Hans Conrad Walters (1712 - 1792)

Born 21 Mar 1712 in Nordheim, Heilbronn, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Husband of Nancy Ann (Redman) Walters — married about 1765 in Monongahela Township, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 8 May 1792 at age 80 in Fort Phillips, Nelson County, Kentucky, United States

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Biography

Hans Conrad Walters. Christian Name: Hans Call Name (Rufname, Nickname): Conrad Surname: Walters. Also Known As: Walther, Walter.

Birth / Christening

Hans Conrad Walther was Christened 10 Mar 1714 in Nordheim, [Heilbronn District], Württemberg, Germany. He was probably born a day earlier, 9 Mar 1714, in the same locale.^[1]

As was typical of German names at the time, it is commonly presumed that "Hans" was his baptismal name, which would often be shared among all of the male siblings; but that he went by "Conrad" or "Conrood" as his given name.

Parents

There are several possibilities for Hans Conrad's parents:

1. According to the Nordheim Kirchenbuch ("Church Book") containing the above Christening record, Conrad's parents were Bernhard and Anna Maria Walther.^[2]

1. According to the Colonial Ancestor Database, identified by contemporary Walters researcher William B. Walters, Hans Conrad's father's name was apparently Jacob Walther, b. 1684 in Germany.^[3]

1. Other possible parents identified by Walters researchers (no sources given):

Father: Jacob Walters (Jacobus WOLTERS) b: ABT 1684 in Germany

Mother: Gertrude Redder (Gertrudis REDDER) b: ABT 1685 in Germany

Emigration to America

Conrad Walters, along with his brother Jacob and their father whose name was Jacob also [Note: Some on-line family histories identify the name of both brother and father as "Bernhardt"], arrived in the colonies at the port of Philadelphia aboard the ships the Loyal Judith and Mary on September 25 & 26, 1732, when Conrad was 18 years of age.^[3]

Settlement / Migration in America

Conrad Walters and his second wife, Nancy Redman, were some of the first settlers to arrive in the Monongahela Valley of present-day southwest Pennsylvania and northern West VA in the late 1760's. I have found evidence that they emigrated to this area from Loudoun County VA. At the time of their arrival in the Monongahela Valley in the late 1760's, the land deeds and court records were administered by West Augusta Co. VA and later by Monongalia Co. VA.^[3]

Walter, Conrad appears in Bedford Co., PA tax records in 1773, Westmoreland Co., PA tax records in 1783, and Fayette Co., PA tax records in 1785. Note that these were most likely due to changes in PA county boundaries, rather than to possible relocations of the Walter family.^[4]

Marriage / Children

Hans Conrad appears to have married twice after emigrating to America, marrying the first wife (name unknown) some time prior to 1753. They sired the following children:

1. Barnabas Walters b: 1753 in Pennsylvania
2. Conrad Walters, Jr. b: 15 Feb 1755 in Cumberland, Pennsylvania
3. Elizabeth Walters b: Bet. 1756 and 1758 in Pennsylvania
4. Catherine Walters b: 17 OCT 1759 in Monongahela, Pennsylvania
5. Michael Walters b: 14 JUL 1760 in Pennsylvania

In 1768 or 1769, Hans Conrad married a Nancy Redman. Based on the birth years of her children with Hans Conrad, she was probably much younger than her husband, born perhaps around 1745.

They were married in the Monongahela Valley (Present-Day Fayette Co.), Pennsylvania, were Nancy was probably born and raised. They sired the following children, all in the area of today's Beeson Town (Uniontown), Fayette County, Pennsylvania:

1. John Walters b: 4 APR 1770
2. Nancy Walters b: ABT 1772
3. Sarah Walters b: ABT 1773
4. Lydia Walters b: ABT 1774
5. Solomon Walters b: ABT 1776 [See DNA Findings in the Research Notes, below]
6. Elizabeth Walters b: 5 May 1779
7. Andrew Walters b: 5 MAY 1779

Notes on Beeson Town, Pennsylvania

William Penn secured the rights to the land west of the Juniata River as a result of the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanswick with the Six Nations tribes. In 1771, Bedford County was created out of this area, and land grants began to be distributed.

In 1776, Henry Beeson, who had bought up large tracts of land around the area of Redstone Creek, announced that he was opening up his tracts for purchase by other settlers, including many who were already tenants on the land. On July 4, a lottery was held for the 54 plots laid out by Henry. This lottery was the founding of what initially became known as "Beeson Town", and which was renamed in 1796 to Uniontown. Among those initially lottery winners, a Conrad Walters was granted plot#30. ^[5]

While the lottery was held in 1776, Conrad Walters could certainly have been in the area prior to that year as a tenant farmer. However, in A History of Uniontown: The County Seat of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, the author notes that almost none of those original plot-winners actually held on to their plots, for reasons unknown; and Henry Beeson eventually resold most of the plots to others.^[6], Pp. 12-16. In the book, the author shows the first owners of record for plot #30 are a Jesse Clevenger and a Jacob Bickle, who acquired the property in 1794.^[6], p. 57.

This latter fact aligns with the apparency that Conrad and Nancy Redman Walters, along with nine of their ten children (excluding Michael), emigrated to Kentucky County, Virginia in the early 1780s.^[3]

Death

24 Aug 1781, Nelson County, KY; or 8 May 1792, Larue County, KY^[3]

Research Notes

The Colonial Ancestor Database (http://colonialancestors.com/cgi-bin/ancestors.cgi) is listed as the source for the above, however, this source no longer appears to be on-line as of 27 June 2016. Stuart Bechman^[3]

Passenger Ship Records

The name of the ship that transported Jacob, his father Conrad, and his brother seems to be in debate - The Mary of London; The Loyal Edith or Edyth; and the Loyal Judith are all listed by many family researchers. (Note: No records exist for a "Loyal Edith/Edyth" ship.)

Ship Loyal Judith

Captained by: Robert Turpin; From: Rotterdam; By Way of: Cowes; Arrival: Philadelphia, 25 Sep 1732

One hundred and fifteen palatines, along with their families. Walter families identified on the passenger list:

Head of Household; Age; Homeland/Origin; Source of Record; Alt. Surname spelling

Bernhard Walter; 58; Nordheim, Würtemberg; Yod1980; Walther

Hans Conrad Walter; ?; Nordheim, Würtemberg; Yod1980; Walther^[7][8]

I don't believe this is our Conrad aboard the Loyal Judith - I believe it to be Bernard Walter's son, Jacob Conrad, b: 9 Mar 1714 in Nordheim, Wuerttemberg, Germany.

Ship Mary

Passengers imported in the Ship Mary, John Gray, Master. Qualified Sept. 26, 1732.

MENS' NAMES ON BOARD THE MARY

(Included are:)

Jacob Walter......................................48

Jacob Walter......................................19^[7][9]

Could Jacob Walter, age 19, on the Mary actually be Jacob Conrad Walter? The age is correct, and I have found no further info. on a Jacob Walter after this person's arrival in America. But common sense tells me that Conrad would not have traveled to America on a different ship than his father, arriving a day later than him. So for now, still using ship "Mary" as transporting Conrad to America.

Family Time Line

The timeline for Conrad Walters, above, seems somewhat speculative. Sources found so far lack any information on Conrad's whereabouts from the time he arrived in Philadelphia in 1732 at age 18 until his presence at Beeson Town in 1770 at age 58 - a gap of 40 years! His first child isn't born until 1753, at age 41. It seems unlikely that Conrad did not have a family until 40 years of age. Further, once he starts having children in 1753, he appears to be siring until into his 60s, just a couple of years prior to his death! The first group of children appear to be born between 1753 and 1760; the second group appear to be born between 1770 and 1780.

It also seems most unusual for a man pushing 70 to decide to go homesteading in a new territory hundreds of miles from where he had been allegedly living for years (if not decades?), and to bring what would clearly be his adult children with him.

Lacking any known extreme condition for Conrad to have had to put off having a family for 20 years, or to be forced to abandon his homestead in his elder years, It is far easier to believe that Conrad Walters probably married and had children soon after arriving in America in 1732; that a 2nd generation of Walters married and had children in the 1750s; and a 3rd generation of Walters married and had children in the 1770s. And there could have been a Conrad Walters in each of these generations, all of them conflated into this single profile.

It's noteworthy that among the alleged children listed for 1712 Conrad Walters, we find a Conrad Walters, b. 1755; if the actual birth date is only a couple of years earlier, this could have been the father of the 2nd group of children attributed to 1712 Conrad Walters.

Also problematic is the claim that (any) Conrad Walters and Nancy Ann Redman married in the Monongahela Valley in 1768 or 1769, as the Valley would have been in off-limits Indian territory until the Treaty of Fort Stanwix was signed in 1768. It seems inconceivable that white settlers with children would have been living in the Valley prior to the signing of the Treaty, let alone holding nuptials in the area.

DNA Findings

In early 2022, the Y-DNA tests of several Walters profiles submitted to FamilyTreeDNA.com indicated a Y-Haplogroup match. Two of the submissions were for descendants who traced their patriarchal line back to this Hans Conrad Walters; the 3rd submission was for a descendant who traced their patriarchal line back to a Solomon Walters (abt.1776-aft.1864). All 3 tests shared SNP E-FTB92783; the 2 "Conrad Walters" tests shared a 2nd SNP E-FTC5271 that was not found with the Solomon Walters test results. FamilyTreeDNA.com further concluded that SNP E-FTB92783 was a recent mutation, only 5 generations back from the tested descendants, which means that the Most Recent Common (Patriarchal) Ancestor (MRCA) for all 3 profiles was in the early-to-late 1700s.^[10]

Based on the above DNA findings, it appears that Solomon Walters was likely a brother, son, or grandson of this Hans Conrad Walters. Based on the birth years of Hans Conrad Walters noted 2nd marriage, above, with Nancy Ann Redman, and the gap in births between 1774 and 1779 (which bracket Solomon's claimed birth year of 1776), we judge that Hans Conrad and Nancy Ann (Redman) Walters were the likely parents of Solomon Walters (abt.1776-aft.1864), and that Solomon Walters appears to have been born near Beeson Town in the Monongahela Valley, Pennsylvania.

Sources

1. ↑ [https:/familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NCQ5-SJF Deutschland Geburten und Taufen, 1558-1898], Hans Conrad Walther, 10 Mar 1714; database, FamilySearch (accessed 28 November 2014), FHL microfilm 1,184,757; Indexing Project (Batch) Number C00888-5.
2. ↑ Nordheim Kirchenbuch, Württemberg: Landeskirchliches Archiv Stuttgart > Dekanat Brackenheim > Nordheim > Mischbuch 1711-1778 Band 3 [1]
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} William B. Walters] in a private email dated August 16, 2015 at 5:15 PM. The email lists the Colonial Ancestor Database (http://colonialancestors.com/cgi-bin/ancestors.cgi) as the source, however, this source no longer appears to be on-line as of 27 June 2016. Stuart Bechman
4. ↑ Strassburger, Ralph Beaver, LL.D., compiler. Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Vol. I. Pp. 88-90. Edited by William John Hinke, Ph.D., D.D. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. (1980).
5. ↑ The Founding of Beeson Town/Uniontown, PA. Website accessed 3 July, 2016.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Hadden, James, 1845-1923. A History of Uniontown: The County Seat of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. New Werner Company, Uniontown, PA (1913)
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Pennsylvania German Society. Pennsylvania German Pioneers, 1727-1808. Compiled by Ralph Beaver Strassburger and William John Hinke. Picton Press (1934, 1992).
8. ↑ Olive Tree Genealogy.com. Transcribed passenger list of the Loyal Judith, arrived Philadelphia, PA 25 Sep 1732. Accessed 27 June 2016
9. ↑ Olive Tree Genealogy.com. Transcribed passenger list of the Mary, arrived Philadelphia, PA 26 Sep 1732. Accessed 27 June 2016.
10. ↑ Family Tree DNA, test kits:
    1. William Benjamin Walters (FTDNA#58841, Haplogroup E-FTC5271);
    2. Norman H Walters (FTDNA#B132250, Haplogroup E-FTC5271); and
    3. Roscoe Joseph Walters (FTDNA#B58076, Haplogroup E-FTB92783).

• McClure, Paul. Millerstown and its People: A Brief History of Millerstown, Kentucky. Hardin County Historical Society (1992). Original in the library of Mrs. W. E. Stephen, Jr., RD #1, Box 74 , Mehoopany, PA 18629-9722.