The three hundred and ninety-eighth note in a series on
the Germanna Colonies
The suggestion that the name Matthias (Beller) was an
error in the patent to Matthias Smith and Matthias Beller
has merit. Last night I looked at a photographic copy of
the patent in question and reread it. The name is quite
clear as Matthias. But it is possible that the copyist
read the given name of Smith as the given name of Beller
and wrote the wrong thing.
I really have some difficulty in accepting that Matthias
was the son of Christopher. Christopher came in 1717 without
any children. The patent issued in 1726 and the application
had to be made earlier. It is possible that Matthias was
a minor son but he could not have been more than about
seven years of age. Perhaps Christopher Barlow was not
well and Matthias Smith was acting as a guardian for Matthias
Beller.
I am bothered by the omission of Adam Barlow, supposed
youngest son of Christopher Barlow, from the land distribution.
The two hundred acres of the patent went to Jacob Barlow
and then half of that went to Christopher (II). Nothing
went to Adam. I am inclined to think that Matthias
Beller was a brother to Christopher Barlow (I). Matthias
had sons Jacob and Christopher (II). [I use the Roman numeral
even though the line is not direct.]
Christopher (I) had the son Adam and a
possible son John who moved to North Carolina. In this
proposal, Jacob and Christopher were brothers and cousins
of Adam. Adam
got no land because his father had no land. This
would make Jacob, Christopher (II), and Adam contemporaries. Jacob
would appear to be older than Christopher (II). I will
pause on this thought right now and see if readers have
thoughts that confirm or deny something of this nature.
The answer might lie in information to be found in
Germany. The surname in question is not even known for sure,
but it probably is not Barlage, one suggestion. This name
certainly occurs in Germany today as the phone directory
lists 236 Barlages. However, that name is a northern German
name and does not appear in the Kraichgau in south Germany
where most of the Second Colony came from. For the present,
Christopher Barlow should probably be considered as originating
in the area of the Second Colony.
[If memory serves me correctly, there are about 30 Barlows
in Germany today. They are a bit suspicious as the given
names seem more like American or perhaps English than German.]
The suggestion has been made that Christopher Barlow (I)
lived until the 1740's. The 1739 Orange County list of
residents does not include a Barlow. These are normally
the head of households and the number of males 16 and above.
I believe it is the case that people who are excused from
the tithe are listed but with a note that they are excused.
[Women who are the head of households are listed but noted
as excused from the tithe.] If someone can clarify this
point, please do. Tentatively, I believe that Christopher
Barlow (I) did not live until 1739.
The three hundred and ninety-ninth note in a series on
the Germanna Colonies
Any one group of German immigrants often came from the
same village or region. Therefore, if you know where some
of the members came from, a search in the same area will
often find other members of the group. The First Germanna
Colony illustrates this very well as they all came from
a tight circle around Siegen. This was an unusual case
though as they were recruited and the effort of the recruiter
(Johann Justus Albrecht) was concentrated on Siegen.
The origins of the Blankenbaker and Willheit families had
been known for some time when Lineages, Inc., a professional
genealogical research firm, started a search for other
members of the Second Colony. They observed that the villages
of the two families above were not very far apart. Based
on the thought that others might have come from nearby
villages, they searched through the church records (as
available on microfilm) in nearby villages. They found
some information on about forty families, not all members
of the Second Colony but known to be immigrants to Virginia
at some time.
In the process, they have basically proved that Rev. Stoever
was in error when the said the Second Colony came from
the Alsace, Palatinate, and adjacent places. No one has
been found in the Virginia Germans who came from the Alsace.
Only a very small number came from the Palatinate. Because
of the shifting and confused political structures, it is
not easy to say exactly where the people came from. Geographically
it is somewhat easier.
The river that flows by the town of Heidelberg
is the Neckar which runs to the west at this point toward
the Rhine River. A little bit to the east of Heidelberg,
the Neckar makes a turn as it comes from the south. The
Neckar region is defined as the area between the Rhine
and the Neckar Rivers. Though it is not strictly
true, this same region is sometimes called the Kraichgau.
At the time, the political jurisdiction was very confusing,
being partly the Palatinate, Baden, Württemberg, and
a variety of smaller political jurisdictions including
some no larger than a village. Today, the entire region
is in the state of Baden-Württemberg and the
smaller principalities have disappeared.
Not all of the Second Colony members were
found in this small area which is only a few percent of
the total German area. The Yagers came from the west side
of the Rhine and the Harnsbergers came from Switzerland.
But allowing for a few exceptions, it would seem safe to
say the Second Colony members came from the Kraichgau or,
slightly more broadly, the Neckar regions. Therefore,
a search for the Barlow family ought to concentrate on
this region. There is no reason to believe that they are
any different from the typical Second Colony member. There
are some problems in the search. First, the spelling of
the name is not known. Second, not all church records are
available from this region. Third, some families have very
few appearances in the church records. Judging by the number
of records in Virginia, the Barlows may be in this category.
The four hundredth note in a series on the Germanna Colonies
The last note discussed the Second Colony in Germany and
where the Barlows might be found. Going back to Virginia,
there are three Barlow men who appear to have been born
early in the eighteenth century, Jacob, Christopher, and
Adam. Jacob and Christopher appear to be brothers and Adam
may be another brother or he may be a cousin.
Adam is known to have married Mary Smith because Michael
Smith gave land to his son-in-law, Adam Barlow. At the
church there is a recorded baptism in which Adam and Mary
Barlow are the parents.
Christopher is known to have married Catherine Fleshman,
the daughter of Peter Fleshman and the granddaughter of
Cyriacus Fleshman. Thus Christopher's wife and Adam's wife
were first cousins once removed. That Catherine was the
daughter of Peter Fleshman comes from the estate settlement
of Peter. Participants in this were Adam Cook, Christopher
Barlow, Christian (Christopher) Reiner, all sons-in-law,
who joined with John and Peter Fleshman, sons of Peter
Fleshman, Sr.
Jacob Barlow's wife was Mary and her maiden name is unknown.
Christopher Barlow left a will which is
filed in two states. It is Madison Co., Virginia, in W.B.
2, p. 249 and it is in Boone Co., Kentucky, in W.B. A,
p. 82. Since there
was an estate sale for Christopher in Boone Co., which
would place him there at his death, the filing in Madison
Co. is explained as the residence of the witnesses to the
will. The will was proven by the testimony of the witnesses
in Virginia and filed there. A copy of the will with the
testimony of the witnesses was transferred to Kentucky
where the estate was settled. In this will, Christopher
names Joseph, Ephraim, Michael, Aaron, Daniel, Mary (who
married John Millbanks), Margaret (who married John or
Michael Delph) as children. Unfortunately,
neither Jacob nor Adam Barlow left such a clear statement
as to who their children were. |