Johan Nicholas (Lang) Long I (1702 - 1787)

Born 2 Feb 1702 in Obermeisau, Kusel, Kurfürstentum Pfalz, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Ancestors

Husband of Maria Margareta (Barth) Lang — married 4 Jan 1724 in Miesau, Kurfürstentum Pfalz, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Husband of Eva Elizabetha (Blum) Long — married 22 Jan 1726 in Waldmohr, Kusel, Kurfürstentum Pfalz, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Descendants

Died 5 Apr 1787 at age 85 in Tulpehocken Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania

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Nickel (Lang) Long I was a Palatine Migrant. Join: Palatine Migration Project Discuss: palatine_migration

Biography

Birth and parents : Nicholas is reported to have been born on 2 Feb 1702 in Obermeisau, Kries Kusel, Germany, the son of John Lang and Anna Catherine Bischoff (married 22 May 1696, Miseau Reformed Church, Germany). Evidence is sought to confirm.

Marriage and children : Nickel is reported to have married three times.

He married (1st) Maria Margareta Barth (1702-1725) at the Miesau Reformed Church, Germany. They had one child, a son who died several months after his mother :

1. John Adam Lang, b. 3 Feb 1725, and d. 24 Nov 1725

Nickel married (2nd) Eva Elizabeth Blum (1704-?) on 22 Jan 1726 at Waldmohr, Kusel, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. They were the parents of :

1. Caspar Lang, b.1726, Waldmohr, Kusel, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany,^[1] d. about Mar 1786, Tulpehocken Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania
2. Nicholas Long, b. 14 Jan 1728, Waldmohr, Kusel, Rheinland-Pfalz,^[2] d. 19 Apr 1791, Broadfording, Washington County, Maryland
3. John Lang, b. Apr 1730, Waldmohr, Kusel, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, d. about 1800
4. Maria Elisabetha Lang, b. Nov 1731, Waldmohr, Kusel, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
5. Catharine Lang, b. Jan 1733, Waldmohr, Kusel, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany (d. bef.1739 when Nickel named a second daughter Catharine)
6. Jacob Lang, b. May 1735, Waldmohr, Kusel, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

It is no surprise that Nickel remarried quickly. Not only was this common when young children were involved, as discussed above, but the difficulty of making a new start in America would have made it an even greater necessity. Even if Nickel was unaware of the harsh realities of the 'New Land', he surely knew that troubles and hardships were ahead of him.

Nicholas married (3rd) Marie [LNU] (b.c.1703). They were the parents of :

1. Philip Lang, b.c.1730
2. Barbara Lang, b.c.1737 m. John Albert
3. Catherine Lang, b. 22 Dec 1739, Tulpehocken Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, d. 22 Feb 1819, Upper Tulpehocken Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania m. Herber Berger
4. Tobias Lang, b.c.1740, d. Jan 1813, Conemaugh Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania
5. Ludwig Lang, b.c.1740, Berks County, Pennsylvania, d. 01 Jan 1794, Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
6. Thomas Lang, b.c.1741
7. Maria Margaretha Lang, b. 22 Apr 1747 and d. 12 Mar 1825, Tulpehocken Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania m. Phillip Klahr

Who Maria was is also a mystery. The reference in Boyer suggests that she was not from the area around Waldmohr and Miesau. Most likely, she was a member of Nickel's traveling party, either the overland journey through Germany or the voyage across the Atlantic or both. Nevertheless, it is apparent that Nickel Lang married a third time, having out-lived his first two wives.

An unsourced entry in the infamously unreliable "U.S. and International Marriage Records" records that John Nicholas Long b.1702 married Anna Marie Studebaker (no date or place specified).^[3] In the absence of any detail or reference to primary source material, there seems little reason to give any credence to this record.

Immigration : Nickel Lang and his family left Walmohr for America in early 1736. Their motivation to strike off into the unknown is now long forgotten. Along with them went Valentin Neu and his wife, Anna Catharina Jacobi, Nickel's half-sister. German emigration records mention other relatives as well, but, so far, they have not been located in America. The emigration and immigration records imply that, somewhere between Waldmohr and Philadelphia, Eva Elisabetha Blum died and Nickel remarried.

Boyer cites research by Dr. Friedrich Krebs on German immigrant lists of the eighteenth century. The following is found on page 161 :

Obermiesau (today Miesau, Kreis Kusel). Nickel Lang, son of Johannes Lang of Obermiesau and wife Anna Catharina, ‘went to the New Land’ (about 1735) with wife and children, from Waldmohr, where he was then residing. His step-sister Eva Rosina Jacobi, daughter of Martin Jacobi of Obermiesau, went to America at the same time, presumably with her brother, and was there married to Friedrich Steffinger. His sister Catharina Jacobi went ‘to the New Land’ with her, along with her husband Valentin Neu.

Another reference is on page 163 :

Waldmohr (Kreis Kusel). Valentin Blum, blacksmith, ‘by trade a nailsmith, in the New Land,’ likewise his sister Eva Elisabetha, who was married to Nickel Lang of Waldmohr. Emigration about 1736.

In addition, Hacker notes that the book Auswanderung aus der Rheinpfalz und dem Saarland records that Johann Nickel Lang with wife and children emigrated to America in 1736.

Nickel and his family arrived in Philadelphia on 1 Sep 1736 aboard the Harle. His second wife had died on the journey.

On the American side of the Atlantic, the Harle passengers included the following individuals on both the B and C lists (children were not listed) :

Nickel Lang age 34

Maria Langin age 33

Vallentin Neu age 24

An. Catharina Neuin age 25

There are no other Langs or Neus listed. Also absent from the list are Valentin Blum, his sister Eva Elisabetha (Blum) Lang, and Nickel's step-sister Eva Rosina Jacobi.

The age of 34 given for Nickel Lang agrees with the birth year on his tombstone. Maria Lang(in) must be Nickel's wife. The two passenger lists clearly include other wives so that the absence of a Eva Elisabetha Langin from both and the inclusion of Maria Langin on both imply that Maria is Nickel's spouse. Certainly, then, Eva Elisabetha died at some point on the journey, but how and where will probably forever be a mystery. Several published sources mention high incidences of death and disease among German emigrants to America during both their land journey to the harbor of departure and on the sea voyage. Unfortunately, very few records were kept.

Land records in Pennsylvania : The Pennsylvania Archives contain references to Indian fighting on the property of Nicholas Long. A excerpt from a November 4, 1756 letter from Jacob Morgan to Governor Denny appears below. The date of this incident suggests that the Nicholas Long referred to here could have been either the elder Nickel Lang, or his son of the same name, but the feeling is that he is the elder Nickel Lang :

I Recd an Express from Lieut. Humphres, commander at the Fort at Northkill, who informed me that the same Day about 11 o'Clock in the Forenoon, (about half a Mile from his Fort) as he was returning from his Scout, came upon a Body of Indians to the Number of Twenty at the House of Nicholas Long, where they had killed 2 old men and taken another Captive, ...

Nickel Lang and Valentin Neu probably both settled in the Tulpehocken area within the first few years after their arrival in America. The earliest land records found are a 1753 land warrant for Nicholas Long and a 1763 warrant for Valentine New. However, other records clearly indicate that they were in the area at least a few years prior to these warrants. Irregularities in land registration were common at this time, and Nickel and Valentin were probably among the many Germans who settled and developed land many years before they were formally included in the system.

So far, the earliest direct evidence of the Lang family in the area is a 1750 baptism in the records at Zion Blue Mountain church in Strausstown. Both Nickel Lang and Valentin Neu appear in 1752 Berks County tax records for Tulpehocken Township. Nickel Lang is also mentioned in the will of George Wilhelm Berger [image of will], who was the father of Nickel's son-in-law Herber Berger, dated and signed on June 15, 1759 and probated in 1767:

In the Name of God Amen, the fifteen day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and fifty nine I George William Berger of Tulpehokin [sic] Township in the County of Berks ...Item my beloved friend Nicolaus Long is to take care of the four Pounds given unto my Grandchild and put out on interest untill he is of age ...

Nickel Lang's signature appears on the will as one of the witnesses along side the "Harle" signatures. A similar comparison between the signature of Valentin Neu as it appears on his own will and the "Harle" signatures. The close match of these signatures is probably the strongest evidence that the Tulpehocken residents and "Harle" passengers are the same individuals.

Nickel Lang last appears in the Berks county tax records in 1779, but he is not listed in the 1780. This suggests that he lived elsewhere, perhaps with one of his children, for a few years before his death.

Death and burial : Conflicting death details are reported :

1. Nickel Lang is buried in the Strausstown Union Cemetery near Zion Blue Mountain Church in Strausstown, Berks County. The tombstone is badly weathered, but the inscribed birth and death dates have been deciphered as February 2, 1702 and April 5, 1787, respectively. The original German inscription reads : Hier ruhet Nicolaus Lang · Ist Gebo. d. 2 Feb. 1702 u. Starb d. 5 April 1787 · 85 Jahr 2 Mon. 3 Tage ^[4]
2. Nicholas died in 1776 and is buried in the Long Family Cemetery in Broadfording, Washington, MD.^[5]

Research Notes

Blum family : A baptismal record for Valentin Blum, brother of Eva Elisabetha, appears in the Waldmohr Reformed records, but no trace of him has yet been found in records on this side of the Atlantic. In the absence of such evidence, it seems quite possible that Valentin Blum did not complete the journey. He may have taken up residence elsewhere, even in Germany, or he might have died en route, as was the fate of his sister, Eva Elisabetha.

Jacobi family : The Kübelberg Catholic churchbook contains two records for Eva Rosina Jacobi, half-sister of Nickel. The first is a record of twin girls born to Martin Jacobi and his wife Anna Catharina on January 12, 1718 [church record]. Although neither of the twins' names are noted in the record, their godmothers' names suggest that the girls' names were Maria Agnes and Eva Rosina. A Miesau Reformed record notes the burial of an Agnes, daughter of Martin Jacobi the Catholic tailor on May 9, 1721 at the age of three months and nineteen weeks. Back-calculating from the burial date gives a rough birth date of December 27, 1717, which agrees well with the baptismal date of the twins. The second record for Eva Rosina Jacobi is that of a marriage on January 13, 1739 of an "Eva Rosina Jacobi Calvinist Ref" to "Johannes Georgius Decker" in the Kubelberg Catholic churchbook [church record]. Neither of her parents are mentioned in the record, but the reference to the Reformed religion suggests that she could be the daughter of Martin Jacobi, Catholic, and Anna Catharina, Reformed. The marriage to Johann Georg Decker does not mean this is not the same person who married Friedrich Steffinger in America, but the marriage date clearly indicates that this individual did not emigrate with Nickel Lang. There is a phrase under the marriage record that appears to be a post-script added to that record at a later date : "profecti st [sunt] in pensilvaniam (They have departed to Pennsylvania)"

In spite of some inconsistencies, this record seems to refer to a half-sister of Nickel Lang.

The Kübelberg Catholic records contain the following baptismal record of an Anna Catharina Jacobi. Note that the date would make her 25 in 1736, the same age as Anna Catharina Neu(in) : 1711 April 30, Miesau, baptized Anna Catharina legitimate daughter of married Martin Jacobi and Anna Catharina. Godparents were Theobald Bischoff from Miesau still unmarried and Anna Salome Jacobi still unmarried.

Children : At present, it appears that eight children of Nickel Lang survived to adulthood and raised families : three children of Eva Elizabetha born in Germany - Caspar, Nickel, and Johannes; and five children born to Maria in America - Ludwig, Tobias, Anna Catharina married Herber Berger, Barbara married John Albert, and Maria Margaretha married Phillip Klahr. (The Anna Catharina baptized in Waldmohr on January 24, 1733 apparently died prior to December 1739, when the second Anna Catharina was born.) No references to the maiden names of the wives of Herber Berger and John Albert have been found, but the Lang connection is strongly implicated by Zion Blue Mountain Church records of the sponsors of the Berger, Klahr, and Lang children. In addition, Herber Berger and Philip Klahr, were administrators for the estate of Caspar Lang.

Sources

1. ↑ "Deutschland, ausgewählte evangelische Kirchenbücher 1500-1971," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPRK-66PD : 23 March 2023), Johann Caspar Lang, 29 Dec 1726; images digitized and records extracted by Ancestry; citing Birth, Waldmohr, Landkreis Kusel, Bayern, Deutschland, , German Lutheran Collection, various parishes, Germany.
2. ↑ Germany,"Deutschland, ausgewählte evangelische Kirchenbücher 1500-1971," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPRK-4LV1 : 23 March 2023), Johann Nickel Lang, 14 Jan 1728; images digitized and records extracted by Ancestry; citing Birth, Waldmohr, Landkreis Kusel, Bayern, Deutschland, , German Lutheran Collection, various parishes, Germany.
3. ↑ Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Viewed at Ancestry sharing link
4. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62623488/nicolaus-lang: accessed 10 July 2023), memorial page for Nicolaus Lang (2 Feb 1702–5 Apr 1787), Find A Grave: Memorial #62623488, citing Zion Church Cemetery, Strausstown, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by 47117651 (contributor 47117651).
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32781299/john-nicholas-long: accessed 10 July 2023), memorial page for John Nicholas Long Sr. (2 Feb 1702–1776), Find A Grave: Memorial #32781299, citing Long Family Cemetery, Broadfording, Washington County, Maryland, USA; Maintained by David Lee Zellers (contributor 8112551).

See also :

• Strausstown Roots
• Find A Grave Memorial# 62623488
• Ancestry trees at :
  • http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=15298671&pid=253047040
  • http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=15298671&pid=252516586
• Rootsweb : http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rjzndjz/berger/bios/nickellang.htm
• Boyer, Carl, 3rd, Ship Passenger Lists Pennsylvania and Delaware (1641-1825); Newhall, CA (1980); Lib. Of Congress #79-57204
• Hacker, Werner, Professor; Eighteenth Century Emigrants from Southwest Germany (to America and other Countries)
• Hall, Charles M.; The Atlantic Bridge to Germany, Volume II, Logan, Utah
• Munger, Donna Bingham; Pennsylvania Land Records, Wilmington Delaware 1991
• Pennsylvania Archives, Series I Vol. 3
• Strassburger, Ralph Beaver. Pennsylvania German Pioneers. Ed. William John Hinke. Camden, Maine: Picton Press, 1992 (originally published by Pennsylvania German Society, 1934)
• Miesau Reformed churchbooks, LDS microfilms #0247639 and #1457640
• Kubelberg Catholic churchbook, LDS microfilm #0400409
• Waldmohr Reformed churchbook, LDS microfilm #1442011
• Haller, Charles R. Across the Atlantic and Beyond. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books , 1993
• Kuhns, Oscar. The German and Swiss Settlements of Colonial Pennsylvania. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books , 1989 (originally published in New York by Henry Holt and Company, 1901)
• Timmons, Mary Alice and Kathy Stephanik, correspondence and their "Strausstown Roots" website
• MyHeritage Family tree : Frank Bondy, Bondy-Milliron Web Site

Acknowledgments

• Lang-1781 was created by Jada Breegle through the import of Breegle Family Tree.ged on Oct 26, 2014.
• This person was created through the import of study.ged on 28 March 2011.
• Long-7408 was created by Jada Breegle through the import of Breegle Family Tree.ged on Oct 26, 2014.