Cathi~

>>>This morning I looked up the Gemmingen "Departure List" on pages 24-25 of the Gemmigen Death Register. Your Nicholas Hammler and his family are listed along with those families that left Gemmingen on 12 July 1717 and ended up at Germanna however it notes the Hammler family left three months earlier.<<<

Thank you! So my Hammlers must have been on another ship... I wonder which one...


>>>Another German family, the Raüser/Racer/Rasor family, lived in Sussex Co, NJ in the 1750s and 1760s before moving to present Madison Co, VA. In VA this family joined the Hebron Lutheran Church in present Madison Co<<<

That's very interesting. I would think that members of the same church or just living in Gemmingen at the same time would be aware of each other. Perhaps my Gemmingen Hammlers/Hamlers were thwarted from coming down to Virginia; there are certainly reasons that this could be true:

Mrs. Hammler died within the year of their arrival in the New World. Perhaps they left early for fear that she would be dead by the time they were slated to leave. Then, within the year after their arrival, Nicholas Sr. was getting married to a widow, Margaretha Barbara (Erich) Weidkneckt at the Lutheran Church in New York City. Since she already had children, the layered families (for Margaretha at least) might have wanted to stay all together rather then move on to either Virginia or Pennsylvania with some staying and some leaving. Just two freshly widowed people
might have been happy to not have any more changes in their lives. Since their church seemed to be very important to Nicholas, once he was connected with the church in New York, he might not wanted to have changed churches.
Perhaps the pastor in New York City was a great blessing to the family when the Hammler mother died.

By the way, Cathi, that is so unusual that you are a "Cathi" with the full name of "Cathleen." Uusually Cathy's with a "C" are Catherines! I am curious as to whether you were named after the little girl Cathy Fiskus who gained national attention when she fell down a well and after a very long time of trying to get her out, the poor little thing was deceased when they were finally able to get to her. It was the time of early t.v. so it was one of the first landmark t.v. involvements, watched across the nation. Many, many mothers named their little girls "Cathy" after Cathy Fiskus that year. I was not named for her, but there were just about always three "Cathy's" in my class all through school. Feel free to email me privately at LPurch6636@aol.com

And THANKS for the information!

I am VERY interested in the Sussex County people who came down to Virginia to join the Germanna group ... My GGrandfather and family were living in Sussex county in the Census of 1850. (I am the product of "old" fathers; my GGrandfather was born in 1807.)


Kathleen
LPurch6636@aol.com