I was wondering if you ever found an answer to your query. My great-great grandmother's name was Lena Neitzel but no one in the family has any real information about her or her ancestors. I know she married Fritz Schneider (that might be your Friedrich August) of Texas. I'm not sure about Fritz's family but most of the rest of my family tree came from the state of Brandenburg in East Germany in the 1850s and 60s.
Kevin