A man born in France in 1701 went to the Netherlands in 1725, came to the U.S. & left a 1772 will written in High Dutch?

+3 votes
458 views

There are profiles for this Rohrer family going back to Germany in 1615.  From Johannes Michael Rohrer b. 1701 back 3 generations to 1615 were created by the import of 2 different gedcoms and were very bare bones with little or no clear sourcing.  I've been working backward beginning with Johannes' daughter Magdalena to improve biographies and add sources.  I doubt she actually is his daughter, but that's an issue I probably should take up with the manager.

While working on Johannes, a question arose that puzzles me, though at this point it's just a matter of curiosity.  According to his profile and earlier ones, he was born 1701 in France, was 24 when the family left for the Netherlands, and just 4 years later emigrated to America.  The earlier profiles show both of his parents as born in France and his grandfather and great-grandfather in Germany.  (The wives of the latter two have no birth places listed.)

What puzzles me is why a man with that history who was 24 before his family ever lived in The Netherlands and only 28 when he came to America leave a will that was written in High Dutch.  For his emigration to America, see the Ancestry Sharing Link in source 1 on his profile.

As to Magdalena, Johannes' will names his wife and three sons but no one else.  Furthermore, both her parents died in Lancaster County, PA - one in 1772, the other bef. 1788 - while she married a man in Washington County, MD roughly about 1768, and no evidence has been offered showing her husband having lived anywhere in PA.

WikiTree profile: Johannes Rohrer
in Genealogy Help by Loretta Layman G2G6 Mach 4 (44.2k points)
edited by Loretta Layman

High Dutch should probably be interpreted as "High German", so his native language...

Jan is correct. In American vernacular of past centuries, "Low Dutch" meant the Dutch language of the Netherlands  and "High Dutch" meant German (Deutsch).

And although he was born in "France," his birthplace was in Alsace, a German-speaking region.

Alsace is the French name, the German one being Elsass (in älterer Schreibweise auch Elsaß).

As it happens, the profile says he was born in Haut Rhin. I believe that is the current name of a French administrative region that comprises part of what used to be called Alsace.

Thank you all for your input.  It should have occurred to me that it meant German because I've long known that Deutsch was the origin for Pennsylvania Dutch having come to be called Pennsylvania Dutch and that Deutsch actually means German.  It just didn't occur to me that High Dutch as a language name had the same origin.  I am also aware that Alsace, France has a well-established German language and culture, so double shame on me.  Again, however, I assumed that High Dutch was a term defined by linguists and etymologists and not simply by popular usage.  Ah me.  I should stop trying to be a purist when it comes to language.

Please log in or register to answer this question.

Related questions

+10 votes
5 answers
817 views asked Apr 24, 2018 in The Tree House by Pam Smith G2G6 Mach 1 (11.9k points)
+4 votes
1 answer
115 views asked Apr 11, 2016 in Genealogy Help by Anonymous Anonymous G2G Rookie (250 points)
+3 votes
2 answers
+4 votes
1 answer
+1 vote
0 answers

WikiTree  ~  About  ~  Help Help  ~  Search Person Search  ~  Surname:

disclaimer - terms - copyright

...