I love it when I find someone in the ancestry of President Obama, who I've not yet written about. It means that much research has already been done and I'm not likely to uncover any hidden gems. The pros have done it for me. Much of this information came from family websites and from people who like to research presidents. More power to them, and thank you very much!
He seems to have gone by the name Wilhelm, so that is how I'll refer to him. Wilhem was born in 1706 in Frankenthal, Bayern, Germany to Balthasar and Anna Margaretha (maiden name unknown ) Berkheimer. Frankenthal was a town that was all but destroyed in the wars of the seventeenth century so it is a wonder that any records at all have survived. (Or maybe they didn't survive, and that is why we have no specific birth date for him.)
We know that he arrived in Philadelphia with his wife, Maria Salome Hallman (Heilman or Heyllman are also spellings of the same name) four children, and a Susanna Berkheimer, who may have been a sister or cousin. Wilhelm is listed as being 20 in 1732 but he was more likely 26 years old then, as his wife, listed as Salome, was 25. The children were named Leonhard, Valentin, Magdalenea Louisa, and Johann Georg. They arrived together on the "Samuel" on August 11, 1732. It's possible that a son Henry was born in the New World, also.
The family made their way to what is now Perkiomen Township, Montgomery County, Pa I have a copy of a land grant for 25 acres to Wilhelm Berkheimer, which gives him 25 acres of land adjacent to the land he already owns, if I am reading this correctly. This was dated 1742, so he owned land prior to that time. Probably he farmed and possibly he had another occupation also. His family would have felt right at home here because the whole valley was settled primarily by German immigrants. There are tax records for him through 1744, but I don't yet know when they started.
1745 must have been a very rough year for both Wilhelm and Salome died that year. Most likely they died of one of a number of diseases but it's possible there was an accident that killed them both. It would be interesting to know the cause of death, because that would give us a glimpse into the kind of life they had. Both were just about 40 years old when they died, which was young, and they would have left a young family, although several of the children were teen agers. Wilhelm and presumably Salome are buried at the Old Goshenhoppen Church Cemetery in Woxall, Perkiomen Township, Montgomery County, Pa.
There is more research to be done on this family, to determine the causes of death, when they acquired land and how much, and whether they were of the Lutheran or the reformed faith. However, we do have this much information and it's a start, and a reminder of how little we really know about our ancestors.
The line of descent is:
Wilhelm Berkheimer-Maria Salome Hallman
Leonard Berkheimer-Maria Catherine Kerger
Magdalena Berkheimer-Samuel Goodnight
Catherine Goodnight-Jacob Dunham
Samuel Goodnight Dunham-Eliza Matilda Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Homer Aldridge
Gretta Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
Showing posts with label Kerger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kerger. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Beeks line: Anthony Hallman 1671-1759, Immigrant
One of the things I like most about researching ancestors is unexpected finds. Who would have thought that the Beeks line would turn up what appears to be a Mennonite family? Closer investigation indicates there may be a mystery to be solved here This immigrant, and his wife, are said to be buried in the graveyard of the Mennonite Church at Skippack, Montgomery County, Pa., which was right next to his property. However, the family attended the Lutheran church at Trappe, Pa. So was this merely a burial of convenience, or is it possible that his wife was Mennonite? Right now, we don't know because we don't know who his wife was.
Let's start at the beginning. Anthony was born in 1671, in Klein Neidersheim, Palatinate, Germany. This is just a little east and a little north of the Alsace-Lorraine region, and is in the general area where Mennonites settled. But the village was small, and since these small villages were homogenous, we will, until proven otherwise, assume that Anthony, at least, was Lutheran. He married Maria Salome last name unknown about 1702. I've seen various guesses as to when he arrived in the New World, but I've seen nothing that seems to have documentation. He may have been here as early as 1708 but most likely it was more like 1721, since children were born in Germany at least through 1718. We also don't know whether the family travelled together to the New World or whether Anthony came over first. He was naturalized in 1731, when laws were changed so that all persons had to swear fealty to the British king. He was a blacksmith by trade, owned land and probably farmed it, at least initially, and later in life purchased a mill in Gwynedd.
Anthony was one of the founders and part of the building committee of the Augustus Lutheran Church at Trappe (1743, when he was already 72 years old) and was still serving as church warden at the time of his death. One of the doors to the building had his name inscribed above it, as "A. Heilmano." He had purchased land in 1720, perhaps before he even laid eyes on it, and then purchased another tract in 1736. He eventually sold the first tract to his son Henry.
Anthony and Maria Salome had at least eight children together, before her death in 1746. Anthony lived another 13 years, dying in 1759. There may have been trouble in the Hallman family, for in his will he disinherited his son John, "for reasons best known to himself" and left bequests to his daughters and children, and son Henry. Whether there was a split in the family or whether John had already received his bequest, we'll probably never know.
I think I'd have liked Anthony. He was a hard worker, apparently thrifty but yet generous to his church, and raised a family in difficult times.
The line of descent is:
Anthony Hallman-Maria Salome
Mary Salome Hallman-Johann Wilhelm Berkheimer
Johann Leonard Berkheimer-Maria Catharine Kerger
Magdalena Berkheimer-Samuel Goodnight
Catherine Goodnight-Jacob Dunham
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza M Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
Let's start at the beginning. Anthony was born in 1671, in Klein Neidersheim, Palatinate, Germany. This is just a little east and a little north of the Alsace-Lorraine region, and is in the general area where Mennonites settled. But the village was small, and since these small villages were homogenous, we will, until proven otherwise, assume that Anthony, at least, was Lutheran. He married Maria Salome last name unknown about 1702. I've seen various guesses as to when he arrived in the New World, but I've seen nothing that seems to have documentation. He may have been here as early as 1708 but most likely it was more like 1721, since children were born in Germany at least through 1718. We also don't know whether the family travelled together to the New World or whether Anthony came over first. He was naturalized in 1731, when laws were changed so that all persons had to swear fealty to the British king. He was a blacksmith by trade, owned land and probably farmed it, at least initially, and later in life purchased a mill in Gwynedd.
Anthony was one of the founders and part of the building committee of the Augustus Lutheran Church at Trappe (1743, when he was already 72 years old) and was still serving as church warden at the time of his death. One of the doors to the building had his name inscribed above it, as "A. Heilmano." He had purchased land in 1720, perhaps before he even laid eyes on it, and then purchased another tract in 1736. He eventually sold the first tract to his son Henry.
Anthony and Maria Salome had at least eight children together, before her death in 1746. Anthony lived another 13 years, dying in 1759. There may have been trouble in the Hallman family, for in his will he disinherited his son John, "for reasons best known to himself" and left bequests to his daughters and children, and son Henry. Whether there was a split in the family or whether John had already received his bequest, we'll probably never know.
I think I'd have liked Anthony. He was a hard worker, apparently thrifty but yet generous to his church, and raised a family in difficult times.
The line of descent is:
Anthony Hallman-Maria Salome
Mary Salome Hallman-Johann Wilhelm Berkheimer
Johann Leonard Berkheimer-Maria Catharine Kerger
Magdalena Berkheimer-Samuel Goodnight
Catherine Goodnight-Jacob Dunham
Samuel G Dunham-Eliza M Reese
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants
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