Berst/Bersch surname
Georg Jacob Berst, son Etienne Berst and Catharine Friedmann:
From the Riedseltz records:
Georg Jacob Berst b. 4Feb1790, bap. RC same day, with the above parents.
He is in the family list of 1804 in Riedseltz, same parents.
In An 9 (roughly 1800) is lived in house#136 Riedseltz. So, using the records below, we can construct a tree for you:
Etienne (Stephan) (??Balthasar) Berst, m. Catharine Friedmann, lived Riedseltz
1. Georg Jacob Berst, b. 1790 Riedseltz, d. 1853 Soufflenheim,m.1817 Soufflenheim, Magdalena Hummel daughter of Anton Hummel and Catharine Lowengurth
Probably lived in Soufflenheim
a. Michael Berst, m.1850 Soufflenheim, Magdalena Steiner, dau of Peter Steiner and Magdalena Goetz
A. (Johannes) Joseph Berst m. 1876 Soufflenheim, Melanie Zumback, dau of Alphonse Zumback and Marie Anne Muller
1. Karl Berst, d. 1880 Souffleheim, possibly a young child
2. Melanie Berst, d. 1878 Souffleheim, possibly a young child
B. Barbara Berst m. 1879 Soufflenheim, Bernard Zinch (Zinck?), son of Josephine Zinch
b. Frantz (Xaver) Berst m. 1857 Soufflenheim, Marie Anne Ernewein, dau of Frantz Ernewein (Your Ancestor)
A. Infant Berst, d.1872, Soufflenheim
B. Frantz Xaver Berst, b.1860 Soufflenheim, m. 1883 Rosa Schott (Your Ancestor) Would love to see marriage record of
this couple!!!
c. Georg Jacob Berst, d. 1878 Soufflenheim, m.1867 Soufflenheim, Catherine Becker, dau of Anton Becker and ? Weiss
d. Jacob Berst, d. 1837, Soufflenheim possibly a young person
e. Anton Berst, d. 1824, Soufflenheim possibly a young child
f. Anton Berst, d. 1855, Soufflenheim
g. Joseph Berst, d. 1872, Soufflenheim
h. Johannes Baptist Berst, d. 1830, Soufflenheim, possibly a young child
2. Balthasar Berst, b. 1779 Riedseltz, d. 22Jan1848, m. Magdalena Lander, Marie Catharine Barbara Lantz
lots of kids
3. Magdalena Berst, d. 1776 Riedseltz, d. 1860, m. Heinrich Wagner, Riedseltz lots of kids
4. Martin Berst, b. 1787 Riedseltz (another Martin! This family just has to be related to J.G.'s group!)
This is probably a good assembly from the below data. I think Etienne's name was confused with Balthasar, either because Georg Jacob had a brother Balthasar, who the informant confused for Etienne (a french form of Stephan), OR because Etienne had two different first names. All of these records should be viewed, since places of birth for the wives or husbands at the marriages are often mentioned, and it would be a way to strengthen this. And of course the birth and baptismal records, not mentioned here, will help even more when we know who were the witnesses, and the missing children.
So, in sum, The Berst's of Soufflenheim ARE the Bersts of Riedseltz. Are they part of Johannes Georg Berst's family: can't say yet, but would be happy to bet on it. Thanks for pointing these records out, as they flesh out the Riedseltz Bersts a bit.