Britten Family History

This history of the Britten family will be a collaboration of the Britten History as told by Father John Gehl in 1984, corrections and additions by Jo Ann Gehl Wall in 2000, and the ongoing corrections and additions by Curt Gehl.

As Father John Gehl said, his great grandfather Mathias Britten was a shoemaker by trade.  He was born to  Nicholas and Maria Dawen Britten in Irsch, Germany on 10 Oct 1794.  He married Barbara Weber there in 1814.  Barbara’s exact birth date is not known other than we know she was born before 1798. Mathias and Barbara had at least 9 children.  Five of those children would emigrate to America. They are Peter, John, Mathias (born 1833) and Maria Britten Jaeckels.