Philipp Neff was born on Friday, 8 June 1832 in Dusenbach, a tiny village then located in the Großherzogtum Hessen (Grand Duchy of Hessen). Dusenbach—and the other nearby places in which the Neff ancestors lived—was in the Odenwald region of Germany. Dusenbach lies just outside the larger town of Höchst im Odenwald. Today, Dusenbach is in the German state of Hessen.
A larger image of this photograph and other views of the church—including the baptismal font—can be found here [to be added].
Photo by Norman Hellmers, 2006
Little is known of Philipp Neff's life in Germany. He presumably had some education, but he would have worked, as did his father, as a day-laborer on the farms surrounding Dusenbach. As a young man, Philipp Neff was presumably confirmed at the church in Höchst im Odenwald. In the first two months of 1848, when Philipp Neff was 15 years old, both of his parents died: Wilhelm Neff died on 27 February 1848 (at the age of 47) and Elisabetha Straub Neff died on 23 January 1848 (at the age of 40). A few months later, on 23 July 1848, Phillip's older sister, Anna Katharina Neff, married Johann Adam Mohr. Philipp was a sponsor when their second child, a son, also named Philipp, was baptized on 26 May 1850.
On 9 May 1849, Philipp's sister Elisabetha had a child out of wedlock, whom she named Adam. The child was baptized at the church in Höchst im Odenwald. In the baptism record, the name of the father is not given. Elisabetha and her son emigrated to the United States in 1855 with Peter Villhard, eventually settling in St. Clair County, Illinois.
Philipp's younger sister, Anna Margaretha, was only a year old when their parents died. A notation on her baptismal record indicates that she was placed in an orphanage on 3 June 1848. She remained in Germany, was unmarried, and died on 12 April 1914.
Apparently in about 1850, when he was 18 years old, Philipp Neff decided to emigrate to the United States. His parents, both now deceased, had owned no land, and Philipp had no identifiable trade. Presumably he believed that his opportunities would be better in the United States.