Magdalene (Unknown) Kneisley (abt. 1662 - aft. 1735)

Wife of Anthoni Kneisley Sr — married 1680 in Heiliges Römisches Reich

Descendants

Died after 1735 after about age 73 in Hempfield Township, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

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Biography

Magdalena emigrated with her husband from Switzerland. She was also known as Magdelene Knisely of Hempfield in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She was not born in Scotland as listed on many family trees. No documentation proves her birth name is Hempstead. In any case, she cannot be the daughter of Robert Hempstead.^[1][2]

Parentage

DISPROVEN: Magdalena is not the daughter of Robert Hempstead.

Magdalena is not listed as a child of Robert Hempstead; in fact, two books, Diary of Joshua Hempstead and History of New London state that there are three children and all three are listed.^[1][2]

History of New London says, "The following memorandum is appended to Robert Hempstead's will: The ages of my 3 children. Mary Hempsted was borne March 26th, 1647. Joshua Hempsted my sonne was borne June 16, 1649. Hannah Hempsted was borne April 11, 1652. This I Robert Hempsted testifie under my hand."^[2]

Therefore, Magdalena is not one of them, and Magdalena's parentage and surname are the result of the fabrication.

The maiden name of Magdalena is unknown, and her parentage is unknown. A source for her last name at birth and parentage has not been located for Magdalene.

Birth

Her birth date is uncertain, although some claim she was born in about 1662 or on 12 July 1662. No evidence is found for her birth date in any records.

Assuming she was aged in her early 40's when her last child, Georg Kneisly was born on 4 September 1711, she was probably born no earlier than 1765. (Evidence is needed to confirm her children and their birthdates.)

Her birthplace is listed as Scotland on many family trees online, but this results from associating her incorrectly with Robert Hempstead, who was born in England and emigrated to Connecticut and helped create the town of New London, Connecticut.^[2] No documentation proves her birthplace is in Scotland. There is no indication of Magdalene's relationship to Robert Hempstead in any historical records in England or Connecticut.

Her birthplace remains unknown; however, it is speculated that she may have been born either in the Electoral Palatinate region of Germany (Province of Alsace) or in Switzerland, where her husband, Anthony Knisely was born and the couple were married. It is unlikely they were married in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which was not created until 1729. The Pennsylvania State Archives website explains, "Created on May 10, 1729 from part of Chester County and named for Lancashire, England. Lancaster, the county seat, also named for its English counterpart, was laid out in 1730. It was chartered as a borough on May 1, 1742 and as a city on March 10, 1818." It continues, "The area was rapidly settled after 1709 by a mix of peoples : Swiss Mennonites, Huguenots, Scotch-Irish, English, Welsh, and Rhineland Germans. This was the first new county since the original three of 1682."^[3][4]

Davis's hypothetical census of 1709 places Magdalena with her husband, Anthoni Knussli, in the province of Alsace.^[5]

Name

The account from the probate records for Anthony Knisely's estate proves that Magdelene Knisely is the widow of Anthony Knisely. However, her maiden name is unknown, so she is known as Magdelene, the wife of Anthony Knisely late of Hempfield.

The two records (inventory and account records of 1735) show that her given name was either Magdalena, Magdalen, or Magdelene.

It is speculated that Hempstead is the result of a misspelling of Heistand or Hiestand in the German language. It is possible if an 'm' was written as an 'ii' or 'ee' before a 'ß' and a 'ps' was written as a 'ß'. Possibly, it is an error on the part of a genealogist who was not able to read the handwriting in the German alphabet and tried to decipher it.

Another possibility is a misunderstanding on the part of a genealogist who possibly misread the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society's genealogical card file and might have been confused between two women of the same name, Magdelena on the card. It says, "Kauffman, Andrew, [Sr., Nov. 13, 1668-] 1743. Married Elizabeth Kneissle, 1759, dau. Anthony Kneissle-Magdalena... 5. Jacob 1812, m Madg. Hiestand, dau. John Hiestand."^[6] It means Magdalena's daughter, Elizabeth (Kneisley) Kauffman's son Jacob Kauffman married Magdalena Hiestand, the daughter of John Hiestand, but it does not say Anthony Kneissle's wife, Magdalena's maiden name is Hiestand. Our research may have inherited this common erroneous belief.

Another possibility is that Hempstead was the result of a misunderstanding on the part of a genealogist who read it somewhere on an unknown document and thought it was her maiden name, but unfortunately, the genealogist failed to supply the source to prove it. It is speculative that Hempstead was mistaken for the township of Hempfield, and it is possible that the genealogist did not recognize the difference between 'st' and 'f', which might have looked like a long 's' with a dash, and did not realize that it was the name of the township. It seems it should be recorded like this "Magdelene of Hempfield" somewhere on one of those documents.

The current research finds no evidence for her last name at birth, so it remains unknown.^[7][8]

Life in Alsace

The Alsace Province was a large area located along the western bank of the Rhine River between France and Germany, which were separated by the Rhine River.

Davis's hypothetical census of 1709 ^[5] places the family in an unknown location in Alsace :

• Household number 3
• Anthoni Knussli, age 52
• Magdalena, wife
• Hans Kneisly, age 19
• Anthony Kneisley, age 14
• Elisabeth Kneisley, age 11
• Maria Kneisley, age 7
• Barbara Kneisley, age 4
• Sybilla Kneisley, newborn

The first two daughters, Anna and Christina, are assumed to have been married before 1709 and were listed with their husbands. Jacob, who was born in circa 1701, may have died prior to 1709. The last two children, George and Mary, were born after 1709.

Immigration

Anthony Kneyssle, his wife, Magdalena, and his child, George, arrived in Pennsylvania in 1717 and settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.^[9]

Residence

The probate records show Magdelene and Anthony Knisely lived in Hempfield, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1735.

Probate Records

The account of John Knisely administrator on the estate of Anthony Knisely late of Hempfield deceased came to the hand of the said accomptant as of his payments and disbursements out of the said estate to "Magdelene Knisely widdow of the Deced & for her share or there of the Estate" for £30 in 1735.^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Hempstead, Joshua. Diary of Joshua Hempstead of New London, Connecticut: Covering a Period of Forty-Seven Years, from September 1711, to November, 1758 : Containing Valuable Genealogical Data Relating to Many New London Families, References to the Colonial Wars, to the Shipping and Other Matters of Interest Pertaining to the Town and the Times, with an Account of a Journey Made by the Writer from New London to Maryland. New London, Conn: New London County Historical Society, 1901, p. X. Note: Robert Hempstead did not have a daughter named Magdalene. It shows that Mary (b. 26 Mar 1647), Joshua (b. 16 Jun 1649) and Hannah (b. 11 Apr 1652) as the children of Robert Hempstead and Joane.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Caulkins, Frances M. History of New London, Connecticut: From the First Survey of the Coast in 1612, to 1852, p. 272. New London: Author. Hartford, Ct., Press of Case, Tiffany and Co., 1852, p. 272. Text: "Robert Hempstead, died in June, 1655. The following memorandum is appended to his will: 'The ages of my 3 children. Mary Hempsted was borne March 26th, 1647. Joshua Hempsted my sonne was borne June 16, 1649. Hannah Hempsted was borne April 11, 1652. This I Robert Hempsted testifie under my hand."
3. ↑ Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Pennsylvania State Archives. “Genealogy/Research: Lancaster County.” Pennsylvania State Archives, 24 Oct. 2007, https://web.archive.org/web/20071024125402/http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/BAH/dam/counties/browse.asp?catid=36.
4. ↑ Klein, Frederick. The History of Lancaster County, 1924.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Davis, Richard Warren (1995) Emigrants, Refugees and Prisoners. (Note that the "1709 census" did not exist, and Davis's "reconstruction" is his attempt to reconcile his hypothesised family groupings.)
6. ↑ Genealogical Card File. Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Ancestry.com. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S., Mennonite Vital Records, 1750-2014 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/309967:60592.
7. ↑ Genealogical Card File. Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Ancestry.com. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S., Mennonite Vital Records, 1750-2014 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/773616:60592.
8. ↑ Randall, Georgiana Hathaway. Ancestry and descendants of Henry Perkins Smith and Christiana (Long) Smith : with added data of Henry's brothers and sisters and their families and of Henry's father's and mother's brothers and sisters and their families. Keedysville, Md.?: unknown, 1958.
9. ↑ The Palatine Immigrant. Vol. 9:1 (Summer 1983), p. 31.
10. ↑ Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-899B-V86R?cc=1999196&wc=9PM8-4WT%3A268493801%2C268526401 : 3 July 2014), image 50 of 71, Lancaster County, Wills 1750-1837; Lancaster County courthouse, Pennsylvania.