Conrad Arnold (abt. 1730 - 1791)

Born about 1730 in Prussia

Descendants

Died 17 May 1791 at about age 61 in Hamilton, Northampton, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

Conrad Arnold performed Patriotic Service in Pennsylvania in the American Revolution.

Conrad Arnold arrived in Philadelphia on 15 Aug 1750 aboard the Royal Union.^[1]. Upon arrival, he and the other male "natives and late inhabitants of the Palatinate upon the Rhine" took the oath of fealty to King George the Second of England. Only the men on board were listed on the ship's manifest but it is presumed that his new wife Maria Margeretha (Jung) Arnold was with him.^[2]

Conrad had married only four months earlier in Prussia. Records for the Baumholder parish of the German Reformed Church (Reformierte Kirche Sankt Wendel, Rheinland, Preußen) show a 16 Apr 1750 marriage between Conrad Arnold, an apprentice clothmaker from Hessen-Homburg, and Maria Margretha Jungen, daughter of Johannes Jung, deceased.^[3][4][5] They would have left for Rotterdam soon after for the sailing of the Royal Union, which stopped in Portsmouth, England for clearance.

Conrad appeared in the 1750 census for Philadelphia.^[6]

His next known stop was Springfield Township, Bucks County in 27 May 1753, according a sworn statement by Abraham, the couples' oldest known child, describing when and where he was born.^[7]

In 1769, a Conrad Arnold appeared on the tax list for Gwyneth Township, Philadelphia (now Montgomery County).^[8] He owned a horse and a cow but no land.

In 1772, he appeared on the tax rolls for Hamilton Township, Northampton (outside Stroudsburg in what is now Monroe County), as Conrad Arndt, and after that he made regular appearance on the Hamilton tax lists through 1788.^[9] He amassed 100 acres, two horses and two cows.

Beginning in 1775, Conrad and Margaretha show up frequently in the records of what is now Christ Hamilton United Lutheran Church, which was established in 1829 and has housed both a Lutheran and a Reformed congregation. Conrad took communion, for example, in 1791, the reported year of his death.^[10]

During the American Revolution, Conrad performed Patriotic Service, reportedly working in a musket factory.^[11]

He renounced the British Crown and took the Oath of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 22 Aug 1778.^[12][13]

Descendants of Pioneer Conrad Arnold reports that Conrad served alongside sons Abraham, John, Jacob, and Martin Arnold in Captain Richard Shaw's 8th Company, 5th Battalion, Northampton County militia after the Revolution.^[14] "Soldier and Sailors in the Revolution," however, lists what appears to be the four brothers under the name Arnol serving in Shaw's company in 1782 but makes no mention of the father.^[15]

In 1786, Conrad appeared in Hamilton for the Pennsylvania Census.^[16]

He was also included in the 1790 U.S. Census of Hamilton. With him was his presumed wife and one presumed son under 16.^[17]

He reportedly died the following year. Find A Grave gives a date of 17 May.^[18] Interment was in the Christ Hamilton Lutheran Cemetery.^[19] There is no headstone.

Conrad died intestate. An unsourced online document provides the following summary of his estate documents:

Estate records on file in Easton, Pennsylvania show Margaretha Arnold refused her right to serve as administratrix of her late husband's estate in favor of "her son John Arnold" on May 21, 1791. Letters of Administration were subsequently granted to John. Both John Arnold and his mother affixed their signatures to these documents with their respective marks. The only items in the estate file are the Administration Bond and John Arnold's final account, filed on September 19, 1796 at Easton, Pennsylvania….

On May 28, 1795 the heirs of Margaret Arnold, late wife of Conrad Arnold, signed a release deed for a house and 133 acres located in Hamilton Township. The purchaser of the real estate was William Shoemaker. The property was part of a tract of 266 acres, 156 perches the heirs of William Penn sold to the executors of the estate of Charles Crefs (Kress?) on March 11, 1773 " in trust only to and for the use of the then wife of Conrad Arnold and to her heirs" (Deed Book G4, P. 287)

On January 16, 1796 the heirs of Margaret Arnold signed an additional release for land deeded to Philip Gerhard. The description of the property in the deed notes that the 44 acres, 77 perches of land in Hamilton Township were likewise part of the 266 acres, 156 perches conveyed to the executors of Charles Cress for the use of Margaret Arnold (Deed Book D3, p. 342.)

His estate inventory included: book debts in inventory, vendue paper, 1 heifer, 1 mare, 1 sheep, 1 gun, a cutting box & hay fork, 3 hogs, a cow and a trammel.

Children

1. Abraham Arnold, b. 27 May 1753, d. 23 Jan 1840
2. Martin Arnold, b. 1760
3. Jacob Arnold, b. 1761
4. Johannes Arnold, b. 1763, 19 Nov 1841
5. Adam Arnold, b. 1765, d. 1809
6. Catherine Arnold, b. 4 Mar 1770

Sources

1. ↑ Royal Union Rotterdam to PA 1750. Olive Tree Genealogy. Accessed 20 Sep 2021 at http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/pal_royun1750.shtml.
2. ↑ Burgert, Annette Kunselman. Eighteenth Century Emigrants from German-Speaking Lands to North America. Publications of the Pennsylvania German Society, 16/19. Birdsboro, PA: Pennsylvania German Society. Vol. 1: The Northern Kraichgau. 1983. 461p. Vol. 2: The Western Palatinate. 1985. 405p. Accessed on 20 Sep 2021 at https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=7486&h=3115117&ssrc=pt&tid=165821047&pid=312152378175&usePUB=true.
3. ↑ Ancestry.com. Rhineland, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1533-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
4. ↑ Ancestry.com. Germany, Select Marriages, 1558-1929 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
5. ↑ Need to verify source of information about hometown and apprenticeship.
6. ↑ Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1772-1890 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
7. ↑ U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900. Pension Claim S.6533. Accessed on 18 Sep 2021 at https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1995/MIUSA1775D_134643-00206/6317?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/165821047/person/312152378013/facts/citation/922440008480/edit/record.
8. ↑ Citation needed.
9. ↑ Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission; Records of the Office of the Comptroller General, RG-4; Tax & Exoneration Lists, 1762-1794; Microfilm Roll: 331.
10. ↑ Hamilton Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 1800-1830: Union Church.
11. ↑ Citation needed.
12. ↑ Marx, Henry F. Oaths of Allegiance of Northampton County Pennsylvania. Easton, PA: Easton Public Library, 1932. Page 46.
13. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution Ancestor A003225. https://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search_adb/default.cfm?action=full&p_id=A003225.
14. ↑ Hartman-Arnold, Velma and Bond-Arnold, Grace. Descendants of Conrad Arnold" Amazon Publishing, n.d.
15. ↑ Citation needed.
16. ↑ Pennsylvania, U.S., Septennial Census, 1779-1863. Accessed on 20 Sep 2021 at https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2702/33017_263382-00388/576423?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/165821047/person/312152378175/facts/citation/922440041596/edit/record.
17. ↑ Year: 1790; Census Place: Hamilton, Northampton, Pennsylvania; Series: M637; Roll: 8; Page: 243; Image: 431; Family History Library Film: 0568148.
18. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images ( Find A Grave: Memorial #185285658 conrad-arnold : accessed 20 September 2021), memorial page for Conrad Arnold (1730–17 May 1791), Find A Grave: Memorial #185285658, citing Christ Hamilton Lutheran Cemetery, Hamilton Square, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by Mary J Nelsen (contributor 48342651).
19. ↑ Church Cemetery Guidebook. Stroudsburg, Pa: Christ Hamilton United Lutheran, p. 7. Accessed 20 Sep 2021 at http://www.christhamilton.com/cemetery-guidebook.html.

Research Notes

European and Estate RecordsFrom: Eighteenth Century Emigrants, by Annette Kunselman Burgert, 1985, Vo. II, pg. 39

Conrad Arnold Royal Union (ship) 1750 6587 Baumholder (parish)

EUROPEAN RECORDS Baumholder Reformed KB (parish records) Conrad Arnold, apprentice clothmaker from Hessen-Homburg, m. 16 Apr. 1750 Maria Margretha, daughter of the late Johannes Jung. (No children bp in this KB) (Other passengers on this ship from same parish Peter Zumbro and Friedrich Jacob Conrad)

From: Early Families of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, by Repsher/ Dietrich, Vol. 2, 1991 The marriage of Conrad Arnold and Maria Margaretha Jung on April 16, 1750 implies they were born circa 1730. Conrad and Maria Margaretha must have left Baumholder for Rotterdam in Holland several weeks after their marriage,as they arrived in Philadelphia on the ship Royal Union in August 1750. The Royal Union, under the command Clement Nicholson, was cleared for passage to Pennsylvania in Portsmouth, England. Conrad Arnold signed his name to the Oath of Fealty at the Court House in Philadelphia on August 15, 1750 before the Mayor of the City, Thomas Lawrence. According to the ship's manifest, there were 500 "souls" on board. The list of supplicants who subscribed to the Oath at the Court House logs the names of 135 men only, suggesting there were many women and children on board the Royal Union. There is little doubt Conrad and Maria Margaretha came to Philadelphia on a very crowded ship and theirs was probably a very uncomfortable voyage. Not many ships arrived in Philadelphia in the eighteenth century with this number of passengers. Given the date of their arrival in Philadelphia, only four months after their marriage in Germany, it is probably safe to assume all of their children were born in Pennsylvania.

The first evidence Conrad Arnold was living in Northampton County can be found on the 1772 tax lists for Hamilton Township where he was listed as Conrad Arnd. Three years later Conrad's wife, Margaretha Arnholdin, was listed as a communicant in the records of Christ Church in Hamilton Township.

Because there is no record showing Conrad and Margaretha in Northampton County prior to 1772 it is unlikely they came to Hamilton Township shortly after their 1750 arrival in Philadelphia. It appears they spent a few fo the intervening fifteen to twenty years in Gwyneth Township, then Philadelphia, now Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Conrad Arnold was listed as a taxpayer in the township in 1769, and according to that record he owned only a horse and cow. That same record clearly shows he owned no acreage.

If there are any baptism records for Conrad's children, they are undoubtedly located near where they settled shortly after their arrival in Pennsylvania. It should be noted that evidence found in Church and other records shows all of Conrad and Maria Margaretha's children were in Hamilton Township suggesting Conrad and Maris Margaretha moved to Hamilton Township with their entire family. Conrad Arnold took the Oath of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, renouncing George the Third as his sovereign, on August 22, 1778. Records for the Lutheran Congregation in Hamilton Township reveal Conrad and Anna Margaretha Arnold attended communion on several occasions from 1775 to 1790. The entry for July 29, 1781 notes Anna Margaretha's husband was "Reformed", suggesting Conrad was in fact a member of the Reformed congregation. In 1790 they were listed as communicants along with their son John and his wife, Hannah.

The records for Christ Church also show that Conrad and Margaretha were baptismal sponsors for several grandchildren. On September 30, 1780 they sponsored the baptism of Conrad Arnold, son of Martin and Catherine Arnold. Several years later they sponsored the baptism of Margaretha Arnold, daughter of Abraham and Catherine Arnold. On July 4, 1789 Margaretha Arnold was listed as the sole sponsor for the baptism of Adam and Magdalena's daughter, Margaretha, and it should be noted this record specifically identifies her as the infant's "grandmother".

According to the 1785, 1786, and 1788 tax lists for Hamilton Township, Conrad Arnold owned 100 acres, two horses and two cows. In 1785 and 1788 he paid 4 pounds 6 shillings in taxes. In 1786 Conrad's bill was five pounds. The 1790 United States Census for Hamilton Township, Northampton County reveals three individuals living in the Arnold home: 1 male over 16, (Conrad), 1 male under 16; one female, (Maria Margaretha). Conrad Arnold died in the spring of 1791. Estate records on file in Easton, Pennsylvania show Margaretha Arnold refused her right to serve as administratrix of her late husband's estate in favor of "her son John Arnold" on May 21, 1791. Letters of Administration were subsequently granted to John. Both John Arnold and his mother affixed their signatures to these documents with their respective marks. Estate Records Conrad Arnold died intestate. The only items in the estate file are the Administation Bond and John Arnold's final account, filed on September 19, 1796 at Easton, Pennsylvania.

Estate Records

inventory-------------------------------------------------------------91.05.11

book debts in inventory------------------------------------------- 9.11.05 amt. of vendue paper----------------------------------------------15.17.00 a heifer sold at privat sale----------------------------------------- 2.10.00 a mare sold at private sale-----------------------------------------15.00.00 a sheep appraised & not sold------------------------------------ 1.05.00 a gun appraised & not sold--------------------------------------- 0.13.00 cutting box & hay fork-------------------------------------------- 0.05.00 200 (?) -------------------------------------------------------------------(?) 3 hogs appraised & not sold------------------------------------- 00.15.00 goods kept by the widow a cow appraised for------------------------------------------------ 3.00.00 a trammel------------------------------------------------------------- 0.03.09 balance due from the estate to the accnt.----------------------- 35.15.20 ______________ 140.18.04 On May 28, 1795 the heirs of Margaret Arnold, late wife of Conrad Arnold, signed a release deed for a house and 133 acres located in Hamilton Township. The purchaser of the real estate was William Shoemaker. The property was part of a tract of 266 acres, 156 perches the heirs of William Penn sold to the executors of the estate of Charles Crefs (Kress?) on March 11, 1773 " in trust only to and for the use of the then wife of Conrad Arnold and to her heirs" (Deed Book G4, P. 287)

On January 16, 1796 the heirs of Margaret Arnold signed an additional release for land deeded to Philip Gerhard. The description of the property in the deed notes that the 44 acres, 77 perches of land in Hamilton Township were likewise part of the 266 acres, 156 perches conveyed to the executors of Charles Cress for the use of Margaret Arnold (Deed Book D3, p. 342).

1790 United States Federal Census