Eller Chronicles Feb 94 p- 5

The Eller Chronicles


Vol. VIII NO 1.THE ELLER FAMILY ASSOCIATIONFEB 1994

Page - 33



Report: E F A Conference, Portland, OR, July 17, 1993

IMMIGRANT JACOB ELLER, Sr.,
OF ROWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

(ca. 1705 -1782)

J. Gerald Eller

    Aspects of the genealogy and family history of immigrant Jacob Eller, Sr. and the interrelationships established through marriages between the early Henkels, Biffles, Ketcheys and Ellers are the subjects of this report. A limited review of the genealogy and family history of the Henkel family is provided for the benefit of those Ellers who may not know of this fascinating family. Reviews of the Biffle and G�ttge families will appear in a book on Descendants of Jacob Eller, Sr. which is expected to be published in time for Eller Family Conference in 1995. Proof is also provided that Adam and

  • had a daughter Mary who married Jacob Eller, Jr. Published records of the Biffles and Henkels fail to list Mary Biffle Eller.

        The German names of Henckel, Biffle, and G�ttge appear in their English form as Henkel, Biffle and Ketchey, except for direct quotes. Variant spellings of the German surname Eller exist- but this name is spelled correctly in most early records in North Carolina, except for an occasional Ellar or Ellor. Fig. I shows the lines of descent of these four immigrant German families and the interconnections produced by early marriages. The progenitors of each family settled first in Philadelphia (now Montgomery) County, Pennsylvania between 1717 and 1751; they were: Rev. Anthony Jacob Henkel (arrived 1717), John Paul Biffle (arrived 1738), Jacob Eller (arrived 1748?) and John Ketchey) (arrived 1751).

        In the St. Paul's Lutheran (Red Hill) Churchbook of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania is the record of the marriage of Jacob Eller, to "Maria Eva Goettge" (Mary Eva Ketchey) on 11 Dec. 1753. The record identifies his father, "Casper Eller," his father-in-law "Johannes Goettge" (John Ketchey) from "Zweybrucken," and his place of birth ("the German Palatinate.") Apparently Jacob Eller lived in the New Hanover Township of Philadelphia (now Montgomery) County, PA, with the other three families. This Jacob Eller is believed to be the John Jacob Eyler who arrived in Philadelphia aboard the Edinburg from Rotterdam on 5 Sep 1748.

        Although Jacob Eller was born in the Palatinate, he may have lived elsewhere at the time of his emigration. Strassburger and Hinke, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Vol. 1, list several other Ellers some of whom were probably his close relatives. "Melchior Eller" appeared in the Evangelical Church record of New Hanover, Montgomery Co., Pennsylvania, April 17th, 1756, "in his 20th year" son of "the late Casper Eller. Melchior, to young to be listed on ship passenger records, probably arrived before his sixteenth birth date, perhaps in 1748 at age 12 with his older brother Jacob. The first name of both Jacob and Melchior was John. German custom, if followed in this family, meant that the full name of their father was Johann Casper (Kaspar) Eller. (Note: it was not unusual for male children in the same family to share the same first name- this was also true for female children.)



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        Casper Eller, as inferred from the above, died apparently between 1753 and 1756. His name has not been found among American records. He probably died in Germany, not necessarily in the Palatinate. Names identical to his are found in German records but none fit the proper time period. It is possible, but believed improbable, that Casper Eller was a German emigrant whose name went unrecorded or whose record was lost in America. To find records in Germany for an individual without a clue to his village and family of origin is not an easy task. Any extant German records may be in some obscure village church book.

        Three of the families came from known villages in the German Palatinate: the Henkels from Nekargemund, the Biffles from Contwig and the Ketcheys from Ruschberg, but, as indicated, the village and family of origin for Jacob Eller remain unknown. Members of all four families migrated south to Rowan County, NC, between 1750 and ca. 1760. One progenitor, John Paul Biffle, and John Justus Henkel, a son of a second progenitor, were among the earliest Germans to reach Rowan County, NC, arriving there before 1751. John Ketchey came after 1756 accompanied probably by sons-in-law Jacob and Melker Eller. In records in Rowan County, NC, the name "Melchior" is usually spelled "Melker."

        Family tradition and records in Rowan County, North Carolina provide additional evidence that John Jacob and John Melker Eller were brothers. Land records and maps show that they lived in the Crane Creek community, near Salisbury, Rowan County, NC, where they acquired land along with Christian Eller, but all three may have arrived in Rowan County several years before the date of their first land records: Jacob (1761), Christian (1762) and Melker (1754). Jacob was said to be the eldest of the three and Melker the youngest.

        Apparently J. W. Hook was told in Rowan County that Jacob and Christian were known to be well-educated; this a probable inference based on their records of service on juries and as executors of wills, etc. Germans in this period were not named usually to juries or to serve as executors of wills without the ability to read and write English. Christian Eller was identified in Paul Biffle's will (1777) as his executor and son-in-law- he also served as executor of Jacob Eller, Sr.'s will (1782).

        According to Hook, Christian Eller's wife died soon after reaching Rowan County, and records there show his second wife was Mary Elizabeth Biffle, daughter of John Paul Biffle. Although tradition in Rowan County says that Christian, Jacob, and Melker Eller were brothers, Jacob in naming Christian as executor of his will (1782) referred to him as "my good friend," causing questions to be raised about their exact relationship. If not a brother, he likely was a close relative.



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    After deciding to move south, the Ellers, no doubt, followed the usual practice of other Germans and "left Pennsylvania in the fall as soon as their crops were gathered. Therefore, they arrived in the South just before cold weather, well supplied with the means of passing through the winter without undue hardship." The common mode of transportation was by wagon and their probable route was the Great Wagon Road that ran from Pennsylvania through the Shenandoah Valley to the Yadkin River Valley of North Carolina. The Great Wagon Road and the Trading Path from tidewater Virginia, two much traveled routes, met at the Trading Ford a short distance upstream from the homes of the Ellers and a few miles downstream from the home of Squire Boone and his son, Dan'l.

        Among the earliest Eller records reported in Rowan County, NC, are: Christian, (1759), Michael (1759), Jacob (1761), and Melker (1764). These early Ellers must have witnessed the hordes of settlers and traders who passed through Salisbury or paused at the Trading Ford on the Yadkin River to rest, trade, and replenished their supplies before moving on southward to South Carolina and westward toward the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some of the hundreds of travelers who passed the Trading Ford were seeking land and new homes while many were traders on their way to the Indian territories. As farmers, all three Ellers probably bartered their produce for other items at the Trading Ford.

        The Ellers were probably among the flood of Pennsylvania Germans who left Pennsylvania during the 1754-1760 period to settle in Rowan County, NC. Because the most fertile land had been taken by the Scotch-Irish, the Germans settled on the less fertile strip between Salisbury, NC, and the Yadkin River. Jacob Eller's farm was on the west bank of the Yadkin at the mouth of Crane Creek. The farms of Melker and Christian were further upstream on Crane Creek. Bernheim says, "These German settlers were all industrious, economical, and thrifty farmers, not afraid or ashamed of hard labor, and they were soon blessed with an abundance of everything which the fertile soil and temperate climate could furnish them ... as they were agriculturists, they generally avoided settling ... in town."

        Few church records are known for the early Ellers in Rowan County, NC. They were apparently members of the early church where Lutherans and Reformed worshipped and which grew into present-day Union Lutheran Church on Bringle Ferry Road. Graves for the first and second generation of Ellers in Rowan County are unmarked. Most Ellers were probably buried at the Union Lutheran Church Cemetery where a number of unmarked graves are known to exist.

        A persistent suspicion that some Ellers in Rowan County were German Baptist Brethern (Dunkards) arose apparently from the incident when John Melker Eller and his son, John Melker, Jr., were hailed into court for refusal to bear arms. Because John Melker, Sr., was confirmed in the Lutheran Church (1756), and since no Dunkard church existed in Rowan County, he was not likely a Dunkard. However, the pacifist philosophy of the Dunkards and other pacifist sects, so common in Pennsylvania, may have been embraced by young Melker Eller, even though he joined the Lutheran Church.



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        Were John Jacob, Christian, John Melker, George Michael and Henry Eller close relatives, even brothers? Present evidence supports only a limited answer. That John Jacob and John Melker were brothers is considered proven; a preponderance of evidence supports the same relationship existed with Henry and George Michael Eller. Christian was a probable brother or close relative of Jacob and Melchior. If all five were not brothers, they appear, as J.W. Hook inferred, to have been close relatives who probably came from the same place in Germany. The search for that place is a current Eller Family Association sponsored research project

    EARLY MARRIAGE CONNECTIONS (See Fig. 1)

        Two marriages united the Eller-Ketchey families. The first, as already mentioned, occurred in Montgomery Co., PA and involved John Jacob Eller, Sr., and Mary Eve Ketchey in 1753. The time and place of the second, between John Melker Eller, Sr., and Mary Elizabeth Ketchey, are unknown but occurred probably in Rowan County, NC, before 1764, when Melker first acquired land. Thus, two sons of Casper Eller married two daughters of John Ketchey.

        The marriage of John Paul Biffle's son, John Adam, to John Justus Henkel's daughter, Catherine, occurred before ca. 1758 when their first child, a daughter named Mary, was born. Apparently John Adam Biffle lived on Crane Creek where he owned property and apparently lived until 1779. Here Mary Biffle and her future husband, John Jacob Eller, Jr., grow up. Their marriage is believed to be that which was recorded by Rev. Ahrends: "John Jacob Eller - Marlena Biffle - 7 May 1776." This is considered to be the marriage record for John Jacob Eller, Jr., and Mary Biffle. The name Mariena in place of Mary cannot be explained. Perhaps her name was Mary Mariena. Proof that Mary Eller, wife of Jacob Eller, Jr. was Mary Biffle, daughter of John Adam and Catherine Henkel Biffle is provided below.

        As noted earlier, the first marriage connecting the Eller-Biffle lines involved Christian Eller and Mary Elizabeth Biffle while the second was between John Jacob, Jr., and Mary Biffle Eller. Almost a hundred years later a third Eller-Biffle marriage occurred in 1890 in Poolville, TX; this between a Biffle descendant of John Adam and Catherine Henkel Biffle and a Henry Eller who lived once in Rowan County, NC, but whose antecedents are unknown. EFA Board Member Winnie Green is a descendant of this Eller-Biffle union and is researching this family line.



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    PROOF THAT JOHN ADAM AND CATHERINE HENKEL BIFFLE HAD A DAUGHTER NAMED MARY WHO MARRIED JOHN JACOB ELLER, JR.

    Mary Eller's Will: made 25 March 1836, prv'd. 5 July 1837
    Will Bk. A, p. 40, Buncombe County, NC, Records

        I, Mary Eller, of the County of Buncombe and State of North Carolina, being weak in body but of perfect mind and memory (blessed be to God) do this twenty-fifth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, make and publish this my last will and testament in manner following that is to say
        First, my will is that all my just debts be paid out of my estate.
        Second, I give and bequeath to my son Adam, one mare now in my possession and one chest.
        Third, I give and bequeath unto my granddaughter, Eliza Eller, daughter of Adam Eller, her choice of one cow out of my stock of cattle.
        Fourth, I give and bequeath unto grandson Joseph Eller, son of Adam Eller, one cow.
        Fifth, I give and bequeath unto my granddaughter Christina Eller, one bed and furniture.
        Sixth, I give and bequeath unto my daughter-in-law, Betsy Eller, one flax wheel and one coverlet.
        Seventh, I give and bequeath unto my granddaughter, Patsy Fore, one bed and furniture.
        Eighth, My will is that all my household furniture and what live stock may be on hand shall be sold and the monies arising from the sale shall be equally divided among all my children.
        Ninth, that what grain of any kind that will be my own with every kind of vegetable shall to the use of Adam Eller.
        I hereby make and ordain my son, Adam Eller and my nephew, Christley G. Weaver, executors of this my last will and testament. In Witness thereof I the said Mary Eller have to this my last will and testament set my hand and seal this day and year above written. Signed, sealed and published and declared by Mary Eller the testatrix as her last will and testament in the presence of Joseph F. Brittain who were present at the time of signing and sealing thereof


    /s/ Mary Eller

    Also present
    Jarus Ball
    Adam Eller


        The identity of "my nephew, Christley G. Weaver." provides the proof that Mary Eller was a daughter of John Adam and Catherine Henkel Biffle. How can this be? Christley G. Weaver was the proven 3rd son and the 10th child of John and Elizabeth Biffle Weaver. Elizabeth Biffle Weaver was a proven daughter of Adam and Catherine Henkel Biffle who is listed in records in Buncombe Co., NC, and in Weaver, Biffle, and Henkel family records. For Christley G. Weaver to be Mary Eller's nephew, Mary had to be a sister to Elizabeth Biffle Weaver, which is exactly what Weaver and Eller descendants, and all of the older families of northern Buncombe County, NC, have known for over 150 years.



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        Other supporting evidence: Mary Biffle Eller was buried adjacent to the graves of Elizabeth Biffle Weaver and her husband John in the Weaverville Cemetery, at Weaverville, Buncombe County, NC. Her present grave stone, a tall flat field stone, carries a crudely chiseled inscription:

    Mary E dc
    June 12 1837
    Age 79

        Her descendants are planning a dedication of a new plaque for Mary Biffle Eller's grave as part of the Fourth International Eller Family Conference which convenes in Asheville, Buncombe Co., NC, July 19-23, 1995.

        The age (79) of Mary Eller at her death (1837) indicates her date of birth was ca. 1757-58. This establishes her as the eldest of any known child of John Adam and Catherine Henkel Biffle. If her marriage occurred in 1776, as believed, she was 17 or 18 on that date and only 20 or 21 years of age when she and John Jacob Eller, Jr., left Rowan County in 1779 to settle with her parents on adjacent tracts of land on the bank of the Holston River in Sullivan Co., NC, (now TN), the western-most frontier of that day. Her parents removed to Burke (now Buncombe) Co., NC before the 1790 Federal Census and, with her husband, John Jacob Eller, Jr., and family, she arrived in Buncombe Co., NC in time for the 1800 Federal Census.

    A brief account of Mary Biffle Eller's Henkel ancestry and relatives follows:

    THE HENKELS
    (See Fig. I and Tables I-III)

        The history and genealogy of the Henkle family is unusually well-documented the result of an active Henkel Family Association (begun 1925) and a diary maintained by the Rev. Paul Henkel. The Association has compiled and published a great body of family history and genealogy including the The Henckel Records, The Henckel Bulletin, and A Henckel Genealogy. The current editor of the Henkel Bulletin is Mrs. Nedra D. Brill, 12816 Lampton Lane, Fort Washington, MD 20744. The following brief review of Henkel family history and genealogy draws heavily from these sources, and is offered to better explain the relationships among the four families and introduce the Ellers to this ancestral line.

    REVEREND ANTHONY JACOB HENKEL
    (Fig. 1, Table 1)

        Rev. Anthony Jacob Henkel was the first progenitor among the four families to arrive in Pennsylvania,. He came with his wife, Maria Elizabeth Dentzer, and seven children in 1717. He was the second child and first son of Georg Henckel and Eulalia Dentzer and was baptized October 27, 1668 in the Mehrenberg Lutheran Church in the German Palatinate. After graduating from Glessen University, his father, "Georg Henckel," became a school teacher and the preceptor of a school at Mehrenberg where he remained until his death in 1676.



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        Only 10 years of age when Georg Henckel died, Anthony Jacob, managed to complete his studies at Glessen University which he entered in 1688 at age 20. After four years he graduated and became pastor of the Lutheran Church at Eschelbroon in the Palatinate. He married his cousin Maria Elizabeth Dentzer (1672-1744) at Kirchain, Germany.

        Ann Hinkle Gable, in The Pastoral Years of Rev. Anthony Henckel 1692-1717 (1991), provides details of his turmoil as a Lutheran minister in Germany. A more extensive account of those years appears in The Henckel Bulletins. Gable says Rev. Henkle left Germany for two reasons: his constant battles with the Catholic church and the extreme poverty of the area.

        In 1718, the next year after his arrival in Pennsylvania, Rev. Anthony Jacob Henkel acquired 250 acres in the Hanover township, Montgomery County, PA, Later Paul Biffle, Jacob Eller, John Ketchey, and Melchoir Eller also settled in the same Township. Five more children were born to this Henkel family in Pennsylvania.

        Rev. Henkel helped established a colony at New Hanover, Philadelphia (later Montgomery) County, PA. "The colony soon erected dwelling houses, a school house, and later a church... The Rev. Henkel was public spirited and active in serving his own colony and gathering scattered Germans into congregations until his death in 1728."

        Rev. Henry Melchior Muehlenberg, the father of American Lutheranism, said Rev. Henckel "ministered for a number of years to the first settlers of the region". Rev. Henkel also is recognized as the founder of St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Germantown, Pennsylvania; here Rev. Henkel, his wife, and a son are buried.


    JOHN JUSTUS HENKEL
    (Fig. 1, Table II )

        John Justus "Jost" Henkel, son of Rev. Anthony Jacob Henckel, was born in Daudenzell, Germany, 10 February 1706 and died August 1778 in Germany Valley, Pendleton Co., WV. He was eleven years of age when he reached Pennsylvania where he grew to manhood on his father's farm in New Hanover Township.

        After he married Maria Eschmann, a German-Swiss, about 1730, they removed to Upper Milford Township in Bucks (now Lehigh) County,. near Dillingerville, Pennsylvania where they joined the Gossenhoppen Congregation. Until 1748 he paid taxes there, but in 1750 he sold his land, and by 1751 he and his family, which then included ten children, were living on Dutchman's Creek in the Forks of the Yadkin in Rowan (now Davidson) County, North Carolina. Two more children were born in Rowan County, North Carolina.



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        After only ten years in Rowan County, NC, John Justus Henkel in 1760 removed to Germany Valley on the north fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River in Augusta, later Rockingham County, VA, and now Pendleton County, WV. All of his children including three of his married children and their families were said to have accompanied him to Germany Valley, but there is doubt that his daughter Catherine who married John Adam Biffle made the move. The successful arrangements for the migration of so many individuals required the mind and leadership of a remarkable individual. The records of his family clearly indicate that John Justus Henkel was indeed an exceptional man.

        A careful study of Henkel and Biffle records raises serious doubt if Catherine Henkel and her husband Adam Biffle accompanied her father to Germany Valley. A daughter Mary was born ca. 1758 in Rowan Co., NC; son John, their eldest son, was born there in 1760, the same year of the removal, and their youngest son, Jacob, was born there in 1763. If the couple did remove to Germany Valley, they must have soon returned because other Rowan County records place Adam in that county as late as 1779. By 1779 he removed from Rowan County and entered land on the south bank of the Holston River Valley in what is now Sullivan County, TN. In this move, as already mentioned, he was accompanied by his son-in-law, John Jacob Eller, Jr.

        Among the married children who removed to Germany Valley with John Justus Henkel were his oldest daughter, Anna Maria Henkel and her husband Moses Elsworth, his oldest son, Jacob Henkel, and his wife Barbara Teter, and daughter Rebecca Henkel and her husband Paul Teter. Among the three couples were several grandchildren, including young Paul Biffle, son of Jacob and Barbara Teter Henkel, who was destined to become a most distinguished Lutheran minister, printer and publisher of the southeastern frontier.

        All of his sons-in-law, his sons and some grandsons were active in the Revolutionary War. His family fort became a military fort and was used to quarter and drill the militia. The Henkel Family Association in 1938 placed a handsome
    granite arrow-head monument honoring John Justus Henkel near the site of his fort. Also a West Virginia Historical marker which mentions the Hinkle Fort is placed adjacent to highway # 33 overlooking Germany Valley.(Note: My wife and I visited these sites soon after Conf III but were advised not to attempt to reach the Henkel cemetery without making prior arrangements.)

        One reason often mentioned for the move of the Henkels from Rowan County was to escape Indian problems associated with the uprising among the Cherokees in 1760. This explanation seems implausible since the land on which they settled in Germany Valley was adjacent to the Seneca and Shawnee Indians trail along which much Indian traffic still passed between the northern and southern tribes. The first task facing the family upon their arrival was the erection of a fort large enough to protect the large extended Henkel family from Indian attack. It seems unlikely that John Justus Henkel would not have known that Indian problems existed in Germany Valley prior to his arrival there.



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        A more logical explanation suggested by some for his move to Germany Valley, was his concern about the legacy he would leave his large family of children and grandchildren. He was past fifty years of age when he decided apparently that sufficient fertile land could not be acquired in Rowan County to insure the future security for his children and grandchildren. He was attracted to the more fertile limestone soil in Germany Valley where cheap land was abundant. His decision then sprang apparently from that same impulse, common to all early settlers of that period - the desire for more and better land that would provide economic security for his immediate family and future descendants.

        John Justus Henkel and members of his family are buried in a grave on the hillside overlooking the site of the fort. The dimensions of the character, intelligence, and accomplishments of John Justus Henkel are revealed in part by his great courage and skill in safely removing such a large number of family members from Rowan County to Germany Valley and building a historic fort. Equally revealing was his concern for his families future, and his acquisition of much land to insure that future. Perhaps the major revelation about this remarkable man was the transmission of the essence of his own character and moral values to his children and grandchildren.


    JACOB HENKEL
    (Fig. 1, Table III)

        Jacob Henckel, son of John Justus Henkel, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1733. He may have attended parish schools in Pennsylvania before he accompanied his father to North Carolina in 1750. In North Carolina his energies were expended in clearing land, building houses and farming. His son Paul said of his father, "he was anxious to secure useful books and that he read them diligently; I know too that he read them with profit and often spoke of what he had read." Perhaps the best testament to Jacob Henckel's intellectual nature was his five sons all of whom became ministers.



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    REVEREND PAUL HENKEL

    Paul Henkel, son of Jacob and Barbara Teter Henkel, b 15 Dec 1754, Dutchman's Creek, Rowan [now Davidson] Co., NC; d 17 Nov 1825, buried, New Market, VA; married 20 Nov 1776, Elizabeth Negley. This grandson of John Justus Henkel, a nephew of Catherine Henckel Biffle, and first cousin of Mary Biffle Eller, became a most prominent Lutheran minister in the southeast during a remarkable ministry that spanned forty years (1785 -1825). He was the father of nine children and the progenitor of a long line of Lutheran ministers.

        Paul Henkle wrote almost daily in his diary in German throughout his busy and productive life. The diary remains today a primary source for Henkle family history (I have not yet seen a copy- apparently parts of it have yet to be translated). Because a very busy Paul Henkel took time to write in his journal each day, the Henkel family and descendants know more family history than most American families.

        Paul Henkel received a remarkably fine education for a person of that day. During his early years he was taught in the German language, first by Cathrine Alein and second by a doctor of medicine, Dr. William Geiniz. In 1764 an English school was established in the area and his teacher, William Robinson, who had studied at Oxford University, taught him English. In 1776 he enrolled as a theological student of Reverend Krugh, Lutheran minister, of Frederick, Maryland. By the time he completed his studies he was able to speak, read, and write in Latin, German and English.

        After serving in the Revolutionary War, Paul Henkle's first and only attempt at farming ended when a flood destroyed a dam intended to provide water power for a grist mill. He began preaching in 1781 but was examined by the Luthran Diocese of Pennsylvania in 1783 and ordained June 6, 1792,"

        The quiet and peaceful life of a village pastor did not appeal to Paul Henkel. He chose to be an itenerant Lutheran minister and travel and preach among the frontier settlements. He traveled constantly to carry the Lutheran message to the people in the most remote cabins on the frontiers of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia (then including West Virginia), Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio and probably Indiana. He preached almost daily in either German or English in barns, cabins, or under the trees to all who would listen.

        The Paul Henkle family moved a dozen times before settling in 1818 for the last time in New Market, Virginia where he had lived once before and where he and his sons had achieved ever lasting fame as founders of the Henkel Press. Perhaps it is not stretching to say that few men had as great an impact on the German settlers in western North Carolina, western Virginia and East Tennessee. He was the founder of the Lutheran Diocese of NC, TN, and VA, and the Henkel Press. He was a poet, a composer and publisher and his descendants continued to have a profound impact on the course of Lutheranism in the southeastern U.S.

        Because of his constant travels along the Appalachian frontier, Paul Henkel knew better than most men the nature and concerns of the German settlers. Well-educated for his day, he recognized the great need for better educational materials for use in both church and school. He began to contemplate how such educational aids might be improved and provided. He is said to have engaged in long discussions with his son, Solomon, about the matter and with the help and support of his sons, a Press was purchased and placed in operation. Solomon gave financial assistance to the enterprise and eventfully became the owner while his son, Ambrose, served as the principal printer and editor. Paul continued his ministry and wrote much of the material published by the press, especially religious hymns of which he composed hundreds, in both German and English. The Henkle Press in New Market, Virginia dates from 1806.



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        The impact of the Henkle Press throughout the southeast should not be underestimated. The wide influence of the diverse and extensive publications of the Press extended over a broad area embracing several states. A letter from one of the employees in 1812 says, "We have printed and finished (the following) books and pamphlets: 1500 English Catechisms, 2500 A.B.C. Books, 100 Free-Mason Sermons... about 1500 Honig Tropfen, 200 Communion Hymns, 150 copies of the Address of the Governor to the Assembly, a large number of orders for books to be printed in New York, blanks and many notices... we are printing an edition of 2500 Hymn Books."

        An uneducated Paul Henkel would have resisted any notion that English should be used in their churches or schools. The Germans clung to their beloved native language with great tenacity and stubborness. This attitude did not derive from a nationalistic ambition to establish a bit of the fatherland in America. Rather, these conservative Germans were convinced that the most profound religious teachings could provoke their deepest feelings and convictions only when expressed in the German language. They also understood that the preservation of their German heritage depended upon the retention of their native language.

        Paul Henkle, although a full German but an educated one, apparently came to recognize that the political and social climate of the time required Germans to learn and use the English language if they were to realize their full potential as citizens in a democratic society dominated by English-speaking people. He supported bilingualism for the Germans throughout his life. Such views were not universally welcomed, and he no doubt had some critics. But his introduction of printed bilingual information from the Henkel Press unleased a powerful force for change. For example, his ABC books were printed in the German language on one page and the English translation on the following page.

        As a need for publications in both German and English languages became apparent, the Henkle Press responded. Paul Henkel wrote in 1811 of his plans to publish books including a book of Hymns and various schoolbooks in both English and German languages. In 1816 his English Hymnbook, with 347 hymns, of which 292 were his own composition, came from the press. After his death in 1825, the second edition, published in 1838, contained 292 of his hymns. The Henkel press continued to operate well into the next century and evidence of its existence are still to be found in New Market, Virginia

        Rev. Paul Henkel was a remarkably enlightened man for his day



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    GEORG HENCKEL 1635-1678 m Eulalia DentzerJOHANNES BUFFEL      -1704 m Maria Stein   
    | |   
    REV. ANTHONY JACOB HENCKEL 1668-1728 m Maria Elizabeth Dentzer JOHANNES ADAM BUFFEL -1748 m Ann Maria Hass JOHANNES GOTTGE 
    | | |  
    JOHN "JOST" JUSTUS HENKEL 1706-1778 m Maria Eschmann JOHANNES PAUL BUFFEL -d-1777 m Catherine Han (Haan) JOHANNES GOTTGE d-1774 m Anna C. Hamm (Hamen) CASPAR ELLER d.1753-1756
    | | | |
    CATHERINE HENCKEL SR. 1735-1801? ADAM BUFFEL 1728-1808? MARIA EVA GOTTGE 1732-c1790 JACOB ELLER d.c1782
    | | | |


     | |
     MARY BIFFLE c1758-1837 JACOB ELLER JR. 1754?-?? 
    ||

    |
    Descendants:
    Ellers of NC, GA, TN, TX, OK, ID, OR, CA and many other states.

    Fig. 1



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    REV. ANTHONY JACOB HENKEL and MARIA ELIZABETH DENTZER,
    IMMIGRANTS TO PENNSYLVANIA (1717)

    Children:
    1. i. Johann Nicolaus, b Feb. 19, 1693, Eschelbrann, Germany; d May 14, 1693.
    2. ii. Johanna Frederica (Fredricka), b April 2, 1694, Eschelbrann; d ca. 1739 New Hanover Township, Philadelphia (now Montgomery) County, Pennsylvania.
    3. iii. Johann Melchior, b Jan. 30, 1696, Daudenzell, Germany, d Sept. 27, 1706
    4. iv. Johann Garhard Anthony, b Jan. 12, 1698, Daudenzell, Germany; d. 1836.
    5. V. Maria Elizabetha, b Dec. 31, 1699, Daudenzell, Germany, d after 1746.
    6. vi. Georg Rudolph b Oct. 19, 1701, Daudenzell, Germany, d Aug. 1788.
    7. vii. Anna Maria Christina, b Feb. 9, 1704, Daudenzell, Germany, d Sept. 25, 1708.
    8. viii. Johann Justus, b Feb. 10, 1706, Daudenzell, Germany, d Aug. 1778. Germany Valley, Pendleton County, West Virginia. (See Table 11).
    9. ix. Benigna Maria, b Sept. 30, 1707, Daudenzell, Germany, d Dec. 22, 1708.
    10. X. Jacob Antonius (Anthony) b July 19, 1709, Daudenzell, Germany, d Jan. 21, 1751 in America.
    11. xi. Maria Catherine, b May 10, 1711, Daudenzell, Germany, d Oct. 1785 in America.
    12. xii Johann Phillipp, b April 26, 1713, Daudenzell, Germany, bp. May 1, 1713, no further information.

    TABLE I



    JOHN JUSTUS "JOST" HENKEL and MARIA MAGDALENA ESCHMANN

    MIGRATED FROM BUCKS (NOW LEHIGH) Co., PA, TO ROWAN (NOW DAVIDSON) CO., NC (1750)

    Children :
    1. i. Maria Elizabeth, b 2 Aug 1731, Upper Bucks (now lower Lehigh) County, PA; d 1824, Campaign Co., OH, age 93 years- m ca. 1750, probably Dutchman's Creek, Rowan (now Davidson) Co., NC, Moses Elworth.
    2. + ii. Jacob, (See Table III and narrative section of text; father of Rev. Paul Henkel)
    3. + iii. Catherine, (See Table VI and narrative section of text; m Adam Biffle)
    4. iv. Rebecca, b 5 Oct 5 Upper Milford Twp., Bucks (now Lehigh) Co., PA; d St. Clair, Co., IL; m Rowan (now Davidson) Co., NC, Capt. Paul Teter.
    5. v. Anna Margaret, b 3 0 Apr 174 1, Upper Milford Twp., Bucks (now Lehigh), Co., PA; d ca. 1805, Pendleton Co., VA (now WV); m ca. 1763, Pendleton, Co., VA, (now WV), George Teter (Dieter) Sr.
    6. vi. Mary Magdalena, b Feb 1 1743, Upper Milford Twp., Bucks (now Lehigh), Co., PA; d Oct 18 1829, Germany Valley, Pendleton, Co., VA (now WV), age 86 yrs., 9 mo., and 17 days; m ca. 1762 Pendleton Co., VA (now WV), Major John Skidmore.
    7. vii. Elizabeth, b 20 Dec 20, 1745, Upper Milford Twp., Bucks (now Lehigh) Co., PA; d early after birth of 3rd child; m ca 1765 Pendleton Co. VA (now WV), Christian Weiston Roleman (Rollman)
    8. viii. Susanna, b 16 Oct 1747- d before 18 1 0, Germany Valley, Pendleton Co., VA (now WV)- m prior 1770, Germany Valley, Philip Teter (Dieter).
    9. ix. Abraham, b 20 Mar 1749, Upper Milford Twp., Bucks (now Lehigh) Co., PA; d 3 Sep 1815, Germany Valley, Pendleton Co. VA (now WV) m ca 1769 Germany Valley, Catherine Teter.
    10. x. Hannah, b. 9 Apr 1750, Upper Milford Twp., Bucks (now Lehigh) Co., PA; d 1780-1782, Pendleton Co., VA (Now WV); m ca 1768, Augusta Co., VA, Andrew Johnson.
    11. xi. John Justus, Jr., b 14 Jan 1752, Dutchman's Creek, Rowan (now Davidson) Co., NC- 17 Apr 1794, Germany Valley, Pendleton Co., VA, (now WV); m ca 1774, Pendleton Co., VA (now WV), Christina Negley.
    12. xii (Captain) Isaac, b 5 Dec 1754; Dutchman's Creek, Rowan (now Davidson) Co., NC; d late Oct 1824, Pendleton Co., VA (now WV); m 13 Dec 178 1, Pendleton Co., VA (how WV), Mary Cunningham.

    TABLE II



    JACOB HENKEL and BARBARA TETER (DIETER) LIVED ON DUTCHMAN'S CREEK, ROWAN (NOW DAVIDSON) CO., NC (1750-1760); PARENTS OF REV. PAUL HENKEL, EMINENT LUTHERAN LEADER OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US

    Children:
    1. i. Rev. Paul (Discussed in narrative portion of text).
    2. ii. Rev. Moses b Sep 1757, Rowan County, N.C. d 28 July 1827, Clark County, Ohio; m. He became a Methodist minister and was as successful and eminent in that denomination as was his older brother Paul in the Lutheran Church.
    3. iii. Elizabeth date of birth unknown; m a Mr. Cruetz and had eight children.
    4. iv. Hannah, killed in Indian War.
    5. v. Christina date of birth not known; m Isaac Harkman ... a remarkable woman. . . a sort of woman doctor and leader in her community.
    6. vi. Rev. Benjamin (1765-1792); m October 17, 1785, Mary Catherine Long (Gonge).
    7. vii. Rev. Isaac Lutheran minister.
    8. viii. Rev. Joseph Luthran minister; m Jane Eberman.
    9. ix. Rev. John Lutheran minister
    10. X. Jacob, Jr. m Elizabeth Foresee; d Clark Co., Ohio.

    Table III



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    Eller Chronicles Vol. VIII-1 FEB. 1994


    REFERENCES





    At the granite arrow-head monument honoring John Justus Henkel near the site of his fort.




    Barn in center marks site of Hinkle's Fort in Germany Valley, Pembleton County, West Virginia (Sept, 9, 1993)
    Home of Dr. Solomen Henkel (s/o Rev. Paul Henkel) New Market, Virginia - Now used as the New Market Public Library.




    Page 50 of Chronicles, various pictures.
    Page 51 of Chronicles, various pictures.

    Click on a thumbnail picture above to get a larger representation, then use your browser's back button to get back here. [ADE]



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    Eller Chronicles Vol. VIII-1 FEB. 1994



    ELLER CEMETERY PICTURES
    (5 miles west of Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana)
    Continued from Vol. VII-3. August 1993)
    Marjori Barker McCormic


    R-L Grave Stones of CHRISTINA, mother of John Eller, Sr.; SUSAN, wife of John Eller, Sr.




    SUSAN, wife of JNO ELLER Sr. Born Oct. 14 1788
    died Oct. 15 1867, 79 yr 1 day
    J. T ELLER
    1840 - 1916




    SACRED
    to the momory of
    JOHN ELLER
    Born Oct 23, 1786
    died Aug. 24, 1840
    J. T. ELLER
    1840 - 1916
    COMPANY 1
    Twenty SECOND REGIMENT
    R. O. M. 145th IND. VOL, INF.


    (Eds. This concludes the first new information published in the Dhronicles on the Christian Eller line. A new and extensive genealogy of this line by Harvey Powers, Midlothian, VA, is in hand and will be published in May. It was to the J. T. Eller (Left) that J. W. Eller dedicated the booklet, THE ELLER FAMILY, republished in Vol. VII-3, Aug. 1993

    Click on a thumbnail picture above to get a larger representation, then use your browser's back button to get back here. [ADE]



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