Johann Michael (Koppenheffer) Copenhaver (1712 - abt. 1762)

Born 1712 in Rublingen, Wurttemberg, Germany

Ancestors

Husband of Eva Margareta (Strayer) Koppenheffer — married 1743 in Tulpehocken, Berks, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died about 1762 at about age 50 in Heidelberg, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

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Biography

Johann Michael Copenhaver or Koppenheffer (the family name has at least 5 different spelling variations in the records) was born about 1712 (see research note) in Rüblingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He was a child of Johann Wolfgang Koppenhöffer and Anna Maria (Haffner) Koppenhöffer.

On 11 September 1732 Johann with his parents and sisters, immigrated to Philadelphia aboard the ship Pennsylvania Merchant. Michael's older brother Johann Thomas had already immigrated in 1728.

Capt. John Stedman of The Ship Pennsylvania Merchant listed the names as:

Wolfgang Copenhaver, father

Anna Maria Copenhaver, mother

Children

1 Anna Catherine Copenhaver

2 Barbara Copenhaver

3 Michael Copenhaver

4 Rosina Copenhaver

The Copenhavers settled in what is now Lebanon Co., Pennsylvania. The spellings are from the ships' lists, however the family also spelled their name as Koppenhoester.^[1]

Johann Michael married Eva Margaret Strayer.^[2]Nothing documented is know about the origins of Michael's wife Eva Margaret. The family name Strayer remains unproven because the Strayer family is not thought to have arrived in Pennsylvania until the the 1740s. Some secondary sources say her name was Strecker. The secondary source cited in the notes below claims that they had 7 children, but only some have been documented.

• Christop, (1736- ) m Anna Barbara Schneively/Schnabele/Snavely (1745-1817)
• Michael (Jr) b. 1740. m Eva Unknown. Migrated to the Lykens Valley; 6 children.
• Barbara b. 1744
• John, (1744- ) sponsors Johannes and Anna Barbara Immel
• Anna Barbara, (b. 20 Feb 1746- d. bef 1786) m Christian Walborn (1740-1814)

Among the list of the members of the Tulpehocken Church (Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church), from 1743 to 1746 were Thomas Koppenhofer and Michel Koppenhofer. The church was started in 1743. It is located between Myerstown and Stouchsburg on Highway Route 422.

Wolfgang Koppenheffer, the father, is thought to have lived his last years in the household of his son Michael. (Wolfgang died in 1752).

No death or burial record found. He is supposedly buried in Hebron Moravian Cemetery, Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

Research Notes

Some secondary sources says he was born in 1720 not 1712, but on the 1732 ship's list Michael is listed as an adult, thus 1712 is more likely to be correct. There are no known primary sources that document his birth.

The Koppenheffers settled in a part of Tulpehocken that was situated near township and county boundaries that changed over time. When they first settled it was Heidelberg Township, Lancaster Co. In 1785 it became part of Heidelberg Township, Dauphin County. Today the same region is in Jackson Township, Lebanon County.

Michael Koppenheffer, second child of Woolf and Maria, married Eva Margaret Strayer. Had 7 children, among them: a) Christopher (b. 1736) married Barbara or Otilla Schnabele (Snavely); Michael (b. 1740), married Eva; Barbara (b. 1744); and Anna Barbara (b. 20 feb 1746)...The Lykens Valley Koppenheffers are descendants of Michael, son of Michael and Eva Maragaret (Strayer) Koppenheffer^[3]

Presumably primary sources exist, which record the births of at least some of the children. Between about 1736 and 1741, the family were members of Reed's church, but the congregation was disrupted during the Tulpehocken Confusion, when some members joined the Moravians. The Koppenheffer brothers Michael and Thomas remained with the Lutherans, and about 1743 they became founding members of a new church--Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, located between Myerstown and Stouchsburg on Highway Route 422.

The Johannes Immel, who sponsored the baptism of John Koppenheffer (born 1744) is likely to be a son of Michael or Leonard Immel, both of whom immigrated in 1732, aboard the Pennsylvania Merchant--the SAME SHIP on which Michael Koppenheffer migrated with his parents

Sources

1. ↑ History of the Smyser Family in America September 1731-September 1931 by Amanda Lydia Laucks-Xanders, Copyright 1931 York, Pennsylvania
2. ↑ U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Author: Yates Publishing Publication: Online publication - Provo, Utah
3. ↑ Excerpts from The Pennsylvania Dutchman, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 15 Nov 1950, p. 6, by C.E. Koppenheffer of Emporium Pennsylvania

• Strausstown Roots for Johann Michael Koppenhafer, [1]

• The Copenhaver family of Wythe Country Virginia, published 1958, by Clifford R Canfield