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About the Ifft/Ift/Eft Family History ProjectWe've set up this space to record the Family History and Genealogy of the Ifft/Ift/Eft Family. You can help! Please consider contributing information about your ancestors, documentation, pictures, etc. Much of the research (so far) on this site has to do with the family in Germany and Beaver/Butler county, however we are trying to make a connection to and document any of the other Ifft/Ift/Eft's anywhere at anytime, and welcome any information you have regarding families with these surnames. Germany The Ifft/Ift/Eft families first appear in Sannerz and Vollmerz, Hesse, Germany, which is in present day Stadt Schl�chtern Hessen, Germany and contains the towns of Ahlersbach, Breitenbach, Elm, Gundhelm, Herolz, Hohenzell, Hutten, Klosterh�fe, Kressenbach, Niederzell, Vollmerz, and Wallroth. The earliest known Ifft ancestor was Hans Ift who died March 26, 1719 in Sannerz, Hesse, Germany. This name could also be spelled Yfft and probably originated in the small village of Ifta in the Rhinggau area. Ifta is about 120 km from the Bergwinkel or Kinzig Valley and is in the old East Germany. The priest at this time spelled Hans son Caspars surname Yft and later Ift." Germany > New Jersey > Illinois, Indiana The first Eft/Ifft family that we are aware of that emigrated to the United States was Johann Frederick Eft and his wife, who emigrated in about 1764 and settled near Woodstown, New Jersey, about 25 miles south of Philadelphia. It is believed the original family home was in Niederzell, Germany. They had a son, Frederick, who was baptised in 1764 in Friesburg, NJ. He died in 1806, leaving a wife, Susannah, and five small children. Descendants of Frederick Eft migrated to Illinois in 1869. The majority of them lived in El Paso, Bloomington, and Chicago, Illinois. A daughter, Anna, married an Emley and moved to Huntington, Indiana in the 1870s. We now believe that there is a good chance that Johannes Ift b. August 05, 1730 son of Caspar Ift (1684-1737) and Elisabetha Eyring (1692-1770) was the emigrant Johannes Eft who came in 1764 and settled in Woodbridge, NJ. Germany > Pennsylvania The next group of Ifft families to arrive came from Vollmerz, Hesse, Germany between 1831 and 1834 and settled in Beaver and Butler Counties, in Western Pennsylvania.
Germany > Ohio There is a John Eft born about 1857 who emigrated from near Neiderzell to the United States in 1866 and settled first in McDonald, Washington, County, Pennsylvana then settled in Wintersville, Jefferson County, Ohio in 1903. John owned a dairy farm and employed his son Henry (Abt. 1880-1960) who resided circa March 1960 on Efts Lane in Steubenville, Jefferson Co., Ohio. We have not yet "tied" this family into the lines we have been researching, but we believe that the fact that they emigrated from Neiderzell indicates a connection. If you have further information, please let us know. Illinois George Ifft - There are a few Ifft's on the Frederich and Elizabeth (Traschel) Hari Family web site, descending from a George Ifft and Margaritha Hari (1864-1947), when I corresponded with Mike Hari, I received this reply: "I do not have additional information on George Ifft in my references at this time. I believe that it is likely that George Ifft was a member of the Apostolic Christian church at the time he married my great-great aunt. Finding a link to this denomination in your family would certainly increase the probability of blood ties. We have not yet "tied" this family into the lines we have been researching. If you have further information, please let us know. Christian Ift - He arrived in Adams County, Il around 1870, his wife was Caroline (Whipper) Ift We have not yet "tied" this family into the line we have been researching. If you have further information, please let us know. This page was last updated on: ,
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