Beeks line: Andreas Raub 1730-1809

Andreas or Andrew Raub was actually an immigrant ancestor, having arrived with his parents in 1732.  However, since he was two years old at the time, he likely had no memory of the "Old Country" or of the journey to America.  He was the son of Philip and Maria Sarah Schoffel Raub and was born February 13, 1730 at Hagsfeld, Stadt Karlsruhe, Baden-Wuerttemburg, now part of Germany.  He was one of at least six children born to the couple, and Philip was almost 50 when Andreas was born. 

Andreas was about 23 when his father died and he was fortunate enough to inherit the family farm in Springfield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  A few months before his father's death, he married Maria Charlotte Weber, daughter of Johan Jacob and Maria Charlotte Reichard Weber.  Andrew, at the age of 23, had a wife and a farm and responsibilities.  These may have kept him too busy to participate in either the French and Indian War or the Revolutionary War, or his work as a farmer may have made him too valuable to serve.  There is also the slight possibility that he was a Loyalist.  I haven't exhausted all the records I would need to search to determine whether he was a soldier, a farmer, or a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War, so that is on my to do list. 

It appears that Andreas and family were in New Jersey by the time of the Revolution, and he had bought his first farm there, "about halfway between Walnut Valley and Jacksonville".  It was located in Knowlton Township, Sussex (now Warren) County.  This, incidentally, would have been a horrible place to be during the Revolutionary War, as many battles were fought in New Jersey and troops would have been marching, pillaging, and possibly worse at any of several different times during the war.  I haven't yet located specific information regarding this particular area, as to whether there were actual battles here, but skirmishes, at least, seem likely. 

Andreas acquired several other properties over his lifetime, all in the same general area.  He needed land not only to support his family, but because he wanted to pass land along to each of his sons.  In this, he was successful.  The Raubs had at least three sons and seven daughters, living at the time Andreas wrote his will in 1806.  The will was proved May 25, 1809, one day after the inventory was taken.  The estate was modest, about $325, but that wouldn't have included the land and buildings.  Two of his sons were responsible for making the payments he requested to his daughters.  I sure would like to find that inventory!

Maria Charlotte had died in 1791.  There is one reference that says he later married a Katherine, but if so, she must have died also as there is no mention of her in the will.

Andreas is more interesting than I thought he would be, simply because of the times he lived in and the choice he made to move from Bucks County to Sussex County.  I would like to figure out why he made that change.  Also, his children were baptized Lutherans; why is he buried in the Knowlton Presbyterian Cemetery?  And what were his war experiences?  Did any of his sons fight?  There are always more questions than answers.

The line of descent is:

Andreas Raub-Maria Charlotte Weber
Charlotte Raub-Johan Jacob Weis (Wise)
Andrew Wire-Mary Serfass
David Wise-Matilda Martin
Elizabeth Wise-John Beeks
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Felix Weiss, Immigrant

Much of this post will be speculation, especially regarding his early years.  I am throwing this out for amy historians who may recognize Felix and say "I know this man!"  and be able to help correct whatever inaccuracies are in this blog post.  Some of it I am quite sure about but the early years are very murky indeed.  There is at least one story that needs to be told now, and if we never get answers to our questions then at least we know this much. 

First, entirelyl speculative, is the possibility that Felix came from Switzerland.  There is a record of Felix Wyss, carpenter, and also Conrad Wyss, cooper, leaving the Parish of Affoltern, Mt. Albis (also seen as Affoltern arm Albis), which was about 8 miles southwest of Zurich.  Felix came with his wife, Anna Huber and five little children, Anna, Hans Heinrich, Hans Jacob, Johannes, and Heinrich, and he was listed as a carpenter.  Conrad, who may have been  likely a relation of some sort, came on the same ship with his wife Barbara Dupa and four young children. 

If this was our Felix, then more of his tree is available to us and we can likely go back several generations. .

 I'll get the cart ahead of the horse here for a little bit and say that the records showing Felix as having died in 1779 in Monroe County, Pa are a bit misleading.  Monroe County wasn't formed until 1836.  At the time our Felix lived there, it was Northampton County, and it was very much frontier country.  So most of our records are found in Northampton County, and as always, we wish for more. 

Felix apparently led a hard life as I have not yet found him on tax rolls for Northumberland County.  He may have been devastated by the French and Indian War and subsequent harassment (a kind word) by native Americans.   The one record I've found with his name on it is from September of 1763.  In it, he was a petitioner to the government, asking for help against the native Americans.  It was written from Brinker's Mill to Mr. Horsfield and the petiotioners were 18 men , "the neighbors that are now living or rather staying here at this present time".  The  petitioners asked for soldiers to be placed at Jacob Brinker's Mill, "the people have been driven from their houses, their livelihoods destroyed by savages; they gladly returned to their homes , their desolate habitations, so they coudl use the mill and almost forgot their woes but now, every day, they were 'exposed to the unmerciful hands of these savages just at our backs".  Only half the men had even one chrge of powder or lead, God was their only protection, "Please place soldiers at the mill."  We have no idea of the stresses and fears that our families lived under.  These fears were very real, as several families from this area were massacred before the area was truly settled. 

The mill is located on McMichaels creek in what is now Hamilton Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, so this gives us a general location of where Felix and his family lived.  The current stone building was actually built about 1800, but there was a log mill there for 50 years prior to the "new" construction, and this would have been the location where Jacob, along with 17 others, signed the petition.  Most of the names on the petition are either German or Swiss.

Felix died in 1779 in what is now Hamilton Township, Monroe County. 

Here's another problem with this man.  Our Felix is given an approximate birth date of 1720, but other records show a Felix born in 1703.  Were there two Felix Weiss's?  Were they related?  Confounding the mystery is that our Felix's wife is shown as Anna Maria Van Buskirk, but...someone with the same purported birth date is shown on Find a Grave, which is somewhat unreliable or at least incomplete, as actually being a Weiss first and then a Van Buskirk.  Was this Anna Huber, then Weiss, then van Buskirk?  The dates are a problem, or were the names a pure coincidence?   These Felixes, and Annas, have me confused, so don't take this as written in stone.  It's written in sand, waiting for the complete facts to emerge. 

The possible line of descent is:



Felix Weiss-Anna
Johan Jacob Wise-Charlotte Raub
Andrew Wise-Mary Serfass
David Wise-Matilda Martin
Elizabeth Wise-John Beeks
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Done with the Beeks line?

Of course, I'll never be done writing about this family, or at least learning about them.  However, I've come to a stopping point and any posts I write now will either be of things I've learned from the Huntington newspaper, or I'll post when I find the story of a new Beeks ancestor.  Since some of these people right now are first names only, I don't hold out a lot of hope for locating them, but certainly stranger things have happened.  My criteria for including people on this list is that they at least died in this country.  Some were probably immigrants and some may have been here for several generations, but I just can't trace them. 

Here are the names I'm looking for:

Timothy Martin, born about 1798 died before 1870; married in 1833  in Shelby County, Ohio to
Hannah Tilberry or Tilbury, born about 1810.  They may have died in Wabash County, Indiana.
possibly Eva, the wife of George Philip Serfass.  She would have been born about 1783, maybe.
Sabina, wife of Frederick Serfass, born about 1760.
Felix Weiss about 1720-1779 died in Hamilton Township, Monroe County, Pa.
Anna Maria van Buskirk, his wife, born about 1726
George Featheringill 1710-1767-died in Frederick County, Va.
possibly Elizabeth Marie Settlemire, his wife
Hannah, wife of William Lehew  about 1745-1810, died in wythe County, Va.
Tabitha, widow Underwood, wife of William Hunt, early Virginia
Elizabeth, wife of Hugh Donaghe
Isabel Hamilton, wife of John Donaghe
Thomas Hicklin, 1689-1772
Richard Bodkin 1710-1773
Elizabeth, wife of Richard Bodkin
Barbara, wife of Johan  Jacob Bentz
Rebecca Caroline, wife of Christian Funk
Polly Carter 1805-1880, Lagro, Wabash County, Indiana, wife of John Beeks
Elizabeth, wife of Johann Gottfried Neimrich 
Johann Gottfired Neimrich
possibly John Barnes and his possible wife Elizabeth, parents of Catherine Barnes

As you can see, for most of these people I have little to go on.  However, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.  They also ask for help, which is what I'm doing now.  Can you help me learn the stories of any of these people, and possibly their parents? 

Beeks line: Johann Jacob Weber 1694-1744 Immigrant

Here's another Beeks ancestor who came from Germany. I don't know much about him yet but his is the start of another American success story, if raising a family in colonial Pennsylvania, with descendants down to this day is a success story. 

Jacob was born December 27, 1694 in Hinzweiler, Rhine-Pfalz, of what became Germany.  His parents were Hans Jacob Weber and Maria Margaretha Ring, and he had at least four sisters and one brother.  The only other clue I have about his early life is that when he married in 1720, it was in the Reformed Church in Hinzweiler, meaning it was neither Catholic nor Lutheran, but more Calvinistic in its beliefs.  The area had suffered during the Thirty Years War but had always been a very small village, with population never going above 400.  It must have been a hard life, but perhaps it was also a good life, in the little settlement. 

Jacob's wife was Anna Cecelia Reichard, also from Hinzweiler.  Her parents were Dieterich Reichard and Maria Saloma last name unknown.  It isn't known when the family emigrated to America.  Jacob died here in 1744, so the date would have been earlier than that.  Apparently the children were all born in Germany, with the last of at least three (I suspect there are more) born in 1735.  So immigration would have come between those two dates, except that I haven't found a Johann Jacob or a Jacob Weber listed in the immigration or naturalization records for that time period. 

And that is as much as I know about Jacob at this point.  He reportedly died in Springfield Township, Bucks or Delaware County, in 1744.  We need to determine which area he lived in, for the two townships are a considerable distance apart. One was relatively close to Philadelphia and one was on the frontier, which would mean families in the two areas would have had different concerns.  I tend to think it was in Bucks county, due to family marriages, but that is just a guess at this point.

So here is the bare beginnings of the story of Jacob Weber.  I'd like to find out more in order to give the man the recognition he deserves, but this is a start.  If someone reading this knows just one little bit of information that I haven't yet located, I'd love it if you would share it with me!

The line of descent is:

Jacob Weber-Anna Cecelia Reichard
Maria Charlotta Weber-Andreas Raub
Charlotte Raub-Johan Jacob Weiss
Andrew Wise-Mary Serfass
David Wise-Matilda Martin
Elizabeth Wise-John W Beeks
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Johan Wilhelm Altomus 1675-after 1719 Immigrant, or not?

First, I take absolutely no credit for the information in this post.  It was mostly taken from the Altemose Family Genealogy site at RootsWeb, authored by Dale Berger.  He has tons of information there so head on over after you've read this very much condensed version.  It is wonderful that people like Dale have been able to devote so much time, effort, and money to teasing out the story of our ancesgtors, and they deserve all the credit for it.

We don't know a lot about Wilhelm, not even his birthday.  His father was possibly Becht Altemuss of Kaulbauch, who was baptized on September 18,1648 and buried on May 29,1713, and Becht's father was likely Hans Altemuss and Maria.  Hans was a cowherd and Becht became a linen weaver and beadle.  A few words of explanation: Kahlbach is more or less in the center of Germany, running north to south and a bit to the west of the center of Germany running east to west.  It seems that it must have been a small town back in the 1600's.  it was likely affected by the Thirty Years War but I haven't determined to what extent.  Since Becht didn't follow his father's profession, he was likely apprenticed to someone else in town, and this would have been a highly regulated situation.  It's likely that Hans had to grease some palms in order to get him into an apprenticeship program, even if he was placed with a relative.  Becht became not just a linen-weaver, but a beadle, which is a minor judge, dealing with petty criminals.  So he must have been respected in the town. 

Wilhelm was likely Becht's son, although Berger is careful to say there is no proof of that yet.  They were in the same area and many of the family were linen weavers.  (If a man was a linen weaver, it often meant that his wife and children did most if not all of the work of raising the family's food and caring for the family's farm animals.)  Sometimes, but not always, linen weaver's had a physical challenge of some kind that kept them from more vigorous work, and sometimes they were just good linen-weavers. 

Johan Wilhelm Altomus married Anna Caecilia Reinmuller on January 16,1700 and the two had at least six children together..  Their last known daughter was Maria Catharina Altomus, who was born July 29,1719 in Offenbach, Hundheim, Germany.  She was the youngest of their children, and she is the one who married Johann Philip Servass.  The Altomus family was apparently of Lutheran belief so it's not know when the Servassor Serfass family became influenced by the Moravians. 

Evidence has not yet been found for the death of Wilhelm, although it seems likely that he died in Germany. At least three of his children emigrated to America in 1739 and 1740, so perhaps his estate helped finance the move.  Or perhaps he came to America with one or another of the families, and died either at sea or shortly after arrival.  At this point, we don't know whether or not he was an immigrant, or whether he intended to be one.  We suspect that he at least gave his family a dream, to come to America, and they followed that dream. 

I've written before of the life of Philip Servass, one of poverty, hard work and dedication to the Lord, interrupted by terrible Indian raids on his land.  Wilhelm did well to have such a son in law, and daughter, who were given values in Germany that helped them cope with their new home.

The line of descent is:

Johan Wilhelm Altomus-Anna Caecilia Reinmuller
Maria Catherina Altomus-Johan Philip Servass
Frederick Serfass-Sabina
George Philip Serfass-possibly Eva
Mary Serfass-Andrew Wise
David Wise-Matilda Martin
Elizabeth Wise-John Beeks
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendants

Beeks line: Philip Servas, Immigrant 1714-1787

Here's a fascinating immigrant in the Beeks line.  I say "fascinating" because I believe he was a very courageous man.  First, he was an immigrant, which says "courage" to me.  Then, he was a Moravian, at a time when Moravians were not tolerated well.  Finally, when he acquired land, it was on the most distant part of the frontier in what is now Monroe County, Pa but was then part of Bucks County.  I just shake my head in wonder at the strength of these immigrants, and wonder how they did what they did.

Philip was born in 1712 in Coblenz, Zwiebrucken, Germany. I looked up Coblenz and I looked up Zwiebrucken and they appear to be in two different places so I'm a little confused by this information.  However, Coblenz is probably accurate, and Germany is accurate now although there was no "Germany" as we know it in 1712.  The area had yet to be united under one name.

Philip's parents were another Philip Servas and Ann, which is as much as we know of his birth and childhood.  We know that he married before he came to America because he and his wife, Maria Catharina Altomus, were on the ship "Samuel" when they arrived in Philadelphia on August 27, 1739.   It was while they were in Philadelphia that Philip became interested in the Moravian church, and this is also where he became a stocking weaver.  I've not found an indication that he was an indentured servant, but it still took 11 years for him to save up enough money to buy his land.

As mentioned earlier, the land he purchased, 100 acres, was in what is now Monroe County, Pa. It was a little more than 100 acres, on the Pochopoko Creek, "over the Blue Mountains."  By this time, the family included five children, and five more would be born to them during their marriage, all apparently christened or recorded in Philadelphia.  Philip seems to have acquired several additional tracts of land in the early 1750's, all in the same general area.

By 1755, things were tense between the natives and the pioneers.  They were so tense that a massacre occurred in December 1755, of Philip's neighbors, the Hoeths.  (Those of the family who weren't killed, were taken captive and there is record of the story of one of the young women who escaped after several years in Indian captivity.)  In response to this crisis, a fort was constructed on  Philip's property, where the families all went as needed during the French and Indian wars.  The Moravians later built a mission on the land which had belonged to the Hoeths.

The Servass's, meanwhile, fled their farm on the day after the massacre, and went to Nazareth, where many refugee settlers also found shelter.  They stayed in or near Nazareth for several years, with Philip making several trips there.  The family finally moved back to their land in 1763, at the close of the French and Indian War, and Philip stayed there the rest of his life.  He was taxed there in 1772, for 1 pound, 18 shillings.

Philip was too old to serve in the Revolutionary War, but surely he and his family knew of it and it's at least one of his sons, Frederick, served in the local militia.   Philip made his will in 1785 and died June 22 or 23 of the next year.  A Moravian braother, Brother Reichel, from Nazareth conducted his funeral service.   It appears that his wife stayed on the farm and survived him by about 2 years.

I'd sure like to talk to Philip, to learn what he was thinking as he stayed in Nazareth for those seven years.  Did he not go back sooner due to an abundance of caution, or because he didn't appreciate the Fort on his land, or was it his wife that was so reluctant to return home?  Maybe, after some years on the frontier they just enjoyed being with people again, or maybe it was a matter of saving enough money to start over again, with crops and farm animals.  I'd love to know the rest of the story.

Much of the information for this post came from items posted by Dale A. Berger, who has written a book about this family which I would love to see.  

The line of descent is:

Philip Servas (Serfass, other spellings)-Maria Catherina Altemos
Frederick Serfass-Sabina
George Philip Serfass-Eva
Mary Serfass-Andrew Wise
David Wise-Matilda Martin
Elizabeth Wise-John Beeks
Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Their descendents

  

Beeks Line: Philip Raub, Immigrant

I admit it. I am fascinated with the immigrants in our families.  Why did they come when they did? How did they finance their move across the ocean?  Once they were here, did they feel they had made a good choice, or were they incredibly homesick?  And how did those poor women survive the whole ordeal?

The origin of Philip Raub is something of a mystery, although the best guesses I have seen put his birth date at 1681 and the location as Hagsfeld, Stadt Karlsruhe, Baden-Wuerttemberg, in what would become Germany.  There is a church there called Laurenskirche, and it may have been in operation at the time of Philip's birth.  If so, they may have records of Philip's birth.  If not, then perhaps the other stories are true, that this was a Mennonite family that possibly came from Switzerland. Further research needs to be done to pin down this information.

We know nothing of Philip's life, but we do know that Hagsfeld was a very small village, of less than 100 homes, when Philip was born and raised.  It is likely, then, that Philip's family had a garden they could tend for themselves, and farm land they would have tilled for the lord of the area.  It would have been a hard life, with weather uncertainties, and with the uncertainty of what the lord would be doing next in terms of requiring taxes.  Fortunately, there would have been a council to intercede between the peasants and the lord, and they may have been able to have some mitigating influence if the taxes were to be raised too much.

Philip married Maria Sarah Schoffel, daughter of Heinrich Schoffel and Maria Zwillinge, in 1719.  There was probably an earlier marriage, as Philip is credited with having three sons born from 1705-1710, and then there is a gap of 10 years.  The known children that he had with Maria Sarah were Maria Barbara, Ann Margaretha, and Andreas.  There is a gap between 1720 and 1727 so it is possible that other children were born and died young, or there were miscarriages.

In 1732, probably for economic reasons but perhaps for religious reasons, Philip and his family came to Philadelphia on the ship "Loyal Judith".  This was in about the middle of the German immigration influx.  The immigrants on this ship were mostly Mennonite, but there were a few others that were from different areas than the Baden-Durlach Mennonites.

Philip was fortunate enough to buy land in what became Springfield Twp, Bucks County, Pa in 1738.  This may indicate that he served an indentureship before being able to buy land, or perhaps he was simply a tenant farmer who made good. The land that he purchased was 130 acres near Durham Creek.  If he had been Mennonite, he soon began worshiping at Trinity Lutheran Church, as there are records there (apparently a list of communicants) in 1751. 

Philip died in December of 1753, after conveying his 130 acres of land to his youngest son, Andreas, in February of that year.  I have not located a will for him.  His wife, Maria Sarah, died in 1764 in Upper Sucon Township, Bucks County, Pa.  She is buried at St Paul's Blue Church near Coopersburg, Lehigh County, Pa, and that is his place of burial as indicated on Find-a-Grave.

There is more of Philip's story to be found.  I'd like to know whether there were Indian incursions in Bucks County after Philip's arrival, and after he bought his land. I'd like to know whether he was in fact Mennonite, or whether he had always been Lutheran. I'd like to know why he came to America, and whether he felt his decision was a good one.  And of course, I'd love to know who his parents are!

The line of descent is:

Philip Raub-Maria Sarah Schoffel
Andreas Raub-Maria Charlotta Weber
Charlotte Raub-Johan Jacob Weiss
Andrew Wise-Mary Serfass
David Wise-Matilda Martin
Elizabeth Wise-John Beeks
Wilbur Beeks-Greta Cleo Aldridge
Mary Margaret Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger
Harshbarger children, grand children, and great grandchildren