| Notes |
- RESEARCH_NOTES:
1. This file is a catch-all file for general articles concerning Graybill origins.
2. FHL book 929.273 G795k "History of a John Graybill Family in America 1681-1981," by Spencer L. Kraybill and Noah L. Zimmerman, 2nd Edition, 1982, Baltimore, includes the following article entitled: "Studies on the Origin and Ancestry of the Graybill Family," by Edward Earl Reeves-Graybill - Spencerville, Maryland. This article does not deal directly with our branch of Graybills, but it does give a macro-view of the general Graybill migration from Switzerland into the Palatinate then to America. The following is more specific to the Pennsylvania Graybills:
"The Graybills of Pennsylvania and Virginia and the later migraÂtions to the South and West are the descendants of the Deutsche Schweiz (German-speaking Swiss), who being non-conformists were persecuted for their Anabaptist-Mennonite faith. They took refuge in the PalatiÂnate, settling near the town of Mannheim, in the fertile and beautiful country on the bank of the Rhine. In the reign of Louis XIV, King of France, that country was devastated; during the winter of 1688-89 the French general ordered the peaceful settlers to leave their homes. In the meantime, William Penn had visited Germany, conferring with the Elector or Count Palatine about colonizing America. Through the efforts of Penn a large number of German and Swiss exiles migrated from the Palatinate to America, and settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, during the latter part of the 17th and early in the 18th century.
Research on the original form and spelling of the surname "GrayÂbill" has confirmed the family traditions that our ancestors were originally Swiss, later exiling themselves to the Palatinate, Germany; coming from there to Pennsylvania. The name undergoing a metamorÂphosis with each migration and change of culture. Levi Oscar Kuhns in his work, "Studies on Pennsylvania-German Family Names", gives an alphabetical list of current Pennsylvania-German names with both their German and their Anglicized forms. Graybill is Kraehenbuehl.
The name Kraehenbuehl is found in Switzerland today and was used at the time of our ancestors as today with several variations: Kraehenbuehl, Kreyenbuehl, Krachenbuel, Krachenbuehl, Kreyenbuel, Krayenbuehl, Kreienbuehl, and Crayenbuehl. However, they all have the same literal meaning -- crowhill. Kraehen = crow, buehl = hill.
Also from "Studies in Pennsylvania-German Family Names" by Kuhns, reprinted from Americana Germanica, 1902, I find on p. 15 (313) "... as the large part of Pennsylvania-German names are of Palatinate or Swiss origin, it may be assumed that the original bearer of the name was a native of one of the places given in Switzerland or the Palatinate." On p. 17 (315) place name - Kraehenbuehl, village in Aargau, SwitzÂerland; pp. 32, 36 (330-34) Graybill = Kraehenbueh, Krehbiel, Kraehenbuehl; Krayenbuehl = Graybill, Grabill; Kraehenbuehl = Krayenbuehl, village in Aargau, Switzerland.
In I. Imobersteg's Das Emmenthal nach Geschichte, Land und Leuten, Bern, Huber & Co., 1876; pp. 240-48, deals with families of the Emmenthal Valley region. Here the author classifies family names on the basis of their origins. Among family names derived from place of sojourn, residence, or home he lists Kreyenbuehl, Kraehenbuehl, from Krayenbuehl at Hoechstetten (p. 244). The only other reference in the chapter to the Kruehenbuehl family is on p. 247, where it is listed among the largest families in the community of Signau.
From the "Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Historical Society," vol. 21, 1917, pp. 23-28; "The Homeland of the First Settlers in Lancaster Co." by Prof. Oscar Kuhns,[1] these notes: Krayenbuehls lived in the Canton of Bern, the beautiful valley of the Emmenthal, with the river Emme flowing between the green hills and by the flourishing villages of Langnau, Sumiswald, Lutzenfluh and others. This valley the ancestral home of thousands of our Lancaster County citizens -- Brechbuehls (Brackbills) came from a little place by the same name in the parish of Eriswyl; the Fluckigers came from Fluckigen, in the parish of Rohbach; Aeschlimann (Eshlemann) from Aeschlen, in the parish of Diessbach; Zurcher, from Zuerich; Neuenschwander (Newswanger) from Neuenschwand, in the parish of Eggiwyl; Krayanbeuhl (Graybill) from Krayenbuehl, in the parish of Huechstetten; Frankhauser from Frankhaus, in the parish of Trub, etc.
The Swiss Reformed clergyman, Ernst Mueller, in his "Geschichte der Bernischen Taeufer," Frauenfeld, 1895, mentions on p. 80 Hans Kraehenbuehl of Signau (about 12 miles East of Bern) as one of the participants in the official disputation of Bern in March, 1538 which the "Swiss Brethren" (original name for the Swiss Anabaptists[2]) requested from their government. It is more than likely that Kraehenbuehl of the Bern disputation of 1538 belongs in the direct ancestry of the American Graybills. One who more than 400 years ago fought for one of the "four freedoms" even against a supposedly Swiss democratic government.
Notice the changes in spelling of the name[3] as seen in the "Palatinate Mennonite Census Lists 1664-1774," which were edited from the originals in the State Archives at Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany by Harold S. Bender and printed in five parts from January 1940 to January, 1941 in "The Mennonite Quarterly Review," vols. xiv and xv.
"The reason for the taking of the census is as follows: So far is known, all the Mennonites of the Palatinate originally immigrated into that region from Switzerland after the year 1650. In fact nearly all of them came after the year 1664. In that year (August 4, 1664) Elector Karl Ludwig granted a 'Concession', permitting Mennonites to settle in his territory under certain restrictions. The Mennonites were to pay an annual tribute of 6 florins per family. In order to determine whether the restrictions were being observed, and the tribute paid it was necessary to have frequent enumerations taken. The lists herein published are the official reports of these enumerations, so far as they have been preserved in the state archives. A summary discussion of the Mennonite migration into the Palatinate after 1664 and the status of the group is given by Dr. Correll (now at American University) in his book, "Das Schweizerische Taeit/ermennonitenutm," Tuebingen, 1925, pp. 75-100. See also the discussion in Dr. C. Henry Smith's book, "The Mennonite Immigration into Pennsylvania in the Eighteenth Century," Norristown, 1929, pp. 29-54.
"In addition to the official census lists two similar lists of 1673 and 1731, prepared however by the Mennonites themselves for their brethren in Holland, have been added from the book by Ernst Mueller, "Geschichte der Bernischen Taeufer," published at Frauenfeld, Switzeland, in 1895."
1685 Peter Kreybuehl, so eine Frau mit 5 Kindern, 4 Soehne und 1 Tochter. (p. 15)
1685 Weierhof: Peter Greyenbuehl hat 8 Kinder, worunter 6 Soehne; 2 sind bei ihm verheirater, davon der eine Soehn, namens Ulrich 3 Kinder, der zweite, namens Peter, hat un Kind. (p. 19)
1717 Oberamt Olzey: Johann Krayenbuehl. (p. 20)
1717 Cro nau: Ulrich Crayenbuehl u. Hans Hoffen. (p. 21)
1724 Johannes Krehbill, ebenfalls ein Erbbestaender von Kloster Enkenbach, hat nichts Eigenes u. ist mit allen mit obigem gleichen Zusrandes und wohmen beide im Klosterhof. (p. 26)
List of names from Ernst Mueller: "Geschichte der Bernischen Taeufer", pp. 209-212; "Taufgesinnte Gemeinden in der Oberplaz oberÂhalb Mannheim in November, 1731." (pp. 31-33)
Kuechelhof: Peter und Jacob Kraehenbuehl, Mich. Kraehenbuehl, Diakon zu Dreschklingen.
Mesingen: Samuel Kraehenbuehl.
1738 Schultheissere 'Alsenborn: Johannes Kreibuehl. (p. 39)
1739 Schultheiserey Alseborn: Johannes Kraibuehl. (p. 72)
1740 Schultheussery Alsebom: Johann Kraibuehl. (p. 76)
1742 Finden sich zu Alsenborn: Johannes Greybuehl. (p. 79)
1752 Eppstein: Jost Krehbuehl. (p. 177)
1759 Eppestein: Jost Krehbuehl. (p. 245)
Translation of the article "Krehbiel" from Mennonitisches LexiÂkon, Christian Hege & Christ. Neff, editors, Frankfurt am Main und Weierhof (Pfals), 1937, vol. 2, p. 565:
Krehbiel, a family name which is still today numerously found in many places among the Mennonites in Germany and in America. Originally it was written Crayenbuehl or Krachenbuel. The family originated from the parish Grosshoechstetten in Canton Bern in SwitzÂerland. From there they emigrated in part during the time of persecuÂtion at the end of the 17th century. In the year 1682 Peter Krehbiel settled on the Weierhof near Bolanden, which at that time belonged to Kurpfalz. A Jost Krehbiel in 1709 bought the estate Pfrimmerhof in the community of Sippersfeld. A grandson of his emigrated to Galioia (Poland) in 1770 and fifteen years later from there to Russia, from which place his descendants in 1792 emigrated to America. In the later years descendants of the above mentioned Peter Krehbiel of the Weierhof also emigrated to America.
Extract and translation from article: "Geschichtliche Beitraege aus den Pfaezer Mennonitengemeinden" by I. Sembach and published in "Christlicher Geemeinde Kalender," herausgegeben von der conferenz de sueddeutschen Mennoniten, Kaiserslautern, 1905, pp. 143-44:
24. No doubt the most comprehensive family history is that of the Krehbiel tribe (Crayenbuehl, Kraehenbuehl, originating from the parish Grosshoechstetten). For our purpose particularly those of Pfrimmerhof need to be considered. It was there that Jost Krehbiel settled in 1709. His descendants consist of two branches: Jacob or Michael branch and Johann Jacob or the branch of Jost. Of the latter there was also a line in the Deutschof-Geisberger community, which has died out in the meantime. The Michael's branch to this day continues strong on the original homestead, while the others carry on their lines of descendants in America and also in the church through three sons in different localities. Christian first married a woman by the name Eymann, then by his second marriage an Eichelberger on the Lohuehle thereby founding this line. Jacob was married first to a woman of the Flory family of Eisenberg, and by his second marriage with a Stauffer of Roxheim; his descendants have, with the exception of the Sembach line migrated to America. Heinrich married someone of the Wartenberge Mill, but died early. The oldest of his three sons remained at the mill, the second of them married someone of the original home at Pfrimmerhof and the third married someone at Obersuelzen. Of all three of these there are still descendants in those places. Two sons of the above named branch, Johannes and Joseph, had married at Weierhof.
To Wartenberg and to the Eichenbach Mill there came about 173[torn] two bearers of this name from Weierhof. The latter of the two, Joh. Nikolaus, married a Wohlgemuth, his son married a Fellma; but his son and others of the grandchildren failed to prosper and had to give up their home. Brotherly love led his brethren in the faith to build him a little house in Rohrbach. His decendants in our church have practically died out. Another son of the Eichenbach moved to Fischbach, and of his descendants, some have migrated and others have died out. Of the first Krehbiel of Wartenberg three sons are known: Peter, who married a lady born Zuercher of Dimrotherhof (his line died out); Johannes, the just mentioned older, was married to a Brennemann of Friesenheim, but left no male offspring; Heinrich remained at the mill and was married to a Base. Five daughters and one son sprang from this union, but the son could not bear staying in Wartenberg. He removed to Neuwied, and died soon after his marriage at Stahlmuehle near Niederbiber. Then the above Heinrich Krehbiel of Pfimmerhof married someone of the mill.
An additional Weierhof branch is our family Krehbiel in Potzbach; this branch originated from Donnersberg.
Over and over again in our family one comes upon the name KreÂibill of Alteiningen. This branch, which first migrated about 1710, and evidently from Eggiwyl, Switzerland, at the first settled in Eisenberg, from which place the founder of the Leininger line originated. The Leininger branch continues strong on the female side in the congregation at Obersuelzen as Krehbiel, while the other offshoots of the line have for the most part emigrated or have died out.
H. P. Krehbiel in his "History of the Mennonite General ConferÂence of North America," St. Louis, 1898, on p. 428 states:
"Prominent among those to whom the General Conference is inÂdebted is Christian Krehbiel. He was born on Oct. 18, 1832 at WeierÂhof, a small village romantically located at the foot of the Donnersberg in the Bavarian Palatinate. His parents, well to do farmer people, were John and Katherine Krehbiel. The ancestry like that of most Mennonites in Southern Germany, traces back to Switzerland. Under pressure of persecution one Jost Krehbiel (Kraehenbuehl) left Switzerland about 1671 and settled in Southern Germany. To him in the sixth generation Christian Krehbiel traces his descent." (Other Krehbiel sketches given in the same work.)
"An interesting illustration of the way in which many names reÂceived an English form is seen in the 'Pennsylvania Archives,' second series, vol. xvii, which contains a list of German and Swiss settlers in Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century, the names of the vessels in which they came, and the dates of their naturalization. Often there are two lists given, one called the 'original list', which apparently was made by an English-speaking person, who took down the names as they were given to him orally, and who spelled them phonetically. These duplicate lists threw a great deal of light on the pronunciation of the names by the immigrants themselves.
"Again when the German came to be naturalized many of them could not write their names, and the clerk of court had to take them down according to his own phonetic methods. Of course the spelling in such cases differed with the accuracy of hearing of the writer.
"Sometimes the change was gradual, and we may trace many intermediate steps between the original name and its present form. Thus for Krehbiel we have Krehbill, Grebill, Grabill, and finally GrayÂbill."[4]
Thus we understand that after the settlement in the Palatinate the name was altered to Krehbiel, finally reaching the stage Graybill in Pennsylvania. Dean David B. Kraybill of West Virginia Institute of Technology had a biology professor at Franklin and Marshall College who was born and educated in Germany and who gave this meaning: "The name Krehbiel means wooded hill top where the crows gathered." Graybill has no meaning, but is a phonetic spelling of the orginal form Kraehenbuehl.
In "A Century of Population Growth in the United States 1790- 1900," published by the U. S. Bureau of the Census in 1909, the followÂing variations and statistics of the name appearing in the first census of 1790 are given on p. 242, "Nomenclature, dealing with names repreÂsented by at least 100 white persons, by states and territories:"
"Graybill, Grabble, Grabell, Grabill, Grable, Graybil, Grabble, Grebill, Greble, Greybill, Grobil, Grubble."
Average size of family 6.5; Heads of families 35; all the other members 193; Pennsylvania 27; Maryland 4; Virginia 3; North Carolina 1.
"As a curious example of patronymical metamorphoses, the two names Coyner and Grabill[5] are cited. The former has been written in at least fifteen forms, namely: Coiner, Coynanr, Coyner, Kalinath, Kainath, Keinath, Keinodt, Keinet, Keynet, Kiner, Koinath, Koiner, Konet, Koynat, Kyner; the latter has been transformed even more frequently, and has appeared with the following variations:
"Crabill, Creabill, Crebil, Crybile, Grabill, Graybill, Grebill, Grehbihl, Greebil, Gribel, Gribeler, Griebil, Grebil, Krabil, Krebill, Kreble, Krebull, Krehbiel, Krebiel, and Kriebel."
To Waylands list and the census list of variations I might add the following: Crabel, Gaible, Grabel, Graybeal, Graybell, Graypiel, Graybiel, Greybil, Grebiel, Gribil, Krabill, Kraybill, Krebil, Krayebiel, Krebuel, Krebril, Krieble, Kribell, Kreibihl, Kriebiel, and Kriebihl. I have discovered about fifty modifications of the name in examining ecclesiastical, state and county histories, cemeteries, courthouse records, and oath of allegiance lists.
All of the above variations and phonetic spellings of the name are not necessarily related or even had a common ancestor. It is especially well to keep in mind the old Swiss noble family of GrebelÂ/Grebell. Conrad Grebel, 1498-1526, was educated in Basel, Vienna, and Paris. He was a co-worker with Ulrich Zwingli, and was an outÂstanding leader in the organization of the Swiss Brethren (Mennonites) in Zurich, Switzerland. Grebel and Kraehenbuehl are two entirely difÂferent Swiss families. Also the Schwenkfelder Kriebel-Krieble[6] has no connection.
These early Krahenbuhl (Graybill) ancestors were members of the various religious sects of Anabaptists, Swiss Brethren, Mennonites, and German Baptist Brethren (Dunkards or Tunkers), now Church of the Brethren. The ecclesiastical records and histories of these peace churches all contain data on the Graybill family. The family it not only represented in the above faiths, bur has affiliated in most of the other great historical churches during the past one hundred and twenty five years.
Extracts from Henry Frank Eshlemann's monumental work, "Annals of the Swiss & German Pioneer Settlers of South-Eastern Pa., and of their Remote Ancestors, From the Middle of the Dark Ages, Down to the Time of the Revolutionary War," Lancaster, Pa., 1917.
1538 Hochstetten & Signau Demand Another Religious Debate.
"In Feb. and Mar. of 1538 says Muller (p. 79) a discussion on religion was demanded by the above towns... The minutes of this discussion are still extant in two copies in the State Archives in Bern... There were also present ... Hans Krahenbuhl (Graybill) ... all of Signau. Among these we find many names today familiar in Eastern Pa. All of which shows us where our ancestors were even before Columbus sailed on his voyage of discovery." (p. 48)
1621 Mennonite Families of Langnau, Switzerland.
"Ernst Muller (p. 119-20) gives us the following list of MennoÂnites living at this time in and about Langnau. The names of these Mennonite ancestors of many of our present day Lancaster Co. and Eastern Pa. Swiss and German descendant families were: ... Anna Kreyenbuel or Graybill…
"Among these it is not necessary to do more than call attention to the familiar Eastern Penna. Swiss names we f ind viz: Baumgardner; Probst or Brobst; Ruch, Yost, Raeber or Reber, Kreyenbuel or Graybill; Bixler, Gibbel; and Garber. Langnau is a city with a population of 7,000, about 18 miles directly east of Berne in the Emmen Valley, which valley extends from the northeast to the southeast of Berne." (p. 79)
1710 Scattered Items on Attempted Deportation to America.
"It seems that two places where the Mennonites had been imÂprisoned were the 'Upper Jail' and on the 'Island'. Among those menÂtioned are... Christian Krayenbuhl of Norben...
"These and other people were not able to do galley service, and therefore Berne asked the Baptist Chamber to see that they were sent to the East or West Indies and Penna." (p. 162)
1711 Joyous Swiss Mennonites into Holland.
"A list of the prisoners incarcerated on Sept. 29, 1710, contains the following names: "In the upper hospital, men: ... Hans Kreybuhl ... (Muller, p. 294)." (p. 173)
1711 Exodus into Holland (Continued)
"Hans Krenbuhl, hired man, of Diesbach, who had been imÂprisoned; ... also Peter Krahenbuhl, of Diesbach, thirty-seven years of age, Reformed, bis wife, Anna Wenger, thirty-eight years old, Baptist, and three sons from six to three years of age respectively. All these arrived in Amsterdam." (p. 186)
Emigrants of 1711 Exodus Reach Lancaster Co. Eventually.
"We have in a previous article given a description of the transÂportation of the Berne Mennonites down the Rhine in 1711. Kuhns[7] in his work (p. 46), calls attention to the fact that the names of many of those Swiss emigrants are identical with our Lancaster Co. names and those who went down the Rhine in 1710 are identical with our LanÂcaster Co. prominent names also. Among them he mentioned ... Krahenbuhl. All of these names -- which, more or less changed, are common throughout the state and county today -- are of Bernese origin. "This would argue that (while Muller does not trace any of these emigrants of 1711 to Lancaster Co.) many of them eventually reached this county." (p. 19)
1727 More Lands Taken Up By Our German-Swiss Brethren in the Susquehanna Valley.
"... and Christian Graybill[8] were recommended by several old settlers to have land to settle upon at Conestoga ... all of these perÂsons received the land which they asked for very shortly after their request." (p. 226)
1731 Names of Swiss Mennonites in Upper Rhine Valley This Year.
"Muller (p. 209 et seq.) gives the following persons as those constituting the Swiss Mennonite congregations above Mannheim in the Palatinate in the year 1731:
"The congregation on the Buechelhoff two and a half hours from Wempen on the Neckar to the northwest: ... Peter and Jacob Kraehenbuehl ... Nich Krahenbuhl, deacon at Dreschkilngen.
"The congregation in Wesingen two hours from Dudack eastward ... Samuel Kraehenbuehl." (p. 237-38)
1745 Swiss Wanderings in Germany and France.
"At the bottom of p. 247 (Muller) says also, speaking of the year 1745, that on the 22nd of February in Perry, which seems to be a town in the Palatinate near the French border, there were fifteen Swiss families at that time, who had migrated from Switzerland.
"Among others were ... and Witley Grenhenbuhl (Graybill) in Trauschenwald." (p. 293)
1750 Mueller on Origin of Weaverland District.
"Ernst Mueller, historian, whom we have mentioned so frequently, seems to have kept track of the movement of the Mennonite Church in America, and seems to have studied the history of it carefully. Page 368 in his book he says in the Weaverland District, Christian Burkhold was in 1750, the first bishop; and we also find ... Krebill[9] (Krahenbuhl) among the pioneers of that district." (p. 310)
Hans Jacob Lew's "Schweitzerisch Lexicon," Zurich, 1756, contains the following reference to Kreyenbuel in theile XI on p. 209: An extinct family in Lucerne, out of which is Hans A. 1573, prefect of Malter.
Extract from "Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz," Nerenburg, 1927, vol. 4, p. 545 (German edition) or "Dictionnaire Historique et Biographique" de la Suisse, Neuchatel, 1928, vol. 4, p. 398 (French edition):
Kreyenbuhl-Kraehenbuehl -- families originating in the Lucerne region (14th century), from Sursee region (15th century), from Willisa region (16th century); also from Muri (Aargau) and Wiggwil.
Anton Kreyenbuehl, surgeon, was mayor of Lucerne in 1424 Alexander Hans Kreyenbuhl of Meienberg (Lucerne) was a stained glass painter (1551).
Vincenz Kreyenbuhl, 1836-1925, was priest in 1864, editor of the "Monats Rosen," "Vaterland," "Lucerner Volksblatt." He was a canon at the "Hof," the Abbey of Lucerne.
Footnotes:
1. See also the excellent articles by Kuhns entitled "Switzerland Plays a Part in the Founding of the American Nation," "Some Lancaster County Names From the Canton of Bern;" in the National Genealogical Quarterly, vol. viii, no. 3, Oct. pp. 33-34, 39-41; "A Genealogical Trip to Switzerland," "The Emmenthal Canton Bern;" from the Pennsylvania-German, vol. vii, 1906, pp. 311-312; vol. xi, 1910, pp. 372-376.
2. Anabaptist. Eccl. Hist. One of a party arising in 1523 in Zurich, Switzerland which rejected infant baptism, held the church to be composed of true Christians baptized on confession of faith, and advocated separation of church and state.
3. John Horsch in his book, "Mennonites in Europe," Scottdale, Pa., 1942, pp. 383-384; "Names of Swiss Mennonite Refugees in the Palatinate after 1664 who also came to Pennsylvania" -- Crayenbuehl, Kraybill, Kreybuel.
4. "Origin of Pennsylvania Surnames" by Levi O. Kuhns, Lippincott's Magazine, vol. 59, March 1897, p. 396.
5. John W. Wayland: "German Element of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia," Charlottesville, 1907, p. 101.
6. Elmer E. S. Johnson, Custodian of the Schwenkfelder Historical Library has stated: "To the best of our knowledge we cannot find any connection between the Graybill, Krehbiel, etc. families and our Schwenkfelder Kriebels. The families you mention in every instance are of Mennonite or Dunker persuasion, and so far as my knowledge goes, have had no connection with the Silesian Schwenkfelder Kriebel family."
7. "The German & Swiss Settlements of Colonial Pennsylvania: A study of the So-Called Pennsylvania Dutch," Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1901.
8. See Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 19, 3rd series, p. 751.
9. Among the first Mennonites in Snyder and Juniata Counties (Pa.) was John Graybill (Krahenbuhl) 1774. (Muller: chapt. 22, "Schweizerische Mennoniten in Nordamerika.")
3. FHL book 929.273 G795k "History of a John Graybill Family in America 1681-1981," by Spencer L. Kraybill and Noah L. Zimmerman, 2nd Edition, 1982, Baltimore, pp. 44-45, provides the following background information on the Mennonites, Amish, and the migration influences leading from Switzerland to Pennsylvania. This portion of the book deals with an ancestor of the authors named Jacob Hofstedler, which is of no interest to us even though the general pattern gives us a big picture into which our Graybill may fit:
"The Mennonites
.... opposed infant baptism, and the news from Muenster was hailed with joy by the Anabaptists throughout Switzerland; but they soon learned their mistake. Except baptism the Muenster people had nothing in common with Menno Simon and his adherents. On the contrary, they attempted to establish a church by force of arms, and in their fanaticism committed crimes too horrible to mention. After a desperate resistance they were crushed, but the event was most unfortunate to the Taeufer for many years. It so prejudiced many well-meaning people against all Anabaptists that their persecutions were sanctioned for a long time. After the Reformed Church had been fully established in Holland, the MennoÂnites, as they were called, were tolerated, and later under William, Prince of Orange, received full protection. That governÂment and other countries along the Rhine sometimes interceded with the authorities of Switzerland in behalf of these unfortunate people who from time to time left Switzerland, sometimes being driven away, and settled in Alsace, Hessia, as well as in Holland, until the settlement of America attracted their attention.
The Amish
The Amish church derives its name from Jacob Amman of the Bernese Alps, who lived over one hundred years later than Menno Simon, and believed that the church should return to earlier and stricter customs and practices, from which many in his time had departed. Especially did he urge a stricter observance of the ban, or the "avoidance" and "shunning" of those who had been exÂcommunicated by the church. Amman and his followers were opposed by Hans Reist, who defended the usages of the church. There were many earnest discussions between these parties through the Oberland and Emmanthaler regions. Amman introduced among his followers the full beard and the using of hooks and eyes instead of buttons on men's clothes, as had been the custom in the time of Menno Simon, especially in Belgium. The feeling between these two parties was very bitter, and as late as 1711, when many of both parties were driven out of Switzerland, they refused to use the same boat in the journey down the Rhine. In 1700 Amman and some of his followÂers wrote to Reist to secure a reconciliation, and among the signers are the names Isak Kauffman and Christian Black, family names very common among the Amish of today.
The division between the followers of Amman and Reist have never been healed, but has been transplanted to America and other countries. The Amish church originated in the Canto of Bern and from there its members went into Alsace-Loraine and the Palatinate, and from these places many of the members of that church have come to America. Our ancestor, Jacob Hochstetler, was of the Amish church, but it is not known whether he came to America from the Palatinate, or from Switzerland through the Palatinate or Rhine provinces. The accounts among the descendants of his son Christian state that our ancestor "was born in the Highlands of Germany along the Rhine."
Settlement in Pennsylvania
After William Penn had purchased, in 1682, from the British Crown the province of Pennsylvania, he went to the mainland of Europe to solicit settlers for his colony and found most ready acceptance from the Mennonites, whom he had previously visited as a representative of the Quakers. He visited Holland and the countries along the Rhine, where he found many Mennonites and Amish longing for a change. The inducements held out to them prompted many to emigrate to America, likewise many other Germans. The first Swiss Amish to settle in America had years before emiÂgrated to Alsace, Hessia and the Palatinate. Some of the Jotters (Yoders), Oeschs, Gingerichs, Schlabachs and others, when coming to America spoke the Hessian dialect, but were originally Swiss. After about the year 1700, the Swiss Amish sometimes made their way direct to our country. Traveling at that time was tedious and crossing the ocean hazardous and a journey from Switzerland to America required the greater part of a summer, an average ocean passage requiring about fifty days.
The Registration Law
So successful were the efforts made by the proprietors of Pennsylvania to secure settlers and so ready were the oppressed Mennonites of Europe to avail themselves of the advantages offered in America that many thousands found homes in the new land. The Germans, Swiss and Palatinates came in such numbers that the ProÂvincial authorities became uneasy and finally, September 27th, 1727, passed an ordinance requiring the captains of ships to report the names and ages of their passengers, the place from which they came and state whether they came with intentions of becoming good citiÂzens of the Province. They also required the men over sixteen years of age to sign a declaration of allegiance to the Province. This law makes it possible for many thousands of American citizens to know the name and date of arrival of their immigrant ancestors.
These lists have been published in the Pennsylvania Archives, Series 2, Vol. 17, also in Rupp's Names of 30,000 immigrants. Many of these lists are preserved in the department of Archives, in the State library at Harrisburg. Unfortunately the printed lists are not always accurate.
Our Ancestor
From the year 1728 for about nine years was a period of quite active persecution of the Amish and Mennonites both in Switzerland and the Palatinate. It is not known whether our ancestor left the old world as a direct result of these perÂsecutions, or whether he joined the steady line of immigrants that came to better their conditions in America. Nor do we know the place from which he came. When he declared his allegiance to the Province, the entire company of 151 men were said to be from the Palatinate, upon the Rhine and places adjacent. The term Palatine was used to include the Swiss who had come down the Rhine through the Palatinate or Rhine Province. The captain of the ship reported that his vessel began its voyage at RotterÂdam in Holland. One naturally inquires whether there are at Rotterdam any records of the previous residences of immigrants who there embark. The American Consul there wrote in answer to inquiry, that such records are now kept, but go back only about fifty years..."
|
Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy
, d. Bef 11 Mar 1811, Johnsville, Frederick, Maryland, United States