_John BIDDLE _________________________________
| (1661 - ....)
_Thomas BIDDLE ______|
| (1696 - 1767) m 1717|
| |_Mary JONES possible daughter of Robert Jones_
| (1665 - 1733)
_William BIDDLE _____|
| (1718 - 1776) |
| | ______________________________________________
| | |
| |_Elizabeth BOULDING _|
| (1696 - 1782) m 1717|
| |______________________________________________
|
|
|--Elizabeth BIDDLE
| (1755 - ....)
| ______________________________________________
| |
| _ MORGAN ____________|
| | |
| | |______________________________________________
| |
|_Sarah MORGAN _______|
|
| ______________________________________________
| |
|_____________________|
|
|______________________________________________
[13922] [S208] "Colonial Families of the Eastern Shore of Maryland Vol 6"
[12634]
On may 16, 1741 a Johannes Wilhelm Hoffman and his wife, Anna Catharina, left the village of Eysern in the "Principality of Nassau-Siegen" in Germany for America. Eysern was located not far from Eiserfeld. They traveled on the Ship St. Mark and landed in Philadelphia on Sept 26 1741. By Oct 1, 1741, they had settled in Conestoga, Lancaster Co PA a number of miles southwest of the growing city of Lancaster. Then on April 24, 1743 they moved west across the Susquehanna River to Paradise Township which was at that time still a part of Lancaster Co., but which became a part of York Co when it was established on Aug 19, 1749. Here he lived, eventually had a rather large family and where he died in 1761.
The area in which the Hoffman family settled would almost have had to be the one called Holz-Schwamm (swampy woodland) by the early German people who came here to that part of York Co., PA. History records that Paradise Township was sparsely settled in early years, and that the German Reformed people living there were ministered to by Rev. Jacob Lischy as early as 1750. This area was the general vicinity of the present day village of Labott, several miles east of Abbottstown on Route 30 going towards York.
This is all being mentioned because the Hoffman family appears to have had a close connection with the Steinseifer family back in Nassau-Siegen, Germany, possibly through marriage. And later it appears that every Steinseifer that came to America from 1749 on came to the area where the Hoffman family lived.
Johannes Wilmelm Hoffman had begun a diary in 1732 while still living in the village of Eysern, and he continued it till he died. It was handed down in the family through the rears, and it is said to still exist in the possession of a present day descendant in Maryland. Parts of it were translated into English from the original German some years ago by a Dr. Zahn, and a copy of this translation (about 15 pages or so) is in the possession of the Historical Society of York County.
This is a rare and invaluable historical find because it gives us a personal glimpse of actual conditions in the very area in which our Steinseifer ancestors were living in the years just prior to their coming to America.
In the diary he tells us that his village of Eysern is near others named Rinstorff, Oberstorff, and Eiserfeld. The German Reformed princes who had ruled the Nassau-Siegen area since the late 1500's (and who were descendants of the House of Nassau that had ruled there since the 1100's) died out about April 18, 1734, and a Catholic line of the family now ruled the people from their head-quarters in Siegen. All able-bodied men were considered to be a part of the state militia, and each man had to provide his own weapon and ammunition at his own expense. He complained that very often his local unit was ordered to go to other areas of the county to put down civil disturbances that had broken out by people who were objecting to policies of the new ruler. Also, due to the political conditions throughout Germany and nearby countries, troops from many parts of Germany, and especially Prussia and Denmark, were frequently passing through the Nassau-Siegen area. While in the area, these troops were being billeted mainly in homes of German Reformed people as harassment by the Catholic prince. Johannes mentions then that quite often these soldier guests in a home were of a rough nature and also frequently abused their host families. He goes on to tell us that about April 29, 1734 he and about 40 others were made to pay a fine of 2 gulden (2 gold coins) in order to help pay the expenses of a troop of cavalry quartered in the area, and which he went into Siegen to pay. A list of the men is then given, and in addition to "Johannes Hoffman" he also names a "Johannes Steinseifer" (This Johannes Steinseifer is most likely the immigrant ancestor of our cousin, W A Stonecypher of Lucedale, Miss., and who came to America in 1749 and settled in Culpepper, VA.) Johnannes Hoffman also lamented the constant burden of taxation, and the interference by authorities in the affairs of his people's schools and church life. The language in the diary indicated that he was a very devout member of the German Reformed Church, and that finally he decided to emigrate to America to escape his unsatisfactory condition in life. In America he occasionally served on local committees - as for roads, saw Benjamin Franklin come to the York area, and at the end of his life (and diary)he was once again quite angry at what he considered the high taxes he had to pay.
IT seems very likely that either Johannes Wilhelm Hoffman's mother may have been a Steinseifer or that his wife, Anna Catharina, was a Steinseifer. It also seems very likely that he wrote back to the Eiserfeld area telling persons, including the Steinseifers, about the better conditions in America, and urged them to come here. Considering what he had to say as to conditions in the area of Nassau-Siegen and that the Steinseifers were experiencing the same thing, it is no wonder that some of them would have decided to emigrate also. Except for Tillman Steinseifer, all of the other Steinseifers who emigrated to America landed in Philadelphia but one (who landed in New York), as the Hoffmans had done, and all the Steinseifers sooner or later came to the Hoffman's area.
That they did not choose to settle down in any of the numerous German villages and neighborhoods in and around Philadelphia, or go north and northwest of the city to the areas of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Reading were many Germans were settling, but instead chose to come west, pass through the heavily German settlements developing around Lancaster and York, and them come to the remote areas of Holz-Schwamm and the Silver Run MD practically compels one to come to the conclusion that the Steinseifers and the Hoffmans had some kind of a relationship, and that the Steinseifers had prior knowledge as to where to go.
[12635] [S14] "History and Genealogy of the Stonesifer Family of MD and PA"
_________________________
|
_Reuben Walter WILDASIN _|
| (1856 - 1917) m 1889 |
| |_________________________
|
_John Edwin WILDASIN _|
| (1896 - 1980) |
| | _Jacob Henry STONESIFER _+
| | | (1833 - 1919)
| |_Alice Eliza STONESIFER _|
| (1859 - 1949) m 1889 |
| |_Elizabeth WENTZ ________+
| (1835 - 1919)
|
|--John Edwin WILDASIN
| (1930 - 1930)
| _________________________
| |
| _________________________|
| | |
| | |_________________________
| |
|_Ruth Catharine BAIR _|
(1896 - ....) |
| _________________________
| |
|_________________________|
|
|_________________________
[11627] [S14] "History and Genealogy of the Stonesifer Family of MD and PA"
Copyright Ruth Stonesifer [Home] [Surname List]