First Generation

1. Gottlieb Meinhard Ludwig "Meinhart" GNEWIKOW was born on 18 April 1808 in Mulhdorf, Schluchtern, Kreis Main-Kinzig, Hessen (Hesse) Province, Preussen (Prussia).^1,2,3,4,5,6 (His name was listed as "Gottlieb Meinhard Ludwig" in the church burial record. Other sources list it as "Meinhard Gottlieb Ludwig.)

The 1920 Census for his son Meinhard listed his birth place as Brandenburg. Other family sources list it as Bayerischer Wald, Neumarkt, Bayern (Bavaria) Province, Preussen (Prussia).

The MyHeritage website lists it as Mulhdorf, Schluchtern, Main-Kinzig-Kreis, Hessen, Prussia. Schlüchtern is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen,  Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig, approximately 30 km southwest of Fulda, in the Bergwinkel, the area between the Mittelgebirge or low mountains of the Vogelsberg, Spessart and Rhön. Also the river Kinzig flows through the municipality, in southwest area of a hill called Landrücken. He emigrated in 1848 from Preussen (Prussia).^7,8 His origin was Baerwalde/Koenigsberg and his destination was "Nord-Amerika."

. In 1855 he was a farmer in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^1,3,9 He was one of the first settlers in Ridgeville, arriving in 1855. The land that he homesteaded and bought has remained in the family for five generations. One 80-acre parcel was purchased from Eli Burroughs, who had a land patent dated 1856, signed by President Franklin Pierce. The home place was sold by Friedrich Karl and Minnie (Wilhelmine) Gnewikow to Fredrick Carl, Jr. and Elma Vincenz Gnewikow and then to Odis and Bernice Giraud Gnewikow, who with their children are the 4th and 5th generations. They received a Century Farm Certificate in 1955. Meinhart appeared in the census in 1860 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.³ (The Census listed his birth place as "Prussia.") He was Lutheran in 1862 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.¹⁰ He was listed in the Church Register as member number 19 of the first 100 members of the congregation of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. He died on 28 May 1867 at the age of 59 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^2,4,6 Meinhart was buried on 30 May 1867 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^2,4,11 in the St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery.

Gottlieb Meinhard Ludwig "Meinhart" GNEWIKOW and Caroline Wilhelmine Anna "Minnie" FIEDLER were married in 1839 in Preussen (Prussia).^1,10 (Her surname is listed as Fiedlern in the St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church records, but it may have been later changed to Fiedler, of which there were several families in Monroe County. It may have been the case that she or her family "Americanized" her German name.) Caroline Wilhelmine Anna "Minnie" FIEDLER, daughter of Christian Friedrich Wilhelm FIEDLER and Johanne Christiane Friederike NOTHNICK, was born on 18 November 1814 in Spremberg, Brandenburg Province, Preussen (Prussia).^{1,3,5,12,13,14,15,16} Her surname is listed as "Fiedler" in the marriage records for her daughter Maria and sons Meinhard and Wilhelm and in the burial record for her son Hermann. It is listed as "Fiedlern" in the 125th Anniversary Booklet for St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ridgeville, and in other sources.

Spremberg is a municipality near the Saxon city of Hoyerswerda and is in the Spree-Neiße district of Brandenburg, Germany. Spremberg is situated about 20 km south of Cottbus and 25 km north of Hoyerswerda, on an island and on both banks of the river Spree. Between 1871 and 1918 the town was the geographical centre of the German Empire: today, it is only 25 km from the German-Polish border.  She was christened on 22 November 1814 in Spremberg, Brandenburg Province, Preussen (Prussia).¹⁷ She emigrated about 1845 from Bayerischer Wald, Neumarkt, Bayern (Bavaria) Province, Preussen (Prussia).⁷ Minnie lived in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI in 1855.² She appeared in the census in 1860 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.³ She appeared in the census in 1870 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.¹⁸ She was living with her son Meinhard and his wife. Minnie appeared in the census in 1880 in Wilton Township, Monroe County, WI.¹² She was living with her son William. She died on 26 December 1880 at the age of 66 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^2,14 She was buried on 28 December 1880 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^2,14 in the St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery.

Gottlieb Meinhard Ludwig "Meinhart" GNEWIKOW and Caroline Wilhelmine Anna "Minnie" FIEDLER had the following children: