingli the victor.

“After the final rebuff by the city council on 18 January, in which they were ordered to desist from arguing and submit to the decision of the council, and have their children baptized within eight days, the brethren gathered at the home of Felix Manz and his mother on 21 January. Conrad Grebel baptized George Blaurock, and Blaurock in turn baptized the others. This made complete the break with Zwingli and the council, and formed the first church of the ‘Radical Reformation’. The movement spread rapidly, and Manz was very active in it. He used his language skills to translate his texts into the language of the people, and worked enthusiastically as an evangelist. Manz was arrested on a number of occasions between 1525 and 1527. While he was preaching with George Blaurock in the Grüningen region, they were taken by surprise, arrested and imprisoned in Zürich at the Wellenburg prison.

Memorial plate on the river wall opposite number 43 Schipfe in Zürich, in remembrance of Manz and other Anabaptists executed in the early 16th century by the Zürich city government

“On 7 March 1526, the Zürich council passed an edict that made adult re-baptism punishable by drowning. On 5 January 1527, Manz became the first casualty of the edict, and the first Swiss Anabaptist to be martyred at the hands of other Protestants.

“The etymology of the name Felix is a male name, from Latin adjective felix, meaning fruit-bearing, fruitful, fertile abundantly, successfull and came to mean lucky, happy or fortunate. The adjective felix comes from a root feo, fevo, meaning to bear or produce, and is cognate with the Greek verb φυω (phuo; Luke 8:6, Hebrews 12:15).” [Abarim Publications, Biblical Names]

Many descendants of the Münch Dynasty practiced various new religions i.e. Swiss Brethren, Mennonite, Amish, Reformed and other Protestant religions. [Ruth, John L (1975). Conrad Grebel, Son of Zurich. Scottdale, PA: Herald Pres]

3) Swiss Tax War (Peasant War) of 1653 “was a popular revolt in the Old Swiss Confederacy at the time of the Ancien Régime. A devaluation of Bernese money caused a tax revolt that spread from the Entlebuch valley in the Canton of Lucerne to the Emmental valley in the Canton of Bern and then to the cantons of Solothurn and Basel and also to the Aargau.”

The population of the countryside demanded fiscal relief from their ruling authorities, the city councils of these cantons' capitals. The peasants laid siege on Bern and Lucerne, whereupon the cities negotiated a peace agreement with the peasant leader Niklaus Leuenberger, the so-called peace on the Murifeld. The Huttwil League and the peace of the Murifeld were declared null and void by the city council of Bern. Many exponents of the insurrection were captured, tortured, and finally received heavy sentences. Niklaus Leuenberger was beheaded and quartered in Bern on September 6, 1653. [Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]

Soon after the war, the ruling aristocrats instituted a series of reforms and even lowered some taxes, thus fulfilling some of the peasants' original fiscal demands. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_peasant_war_of_1653]

After the family’s demotion from a noble Swiss family with ‘comon blood’, for the mainenence of an upper class and class equality, a sideway ‘promotion’, an objective of war, which followed these events, family members became eligible for civil service as sheriffs, bailiffs, mayors, government officials and ministers, rather than nobility. Former nobles were eligible for civil service. For one reason most were somewhat, others were highly educated and some had been previous civil servants. The suffix to the core surname, Meier, denoted their soon to be civil service, middle class status and former nobility. 

Following the historical events described, the descendants of the Münch von Münchenstein-Muttenz (Reichstag) von Löwenberg de Meier, underwent a diaspora from their Münch Dynasty’s feudal noble ‘common blood’ properties.

Descendants migrated from Basel, Switzerland to neighboring and distanat regions. From Basel descendants entered bilingual Bern, Switzerland, both Old High Bernese Swiss German and Old High Bernese Swiss French (OHBSG-OHBSF) and mixed OHBSG-OHBSF surnames were derived. Bern, Switzerland became the Mischler diminutive surname (OHBSF) epicenter along with neighboring Haut Rhein, France and Württemburg, Germany.

With the prohibition of noble recognition in Switzerland the compound surname was demoted back to many simple, diminutive, abbreviated-like middle class surnames, which would fit into the democratic Swiss Confederation. 

Imagine the possibilities for simple one word surnames, which are destructed bits and pieces of the lengthy, compound, noble surname, Münch von Münchenstein-Muttenz von Löwenberg de Meier. 

Münnix / Minnix was OHBSG surname from the core surname Münch / Münich / Münigh / Minnig.

The cantons of Fribourg, Bern and Valais are officially German and French bilingual and Graubünden officially trilingual with German, Italian and Romansh Swiss languages All those languages as described are native to the state.

Then imagine the added surname complexity when there are a large numbers of varied, challenging dialects that exist in the small Switzerland country that affect the surname. [Languages and religions – Data, indicators: Langages". Neuchâtel, Switzerland: Swiss Federal Statistical Office. 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-24]

“The German-speaking Swiss do not feel like a uniform group: the average German-speaking Swiss feels foremost belonging to Solothurn, St. Gallen, or Uri, and sees himself not speaking Swiss German, but the Baseldytsch (German dialect of Basel), Bärndütsch (dialect of Bern) or Züridütsch (dialect of Zurich).

“This is hardly surprising, however, since there is no single unifying or standard form of Swiss German itself, whereby the term "Swiss German" is simply a generic umbrella term referring in general to all of the various different dialects of German within German-speaking Switzerland, not standard German German. ["The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation, Art. 1: The Swiss Confederation". The portal of the Swiss government. Berne, Switzerland: The Federal Council. Retrieved 2015-10-24.] ((end insert}}

“The french suffix –è- is a foreign sound in German. ‘Mischler’ would sound Messler and Messele [Names Encyclopedia - stats, etymology, anagrams, famous people, rhymes] Languages in Switzerland are very difficult to understand and speak to say the least. [Swissworld: Languages in Switzerland, Expatica, A guide to languages and dialects spoken in Switzerland]

The English Euphonic Dialectization (write it down as it sounds in English) of Minnig / Münnix and Mischler in Bern Switzerland sounded like Minnix / Minnick / Minnich / othes and Mischler / Mishler / Mesler / Meysler in Colonial America and the suffix Meier / Meyer / Mayer and all variants including Meierin, with an in suffix of its own. 

“By middle of the 18th century, in the Swiss Confederation both the financial and social situations of the villagers had not changed much to the better. The main population of Muttenz consisted of: 27 farmers and their families, 170 'Tauners' (farm hands) with their families and 40 widows.” “This was the state, when Elisabeth Spänhauer-Spitteler decided to leave for the American Colonies with her four children Heinrich, Wernet, Anna and Barbara. At the same time, the family of Claus Spänhauer + Ursula (Schwartz) emigrated with their children Jacob + Matheus. 

“Nine years later, Heinrich returned to Muttenz on a visit and when he again headed for America, 66 emigrants from Muttenz left with him. Among them we find another Spänhauer family, the one of Stephan Spänhauer + wife Ursula (Brodbeck) with their son Friedrich. In 1750, another 11 people from Muttenz followed.” [Muttenz History, http://www.muttenzdescendants.org/exhibits/muttenzhistory/18thcent.htm]

Researchers can understand haw Menk / Minck / Minnick / Minnix were derived from the The Old High German phonation of Münch /Münnich in 17th and 18th Centuries, when the 3 Old High German language rules, described afore, are applied to the Münch / Münnich surname. Please see page 3 above.

Researchers can derive the Old High Bernese French Mischler, Meschler, Mishler, Meshler from the Old High Basel German Münch von Münchenstein-Muttenz von Löwenberg de Meier from several directions with different core surnames and suffixes from the original compound surname.

For illustration the following surnames are from Swiss, German Births, Baptisms: 

Muttenz, Münch, Mönch, Münchenstein, Mönchenstein are core surnames 

Meyer / Mayer / Mejer / Meier are common suffixes. 

Meyerin. –in is a common Meyer suffix addition and possibly from son of Hans Myerhans. Berger is a common suffix and Steiner is a common suffix:

Münch von Münchenstein-Muttenz von Löwenberg de Meier is the Old High Basel and Bernese German original compound surname from which, following derived:

BINNS GENEALOGY 1790 VIRGINIA TAX LIST

Charles Mayner Franklin Co   1788 Personal B  page 18 

(Charles Minnix-Mayer) 

BINNS GENEALOGY 1800 VIRGINIA TAX LIST

Charles Miunix Franklin Co 1799 Personal B  page 15

(Miunix = Münix / Münch) 

Christian Moyers Franklin Co  1799 Personal B  page 15

(Charles Cristian Miunix-Moyers) 

1820 United States Federal Census

Name

Home in 1820 (City, County, State)

Number of Slaves

Total Number of All Persons - Free White, Free   Colored, Slaves

View
 Census

Charles.Merin 

Floyd, Kentucky

9

 Record Review name:

Charles Merin
[Charles Minnix] 

Home in 1820 (City, County, State):

Floyd, Kentucky

Enumeration Date:

August 7, 1820

Charles Minnix-Merin or Münichmyerin in Floyd Co. KY, which afterwards became Magoffin Co. KY was this reporter’s 4th Great Grandfather.

Muttenz core surname → Minntz Mentz Manz Menz Muenzmeyer 

Münch-Löwenberg-Meier →

Surname chain of multibarrelled names and abbreviated letters,

→ Münchlöwmeyerin Münschlöwmeyer Münchlemayer Muenchmeyer Mäschlerin  Muschlerin Meschlerin Meschler Mugler (g = ch) 

→ Mischler Meshler

Surname chain of multibarrelled names and abbreviated letters,

→ Mönchlöwmeyerin Mönschlöwmeyer Mönschmayer Moenschmeyer Mäschlerin  Muschlerin Meschlerin → Meschler Mishler Meschler

Surname chain of multibarrelled names and abbreviated letters,

→ Münchlöwberger Münchleberger Muetzlenberger Mechselberger Mützelberger  Moseleburger Mechselberger → Mischler

Von Münchensteiner / Muenchensteiner / Mönchensteiner / Moenchensteiner 

→ Mönchen Mounachon Monachon Monzinger  Menzle → Mishler / Mechler 

Württemberg,   Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1985 (in German). Below Jacob Meÿer son of Isaac Münchmeÿer (German surname) and Maria Maschlerin (Maschler-in French surname) was baptized

Jacob Meÿer Baptism 17 Jul 1680

father -  Isaac Meÿer (MünchMeÿer)

mother -  Maria Maschlerin

Father used the German surname and the mother used the French. Custodian: Evangelische Kirche Seißen (OA. Blaubeuren)

The following baptism demonstrates that Maechler is derived from and umlaut –ü represented by –ae in the surname and that Maechler is not derived from Michael and should not be confused with Michael / Michel.

Switzerland, Select Baptisms, 1491-1940 (in French)

Michael Maechler

4 nov. 1586

Basel, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland

Ulrich

Colonial American Mercenary Swiss soldier, Colonel Christian Minix, was convincing evidence that Minix (Menix, Minnix, Minnicks) was a Swiss surname. Colonel Christian Minix, who served in the South Carolina Indain Wars, was the first recorded person with the surname Minix, Menix, Minnix, Minnicks in America that this reporter was able to find. 254.

The following Bucks County, Pennsylvania,Tax and Exoneration, 1768-1801 demonstrates Colonel Chiistian Minix different surnames from the core surname Münch / Mönch / Minnig / Mannig . His history is other evidence that Minix is a Swiss surname: [Indian Journals of South Carolina 254/]

Pennsylvania, Tax and Exoneration, 1768-1801  

Christian Menix

1783

Bristol

Bucks

Christian Manch

1783

Springfield

Bucks

 Christian Mennick

1783

Bristol

Bucks

 Christian Mennick

1786

Falls

Bucks

 Christian Minick

1783

Falls

Bucks

 Christian Minnich

1781

Bristol

Bucks

 Christian Minnicks

1783

Falls

Bucks

 Christian Minnicks

1783

Bristol

Bucks

 Christian Monch

1780

Springfield

Bucks

 Christian Monicks

1785

Bristol

Bucks

Public Member Trees, Ancestry.com; 

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Name

Parents

Adams Family   Tree
 Public Member Tree
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Captain Christian Minnick   (Minnig)
 Birth:  Abt 1710
 Death:  Aft 28 Nov 1783 (28 Nov 1783) - Bristol, Bucks, PA (Pennsylvania)
 Spouse:  Maria Koch

Christian Minix was the first immigrant to North America who used the name Minix. Charles and Henry Menix were second and third. Christian Minix was from Bern, Switzerland and was also a Münch-Meyer descendant according to South Carolina Colonial records. This reporter has not proved that he was not closely related to Charles Minnix, Sr. However, facts related to both verified they were originally from Bern. The following marriage of Christian Minix-Meyers illustrates one of the many problems while trying to decipher the Swiss-German Compound Surname. 

Remember, Adam Mong / Adam Myers / Adam Musler / Adam Mussler were one and the same person i.e. Adam Mönchmyers. See page 7

South Carolina Marriages, 1688-1799

Christian Meyers, son of Johannes Meyers, and Rebecca Young, daughter of William Young, 12 Apr 1738 Hist Oburg, S.C.. (Christian Minixmeyers)

Christian Minick and wife Rebecca were married “twenty nine or thirty years ago” by John Ulrich Gisentanner, [oath of Elizabeath Oneal, 8 July 1766, Misc.Rec.pp: 489] 

The first spelling of Minix found in Colonial America was during the South Carolina Indian Wars where Col. Minix was mentioned in 1755. Christian Minnig / Minnick / Minix / -ig / -ick / -ix was indexed Col Minix in that reference. 254. 

Minix was concluded a typical Old High Swiss-German surname Münich pronunciation. The lesson was that his name was pronounced in Old High German: Menax, Manix, Minnix and Minnick of the Old High German Münch / Mönnich / Minnig. The reader should understand the difference in Old High German in the 17th and 18th Centuries and German today. An example is the English - Julius Caesar is the Latin pronunciation - Ulius Kaesar.

Dominus and De Minax were the Latin for castle master or ruler. Historical dates in Roman numerals are preceded by the notation "Anno Domini” meaning the year of our Master (or Lord). Domini from the Latin possessive of dominus and de minax. 152.

The Latin surname and translations are the following:

Monachus Rex (Dominus, Dominax) de Monachsestein*

LATIN: Monachus Rex Minax

TRANSLATION

noun Monachus - monk

noun Rex - king, master, leader

adjective minax- authority, dominant, threatening, stern, haughty, relentless, strict, castle master

de preposition- from; away from, out of (Dominax)

adjective Dominus - legal power, combat, hand, fist, soldiers, castle master

Monachen possessive noun- Monks' 152.

Stein is an original Old High German word not derived from Latin.

SOUTH CAROLINA History

“Mercenery soldier Captain Christian Minix arrived in Orangeburgh SC on Ship: unknown 1733-1735 Captain Christian Minnig, was born in Erlendbach, Nieder-Simmenthal, Bern, Switizerland and served in the South Carolina Wars. Capt. Christian Minnick died in Bristol Bucks Co., PA after 28 Nov 1783. He was granted Orangeburgh (SC) Township lot nr.266 and 50 acres of land 25 Sept. 1735. [Lists of Swiss Emigrants in the Eighteenth Century to the American Colonies VOLUME II ZURICH, 1734-1744 FROM THE ARCHIVES OF SWITZERLAND BY ALBERT BERNHARDT FAUST, A.B., PH.D.] 

Captain Christian Minix, (Münch / Männig / Minnig / Minnick / Minnig / Minnicks from Christian Minnig / Minix / Minnick / Minnich) was from the Ehrlenbach, Canton of Bern, the valley of the Simme River, Simmental, Switzerland. In the Parish of Oberwil in Simmental the Minnig families have lived for centuries. 396.   

Charles Minnix, Sr., final census 1810, Franklin County, Virginia, was the progenitor of many Minnix descendant families and central figure of this report. His father was concluded Jacob Ulrich Mischler II, who died in Franklin County, Virginia 1802 with will and probate 1802-1804. Jacob Ulrich Mischler I was concluded Charles Minnix, Sr. granadfather from Bern, Switizerland.

The Charles Minnix, Sr. and Jacob Ulrich Mischler family names were derived from Old High Basel Swiss Germanand Old High Bernese French (OHBaselSG-OHBernSF) respectively and mixed OHBSG and OHBSF. It appeared from primary records that the Maryland German Church ministers and scribes changed the OHBSG and OHBSF, Swiss Brethren surname Mischler / Mishler to the German surname, Münich and American surname, Minnick / Minnix. Please follow the surname etymology. See below. 

This research report, therefore, is a “Best Evidence Report”. It is based on a combination of plentiful Primary Documentation and Secondary Records. Family members are “guilty by association” in time, place and persons. The objectives of both this and the first publication were/are to discover the ancestral family of Charles Minnix, Sr. listed as Charles Minnix in the 1810 U.S. Federal Census, Franklin County, Virginia. 

According to the Family Heritage Book published in 1979, the following numbers of Minix/ Minnix families in the United States were as follows:

Indiana 63 Georgia 43  Kentucky 33 Texas 33 

Mississippi 19 Ohio 23  California 14  Louisiana 13 

Virginia 9 Florida 9 New Jersey 7  Kansas 5

North Carolina 3 Oklahoma 3  Montana 3 South Carolina 3 

Pennsylvania 2  Nevada 1  Alabama 1 Arizona 1 

Delaware 1 Oregon 1  Tennessee 1 Wisconsin 1

West Virginia 1 49. 

Ancestry.com 1940 U.S. Federal Census listed 576 Minnix, 630 Minix, 4 Mennix and 75 Menix. [Ancestry.com] 2014, there are 1,021 Minnix and 2,112 Minix. [American Surnames]

Minix, Minnix, Mannix, Minnick, Minnich, Minnig - Surname Etymology

Minix:  a nickname for one who was a monk [ http://surnames.meaning-of-names.com/minix/#ixzz300SgJttQ]

Minnix:  a nickname for one who was a monk [http://surnames.meaning-of-names.com/minnix/#ixzz307Pj3piE]

The name Mannix means- monk [meaning of names, Ancestry.com]

Minnig is German, a variant of Minnich. [Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford Univ Press]

Minnich Name Meaning - German: from Middle High German münich ‘monk’ (see Monk) 

‘Oh, that Minnick is an Irishman; he spells his name with a k,’ illustrates the ignorance of the people in regard to their own names; for Minich and Minnick both come from the original Münch / Muench.” [The German and Swiss settlements of Colonial Pennsylvania, http://www.archive.org/stream/germanandswisss00kuhngoog/germanandswisss00kuhngoog_djvu.txt]

When the above primary record is investigated and the investigator examines the Index, the following is found:  “For Minch, Minnich see Münch” When researchers then go to and see Münch, the index is “Münch (Minch, Minich, Minnig, Minck, Münck).” Immediately the core name, Münch, is discovered for Minnick and Minnix. [Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia 1727 to 1808, Vol. II,]

To complicate research matters, Charles Minnix, Sr. was from a family of compound surnames that were comprised of a core surname and suffix surname, Münchmeyer: Charles Münchmeier / Muenschmayer / Münnix-Meier. Charles Minnix, Sr.’s father was Jacob Ulrich Münchs-löw-Meier / Mueselmeyer / Mischler (Old High French language pronounced with a silent –N-).

 And in this Minnix-and-Mischler family from the subdivision alliance surname MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER from the core surname Latin Monachus [L.] and core Swiss German 

• Münch / Mönch / Münnich / Mönnich / Bernese Swiss German legal Lutheran Church Minnig / Münnix / others
• 3. and Basel Swiss French Münchler and Bernese Swiss French Amish Mennonite Mueschler / Meeschler / Mischler / Mishler / Messler / manyothers from the compound noble alliance surname: 
• MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER

Many of the Mischler family appeared to be associated with Old Order Swiss Brethren and/or Amish Mennonites originally from Schwarzenburg, Bern, Switzerland. Ulrich Mischler I was Born in 1705, Bern, Switzerland according to family histories. Other Mischler had migrated to Württemburt, Germany prior to America. Pennsylvania Mennonite records reveal the following marriage of one of the Ulrich Mischler to Barbara Huber:

Name

Birth   Date

Death   Date

Relatives

View   Images

· Ulrich Mischler

Barbara

Name:

Ulrich Mischler

Relationship:

Head Household

Marriage   Date:

1678

Household   Members:

Name

Relation

Ulrich Mischler

HeadHouse

Barbara Huber

Spouse

· Carl Menges

 Elizabeth

Name:

Carl Menges

Relationship:

Head

Marriage   Date:

5 Apr 1763

Household   Members:

Name

Relat

Carl Menges

Head

Elizabeth     Imenhauser

Spouse

Pennsylvania, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1772-1890

Carl Menges

PA

Philadelphia County

Philidelphia

1754

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mennonite Vital Records, 1750-2014

Name

Birth Date

Death Date

Relatives

View Images

Carl MengesElizabeth

Name:

Carl Menges

Relationship:

Head

Marriage Date:

5 Apr 1763

Household Members:

Name

Relationship

Carl Menges

Head

Elizabeth Imenhauser

Spouse

This Carl Menges was investigated as same preson, Charles Minnix, Sr.

DIMINUTIVE NAMES: Surnames (last names) were not introduced all over Germany at the same time. They were introduced in Zurich in 1145 and Basel, Switzerland in 1168 and were in Middle Germany in the 13th Century and North Germany 14thCentury. ‘Noble” families were named first.

At the beginning of the 12th century there were 68 men named Burkhard in Basel and 73 men named Heinrich in Zurich, Switzerland. It was confusing. Additional name differention was necessary.

To distinguish the differences, they added occupations, titles, name of residence, personal characteristics and other variants to the core surname i.e. father’s son, der Sohn Jacob, Jacobson; title de Meier, government official, minister official, balif, mercenary soldier, Münchmeier, Münchmayer, Münch-la-Meier; place of residence von Münchenstein, Monachus [Latin] monk, stein, stone, monk stone fortress; personal characteristic Münch der Ritter, soldier. Müncher. Diminutives were single or compound in Old High German; z was often the diminutive core name suffix Münch to Munz, Mantz. [The Pennsylvania-German, Volume 8, Philip Columbus Croll, Henry Addison Schuler, Rev. P.C. Croll, 1907, Pennsylvania Dutch]

Not many census, birth, baptism, death, military and church record scribes would have the time or record space to write the entire surname Münch von Münchenstein-Muttenz von Löwenberg de Meier. The entire surname had been abandoned by most after nobility was outlawed following the Democratic Swiss Confederation government rule. Derived surnames were merely abbreviated dimenutives of the large compound surname. Locals probably, in the beginning, knew who the diminutive surname represented. Only bits and pieces of the lengthy, compound surname were recorded. The Ulrich Mischler family was described as immigrants from Schwarzenburg, Switzerland. 

Ulrich Mischler surname in primary records was also Mesler / Meysler, The Maryland Mischlers, who began in Schwarzenburg, were lastly from Würtemberg, Germany before migration to America. See (12.) below 398.

Some members of the family first migrated to Württemberg, Germany before migrating ultimately to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to records. This researcher concluded they were descendants of the Mücnh Dynsty, first from Basel, Switzerlamd. before Bern and then to Germany, France etc. See below.

"In general 'Germanic' or literary spellings of German names appear to have been preserved by the nineteenth century emigrants (to America) to a greater degree than by the eighteenth century families" when Charles Minnix, Sr. family immigrated. 18th century (1700s) family surnames were more corrupted. 287.

“While the Familiennamenbuch is the authoritative subject on locating the town associated with a Swiss family name, and must be included in any bibliography on the subject, this article is more user-friendly and limited to 150 of the major Swiss Brethren, Mennonite and Amish families. This article is especially useful because it provides Anglicized namespelling variations as they occurred in the US, whereas the Familiennamenbuch only lists the common Germanic spellings. For example, the Anglicized spelling of my family’s name is Gehman but it has been variously recorded as Gahman, Gaueman, Gäuman(n), Gayman, Geeman and Geyman. All of these spellings are identified in the annotation in this article and it ties all of the spellings to the original name and also lists the associated Swiss town of origin. [Strassburger, R.B. (1980). Pennsylvania German pioneers: A publication of the original lists of arrivals in the port of Philadelphia, from 1727 to 1808 (Vols. 1-2). Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.]

[Schelbert, L. & Luebking, S. (1978). Swiss Mennonite family names: An annotated checklist. SAHS Newsletter, 14(2), 2-32] 

Written in German, French and English, this bibliography provides a comprehensive list of over 9,000 genealogies of Swiss names. 

The bibliography was compiled between 1985 and 1992 and the author says genealogies published up through 1990 are included. [Von Moos, M. (1993). Bibliography of Swiss genealogies. Camden, ME: Picton Press] 

Both MINNIX from the core surname Münch and MISCHLER from the abbreviated altered, diminutive, bits and letter sequence surnames were derived from the noble compound from the ancestor and surname JACOB ULRICH MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER.

In Colonial America, son Charles Minnix, Sr. and his father, Jacob Ulrich Mishler II, spoke both Old High Bernese Swiss German and OHBSFrench (OHBSG-OHBSF) used variations of the more common Münch core surname and Meier suffix surname, and less common, but recognized Swiss Brethren Anabaptist, Mischler surname, they pronounced and others scribed into Colonial records.

Charles Minnix, Sr. father, Jacob Ulrich Mishler II and his family used French surnames Mishler / Messler plus many other French and German derived surnames in property transactions, census, military musters and so forth. 

This is verified by the information that follows in this paper and Jacob Ulrich Mishler II historic Carroll County, Maryland property and last-will in Franklin County, Virginia 1802-1804 and as verified by his Swiss Brethren, Mennonite, and Anabaptist religious associations as stated in several Mischler / Mishler religious history references. 

[Ulr. Messler MSA SC 5496-25759 Property Owner, Biography; Maryland Historic Trust Inventory of Historic Properties, CARR-947, Ulridh Messler House, Union Bridge, Carrol County, Maryland]

The following surnames represent transitioning surnames more closely representative of MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER compound surname from Basel, Switzerland to Bern, Switzerland 

Bernese Swiss surnames: Muetzlenberger, Muetzelberg, Möschberger (Münch-Löwenberger) surnames were surname variants that now demonstrate intermediary-like surnames that were ultimately shortened-down to surnames like OHBS-German Münnix, OHBS-FrenchMischler and many, many others. 

Beat Mischler says: The origin of name "Mischler" is from the small town Schwarzenburg, Bern, Switzerland. He said, “That is exactly the frontier between the French and the German part of Switzerland. 

Wahlern shares the name of the administrative district, Schwarzenburg. Bern, Switzerland is the interface of French and German sections and languages of Switzerland

French is the older language in Bern; German came later. The name "Mischler" is a mix of these two languages, and it shows der change from French to German. [Names Encyclopedia - stats, etymology, anagrams, famous people, rhymes]

Muesnch (Münch) von Münchenstein-Muttenz von Loewenberg de Meier

Muetzlenberger, Muetzelberg, Möschberger are surnames that have enough lettering which more closely resembles the 2 alliance families Münch von Münchenstein von L֊öwenberg. The surnames are ‘all down hill from here’.

St.Arbogast Fortified Church in Muttenz, Switzerland is the only remaing fortified church in Europe. Konrad Münch von Münchenstein repaired the earthquake damages of 1356. It was expanded in the 15th century by Hans Thüring Münch to the Wehrkirche (defensive church) and equipped with a new tower.  The two Saints on the pulpit of the Reformed St. Arbogast Church were Jacob and Mathias. Ulrich, Jacob and Mathias were forenames commonly used in the 18th Century among descendants and among Minnick / Minnix family members. 

Münnix / Minnix and Mischler were examples of the many surnames which were minimized and merged into one single word derived from the compound surname:

MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER → MISCHLER, MINNIX + other one word surnames. 

The Mischler surname was not an original surname derived from an occupation, region of residence, personal characteristic, family characteristic or appearance which followed the forename, but an abbreviated letter sequence, representing the complete compound ‘common blood’ surname, MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER, which became Mischler. 

For example, this reporter’s core surname is Münnix / Minnix / Minix. This reporters complete abbreviated name is mbmsrmd, often used to prevent using the complete name Micheal Bryan Minix, Sr., M.D. 

Mischler is an abbreviated, diminutive letter sequence, representing the complete compound surname, MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER, which became a letter sequence permanent surname. 

When the Münich Dynasty collapsed and lost their noble status, the middle class descendants adopted diminutive surnames formed in this family from

1. Münch Dynasty subdivisions. See page 9. 

2. And in this Minnix-and-Mischler family from the subdivision alliance surname MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER from the core surname Latin Monachus [L.] and core Swiss German 

Münch / Mönch / Münnich / Mönnich / Bernese Swiss German 

Minnig / Münnix / others

3. and Basel Swiss German Münchler and Bernese Swiss French Amish Mennonite

Mueschler / Meeschler / Mischler / Mishler / Messler / manyothers from the compound noble alliance surname: 

MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER

a. formed from abbreviated dimenutive letter sequences, or a chain of abbreviated letters, with missing letters derived from the complete compound surname above. These double surnames are "alliance names" (Allianznamen), sometimes attached in whole by hyphens and sometimes multibarrelled whole "name chains" surnames.  Modestly put (sic), the more surname components, the more noble the family.

“The Habsburgs (who were associated with the Münch Dynasty) were European champions at this, with an ever-lengthening imperial name listing all their land possessions. It was a nightmare for officials, but proclaimed just how ‘noble’ the family was. A 5-barrelled surname from the above compound surname with abbreviated letters, not whole surnames from each of the 5 was more practicle. [Three surnames for one person. Too many? By Chris Bowlby, BBC News, 8 May 2009 ] 

b. For example, "Losantiville" settlement, founded in 1788 was the first name for Cincinnati, Ohio. The original surveyor, John Filson, named it from 4 terms, each of different language. It means "The city opposite the mouth of the (Licking) River", "ville" is French for "city", "anti" is Greek for "opposite", "os" is Latin for "mouth", and "L" was all that was included of "Licking River". [History of Cincinnati, Ohio]

c. Or from the Swiss suffixes -ler and -lerin which are usually attached to nouns and designate a person with a particular function.

d. Original family functions of family descendants were administrative aristicrats of the Habsburg Dynasty, Bishops of Basel, mercenary soldiers, governors, lordsand civil servants of the MüNCH VON MüNCHENSTEIN-MUTTENZ VON LöWENBERG DE MEIER Reichstag, and then civil servants of the Swiss Confederation after nobility loss

4. and other surnames

5. Descendants with diminutives, then spread far and wide to every continent. 

The abbreviated letter sequence surnames evolved from repeated and recurrent larger to smaller letter sequences, because there were so many letters in the noble surname and formed many letter sequence diminutive surnames:  ^Maechlen / Meichlen / Muechlin / Möschberger / Mutzlenberg / Muetzlenberger / Muzenberg / Muzenberg / Mechel / Michler / Mischler / Mishler / Messner etc. depending on the parts for emphasis. See these surnames ^ in the indicies that follow.

Additionally, Old High German was the language in Basel and both Old High German and Old High French were the languages in Bern, Switzerland and the Baseldytsch (dialect of Basel) and Bärndütsch (dialect of Bern) were different.

For example, see ^Maechlen / Meichlen / Muechlin below in Switzerland Births and Baptism Records. Minnix is different because Münnichs / Münnix / Münz / Minnicks / Minnix are surnames derived from the core surname Münch / Mönch / Münnich / Mönnich.

About The Franklin County, Vifrginia Historical Society.

The Franklin County Historical Society was chartered by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1968 for the stated purpose of collecting and preserving the history of Franklin County, Virginia. In 2005, we added “sharing” to this mission.

To that end, we offer memberships to the general public to encourage interest in local history. Members receive a  newsletter – “The Times of Franklin Before and After 1786” six times a year. We operate a history museum and research library to provide public access to our collected materials. Thanks to the generosity of our visitors, we do not charge an admission fee, however, we do request a donation of one dollar or more per person visiting the museum. FCoHS is a non profit 501c3 organization with IRS tax exemption status. We are able to document donations for tax credit purposes.

As a means of financial support, we publish booklets with historical themes for the purpose of education and research assistance. We are happy to share our resources with those who are interested - and welcome the sharing of resources by others:

For addtional information see the following Book:  Minnix. Charles Minnix Sr. ($50 plus $8 s/h) Scholarly work on the Minnix family. Sources carefully documented including German resources.