Hans Martin Wetzel Sr (1700 - 1760)

Born 6 Sep 1700 in Preuschdorf, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Ancestors

Husband of Maria Barbara (Geist) Wetzel — married 1724 in Heiliges Römisches Reich

Descendants

Died 2 Aug 1760 at age 59 in Brocks Gap, Rockingham, Virginia

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Biography

Hans Martin Wetzel (Weitzel) was born in Preuschdorf, Bas-Rhin, France on September 6, 1700, the son of Hans Nicklaus Wetzel and Maria Barbara Motz. He was baptized in the Preuschdorf Lutheran Church on September 8, 1700. ^[1]

Hans married Maria Barbara Geist 06 Jan 1720 in Goersdorf, Alsace, France, daughter of HANS NICKLAUS GEIST. She was born about 1698 at Goersdorf, Alsace, France. They arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 21, 1731 aboard the ship "Britannia." The "Britannia" had sailed from Rotterdam, Holland by way of Cowes, England with 269 Germans under the leadership of Johann Bartholmew Reiger. An immigration list gives Hans Martin, age 31, Maria Barbara, age 33, Hans Martin Jr, age 6, Nicholas, age 4 and Katherine, age 3. Hans was naturalized October 19, 1743.

The family may have lived in Lancaster or Chester County, Pennsylvania for a few years, but by 1739, the were in "the upper German settlement" in Maryland. On June 17, 1739, Hans and Barbara were witnesses of the baptism of Johann Bernhardt Weinmar's child in Maryland.

Their first land survey of 100 acres just north of present day Lewistown, Maryland was recorded November 25, 1741. On October 26, 1742, he assigned the certificate of survey to Handel Barrick. On May 28, 1743, Daniel Dulaney assigned the certificate of survey for a plot called "Wine Garden" to Jacob Bonnett. Bonnett reassigned the certificate to Hans the same day. Hans also received the patent for "Bonnett's Resolution" in 1743 and sold the same plot to Martin Wetzel, Jr on May 9, 1749.

Children of Hans Martin and Maria Barbara Wetzel:

1. Hans Martin Wetzel, Jr, born circa 1725; married Elizabeth Unknown (Cromerston is from an irrelevant source)
2. Nicholas Wetzel, born circa 1727; married Elizabeth Bonnett on April 3, 1749
3. Katherine Wetzel, born circa 1728
4. John Wetzel, born 1733; died 1786; married Mary Bonnett
5. George Heinrich Wetzel, born circa 1735

Immigration

Date: 21 SEP 1731

Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Death

Date: Between 2 AUG 1760 AND JUN 1794

Place: Brocks Gap, Rockingham County, Virginia

Imported only 2 AUG 1760 from Death Date and marked as uncertain.

Excerpts from "Pioneers of Old Monocacy - The Early Settlement of Frederick County, Maryland 1721 - 1743", by Grace L. Tracey and John P. Dern: p. 168: "These Germans included the Devilbiss family which found its way to Monocacy Manor and the family of Hans Martin Wetzel. the latter settled along the German Monocacy Road but at some distance north of the area described here." p. 207-209: "Hans Martin Wetzel was another Frenchman (NOT German) who settled in the northern area of today's Frederick County. But he reached American shores in 1731, before any of those described above. He was 31 years of age when he arrived in Philadelphia, having been born in France (NOT Germany) about 1700c. He brought with him his wife Maria Barbara, age 33, and three children, Hans Martin, Jr., age 6, Nicholaus age 4 and Katharine, age 3. (f. 151) They came with a company of 269 Germans under the leadership of Johann Bartholmew Rieger (1707 - 1769), a student at Heidelberg University and an early Reformed pastor. Rieger was born in Ober-Ingelheim, where a numberous family of Wetzels also lived. But no connection has been established to the American immigrant or to the Devilbiss family which also came with this group. The immigrant party reached Philadelphia on September 21, 1731, aboard the ship Brittania of London, having sailed from Rotterdam by way of Cowes, England.

Almost immediately Reiger was elected pastor of the Reformed congregations in Philadelphia and Germantown, where he served until 1734 He then moved to Amwell, New Jersey and seems to have worked there until 1739. In that year he accepted a call to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he remained for the succeeding four years, leaving a sizable record of his baptisms and marriages. At the same time, during the eight years from 1731 to 1739 the Wetzels' whereabouts remains unknown. There is no reason to suspect that they continued their association with Rieger. In fact, when Martin Wetzel first appeared in Maryland, he did so on June 17, 1739 as a Lutheran, not a Reformed, baptism witness for Johann Bernhardt Weinmer. Even though for naturalization purposes Johann Bartholomew Rieger signed a certificate that Conrad Kempf and John Rouse where "honest Protestants of the Reformed Heidelberg Catchism," it was a Lutheran communion from Pastor David Candler which preceded Martin Wetzler's own naturalization on October 19, 1743.

In 1740 Martin Wetzel signed the petition for the road from John Pyburn's to John Nelson's "for the benefit of our mill and (Anglican) church. Martin Wetzel first had land surveyed in the area that is now Frederick County on November 25, 1741. He called the 100 acres "Mill Place" and located it on the west side of "Little Hunting Creek near the lower end of a small island." The land lay near the German Monocacy Road some two miles north of present day Lewistown. It is possible that this had been Wetzel's home before the day of survey but he assigned the certificate to Handel Barrick who received the patent on October 26, 1742. In 1884 this land was in the possession of George W. Gaver.

On May 28, 1743, Daniel Delany assigned the certificate of survey for his "Wine Garden" to Martin Wetzel's neighbor Jacob Bonnett who on the same day reasigned it to Wetzel. Wetzel received the patent. The parcel's beginning point was "close by Wetzels Spring branch by the side of a large swamp." It adjoined Michael Reisner's plantation, but was partly absorbed into the later Resurvey which made up "Auburn." In 1743 Wetzel also reeived the patent for "Bennett's Resolution," which had been surveyed for Daniel Delany on November 11, 1742. This he had enlarged in 1752 to 400 acres, and in 1753 he conveyed it to Daniel Lefever. In March 1748 Martin "Wisell" was listed as one of those Germans being overcharged by the Sheriff in his quitrent collections.

Martin Wetzel was a frequent sponsor for Lutheran baptisms of children of his neighbors. In addition to the Weymore child in 1739 cited above, he was also a sponsor between 1745 and 1751 for children of George Honig, Georg Kuntz, Zacharias Barth and Michael Reisner. In 1747 father Martin, Sr., and sons Martin, Jr. and Nicholaus Wetzel, all signed Muhlenberg's articles in the Frederick Lutheran church book. Between 1744 and 1749 the same register records the births and baptisms of four Wetzel children, presumably the children of Martin, Jr. These were Johann Jacob, Georg Michael, John Friedrich, and Maria Catharina Wetezl. Their baptism sponsors included Jacob, Georg Michael and Maria Catharina Brunner. Another daughter, Magdalena Elisabetha Wetzel, was baptized in the Frederick Reformed Church in 1751 with Leonhard Hoffman the sponsor. In 1748 Martin Whetsell and George Saltner jointly purchased lot No. 60 in Fredericktown. In 1756 Martin Wetzel, presumably the younger, appeared on Peter Butler's muster roll at the start of the French and Indian War. According to family records no longer available, Martin Wetzel, Jr., married Elizabeth Bonnett, Nicholas Wetzel married Elizabeth Unknown (Cromerston is irrelevant) and John Wetzel married Mary Bonnett, sister of Elizabeth. Other Wetzel children are Catherine and Henry. Further accounts of the exploits of succeeding generations of Wetzels against the Indians in the Ohio Valley may be found in the Draper Papers at the University of Wisconsin. Other descendants remain in the Frederick County area today."

(footnote 151: "Burgert, op cit., 1:396, has noted a namesake, Johann Martin Wetzel, born at Hasselbach east of Sinsheim in the Kraichgau on November 13, 1719, the son of Johann Jacob Wetzel and Anna Ursula Georg. The family emigrated in 1746 and lived in Lancaster County, PA, where Martin Wetzel's sister Susanna married Jacob Oberkirsch. The Frederick (Maryland) Lutheran Church Book records her second marriage to Peter Andrae and her death in Frederick County in 1773 at the age of 44." ^[2]

Hans Martin Wetzel (Weitzel) was born in France (NOT Germany) about 1700. Hans married Maria Barbara ------- in France (NOT Germany). She was born about 1698. They arrived in Philadelphia, PA September 21, 1731 aboard the ship "Britannia". The "Britannia" had sailed from Rotterdam, Holland by way of Cowes, England with 269 Germans under the leadership of Johann Bartholmew Reiger. An immigration list gives Hans Martin, age 31, Maria Barbara, age 33, Hans Martin J., age 6, Nicholas, age 4 and Katherine, age 3.

The family may have lived in Lancaster or Chester County PA for a few years, but by 1739, the were in "the upper German settlement" in MD. On June 17, 1739, Hans and Barbara were witnesses of the baptism of Johann Bernhardt Weinmar's child in Maryland. Their first land survey of 100 acres just north of present day Lewistown, MD was recorded November 25, 1741. On October 26, 1742, he assigned the certificate of survey to Handel Barrick.

Hans was naturalized October 19, 1743. On May 28, 1743, Daniel Dulaney assigned the certificate of survey for a plot called "Wine Garden" to Jacob Bonnett. Bonnett reassigned the certificate to Hans the same day. Hans also received the patent for "Bonnett's Resolution" in 1743 and sold the same plot to Martin Wetzel Jr. May 9, 1749. Children of Hans Martin and Maria Barbara Wetzel are:

• Hans Martin Wetzel Jr. born circa 1725, married Elizabeth Unknown (Cromerston is irrelevant)

• Nicholas Wetzel, born circa 1727, married Elizabeth Bonnett Apr 3 1749

• Katherine Wetzel, born circa 1728

• John Wetzel, born 1733, died 1786, married Mary Bonnett

• George Henry Wetzel, born circa 1735

Sources

1. ↑ "Preuschdorf Lutheran KB: Hans Nicol Wetzel and his wife Maria Barbara, nee Motz (daughter of Hans Motz of Lampertsloch [=7250 Soultz-sous-Forets], had a son: Hans Martin b. 6 Sept. 1700, bp. 8 Sept. 1700." Burgert, Annette Kunselman, Eighteenth Century Emigrants from the Northern Alsace to America. Picton Press Camden, Maine. 1992, p. 539.
2. ↑ "Pioneers of Old Monocacy - The Early Settlement of Frederick County, Maryland 1721 - 1743", by Grace L. Tracey and John P. Dern

• Source: S6Title: Scott & Lisa Family History Author: Elizabeth Smith; Note: #N0091 Data Changed: Date: 28 AUG 2010; Time: 18:50:37; Page: Hans Martin Wetzel; Quality or Certainty of Data: 3; Data: Date: 26 JUL 2010; Text: Added by confirming a Smart Match: No NOTE record found with id N0091.

• Source: Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s Title: Gale Research, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc)

• Source Information Ancestry.com. Baden, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: Mikrofilm Sammlung. Familysearch.org Originale: Lutherische Kirchenbücher, 1502-1985. Description This collection consists of Lutheran church records for the years 1502–1985 from Baden, Germany. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61060&h=802700&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=anR611&_phstart=successSource Why would a German source be provided for a family from France?

• Biography by Don Norman, Descendants of Hans Martin Wetzel, https://sites.rootsweb.com/~hcpd/norman/wetzel.htm

See Also

Generation No. 1
1. JEAN NICOLAS2 WETZEL (JEAN MICHEL1) was born Abt. 1679 in Offwiller, Alsace, France, and died 02 Jan 1729 in Mitschdorf, Alsace, France. He married MARIA BARBARA MOTZ 02 Sep 1699 in Preuschdorf, Alsace, France, daughter of JEAN MOTZ and EVE EYERMANN. She was born Dec 1681 in Lampertsloch, Alsace, France, and died 17 Dec 1745 in Mitschdorf, Alsace, France.
Notes for JEAN NICOLAS WETZEL:
Hans Nichol (Nicklaus) Wetzel is listed as a master miller. This information was taken from the Preuschdorf Lutheran KB Church records.
More About JEAN NICOLAS WETZEL:
Occupation: Miller at Brehmuehl, Mtischdorf, Alsace
More About JEAN WETZEL and MARIA MOTZ:
Marriage: 02 Sep 1699, Preuschdorf, Alsace, France
Children of JEAN WETZEL and MARIA MOTZ are:
2. i. HANS MARTIN3 WETZEL, b. 06 Sep 1700, Preuschdorf, Alsace, France; d. Abt. 1794, Rockingham Co., Virginia.
ii. ANNA MARGARETHA WETZEL, b. 01 Oct 1702, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France; d. 02 Jan 1725, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France; m. JOHANNES AMMANN, Abt. 1722, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France.
iii. CATHARINA WETZEL, b. 27 Jun 1704, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France.
iv. PHILLIP WETZEL, b. 19 Jun 1706, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France; d. Jul 1706, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France.
v. MAGDALENA WETZEL, b. 10 Jul 1708, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France; d. 01 Mar 1709, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France.
vi. MAGDALENA WETZEL, b. 10 Apr 1710, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France.
vii. MARIA BARBARA WETZEL, b. 25 Aug 1713, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France.
viii. ELISABETHA WETZEL, b. 11 Dec 1713, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France; d. 14 Mar 1720, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France.
ix. JOHANN NICOLAUS WETZEL, b. 07 Aug 1718, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France; d. Aft. 1745.
x. JOHANN GEORG WETZEL, b. 28 Feb 1721, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France; d. Prob Fredrick Co., Maryland.
xi. MARIA ELISABETH WETZEL, b. 13 May 1723, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France; m. PAUL MERCKER, 1745, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France; b. Woerth, Alsace, France.
xii. JOHANN MICHAEL WETZEL, b. 15 Oct 1726, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France; d. 31 Oct 1726, Mitschdorf, Alsace, France.

Generation No. 2
HANS MARTIN3 WETZEL (JEAN NICOLAS2, JEAN MICHEL1) was born 06 Sep 1700 in Preuschdorf, Alsace, France, and died Abt. 1794 in Rockingham Co., Virginia. He married (1) MARIA BARBARA GEIST 06 Jan 1720 in Goersdorf, Alsace, France, daughter of HANS NICKLAUS GEIST. She was born 1698 in Goersdorf, Alsace, France, and died Aft. 1749 in Prob. Frederick Co., Maryland or Rockingham Co. Virginia. He married (2) ELIZABETH UNKNOWN Abt. 1760. She was born Abt. 1720, and died Jul 1807 in Rockingham Co., Virginia.
More About HANS WETZEL and MARIA GEIST:
Marriage: 06 Jan 1720, Goersdorf, Alsace, France
More About HANS WETZEL and ELIZABETH UNKNOWN:
Marriage: Abt. 1760
Children of HANS WETZEL and MARIA GEIST are:
3. i. MARTIN4 WETZEL, b. 1723, Goersdorf, Alsace, France; d. Abt. 1782.
4. ii. NICHOLAS WETZEL, b. 1727, Goersdorf, Alsace, France; d. Bet. 1792 - 1816, Virginia.
5. iii. KATHARINA WETZEL, b. 1728, Goersdorf, Alsace, France; d. Abt. 1790, Rockingham Co., Virginia.
6. iv. HENRY WETZEL, b. Abt. 1732, prob Pennsylvania; d. Bet. 1795 - 1800.
7. v. JOHN WETZEL, b. 1733, prob. Pennsylvania; d. Abt. 1786, Marshall Co., West Virginia.
8. vi. SUSANNA WETZEL, b. Abt. 1737, prob Pennsylvania; d. Bef. 1794.
"Frank L.M. Wolford & Laura May Green, Their Ancestors & Descendants" Compiled by Loraine Russell Kerns & Alma Wolford Russell 2004.

Acknowlegements

• This WikiTree profile was started by L Parlett through the import of LParlett.ged on May 25, 2015