Jost Heimbach (abt. 1579 - 1666)

Born about 1579 in Seelbach, Nassau-Dillenberg, Germany

Ancestors

Descendants

Died Jul 1666 at about age 87 in Gosenbach, Nassau-Siegen, Germany

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Biography

"The list of inhabitants and property owners at Seelbach in 1563 shows only four families living there on four farms, namely, Henne (i.e. Johann) with no surname, lessee of the farm belonging to the Holy Ghost Hospital at Siegen; Goebel Beer, lessee of the Wildenburg farm; Johann Knie, lessee of the Count of Sayn's farm; and Goedert Spielmann, ancestor of the American Spilman family, the only independent property owner. The Knies, Spielmanns and Beers continued to live at Seelbach in later years, and it seems likely that the Heimbachs were descended from Henne of the Hospital farm. Jost Heimbach of Seelbach, his son Georg, and his grandson Jacob, were all associate justices of the Siegen district court, the Hain Court, and it seems not unlikely that the intervening generation between Henne of 1563 and Jost Heimbach of 1624 was a 'Jost Scheffe' (i.e. Jost Schoeffe, or associate justice) who was living at Seelbach in 1599.^[1]

"Jost Heimbach of Seelbach, perhaps son of 'Jost Scheffe' of 1599 and grandson of Henne of the 1563 record, was probably born ca. 1580-85, and the list of associate justices of the Hain Court shows that he died in July, 1666, when quite old, probably at Gosenbach, where he moved after marrying is second wife about 1638. In 1624 and 1626 he paid the defense tax at Seelbach, which would normally indicate that he was over 50 years of age, but this can scarcely be the the right inference in view of the date of his death. He must have been excused from military service for some other reason. In 1624 he also paid a tax for an apprentice living in his house. On Mar. 20, 1626 Jost Heimbach was appointed one of the associate justices of the Hain Court. By 1638 his first wife had died and he had married (2) the widow of Hans Latsch of Gosenbach, who owned ironworks property and had been an associate justice of the court since 1613. The 'Handwerkbuch' of the Guild of Smelterers and Hammersmiths in 1638 permitted him to engage in the iron industry and profit by his wife's property during her life, but only as long as she should live.

"Jost Heimbach by his first wife, name unknown, seems to have had at least the following children: (1) Georg Heimbach; (2) Ehla Heimbach, who as 'daughter of Jost Heimbach, associate justice of Seelbach,' bore a daughter to Henrich Nohe of Klafeld in 1630; the child, Elisabeth, was christened the 2nd Sunday after Easter, 1630, and her godmother (at the father's request) was Elisabeth, wife of Georg Heimbach of Seelbach; (3) Johannes Heimbach of Seelbach."^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ B.C. Holtzclaw, Ancestry and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegen Immigrants to Virginia 1714-1750 (The Germanna Foundation, 1964), p. 175.
2. ↑ B.C. Holtzclaw, Ancestry and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegen Immigrants to Virginia 1714-1750 (The Germanna Foundation, 1964), p. 176.