GERMANNA_COLONIES-L Archives

From: John Blankenbaker <>
Subject: (119)Germanna Colonies, History of
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 16:22:05 -0400

The one hundred and nineteenth note in a series on the Germanna Colonies

In recent notes, many references have been made to the Hebron Church
Register. The original records are bound in a book and kept in a vault for
safekeeping but microfilm copies are available. The records are in German
script and many hands were responsible for the penmanship and not all of
them are top quality. The easiest way to proceed is to use the translation
made by George M. Smith which is available through Shenandoah History, P.O.
Box 98, Edinburg, VA 22824.

The principal content of the register is baptisms. The date of birth of the
child is often mentioned in connection with the baptism. Confirmations are
also included. On a few occasions, the complete list of members partaking
of communion is included. No death or marriage records are included. A few
miscellaneous records are included.

Typically, the baptismal information includes the names of the parents (but
never with the maiden name of the wife), the name of the child, when the
child was born, and when the child was baptized and the sponsors. Though
this is a lot of valuable information for the family historian, the simple
itemization of the data does not do justice to the amount of information
that may be gleaned from the Register. While some conclusions will be drawn
from this particular set of information, it is not to be implied that the
same information may be drawn from the records of other churches.

As the pages are bound into a book, the first page is number 4, followed by
3, then by 1 and 2. After that, pagination appears to be normal. In the
first twenty-four pages, generally one family is reported per page. For
example, Nicolaus Breil (Broyles) and his wife Dorothea have page 6 and
Daniel, Elisabetha, Abraham, Sara, Maria, Rosina, Phebe, and Lea are all
reported on this page. This first 24 pages constitute the family oriented
section. Then on page 25, starting with a baptism on 5 Nov 1775 of Aron
born to Peter Breil and wife Elis., baptisms are recorded in chronological
sequence. On page 4, two families are reported, first that of George Miller
and wife Maria Margaretha, and below, that of Johannes Zimmerman and wife
Susanna. (This particular Johannes Zimmerman was of the family known in the
civil records as Carpenter and should not be confused with the family of
John Zimmerman who always went by the name of Zimmerman, never Carpenter.)

Some baptisms appear in both the chronological section and in the family
section. The first recording was in the chronological section and then the
data, or parts of it, were copied back into the family oriented section.

A number of problems which need an explanation can be listed.

Problem 1. The birth dates of the first child in the family section are,
starting with page 1 and continuing up to page 24 are: 1750, 1752, 1754,
(1754, 1771), 1757, 1757, 1756, 1750 (Ja"ger), 1751 (Krickler), (1775, 1763,
1773), 1762, 1757, 1769, (1769, 1773), 1751, 1774, 1761, 1767, 1769, 1774,
1762, (1750 (Blanckenbucher), 1770), 1768, (1767, 1772). Dates enclosed in
a parenthesis are multiple families on one page. What would seem logical is
that each higher numbered page would have a later date. How could
Blanckenbucher with a first child in 1750 be put on page 22? One would
expect this record to be on page 1, 2 or 3 but not on page 22.

to be continued
John Blankenbaker
Beyond Germanna
PO Box 120
Chadds Ford, PA 19317
http://www.wp.com/germanna/
http://www.concentric.net/~sgtgeorg/germhist.shtm

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