Holbrook line: John/Johan/Hans Michael Reyer, Immigrant

No one seems to be sure of his first name, which doesn't really matter much because he would have gone by the name of Michael, anyway.  Hans Michael Reyer (also various spelling for the last name, such as Reiher) was born in 1686 or 1689 in Schwabbach, Wurtemburg, in what is now Germany.  His parents were Johannes Michel Reiher, from Paris, France (or possibly Metz) and Anna Caatharina last name as yet unknown.  They married in Wurtemburg.

This man, whom I will refer to as Michael, led a fascinating life.  He was a part of the Huguenot movement, the French Protestants who were persecuted by the Catholics in France, if we are to believe what we read.  He lived to be about 83 years old, some say 86.  He was married three different times, and had 24 children, as reported in "The Perkiomen Region volume 1, printed in 1895).  I have found names and approximate birth dates for "only" eleven  of them.

I've not found anything yet about his early life, or even his early married life, but he emigrated in 1732 when he gave his age as 45, and arrived at Philadelphia on a ship called the Loyal Judith.  Two sons arrived with him but we don't know how many of the rest of his family may have come, or when, except that his wife and at least one daughter arrived here also.  They may have traveled on the same ship and simply not been listed, because they were women.  At least two and more likely more of the children were born in America.  There was a huge age different in the children, with birth years from about 1711 to at least 1752.  His first wife, our ancestor, Anna Maria Seeland, died in 1742 in Upper Salford Township, in what is now Montgomery County, Philadelphia.

As of yet, I don't know much about Michael's life here except that he was a member of the Old Goshenhoppen church, which was Lutheran.  He was one of the church wardens and as such, along with representatives from the Reformed church, bought jointly thirty eight and a quarter acres for the use of the two congregations in 1737.  The first mention I've found of a church building was 1744, so it may have taken a while to raise the funds to erect the building.  Micheal is believed to be buried at the cemetery there but I didn't locate records on Find A Grave. 

He wrote his will on November 1, 1771 and died January 3, 1772.  A son, John, filed a petition that the estate not be probated until another son, Charles, was present.  There may be a family dynamic indicated that we don't understand.  In the petition, he refers to his father as "yeoman", meaning he owned land.  The inventory of personal property was valued at 79 pounds, 18 shillings, and one pence, including a large Bible, several books, and an almanac.  He could read, but we don't know whether these were written in English or in German.  He must have owned a good deal of land because it sold for 790 pounds, 14 shillings. Michael had done well for his family.  This was not a huge estate but it was more than many of his neighbors. 

I wonder how many of his children were still living, and were still in the same general area.  I wonder how he managed to support such a large family.  Did his older children postpone their own marriages and families in order to help raise the younger ones?  What sort of problems did this area have with the native Americans during the French and Indian war?  Michael was already relatively old when the conflict started.  Did he serve?  Did he take his family to a safer area, or a fort?  What else could Michael tell us about if we could sit down and ask him about his life?

I'd like to do more research about Michael, and if I find more information, I will post updates or a new blog.   In the meantime, it's good to know more about this French or German ancestor, who took a big risk in coming to America.

Our line of descent is

Hans Michael Reyer-Anna Maria Seeland
Anna Maria Reyer-Johan Jacob Nuss
Anna Elizabeth Nuss-Johan Jacob Hetrick
Abraham Hetrick-Sarah Lemmon
Isaac Hetrick-Elizabeth Black
Mary Alice Hetrick-Louis Stanard
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants