GERMANNA_COLONIES-L Archives

From: John Blankenbaker <>
Subject: (437)Germanna Colonies, History of
Date: Tue, 06 Oct 1998 07:37:08 -0400

The four hundred and thirty-seventh note in a series on the Germanna Colonies

The John Steinseifer who lived next to Henry Hoffman in the Robinson River
Valley came to Virginia in 1749. Whether he was closely related to the
Tillman Steinseif(f)er who started to make the trip in 1738 is doubtful.
Tillman Steinseifer was one of the unfortunate passengers on the ship Oliver
who died during the crossing. This Tillman was on the Freudenberg pastor's
list of emigrants and he lived west of Siegen. The John Steinseifer who came
in 1749 was from Eisern, the home of the Hoffmanns, which is south of Siegen.

John Henry Hoffman and John Steinseifer both married women whose maiden
names were Schuster though they were not sisters. But as a consequence of
the relationship, John Steinseiffer and Henry Hoffman were in contact with
each and Hoffman knew that Steinseifer was coming to Virginia in 1749. Henry
asked John to collect some money that was due to him and to bring it with
him to Virginia. John was able to do this. The monetary information is
recorded in a document in the archive at Siegen.

By the time that he emigrated, Steinseifer's family was probably complete
though we cannot be sure. (His first child had been born in 1724 and the
last children in 1748 when his wife was 43.) Altogether there were nine
children, one of whom is known to have died in Germany as an infant. The
eldest son in the family, John Henry, did not come with the family in 1749.
He came later in 1753. The children, in the sequence of their birth, were
John Henry, Elisabeth (she died), John Henry, Elisabeth, Agnes Catherina,
Henricus, Maria Agnesa, Johannes, Anna Margartha. In the father's will
(probated in 1757), the four sons are named as John the Elder, John the
Younger, Henerecus, and Henry. The daughters were not named.

John Steinseifer had been born 6 July 1698 at Eiserfeld, the third son of
Johann Steinseifer and Anna Gehla Grebe. He married Elisabeth Schuster (born
1705) of Eisern, the daughter of Henry Schuster.

In modern Germany, the name is usually spelled as Steinseifer with only one
"f." The name is very much centered on the Siegen region. In America, the
spelling is varied.

The information in this note comes from Ryan Stansifer, a descendant. He
thanks Mary Doyle Johnson, Friedhelm Menk, and Margret Menn for assistance.
Ryan had an article in the last issue of Beyond Germanna which recaps the
information.
John Blankenbaker
Beyond Germanna
PO Box 120
Chadds Ford, PA 19317
http://www.pipeline.com/~johblank/
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/germhist.htm

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