Researching European Origins of Pennsylvania German Families

PIENIaNa 19.NaNS2NaNaNNNEME The Pennsylvania GENEALOGICAL Magazine Madmgammximximmiimmgai:mmgimgamm Researching European Origins of Pennsylvania German Families* MILTON RUBINCAM, P.A.S.G., P.N.G.S., T HE Holy Roman Emeire of the German Nation, as the ancestral land of the Pennsylvania-Germans was called down to its dissolution in 1806, was a heterogeneous organism of 300 large states and approximately 1500 minor states, some of the latter including knights' fiefs of only a few square miles in extent. Each state, no matter how great or how small it might be, possessed its own internal administration, foreign policy, army, legislature, and currency. States which were originally quite large were often divided and subdivided among cadet branches of ruling families, thus weakening the power that would otherwise have been exercised by those families had their territories remained intact. Some times larger states would entirely enclave smaller territories, to which they bore no political relationship; in other instances, one state would entirely separate the parts of another state. The possessions of various dynasties bore close relationships to patchwork quilts. The names of Hessen-Kassel, Hessen-Darmstadt, Hessen-Rheinfels, SachsenKoburg-Saalfeld, Braunschweig-Wolfenbuttel, Leiningen-DagsburgHeidesheim, and Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfiirst illustrate the composition of the German states under the old Empire. The nominal ruler of all of these disjointed and haphazard territories was the Emperor, who theoretically was elected to his exalted office, but actually held it by virtue of chieftainship of the illustrious House of Habsburg, which occupied the imperial throne from 1273 to 1291, 1298 This article is based on a talk given before the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania on 27 September 1966. 227 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 228 to 1308, and continuously from 1438 to 1806. The single exception was Emperor Charles VI (1742-45), who was a Wittelsbach. "The emperor is looked upon by all other crowned heads and states in Europe as the first European potentate," the second edition of The Encyclopaedia Britannica informed its readers in 1780, "and as such precedence is given him and his ambassadors." In 1664 Louis du May, Sieur de Sallettes and Councilor to the Duke of Wurttemberg, in his book, The Estate of the Empire, described the Emperor as "the first Monarch in the world; and it is actually seen, that all other Monarchs of Christendom do willingly give him place" — a view not shared by "all other Monarchs of Christendom!" The awe with which the Holy Roman Emperor was held even penetrated to America; at the close of the Revolutionary War, John Adams, then abroad on an important diplomatic mission, wrote that Emperor Joseph II "has caused to be intimated in several ways his inclination to have a treaty of commerce with us; but his rank is so high, that his house never makes the first advance." In theory, the states were governed by the Emperor, but in practice they were independent of him and, while owing nominal allegiance to the Habsburg at Vienna, acknowledged their own reigning families as their immediate sovereign lines. The ruling princes bore a weird assortment of titles — there were Electors, Dukes, Princes, Margraves, Landgraves, Counts, Counts Palatine, Barons, Knights, Prince-Archbishops, Prince Bishops, Prince Abbots, Princess Abbesses, Burgraves, Raugraves, Wildgraves, Altgraves, and Rheingraves! Many of the principalities were of comic opera proportions. For instance, it is said that the Count of Limburg-Styrum-Wilhelmsdorf boasted a standing army of one colonel, nine lower officers, and two privates.' James Boswell, the biographer of Dr. Samuel Johnson, records that Catherine the Great's brother, Prince Friedrich August of AnhaltZerbst, led his entire army of 180 men against the mighty Frederick the Great of Prussia, no doubt over some fancied slight.' Thackeray's imaginary duchy of Kalbsbraten-Pumpernickel was no exaggeration. He wrote that "Philibert ffigismund Emanuel Maria, the reigning Duke, . . . has received from his country (on account of the celebrated pump which he erected in the market place of Kalbsbraten) the well-merited appellation of the Maeificent." The designer of the pump, Court Architect von Speck, "is Knight Grand Cross of the Ancient Kartoffel 'Charles Francis Adams, The 'Works of Jobs Adams, Second President of the United States: with • (1053), VIII, 95. Willis Mason West, The Story of Modern Progress (1927), 320. sPreder;ck A. Porde, edit., Some!) to the Grand Tom. Germany and Switzerland, 1764 (Nmr York, Life of the Author ° 1953), 104-105. Researching Pennsylvania German Families 229 Order, as, indeed, is almost every one else in his Highness's dominions." In striking contrast to the glamor of the courts and the idiocy of the ruling classes was the condition of the common people who had suffered in the endless wars, religious oppressions, and economic disturbances. "How different is their situation here; from what it was in Germany!" exclaimed Dr. Rush, in his account of the eighteenth century Pennsylvania Germans. "Could the subjects of the princes of Germany, who now groan away their lives in slavery and unprofitable labour, view from an eminence, in the month of June, the German settlements of Stratsburg (sic!) , or Manheim in Lancaster county, or of Lebanon or Bethlehem in the counties of Dauphin and Northampton; could they be accompanied on this eminence, by a venerable German farmer, and be told by him that many of those extensive fields of grain, full-fed herds, luxuriant meadows, orchards, promising loads of fruit, together with the spacious barns and commodious stone-dwelling houses, which compose the prospects that have been mentioned, were all the product of the labour of a single family, and of one generation; and that they were all secured to the owners of them by certain laws; I am persuaded, that no chains would be able to detain them from sharing in the freedom of their Pennsylvania friends and former fellow-subjects." During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the lot of the lower classes was very difficult. In Austria, Silesia, and Bohemia ° the peasants were bound to the soil and were sold with the land. In Wurttemberg the peasants' condition was a little better, for, not being bound to the William Makepeace Thackeray, The Fiez-Boodie PaPerr (New York, 1593), 165-166. 'fhe humor of his nory is apparent when the German names of his invented chancres" are translated into English: Kalbsbraten means "roast-veek" Pompernkkel is the well-known black Westphalian rye bread; Kartoff el signifies potato. The f.tastic appellatives applied to the nobles in the Germany of our forefathers are described in Paul Tabor?, The Natural Science of Shiphlity (1959), 113-85. In 1961, John Insley Coddington, searching the Reichensachsen parish registen in the State Archives at Marburg, found that the godparents of Sophia Agnes von Boyneburg gement Hohenstein (1723-66) included "beyde Hochadelige Fr. Grossmiitter von Rochivohlgeborenen Hochloblichen von Sancho.. als Hochlalichen Grouvater under der liarbucohlgeboreners HochiSblichen von Boyneburg no Not no els dee hochlobliehen Voters 50,5loblichen Braden" Roughly translated, the young lady numbered among her godparents "both high and noble Lady Grandmothers by the right honorable father's and mother's lines, also the high led well horn and right honorable von Bodenlieusen in his capacity of the right honorabk [maternal) grandfather, and the high, well born, and right honorable von Boyneburg of Netra in his capacity of the right honorable father's right honorable brother." It in of passing interest to note that this Sophia Agnes married the ecluallY Hochwohlgeborner, Hochadeliger, HothIbblicher Hartman Adolf Wilhelm von Eschwege (1709-70), smd was .cestress of a family that settled in New York City in the nineteenth century. Benjanun Roth, M.D., "An Account of the Manners of the German Inhabitants of Pennsylvania," The Pennsylv.io Germ. Society Proceedings and Addrenes, XIX (1910), 106-107, hereinafter cited as LOS ° Proceeding, 'Bohemia was non, part of the Empire, it was a kingdom, but the Holy Roman Emperor was also the hereditary King of 141.i. 230 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine soil, they were free to quit their masters, but in return for this privilege they were taxed more heavily than their brethren in other states and had to render socage-service, i.e., they were required to work in person and with their horses for their lords.' The Thirty Years' War (1618-48) was a great national tragedy for the Empire, and the conditions which it created had not a little to do with the later German migrations to England and America. It is estimated that the population decreased between one-third and twothirds; towns and villages lay smoking and in ruins; entire provinces were barren and deserted; industry and commerce virtually ceased to exist; harvests were destroyed; and the plague carried off thousands of people. Records have been preserved of the harrowing experiences through which families passed in those days. Martin Pastorius, grandfather of the founder of Germantown, was residing with his family at Erfurt in 1629 when it was occupied by the Swedes. After several of his houses had been burned during the night, Pastorius sought the protection of the Elector of Mainz. But as he was hiding under some straw in a barn he was betrayed by his own servant, and so critically injured that he died within a few days.' Michael Ludwig, pastor of Sonnenberg, faithfully administered to the needs of his flock until his entire congregation succumbed to 'the ravages of the war and the plague. A clergyman named Martin BOtzinger noted in his autobiography that in his town "most of the inhabitants were in their graves; there remained only eight or nine souls, who fled from it in the year 1636." Friedrich Riibenkam, a Hessian Reformed minister, was twice driven from his parish, once in 1629 when, by the terms of the Edict of Restitution the Catholics seized the territory in which he was preaching, and a few years later when the Emperor's savage Croatian troops ravaged the countryside.' The years following the war were filled with &stress, suffering, and sorrow; so much so that it is small wonder the people eagerly read the literature published in German and Dutch depicting the advantages `Wolfgang Menzel, Germany from the Dirties! Period. Translated from the 4th German edition by Mn. George Horrocks (1899), III, 1099-1100. 'Marion Dexter Learned, The Life of Francis Daniel Pastorius: The Founder of Germantown (Philadelphia, 1908), 7-8. ° Gustav Freytag, Pictures of German Life in IfIrth, XVIth and XVIltb Centurks, translated by Mn. Malcolm (1862), 11, 108. i° Milton Rubuscam, "The Rilbenkare Family of Hessen . ," The Pennsylvania Genealogical Maga- zine (PGM), XXII (1961), 90-91. Researching Pennsylvania German Families 231 of life in William Penn's American province of Pennsylvania, where every man would have the privilege of worshipping God as he wished and where he would be afforded every opportunity to improve his social and economic condition. In 1681 Heinrich Frey, of Heilbronn, wrote to his son Heinrich, then living on the site of the present city of Philadelphia, that "since you have been away from us the conditions in South Germany have become much worse. The French had wrought much devastation and this is pressing very hard at this time, and besides this, we are suffering from the plague of high taxes."" In 1688 - 9 and in 1692 - 3 the wanton ravages and cruelties of the Thirty Years' War were repeated when the French King, Louis XIV, carried fire and sword into the Palatinate, reduced to ashes such great cities as Worms and Speyer, and destroyed the imposing castle of Heidelberg." The eighteenth century opened gloomily for the oppressed people of the Empire. Europe was again in arms, this time fighting the War of the Spanish Succession. Germany, France, Spain, England, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Portugal, together with the Spanish, French, and English colonies in America, were all involved in this conflict. The misery of the people was intense. The emigration movement was so violent that the ruling princes adopted strong measures to prevent their subjects from leaving home. Thousands of families and individuals, encouraged by the Government of Queen Anne, emigrated to England, and from thence many were transported to Her Majesty's American dominions. The serious economic condition in the Palatinate was described in a petition in 1710, signed by 20 Lutheran pastors, including Anthony Jacob Henckel, who emigrated to America seven years later. They testified that the war had resulted in poverty overtaking the inhabitants of the Palatinate." The July, 1709, issue of a monthly newsletter, Mercure Historique et Politique, reported that in the preceding month about 6000 Protestants from Switzerland, the Palatinate, and elsewhere had arrived in England, and that plans were under way to send many of them to the American colonies. The severe weather during the winters in Europe also contributed to the emigration movement. Nicolaus Umstat, whose son, Hans Peter, came to Germantown in 168 8, noted in his Bible: "In the year 1658 the cold was so great that even the Rhine was frozen up. On the 31st of January so great a snow fell that it continued four days. There was no . Daniel H. Benda, A Genealogical History of tbe Bertolet Family. The Demandantt of Jean &Motet (Pottstown, Ps., 1914), 174. "Merman Historique et Politique, June, 1693, 620-621. The Herschel Family Record+, February, 1926, 96-97. 232 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine snow so great within the memory of man." " One of history's severest winters was that of 1708-9. It was reported that wine and spirits were "frozen into solid blocks of ice," a circumstance that must have brought sadness to our drinking forebears. It is even said that the intense cold caused birds on the wing to fall dead. Practically all of the rivers of Europe were covered with ice. At Wanfried, in the landgraviate of Hessen-Rheinfels, the misery was so widespread that the town distributed wood among the people and petitioned the princely government for a remission of taxes for one month." The religious issue was an important contribution to German emigration. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648, recognized only three religions in the Empire: Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed (Calvinist). All other faiths were outlawed. Thus the Mennonites, Moravians, Pietists, Schwenckf elders and other sectarians had no legal status in the Empire. As a result, thousands of families fled to America and other countries in order to worship as their consciences dictated. The sectarians were not the only people to seek refuge in order to preserve their religious beliefs; Protestants were persecuted in the Catholic states of the Empire and Catholics in the Protestant principalities, so that throughout the country religious oppression ranked with economic and political factors as a cause of the mass emigration that took place in the eighteenth century. Thus we have sketched briefly the historical background of our Pennsylvania German colonists, and the causes of their emigration from the Vaterland. Although there was a sizable settlement of Germans in New Amsterdam (now New York) during the period of the Dutch suzerainty over that city, the first permanent German settlement in the present United States was at Germantown, founded in 1683 by thirteen families from Krefeld on the Rhine, under the leadership of Francis Daniel Pastorius. In the years that followed, many thousands of Germans came to America, settling in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Gtorgia. Before we discuss the problem of tracing Pennsylvania German families to their pre-American home, it is well to dispose of an error commonly made by genealogical writers. It is improper to dismiss our German ancestors with the designation of "Palatines." It is true that the eighteenth century English clerks in Philadelphia did often describe new German arrivals as "Palatines." But properly speaking, a Palatine . Samuel V. Pennypacker, Newkirk Pennebeeker, Surveyor of Louts for the Poore, 1674-1754 adelphta, 1894), 14. Reinhold Strauss, Cbrootk der 55a15 Wonfrkd (1908), 104. (PIA- Researching Pennsylvania German Families 233 was an inhabitant of the principality of the Holy Roman Empire known as the Electoral Palatinate of the Rhine, ruled by a branch of the ancient House of Wittelsbach. Two hundred years ago the Electoral Palatinate was bounded on the east by the countship of Katzenelnbogen, the archbishopric-electorate of Mainz, the bishopric of Worms, and parts of the territories of the Teutonic Order " in Franconia; on the west by the duchy of Zweibrficken, the county of Sponheim, the duchy of Sitrimen, and certain districts of the archbishopric-electorate of Mainz; south by the duchy of Wurttemberg and the bishopric of Speyer; and north by part of the archbishopric-electorate of Mainz and the county of Katzenelnbogen. " In addition to the true Palatines, the Germans who settled in Pennsylvania comprised Hessians, Bavarians, Brunswickers, Ansbachers, Anhalters, Badeners, Saxons, Silesians, Wurttembergers, Nassauers, Mainzers, etc. Numerous examples of the diverse areas of the colonists' origin are at hand. Wilhelm Rittinghausen (William Rittenhouse) , who came to Germantown in 1688, was born in 1644 at Miilheim on the Ruhr River, in the duchy of Berg, governed by a branch of the House of Wittelsbach." Georg Otto, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1752 with his wife and two children, was born in 1716 of Catholic parents in the bishopric of Wiirzberg." On 22 May 1762, Michael Krebs, who "had ruined himself by hard work and strong drink," died; he was a native of Zuffenhausen, district of Cannstatt, in the duchy of Wurttemberg." The celebrated brothers, Caspar and Johannes Wiister (Wister-Wistar), who settled in Philadelphia in 1717 and 1727, respectively, were born at Hilsbach, in the margraviate of Baden." Erasmus Rosenberger landed in Philadelphia in 1749, settled in Hanover Township, Lancaster County, and a quarter of a century later removed to Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia) . He had been baptized in 1723 in the village of Niederzell, in the countship of Hanau." The Rev. Johann Caspar Stoever, Sr., the celebrated Lutheran clergyman, claimed Frankeuberg, The knightly Teutonic Order (Dershcherorden), founded in the twelfth century, owned yen possessions in southern and central Germany until 11109, when it W19 dissolved by order of Napoleon I. The Encyclopaedia Britannim, 2nd edition (17111), 5153. . Milton Rubino,,,, "William Rittenhouse, America's Pioneer Paper Manufacturer and Mennonite Min- Viii, ister," The Pennsylvania German Society, Vol. 58 (1959), 9, 14. Theodore G. Tappers and John W. Doberstein, trans., The Journals of Henry Melchior Mublenberg, I (1941), 491. Ibid., I, 510. .Autobiography of Isaac Jones Wistar, 1127-1305. Half a Century in War and Peace (Philade)phia, 1937), 7. .Francis Coleman Rosenberger, "Erasmus Rosenberger of Shenandoah County and His German Origim," The Virginia hfagmine of History and Biography (VMHB), Vol. 60 (1955)• 86. 234 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine on the Eder River, Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel, as his place of nativity." The brothers Hans and Michael Gerberich, who landed in Philadelphia in 1751 and made their home in Tulpehockert Township, Beats County, were from the village of Altfeld bei Marktheidenfeld, parish of Michelrieth, Lower Franconia, Bavaria." David Shultze, the well-known surveyor who participated with his family in the Schwenckfelder migration to Pennsylvania in 1733, was born near Unter Harpersdorf in the Silesian principality of Liegnitz." Johann Conrad Weiser, the father of the eminent Indian interprethr of the same name, was born in 1660, probably at Gross Aspach, in the duchy of Wurttemberg, where his family had lived since about 1590. He participated in the so-called "Palatine" emigration to England in 1709, settled in the province of New York in the following year, and following the Germans from the Schoharie Valley into Pennsylvania some years later, passed his final years near the present city of Lebanon." Another non-Palatine emigrant was Melchior Wagner (1685 - 1764) , a native of Koburg, in the duchy of Sachsen-Koburg, whose father, grandfather, and greatgrandfather were Silesians, in the northeastern part of the Empire. Wagner remained in England, where he was naturalized on 13 July 1709, and became hatter to George I and George II. Melchior Wagner's younger brother, Johann Georg (1688 - 1760) , has descendants in Germany, the United States, and Peru." In addition to the true Palatines, who numbered many thousands, and the emigrants from parts of the Empire other than the Palatinate, who also numbered many thousands, there was a sizable number of Swiss and Alsatians who came to Pennsylvania and were included in the German population of the province." Many French Huguenots fled to Germany after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, married native girls, germanicized their names, and in the eighteenth century R. L. Winters, 'John Caspar Stoever, Colonial Pastor and Founder of Churches," PGS Proceedings, 1-111 (i948), 12, cited in Note 5. "A. H. Gerberich and Albert H. Gerberich, History of the Gerberich Family in America (1611-1921), (Harrisburg, Pa., 1925), 10-13. .Andrew S. Berky, tram. and edit., The Journals end Mors of David Schultze (Pennsburg, Pa., 1952), 1, 1. .Herbert F. Smith, "The Connections of Prudence Weiser," National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ), Vol. 25 (1937), 40. Mr. Smith was better known as Herbert F. Seversmith, after having changed his name legallT . Anthony R. Wagner, "The Wagners of Brighton and Their Connections," Sussex Archeological Collections, XCVII, 37-38, 56, and the genealogical chart at the end of the article. At the Mae of its publication, Sir Anthony, a dacendant of Melchior Wagner, was Richmond Herald at the College of Arms. He I, now the present Garter Principal King of Arms. See Albert Bernhardt Faust and Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh, Lists of Swiss Emigrants in the Eighteenth Century to the American Colonies (WaslMagton, D. C., 1920-1925)• Researching Pennsylvania German Families 235 settled in Pennsylvania, so intermingling with the Pennsylvania Germans that only intensive research can disentangle them from their neighbors of true German ancestry. It is very difficult, often well nigh impossible, to trace a family to its pre-American home unless evidence can be unearthed to justify the time and the expense. Before attempting to have researches made in Germany, it is necessary to exhaust all possible sources in the United States. Every document, every scrap of paper, that might have a bearing on the subject, should be examined. Ancient family Bibles sometimes provide information on the European homes of our colonial ancestors. For example, in his Bible John Wister ( Johannes Wiister) recorded the birthplace of his second wife, Anna Catharina Rfibenkam, as Wanfried, in Hessen-Rheinfels, and her father's name as a clergyman named Johann Philipp Riibenkam. With this clue, it was possible, through competent genealogists abroad, to trace the ancestry of the Rubincam-Revercomb family in the male line to about the year 1598, and in the female lines to a distant period in the Middle Ages." The passenger list of the ship Ranier, which docked in Philadelphia in September, 1749, gave the homes of its passengers as "Hanau, Wirtemberg, Darmstand [Darmstadt], Isenbure With this slender clue, a systematic search of these areas was made by Karl Friedrich von Frank for the family of Erasmus Rosenberger, one of the passengers, with the result that his baptismal record was located and through the church registers his ancestry carried back to 1677." Some time between 1760 and his death in 1775, Blasius Daniel Mackinet made a memorandum of the ancestry of his stepdaughter, Sarah (Colladay) Meng, in which he recorded her father as "a Burger's son of Mariheim in Pfaltz . . . and came to this Country with his Mother very young; his Name was Jacob Colladay; his Father died crossing the Ocean." With this information from Mackinet's memorandum, searches were made at Mannheim, now in the State of Baden-Wurttemberg but in the eighteenth century in the Palatinate (Pfalz), and Jacob Colladay was identified with the Johann Jacob Galathe who was baptized at Mannheim, 3 February 1707; his father was Johann Jacob Galati* who took part in the 1709 migration to New York and apparently died at sea, as only his 38-year-old widow, (Anna) Maria Galete, and their two children, Sarah Margaret (aged 7) and Jacob (aged 4), were reported to have arrived in the colony; and his The . See article cited in Note 10; Milton Rubincatn, ...A Hessian Pedigree: Crollius of Marburg,. American Genealogist, XXI (1945), 225-234, and by the same author, "The Noble Ancestry of the Revercomb Family,. VMHB, Vol. 68 (1960), 448-455, cited in Note 22. ..See Note 22. .See Note 10. 236 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine grandfather was Jacob Galathe (Gallede), citizen and shoemaker, and, in 1669, assessor at Mannheim." Other types of documents that may shed light on the pre-American background of German settlers are journals, diaries, and old letters. If letters of manumission have survived, they are valuable sources of information. When a man wished to emigrate, he applied to the authorities in his state for permission, and if it was granted, a letter of manumission was issued freeing him from his feudal obligations. For example, on 28 April 1730, Franz Ludwig (Count Palatine of Neuburg), Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, granted a letter of manumission to Johann Valentin Griesheimer, of Lampertheim, for himself, his wife, and their four children, Caspar, Johann, Anna Margaretha, and Jacob, releasing all of them, "in view of the good fortune that awaits them elsewhere," from the serfdom to which they were subject. The letter stipulated, however, that if they "shall sooner or later return and settle again in our lands or under our jurisdiction, in which we have inherited the right of serfdom," the Griesheimers would "ipso facto be subject to their former serfdom and without further process shall be subservient unto us." " Griesheimer was undoubtedly the Valtein Griesemer (Velde Grisimer) who arrived in Philadelphia aboard the Thistle, 29 August 1730." It must be emphasized that letters of manumission are very rare. They were granted only when a man requested ptrmission to emigrate to other countries in order to better his condition. Many of the States of the Empire had stringent regulations against emigration, with the result that many an individual or family slipped out under cover of darkness to head for England, the American colonies, Prussia," or some other part of Europe. On 1 May 1709, for instance, Landgrave Ernst Ludwig of Hessen-Darmstadt decreed that no one (niemand) could leave this state without permission. In another case, Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Wurttemberg, on 25 June 1709, issued a rescript forbidding emigrants to sell their property " — an effective deterrent for men seeking to escape their vassalage. "Information from Wayne Van Leer Jones of Houston, Texas, a descendant of Jacob and Catharine Juliana (Rilbenkam) Colladay. "William John Hinke, edit., Pennsylvania German PIORMS (Balt;more, Md., 1966), II, xvii. "Ibid.. I, 31, 32, 33. "Prussia, like Bohemia, bore a peculiar relationship to the emplre. It was outside of the Empire, but its King was Elector of Brandenburg, which made him a Prince of the Empire. Many persecuted people fled east to Prussia, which was more tolerant ohm other European nations. As stated in Note 6, the Emperor W29 King of Bohemia, outside the Empire, but this position made him an Elector within the Empire! "Marion Dexter Learned, Guide to the Manuscript Materials Relating to American History ns the German State Archives (1912), 171: 300. Researching Pennsylvania German Families 237 It will be seen from the foregoing that one must know where to have searches made in Germany before attempting to trace one's ancestry in that country. A thorough search should be made not only of original papers that may have survived the vicissitudes of centuries, but also of publications, especially the periodical literature. A distinguished Austrian genealogist who specializes in the European ancestries of American families has written: "From thousands of inquiries that have come to me the conviction grows that Americans who are interested in their family history are not familiar with the abundance of genealogical sources available at home, especially the publications of the many historical and genealogical associations. Not infrequently I have been able to answer a question about an `immigrant ancestor' from publications in my own library which the inquirer could have consulted in his own country.' 37 Thus, a cardinal rule is: One must do one's homework first, determine the area to be searched, then engage the services of a competent genealogist. It is useless to say, "My ancestor, Johann Jakob Schmidt, landed in Philadelphia in 1751. Please send me his pedigree." The German researcher must know where to look for Johann Jakob Schmidt (or whatever the progenitor's name is) before he can undertake an investigation. But once the immigrant's German home has been identified, what are the sources of information? Of primary importance, of course, are the church registers. The custom of maintaining such records goes back to the sixteenth century, in Protestant churches sometimes to the early Reformation period, and in Catholic churches to a decree of the twentyfourth session of the Council of Trent, 11 November 1563." It must be understood, however, that not all existing parish registers go back to the sixteenth century; many have been lost owing to the innumerable wars, to vandalism, to the insatiable appetite of rats, or to just plain carelessness on the part of the custodians. For example, in the former landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel, the parish registers of Kassel begin in 1600, those of Reichensachsen have large gaps during the period of the 'Thirty Years' War because of the constant flights of pastors and parishioners as marauding armies approached, and the Oetmannshausen records are entirely lost before 1610. In many other cases, the extant parish registers date only from the eighteenth century. But when one does find a church register, it is a priceless source of information, especially if the family has lived in the same parish for . Rar1 Friedrich von Frank, "Searching for American Families in Germany and Austr4," NGSQ, Vol. 45 (1957), 124, cited in Note 26. William J. Hinke, "German Reformed Church Records in Pennsylvania," ibid., Vol. 57 (1949), 33-34. 238 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine several generations. In the case of eighteenth century registers, particularly those in the former Electoral Palatinate of the Rhine, data concerning emigration to America are given. Thus, the Thaleischweiler register notes that Philipp Peter Kastner, son of the carpenter Christian Kastner, "Left for Pennsylvania 1763 16 May." Leonhard Klein, who married Maria Catharina Neu at Obermoschel, 30 December 1738, "Has left for America with his family." Pathetic stories are often related in the registers. Sara Elisabeth Bricker, daughter of the shepherd Carl Bricker, bore an illegitimate child, Anna Catharina, 1 October 1745. Its father was Philipp Reinhard, son of Anthon Reinhard of Hallgarten. The register (probably of Obermoschel) records that "the mother of the child has left for America, impatiently and depressed by poverty, with Friedr. Reinhard at Whitsuntide 1746, leaving her child, and Karl Philipp Reinhard [the presumed father] has at once followed her with his unmarried sister." It is not known with whom the child was left, but she did not long survive her unwed parents' departure, dying on 17 Ocnber 1747. The Brandstetter (Brandstaetter, Brandstatter) girls of Thaleischweiler were rather free with their affections, but they made matters right by marrying their lovers—and departing for Pennsylvania. Not all of those in the pariah registers of the Palatinate were native Palatines; Caspar Arnold, of Klingen in the Palatinate, was described as a tailor from the duchy of Sachsen-Meiningen. He married at Billigheim, 8 May 1750, Mariana Knei, daughter of the Biirgermeister (Mayor) of Klingen, had a son Johann Adam, born at Klingen, 25 January 1751, and soon afterwards departed for America. They were probably the Caspar and Adam Arnold who were listed in the tax records of Penn Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, toward the close of the Revolutionary War. Descendants of Christoph Dengert (t), innkeeper at Appenhofen, Palatinate, son of Matthias Denger, citizen of Minderslachen, will regret to learn that their ancestor, Christoph, was hanged at Germersheim on 13 March 1749, because he had entered into a partnership with thieves, whereupon his wife and children left for America. His wife, whom he married at Billigheim, 13 February 1729, was Anna Catharina, daughter of Hans Georg Stumkeller, of Appenhofen. Their son, Andreas, born at Appenhofen, 20 April 1743, was probably the Andrew Denger who was living in Conestoga Township, Lancaster County, in 1790." Parish registers are often found in the custody of the present clergyThese examples are all taken from Friedrich Krebs and Milton Kuhlman, Emigrants from the Palatinate tn the American C,olonter in the 18th Century (Norristown, Pa., 1953), Special Study, No. I of the Pennsylvania German Society. Researching Pennsylvania German Families 239 men, but many of the older registers have been transferred to the safety of Municipal Archives (Stadtarchive) or State Archives (Staatsarchive). If one knows the name of the parish from which the ancestor came, it is well to inquire of the local Pfarramt (Parish Office) concerning the whereabouts of the registers. Many archives were destroyed during World War II, but frequently their records had been removed to a place of safety. This was not always so. The parish registers of Kassel subsequent to 1750 were all destroyed by Allied bombers, but fortunately the registers before 1750 had been deposited many years earlier in the State Archives at Marburg, which was not a military objective, and thus escaped destruction. In addition to the parish registers, other ecclesiastical records of genealogical importance are the banns (intentions of marriage) and lists of confirmations, communicants, and parishioners. The various State and Municipal Archives in Germany contain many documents of value from the genealogist's point of view, such as citizenship lists, tax lists, wills and inventories, petitions, real estate registers (Grundbiicher), census records (not. regularly kept, but a few are in existence), military records, lists of emigrants, manumission records," etc. Clergymen often wrote their autobiographies, in more or less detail; these are preserved with the church records. Civil registration was not introduced into Germany on a national scale until 1 January 1876; these vital statistics records are preserved in the local Standesamt (Civil Registration Office). In certain areas, civil registration was maintained before 1876: the Free City of Frankfurt from 1533, the areas subject to Napoleon from 1798, and the duchy of Nassau from 1817." Germany, including East Germany (described below), has been included for many years in the extensive microfilming program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is always well for a researcher to inquire of The Genealogical Society at 107 South Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84111, whether the records of his area of interest have been filmed and may be consulted. A knowledge of the history of the Girman areas whence came our ancestors is essential for the genealogist. There was not a united Germany until 1871. As we have already noted, the Holy Roman Empire was a hodge-podge of states, the boundaries of which changed frequently. Rulers bought, sold, or exchanged their territories with breath-taking rapidity. The present State of Hessen is an excellent example of the M.umission records of the duchy of Zsveibtlicken have been published in the Year Books of the Pennsylvania Germ. Folklore Society. ijoon F. Friederichs, "Sources for Hessian Genealogy?' NGSQ, Vol. 45, 203-204. 240 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine necessity for knowing German local history. It has three State Archives — at Marburg (the repository of the records of the landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel and its subordinate states), at Darmstadt (where are preserved the records of Hessen-Darmstadt), and at Wiesbaden (the repository of the onetime duchy of Nassau and its subdivisions, which had no political or administrative connection with the Hessian landgraviates). Since 1945 Gtrmany has been divided into the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschlands) , or West Germany, and the German Dtrnocratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik), or East Germany. The Federal Republic is composed of ten states:' Baden-Wiirttemberg. Capital: Stuttgart. State Archives: Karlsruhe (for the former margraviate and grand duchy of Baden); Stuttgart (for the former duchy and kingdom of Wurttemberg). Bayern (Bavaria). Capital: Munchen (Munich). State Archives: Munchen (for the former duchy, electorate, and kingdom of Bavaria); Wiirzburg (for the former electorate-archbishopric of Mainz, the bishopric of 'Wfirzburg, etc.); Nurnberg (Nuremburg) (for the former Imperial City of Nurnberg and the margraviate of BtandenburgAnsbach); Koburg (for the former duchy of Sachsen-Koburg). Bremen. Capital and State Archives: Bremen (for the former Imperial City of that name). Hamburg. Capital and State Archives: Hamburg (for the former Imperial City of that name). Hessen (Hesse). Capital: Wiesbaden. State Archives: Marburg (for the former landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel and dependencies, the former electorate of Hessen, and the principality of Waldeck); Darmstadt (for the former landgraviate of Hessen-Darmstadt and dependencies, and the grand duchy of Hessen); Wiesbaden (for the former duchy of Nassau and dependencies). Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony). Capital: Hannover. State Archives: Hannover (for the former duchy of Brunswick and its subdivisions, the former electorate and kingdom of Hannover, and the onetime prince-bishopric of Hildeshelm); AurIch (for the former principality of East Friesland); Oldenburg (for the former countship and duchy of Oldenburg and the principality of Lubeck); and Biickeburg (for the former countship and principality of Schaumburg-Lippe). Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-'Westphalia). Capital: Dusseldorf. State Archives: Dusseldorf (for the former duchies of Jillich, Berg, and Kleve, the electoratearchbishopric of Cologne, etc.); Detmold (for the onetime countship and principality of Lippe and dependencies); Munster (for the former bishopric of Minster, the ex-countships of Ravensberg and Mark, etc.). Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate). Capital: Mai.. State Archives: Koblenz (for the former electorate-archbishopric of Trier, etc.); Speyer (for the former Electoral Palatinate of the Rhine, the duchy of Zweibriicken, the bishoprics of Speyer and 'Worms, etc.). Saarland. Capital: Saarbrficken. This state was created in 1957. From 1381 to 1793 the area was ruled by the Counts of Nassau-Saarbriicken. "The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1967), vol. to, 345. Researching Pennsylvania German Families 241 Schleswig-Holstein. Capital: Kid. State Archives: Kiel (for the former duchies of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg); Lubeck (for the former Imperial Guy of that name). From our standpoint, East Germany is not so well organized. After World War II the Soviet administration divided it into five states: Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Sachsen (Saxony), Thuringen (Thuringia), and Mecklenburg. This logical arrangement was abolished by law on 23 July 1952, and in the place of the states were substituted 14 Bezirke or districts." There are Staatsarchive in the German Democratic Republic, all controlled by the State Archives Administration in Potsdam. We have arranged the archives below according to their historic states:" Anhalt. State Archives: Zerbst (for the principality of Anhalt and its various subdivisions). Brandenburg: State Archives: Berlin (for the former electorate of this name). Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Mecklenburgisches Geheimes-und Haupt-Archiv (Mecklenburger Privy and Main Archives): Schwerin (for the former duchies and grand duchies of these names). Reuss-Greiz and Reuss-Schleiz-Gera. State Archives: Greiz, Thuringen (for the former prin;dpalities of these names). Sachsen (Saxony). State Archives: Dresden (for the former electorate and kingdom of Saxony)." Sachsen-(Saxe-)-Altenburg. State Archives: Altenburg, Thuringen (for the former duchy of Sachsen-Altenburg. Sachsen-Gotha: State Archives: Gotha (for the former duchy of this name). (See under Bayern, for the archives of the duchy of Sachsen-Koburg, latex Sachsen-KoburgGotha.) Sachsen-Melningen. State Archives: Meiningen, Thuringen (for the former duchies of Sachsen-Meiningen and Sachsen-Hildburghausen). Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach. State Archives: Weimar, Thuringen (for the former duchies of Sachsen-Weimar and Sachsen-Eisenach, and the grand duchy of SachsenWeimar). Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. State Archives: Rudolstadt and Sondershausen, respectively, in Thiiringen (for the former principalities of these names). Publications on genealogical research and families in Germany are voluminous. Many are available in large libraries in the United States. The most important series of collected geoealogies is the Deutsches Geschlechterbuch (Genealogisches Handbuch Bfirgerlicher Fermilien)," II/bid., 341, 349. “Based on Learned, Guide, cited in Note 36, and Gvil Again Guide, Archival &losBork, in Germany, Wu Department Pamphlet Na. 31-180 It May 1944. Dresden was bombed heavily during World War IL . This title may be translated as German Lineage Book (Genealogical Handbook of Middle-Class Families). It is published by C A. Starke-Verlag at Limburg m du Lahn, Hessen. 242 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine which reached its 143rd volume in 1967. Since 1889 this work has published the genealogies and the Ahnentafeln (ancestor tables) of thousands of German families, a number of them with American connections. Many of the volumes are devoted to certain German states, such as Hessen, the Palatinate, Bavaria, Baden, Brandenburg, etc.; others are considered to be "general" volumes, i.e. they deal with families in all parts of Germany. A complete set is in the library of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The late unlamented house-painter, Adolf Hitler, was so fanatic on the subject of a "pure" German race, that he made important contributions to the development of German genealogy. He insisted that everyone in his third Reich (which lasted only twelve of the 1000 years he had projected for it) had to carry an Ahnen pass (ancestor passport) tracing their pedigrees in all lines back to at least 1800. 4' During his dictatorship, in the 1930s, many compilations on the genealogy of famous (and some infamous) Germans were issued. These pedigrees (including Hitler's, traced in some lines to the sixteenth century, but all very undistinguished and uninteresting families) were included in the series of Stamm- und Ahnentafelwerke (Pedigree and Ancestor Table 'Works) published by the Zentralstelle fiir deutsche Personen- und Familiengeschichte (Central Office for the History of German Persons and Families) at Leipzig. The periodical literature in the field of German genealogy is es1secially rich. The American researcher who has the patience to examine it will of ten find it rewarding. In 1903, the Zentralstelle ffir deutsche Personen- mid Familiengeschichte commenced the publication of a magazine, Familiengeschichtliche Bliitter, which, until its discontinuance in 1944, contained important articles on individuals, families, source materials, etc. Each volume is indexed by surnames. The Zentralstelle is also the publisher of an important "locator" of genealogical material, the Familiengeschichtliche Bibliographic, (Bibliography of Family History). Since 1 February 1957, the Zentralstelle has been under the State Archives Administration of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Among the current genealogical periodicals is Archiv fiir SiPPenforschung, published by C. A. Starke-Verlag at Limburg/Lahn, Hessen. Founded in 1924, it contains many articles dealing with families, source materials, and methods of genealogical research. Verlag Degener & Co. of Neustadt a. d. Aisch, Bavaria, is another firm that specializes in ge. Milton linbincam and Jahn L Coddingtan, .The Ahnenpass (Ancestor-Passpo.) of Nazi Germany,. NGSQ, Vol. 45, 208-210. Researching Pennsylvania German Families 243 nealogical publications. By 1966, it had issued 32 volumes of a book entitled Deutsches Familienarchiv which contain a large number of genealogies and Ahnentafein of German families. It must be understood, of course, that these are secondary works, and must be checked against primary sources whenever possible, but they do contain much information of value and are useful as clues for further research. In March, 1951, appeared the first issue of the Senf tenegger Monatsblatt für Genealogie und Heraldik, published by Karl Friedrich von Frank. Although it deals primarily with Austrian families, coats-of arms, and source-materials, it contains much information on families in Germany and on German emigrants to America. Band V, Heft 1012, July-September 1965, contains a long article by von Frank on the Schlegel family of Saxony, tracing it from the middle of the sixteenth century. Of this family, Christoph Friedrich Schlegel (1676-1772), came to Germantown, Pennsylvania before 1700, lived for some years in New Castle County (now in Delaware), and finally ended his days in that part of Lancaster that is now Adams County, Pennsylvania. He was the ancestor of the Slagle family of Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Maryland." Throughout Germany there are local historical and genealogical societies that publish very useful magazines and books, including the Gesellschaft fiir Familienkunde in Kurhessen nod Waldeck (Society for Family Study in Electoral Hessen and Waldeck), the Gesellschaf t fiir Familienkunde in Franken (Franconia), the Bayrisches Landesverein für Familienkunde (Bavarian State Association for Family Study), etc. Most of the societies are represented in the national organization, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der genealogischen Verbande Deutschlands (CoOperative Union of Gtinealogical Associations of Germany) at Hannover. A list of German genealogists, family associations and foundations, and associations is contained in VdFF: Verzeichnis der Familienforscher und Familienverbiinde, Familienstiftungen und Familienkundlichen Vereinigungen, edited by Erich Wasmannsdorf (4th edition, 1956). It has been supplemented since 1956 by a quarterly publication, Praktische Forschungshilfe. For many years Dr. Friedrich Krebs, State Archivist at Speyer, has specialized in identifying German emigrants to America, concentrating on the area of the Palatinate. He published the following articles in The Pennsylvania Dutchman, published at Lancaster, Pa.: "18th Cen"He was• native of Grimma, or Leipzig, Saxony. The American edition of The Slagle Family in America, Descended from Tbe Schlegel von Goillehes Family of Germany, was reviewed in Volume /OW, No. 3, 211-216, of PGAL 244 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine tury Emigrants from Edenkoben in the Palatinate" (Vol. IV, Jan. 1953), "Palatine Emigrants from the District of Neustadt, 1750" (Vol. V, May 1953), and "Pennsylvania Pioneers from the Neckar Valley, 1749 - 1750" (Vol. V, June 1953). Other articles by him include "A List of German Immigrants to the American Colonies from Zweibruecken in the Palatinate, 1750 - 1771," Pennsylvania German Folklore Society Yearbook, (Vol. XVI, 171 - 183) ; "Emigrants from Baden-Durlach to Pennsylvania, 1749 - 1755," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, (Vol. 45, March 1957, 30 - 31) ; and "Amerika-Auswanderer aus dem Oberamt Oppenheim, 1742 - 1749," Hessische Familienkunde published at Kassel, Hessen, (Bd. 3, Heft 6, June 1955, columns 341 - 344). To the Austrian publication, Senftenegger Monatsblatt, he contributed a series of articles entitled "Amerika-Auswanderer aus Baden-Durlach" for the years 1738, 1752, 1753, and "Einige Amerika-Auswanderer des 18. Jahrhunderts" (Bande III, columns 289-292; IV, columns 17-18, 79-89; V, columns 79-82, 187-190; VI, columns 60-64). The Pennsylvania German Folklore Society has published several articles in its volumes relating to Getman immigrants and their homes in the Empire, among them: William John Hinke and John Baer Stoudt, "A List of German Immigrants to the American Colonies from Zweibriicken in the Palatinate, 1728 - 1749" (Vol. I, 1936, 101 - 124) ; Anita L. Eyster, "Notices by German and Swiss Settlers Seeking Information of Members of their Families, Kindred or Friends Inserted between the Years 1742 and 1761 in the Pennsylvanische Berichte, and between the Years 1762 and 1779 in the Pennsylvanische Staatsbote" (Vol. III, 1938, 32 - 41) ; and Donald Herbert Yoder, editor, "Emigrants from Wuerttemberg. The Adolf Gerber Lists" (Vol. X, 1945, 103 - 237). The late William J. Hoffman, F.G.B.S., F.A.S.G., a native of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, who made outstanding contributions to the study of the old Dutch families of New Netherland, published in the June, 1941, issue of the National Genealogical Societ7 Quarterly a list of "'Palatine' Emigrants to America from the Principality of NassauDillenburg." His article was based on the contents of a bundle of papers in the State Archives at Wiesbaden, Hessen; they are of the year 1709, and present a graphic picture of conditions in the countship of Nassau-Dillenburg that led to the mass migration to England and ultimately to the "islands" " of Pennsylvania and Carolina. "In the second footnote of hie article M. Hoffmen states: "It is curious that Carolina, Pennsylvania and other parts of the mainland of America are indicated as 'islands.' It n thought to find iv origin in the I,,,, that Columbus discovered the West Indian Ammican islands first and that thereafter even the continent was designated in this manner and that it was am due to =familiarity with the geography of the New World." Researching Pennsylvania German Families 245 The greatest authority on Pennsylvania German genealogy was Dr. Albert H. Gerberich (1898 - 1965), a longtime member of The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania and a Fellow of The American Society of Genealogists." In addition to genealogies of the Gerberich, Brenneman, and Backenstoss families, he was the author of a number of articles, including the important "Geographical Aspects of Pennsylvania German Genealogical Study" (National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 34, December 1946, 113 - 117). He bequeathed his voluminous files to The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania and they are now being arranged and catalogued. When they become available to researchers they will constitute a most important collection of materials relating to the Pennsylvania Germans. "Car his obituary, see PGM, XXIV (190), 140. Information Wanted Mrs. Walter Hornaday, 429 Ridgewood Road, Austin, Texas 78746, would like to know the names of the parents Of HANNAH BLAGREURN who was married to JAMES RUSSELL in Paxtang Township, Dauphin County, by the Rev. John Roan on 18 October 1755. The Russells moved to Gettysburg and had seven children: John, Samuel, Alexander, James, Mary, Elizabeth and Hannah. He died there in 1804. When did his wife Hannah die/ Mrs. Lawrence Taylor, 8003 Arletta, Houston, Texas 77017, seeks information on her Pennsylvania ancestors: CONRAD FISHER, Revolutionary War soldier, who died in Franklin County in 1802, and his wife ILATHF-IUN LEGERE Or LEASURE, who married secondly John Smith; FREDERICK RULE (ROULE) and his wife MARY SHARP, who died in Louisiana in 1837, and their daughter MARY ANN RULE; also JOHN RILEY RHEA, born ca. 1797, who was in Texas in 1826. Mrs. Taylor will exchange data on these lines.