Additional Notes

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Profile manager: Palatine Migration WikiTree

[send private message]

This page has been accessed 308 times.

Additional Notes from merged profile: Keim-22

Notes

- -

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Kenneth E. Loch questions the authenticity of the Keim artifacts and the connections then made about the ancestors of Johannes Keim in his article "Keim Ancestors from A.D. 1020?", printed in the Journal of the Berks County Genealogical Society, Vol. 9, No. 3., Spring 1989. Most people base their research on "The Keim & Allied Families in America & Europe," a monthly publication begun in Dec. 1898 and edited by DeBennville Randolph Keim. This publication presents the two-page handwritten listing of Johannes' marriages and first seven children's births and the carved chest as evidence of the Keim lineage. Koch questions the authenticity of these artifacts and says: "The chest/box is housed at the DAR Museum in Washington, D.C. The educated guess of the museum's curator is that it was made no earlier than 1750 and that the legend (with the date 1662) painted on it was not done by the maker. At this time, I am not prepared to accept any ancestors before Johannes, the Oley immigrant. The "evidence" gathered together in "The Keim and Allied Families" is just too little and too contrived."

- Virginia Pierce email of April 13, 2000: "With calendar changes occurring in this time period, it is hard to say exactly when some of the above dates occur. In the Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County by Morton L. Montgomery, published in 1909 on pages 1647 and 1648, is an account of the Keim family. It says that the family has a paper written by the ancestor Johannes Keim. This has descended thru the Nicholas Keim line. The paper begins with, "Ich Johannes Keim hab mich verheiratat indem jahr 1706 viertzen tag von Michels." Michaelmas is the 29th day of September, and was one of the four quarter days in England. Assuming that Johannes was referring to September when he says "von Michels," this makes the first marriage the 15th of September, 1706. However, it could mean the fourteenth day after Michaelmas.

- -

Virginia Pierce e-mail of April 13, 2000: Johannes writes, "Und indemjahr 1731 den ersten tag in dem jahr 1731 habe ich meiner zweihefrau zurehe genommen." He married the first day of the year, but with calendar changes occurring at this time, this could mean the 1st of January, 1731 as in the new calendar, or it could mean March when the old calendar year began.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Release John Kihm [Keim] to George Kihm [Keim]: "This indenture, made the 29th day of April, 1762, between John Kihm, Stephen Kihm, Nicholas Kihm, John Henry Schneider and Catherine his wife (late Catherine Kihm), Christian Hoffart and Elisabeth his wife (late Elisabeth Kihm), Jacob Kihm, Conrad Kihm, Jacob Yoder and Maria his wife (late Maria Kihm) ,Michael Witman and Barbara his wife (late Barbara Kihm) and Frederick Hung and Susannah his wife (late Susannah Kihm), heirs and representatives of John Kihm, late of Oley, in the County of Berks and Province of Penna., deceased of the one part and George Kihm, of Oley aforesaid Yeoman, of the other part."

- ANNALS OF OLEY VALLEY, Part 5 of 6 The Levan Family, by Rev. Philip Columbus Croll

The LEVANs of Berks were members of the Huguenots. That scholarly student and fellow-descendant of this stock, Rev Dr. A. STAPLETON, in his treatise on "The Huguenot Element in the Settlement of Berks County", contends that the KEIMS, BERTOLETS, DeTURCKs and LEVANs were all closely related by ties of kinship before they ever came to America. He says: "A careful study of the settlement of Berks County convinces us of the fact that there were well-defined and preconcerted movements of Huguenots, as well as German elements, with a view to contiguous settlement. This is shown in their connections prior to emigration, and the fact of their settling in close proximity when they came, even though they did not come in a body."

"Probably the first member of what was the most important Huguenot settlement in Berks County was Johannes KEIM, from the vicinity of Spier in Rhenish Bavaria. Although he bore an honored German name, yet we know from the researches of several of his descendants that he was connected with the de HARCOURT family, one of the most distinguished of France. Richard, Count de HAR-COURT, one of the knights of William the Conqueror (1066 A.D.), has given to England some of its greatest statesmen."

THE PIONEER KEIM. "French history abounds with references to the achievements of many who bore this name. Soon after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, they retired to places of security. We will meet one of these families presently, and quite likely the one with which KEIM was connected. The pioneer, Johannes KEIM, came to the Oley Valley in 1698, squatted on a tract of land below (above i.e. n.e. of) Friedensburg, and returned to Europe. In 1706 he married, according to family tradition, a de TURCK, and the following year returned to America and located permanently on this land, for which he received a warrant in 1720. He was the ancestor of a great and honored posterity."

"Before proceeding let us glance for a moment at the map of Bavaria. Not far from the city of Spier, the home of the KEIMS, will be seen Landau, from whence Rev. Joshua KOCHERTHAL led the first colony of Palatinates to London, and thence to New York, and from whence eventually nearly all came to Pennsylvania. You will keep this initial colony in mind. Not far from Spier was Frankenthal, where the DeTURCKs located when they fled from France at the Revocation (1685). Another town within easy reach was Minnefelten, where the BERTOLETs located for a while. Muehlhaften, a small town, is situated near Landau. Let it be borne in mind that these places were all within easy communication. At Muehlhaften, was the home of Jean de HARCOURT, of the ancient French family of that name. That the KEIMs were connected with this family admits of no doubt, as the grandfather of the Oley immigrant was Ludwig de HARCOURT KEIM, and on the lid of a box brought over by the immigrant and still preserved by his descendants, is the portrait of a pair bearing this inscription: Ludwig HARCOURT KEIM, Bertha KEIM, Landgraff Von Alsace A.D., 1662".

"From this it would seem that the KEIMs were of the nobility. Among the children of Jean de HARCOURT were at least two, and perhaps three, daughters who as mothers gave to posterity thousands of Berks County's best citizens. The French armies having overrun and ravaged the entire valley of the Rhine, the inhabitants were driven into terrible straits. Spier, Manheim, Heidelberg and many other places were laid in ashes, and the French who had found a refuge there were in greater distress than ever before."

AIDED BY QUEEN ANNE. "A family of patrician rank named de BERTHOLET, having fled from France to Switzerland, some of the members and perhaps the entire family later removed to Minnefelten, where a son named Jean (John) married Susanna de HARCOURT, daughter of Jean, previously noted, in 1710. He located on a farm belonging to the bailiwick of Seltz, in Alsace, about 30 miles from Strasburg. At this time the inhabitants of this region were fleeing by thousands to London; their great leader was, as said, Rev. (Joshua) KOCHERTHAL, who in 1706 went to England and interested the authorities in the woeful condition of his country."

"Receiving assurances of support from high authorities, he set out in 1708 for London with some 21 families, composed of 54 persons. They reached their destination after great hardships, and utterly destitute. Good Queen Anne was touched by the sad story of their sufferings and gave them an allowance of a shilling each per day. The colonists were supplied with tools and other necessaries, and in April, in company with Gov. LOVELACE, they were sent to New York. In this convoy we are deeply interested, as about half of them were French Huguenots, and almost the entire company eventually came to Lancaster and Berks Counties". In this list we see the name of Maria WEMAR (WEIMAR), widow, and her daughter, Catharine, aged two years. She was a daughter of Jean de HARCOURT (de HEROKEN), of Muehlhaften, already referred to. Then we find the name of Isaac DETURCK, who was than a bachelor well along in years.

THREE SETTLERS. We have seen in our last chapter that soon after their arrival in New York DETURCK married the widow WEIMAR and later (1712) moved to Oley, and that here, when grown to womanhood, Elizabeth WEIMAR, stepdaughter of Isaac DETURCK, married Abraham LEVAN. So here we have at last three Huguenot settlers, Isaac DETURCK, Jean BERTOLET (described in a previous chapter) and Abraham LEVAN, settling near Johannis KEIM, an earlier immigrant, whose wife, tradition has it, was a sister of Isaac DETURCK, all closely connected with the de HARCOURTS.

- Newspaper article, Keim's Walnut Trees, by Wayne E. Homan, "Reading Eagle," March 12, 1972.

Berks Co. Deed book 143, p. 599.

- Bill Kimes research: The grave of Johannes Keim is in a walled graveyard several hundred yards north of the intersection of Limekiln Road and Oley Turnpike, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA. Coming from the east on Oley Turnpike as you near Limekiln Road, look off to the right and the cemetery's walls are clearly visible out in the pasture. Turn right onto Limekiln and go a few hundred yards to the first farm on the right. The cemetery is not visible from where you park, but it is behind the barn nearest the house. Ask the owner for permission to see the cemetery. The grave is marked with a large headstone carrying the name of Johannes, followed by an illegible last name which appears to be only four letters in length. The last two letters seem to be "im"and the first letter appears to be the top part of a "K."

- In the summer of 2000 Doug and I visited the graveyard Bill described. Most of the graves are Schneiders. NICHOLAS KEIM and his wife, BARBARA (SCHNEIDER) KEIM, are there along with a some of their progeny. Two of the largest gravestones are of JOHANNES and KATARINA SCHNEIDER, the immigrant parents of the Oley valley Schneider progeny, and Barbara's parents. Bill had mentioned that it was raining the day he was there and the grave he found said Johannes and then he thought the last name might be Keim. It was a short name and the last two letters appeared to be "im." We found a gravestone matching that description. It was not one of the largest stones. It was very eroded and difficult to read. However, two dates that did appear quite legible were 1767 and 1823. This grave can't be that of JOHANNES KEIM the immigrant. Other last names that are found in this fairly large, walled graveyard include GHEER, MESSERSMITH and LEVAN. One of the graves was a JOHANNES LEVAN b. 1798, d. 1882. I don't believe the grave of JOHANNES KEIM the immigrant has been located. Susan Kimes Burgess

The Jacob Keim Farmstead is maintained by the Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County, P.O. Box 245, Douglassville, Pennsylvania 19518, phone #610 385-4762.

- References: The Keim Family Volume Cs71 K27 OR CS41 K27 from the Jefferson Room of The Congressional Library

(John J. Keim Elk Lick, Penn.) Page 4 Keim: The remains of Johonnes Keim, the founder, were undoubtedly interred by his son Nicholas, in the private burial plot on the "G_____Farm" at Oley Lane. The homestead of the founder was sold in 1895 to Moses Everhard (Everhand) who married Susan Keim, daughter of Benneville Keim. Maria (Marcia) who married Charles H______ _____ to Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Penn. After her husband died, she returned to the old home at Oley, but later returned to Greensburg where she had a son Charles. Mr. N. W. Keim of Johnstown, Penn. _____ date of December 28, 1899, contributes the following valuable and interesting. Details of early family movement and associations. My grandfather, Nicholas Keim, arrived here (Johnstown) from Berks Co., Penn. before the year 1800. He was a good friend of Mr. Johns. The town was laid out in 1801. My great-grandfather, Peter Keim of Reading, bound out all his children after his wife died, and Nicholas, his son, my grandfather, was trained up by an Amish Minninite. Peter Keim accompanied by his family, his oldest son Nicholas, having been born in Oley, Berks Co., Penn. on February 2, 1768, and his eldest son John was born January 9, 1792. The family settled at Elk Lick, in now Somerset County, about the close of the 18th Century.

- Questioning who were the wives of Johannes Keim? From Jeff Reimert<Jeffat Reimert dot org>

Johannes m. (1st) in Germany, in 1706, fourteen days before the feast of St. Michael's, Katarina MOYER.....I have seen that her surname was Moyer but have also seen it claimed that he was married to Katarina (or Bertha) DeTurk, dau. of Johannes DeTurk and Hester (Esther) Kip (Katarina DeTurck is apparently the sister of Isaac DeTurck). Have even seen that he was married to Katarina Haricourt. Other sources also note that his first wife died in 1730 or 1731.

From Rootsweb KEIM Mailing List: Leah Kime Pratz in her manuscript "The record of the Keim, Kime and Kimes and related families" says the following: (pages are unnumbered) "He [Johannes Keim] married (first) in Germany in 1706, Katarina Moyer; married (second) January 1, 1731, Maria Elizabeth." She is listed as Katarina Moyer at least three times in the manuscript. No sources are given. [NO SOURCES!!!!!]

From "History of Bettsville and Liberty Twp." (Seneca Co.) by John E. Durrett. I'll summarize: In 1698, Johannes Keim (Kime), age 23, left Landau, Bavaria, Germany, impelled by religious convictions, and landed in Philadelphia. Johannes and wife, Katrina Moyer, settled in Oley, PA, where he died ca. 1753.

Also: "The record states that Johannes had six children by his first wife, Katarina Moyer. The last child being born in 1724. He married a second wife, Maria Elizabeth, in 1731, and their first child was born in 1732. In between these two dates 1724-1732 is the only place where my ancestor, PHILIP, fits. He was born in 1730, but there is no record that proves that this is so. However, all research indicates that he is a descendent of the PA Keims. There is also a record by Leah Kime Pratz - Annals of the Oley Valley. It is a very interesting record of Johannes and his family."

In Keim and Allied Families in America and Europe, an entry from William Miles Kime (Keim) of Pleasant Lodge, Alamance Co., N.C., dated September 1900 Vol. 1,2, Reading, PA - Harrisburg, PA. No. 22.; there is an article by Isaac DeTurk (Doc. Hist., N.Y., O'Callaghan, Vol. III,P.551) as follows: Another entry dated April 29, 1710: A tradition from the ancients of the family says that Johannes Keim, Founder, married Bertha DeTurck. The marriage took place 1706 in Germany before his return to America in 1707. The DeTurcks, of Frankenthal, and the Keims of Landau, near Speyer, lived in localities not far distant."

The first wife of Johannes Keim is Bertha DeTurck. It is mentioned in the Keim & Allied Families by DeB. Randolph in their September 1900 issue #22.

Another source written on the family is the book by VanCleave. He introduces yet another variation on the name of Johannes's first wife, Katarine DeTurck (seems to be a combination of Bertha DeTurk and Katarina Moyer) as the wife of Johannes Keim, the Immigrant.

An article about the KEIM family published in the Reading Eagle on March 12, 1972, shows the first wife as Bertha DeTurck, married in 1706. This article also states that Johannes married Marie Elizabeth in 1733.

- Following taken from the section on DeBenneville Randolph KEIM as written in AMERICAN ANCESTRY, Vol. VIII, publ. 1893.

John of Oley, Phila., Pa., b. in Alsace, Ger., d. in Oley, Pa., 1732, founder of the family of Berks Co., landed in Phila. 1698, joind the Germantown settlement, moved up the valley and settled in Oley 1704, being one of the first settlers in that region, subsequently a settlement of Swiss, French and German emigrant refugees, from religious persecution in Europe, immediately occupied several tracts of land which were surveyed 1719 and 1740, was on the first list of taxables of this section of Phila. co. (m. 1715, Bertha de Turk of the family of Isaac deTurk who landed in N. Y. Sep. 27, 1709,; son of Ludwig Hercourt Keim of Alsace, Ger.; in the family is preserved an iron bow-gun, inscribed Gilbert de Keim who fought in the Swiss Rebellion under Wm. Tell, and other heirlooms associated with the Europeon ancestry of the Berks-Keims.0 @N2990@ NOTE

Continues:

ID: I3389 Name: Johannes Hans KEIM Surname: Keim. Given Name: Johannes Hans _ AKA: John Sex: M Birth: 1675 in Landau Speier, Bavarian Palatinate, Germany Death: 1753 in Oley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania Burial: Oley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania Ance1 CONC stral File #: QTBH-FS_UID: 372AB48C1610134B84291F656F52A42CE70B Note: BIOGRAPHY: http://keims.homestead.com/JohannesHans.html JOHANNES HANS JOHN KEIM(JOHANN <index.html>4, GEROGE3, LUDWIG HERICOURT2, KEIM1) was born 1675 in Landau Speier, Bavarian Palatinate, Germany, and died 1753 in Oley, Philadelphia, PA. He married (1) BERTHA DETTURCK Bet. September 15 - 29, 1706 in Landau Speyer, Bavarian Palatinate, Germany. She was born 1686 in Frankenthal, Germany, and died 1725 in Oley Township, Philadelphia Co,. He married (2) MARIA ELIZABETH BOLLERIN March 24, 1730/31 in Berks, PA. She was born 1713 in Berks Co., Pennsylvania, and died June 02, 1772 in Oley Valley, Berks Co., Pennsylvaina. Johannes Hans John Keim (Kimes) was our forefather that immigrated from Palatinate, Germany. He arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania sometime in the early 1700s. This is the time that the spelling of the name was changed from Keim to Kimes to the English pronunciation. Here he met his wife Elizabeth and settled in Oley Valley, Berks County, Penn., where they lived all their lives.

http://www.reimert.org/genealogy/database/d184.htm#P2804 Johannes(Hans) KEIM was born about 1675 in Landau, Speyer, Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany. He immigrated about 1707 to Pennsylvania. It is said he made a preliminary visit to America, 1698 or 1699, and returned to Germany, where he married, and came back to Pennsylvania, 1707 or perhaps earlier, when he located on the Manatawny in Oley Valley in the upper part of Philadelphia County. His warrant for survey is dated 27th November, 1719-20. He resided in 1734 in Oley Twp., Philadelphia Co.,Pennsylvania. John Kimes paid taxes on 100 acres of land in 1734. He signed a will in 1747 in Oley Twp., Berks Co., Pennsylvania. John Keims his Last Will and Testament made, pronounced and sealed in the year 1747. Whereas I John Keim of Oly in ~d County of Bercks perceive that all my Children from my first Wife leave me as soon them comes to their age saying to me, Father what you have, you have occasion for your own selfs. We will go, and see to get our Living for our self, and so did all my Six Children from my First Wife, Catharina, John, Stepehan, Nicles, Elisabeth & Jacob, the youngest followed their Exemple in the Month of Octobr 1746. Then I John Keim resolved to macke My Last Will and Testament, and praise to gether my Whole Estate, Well knowing what the said Estate is worth. My Land and Plantation, containing Two houndert acres of land shall be praised at the sum of Two houndert & Fifty Pounds Currant money of Pensyls with all the Buildings, Corn in the Ground with the whole Improvement. And all the Mouveables in the House and out the Dor. Bras, Pewter, Iron Wooden and Earthen Things, Waggon both greath and Smal, Plows and Irons belonging to it item. Iron Stoves suma all the Houshold goods, further the Creatures, Horses, Mares, Colts, Co~~ and all the Cattles, old and young, Sheeps old and young, item Swines and all the Guears belonging to Watt-266se's and Waggons, shall be at the Time of my Decease be rated and praised at the Sum of Two houndrt and fifty Pounds Currant Lawfull Money of Pensyls: [Next two lines in fold of original document] Now At the time of my decease or not being able to Speak and my Wife charged with ten smal children, now my obligation, I therefore Will and I do order that my Dearly beloved Wife Maria Elisabeth shall be my Sole Executrix of this my Last Will and Testament, I license Constitute, mache and ordain Caspar Creesmer of Oly in the County of Berks, Yeomen to be Executor with my Wife, all my Whole Estate, Real and Personal Shall remain together in ther Hand, untill the Children of Her Comes to their Age, And my Wife Shall pay out of my Estate to the Six Children of my First Wife To each of them Ten Pounds Currant Money of Pensyls and them, who have received more, shall restitute the same to be equal parts. I do further order When my Wife Maria Elisabeth My Children brought to their Age untill the youngest of all the Children is in age. Then She and my other Executor shall praise all my Whole Estate, Creatures, Household goods in Suma ~lly My Mouveables, Land ~Execpt the Turner Tools shall not be praised, My Wife shall have the Power to give the same to Who She thincks proper of my Children. Then My Wife Maria Elisabeth Shall have Thirty Pounds Currant Money in Hand paid to her out of my Estate, item She Shall have yearly Six Pound in Money, and the Chuse of the Cows, one wich shall be feed with the rest, Item the Bed as good we had it, with Bed stad, Curtins, four Sheets wich she pleases, Two Hand Toels, Two Table Cloaths, ad her own chusing four pewter Plates, four Pewter Dishes, two Iron Pots, her Walnut Chest, Spinning Wheel, and the Side Sadle, and at least The Seat in the house where I live in during her Life, and if any of My Children then having the Possession of this My House and Place, should not licke to live with her, Then He or She the Children Shall build her an other House, Suficient to live in Touching the Devise of my Land, While MyChildren are all under Age, I Therefore give full Power to My Wife to give and Devise the Same to her Children wich She finds proper. And When them Comes to their Age, when her Portion is first deducted Shall have equal Parts. These have I John Keim by good Health and Perfect Memory, Thanks God to be given therefore writ with my own Hand, and declare herewith These and and no other to be My Last Will and Testament, done in ~d year 1747. The Mark of John Keim [signature - in German?] Signed Sealed and Pronounced in ~d Presence of us by the Said John Keim as his Last Will and Testament. Wiliam Pott, Petter Lobach, Johan William Pott, Reading in Berks County, January the First Day Anno Domini 1754. Then personally appeared Jn. William Pott and Petter Lobach, both ofthe County of Berks, Two of the Witnesses to the above Written Will and upon their Solemn Affirmation according to Law (being People called Mennonists, who conscientiously scruple the taking an Oath) did severally declare and affirm that they Saw and heard the above named John Keim the Testator Sign Seal publish and declare the Said Will to be his Last Will and Testament, and that at the time of Doing thereof he was of Sound mind memory and understanding, and that William Pott the other Witness was also present at the Same time and did subscribe his Name thereto as Witness, together with these Affirmants Johan William Pott and Petter Lobach, in the Presence at the request of the said Testator. Coramme James Read D Regr He died in 1753 in Oley Twp., Berks Co., Pennsylvania. When Johannes KEIM, theimmigrant died in 1753, among the articles belonging to his estate were an antique chest and Lady's Treasure caskets (Schatz Kastchen) on the lid of the latter are portrayed two stately personages in ruffs, bearing the legend Ludwig Hericourt und Berta Keim, Landgraffschaft (Landgraviate) Elsass, A.D. MDCLX, also an ancient steel cross bow (arbalist) upon which is inscribed Gilbert de Keim A.D. 1314. These heirlooms are still in possession of the family. **Note -- this came from a book that was published in 1907. They are apparently now at DAR headquarters in Washington, DC. ... it is possible that they were actually manufactured around 1750. He was buried in 1753 in Oley Twp., Berks Co., Pennsylvania. From: Keim & Allied Families: "Notes of a drive through Oley township with Jonas DeTurck, of Neversink, Fall of 1894. Following deciphered on old sandstone tombstones in family burial plot on Gheer Farm, Oley Line: Zum Audenken - von Johannes Keim u Frau Susanna, Sterbt d. Decem., obiden yahre sein alter 70 mos. u 4 Tag. Zum Audenken von Johan Keim u Fr. Susann, folgende Kinder ruhe, also Kindervon Johan Keim und Catherina geb 20 Feb., geb de 5 Augst. 1771 Sterbt c. 21 December, obigen yahre seine alter 10 m.u 1 Tag. 1781 Sterbt d. 9 Jan. 1784, ihralter 2 yahr 5 mo. u 6 Tag. "Zum Audenken Von Maria Elizabeth (this may be the 2d wife of Johannes Keim the founder, see his will)" [last name variations cut] "Ist gestorben 2 june, 1772, ihrealter 59 yahre -----ein. This would make her born 1713, which date would correspond. He married her in 1731 when she was 18 years of age.""The remains of Johannes Keim, the founder, were undoubtedly interred by his son Nicholas, in the private burial plot on the "G_____ Farm" at Oley" from DeB. Randolph Keim's "KEIM & Allied Families in America and Europe (K &AF)," originally publ. Reading/Harrisburg, PA; December 1898 - Jan 1900: p. 4. Also another note posted by a subscriber to the KEIM-L list: "Johannes was buried on son Nicholas's farm, now the Gheer Farm on Oley Line" from an e-mail note with explanations: -----Original Message-----From: Jeff Reimert [1] Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2001 9:02 PM To: SUSAN BURGESS Subject: RE: More on Gheer Farm, Keim Property, and Burial Sites Yes, please post...also, Cindy added this..."I knew something was amiss ... in my notes is the statement, "The remains of Johannes Keim, the founder, were undoubtedly interred by his son Nicholas, in the private burial plot on the "G_____ Farm" at Oley" from DeB. Randolph Keim's "KEIM &Allied Families in America and Europe (K &AF)," originally publ. Reading/Harrisburg, PA; December 1898 - Jan 1900: p. 4. Also another note posted by a former subscriber to this list: "Johannes was buried on son Nicholas's farm, now the Gheer Farm on Oley Line." So itappears as though Johannes' and these other headstones are on theproperty owned by Nicholas -----Original Message----- From: SUSAN BURGESS [2] Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2001 8:19PM To: Jeff@Reimert.org Subject: More on Gheer Farm, Keim Property, and Burial Sites Jeff said, > If you read these, it talks about 2 properties comprising the original > homestead. > 1 on Keim (Boyer) rd. southwest of Lobachsville > and the second at Oysterdale and Lobachsville roads at the village of > Pikeville. According to the article, The Pikeville property was the one > that George Keim inherited in 1762. The property near Pikeville is the original Johannes Keim property later owned by George Keim. The Keim property on Boyer Road is the Jacob Keim property owned by Jacob, the son of Johannes Keim b. abt. 1675. This property was originally part of the Johannes Hoch property (Jacob's wife's father), not part of the original Keim property. In the book, "The Oley Valley Heritage The Colonial Years: 1700-1775" by Philip E. Pendleton, 1994. The author has mapped the landownership in 1725, 1750 and 1775 in Exeter, Oley, and the Amity Zones. In 1775 George Keim owned all the land that was owned previously in 1725 and 1750 by Johannes Keim. In 1750 the Johannes Hoch property is a large parcel on the border of the Oley Zone and Rockland Township. It appears Johannes Hoch increased his property holdings after 1750 and then died. In 1775 the Jacob Keim property is a parcel bordered on the east and west by the estate of Johannes Hoch. Abraham Hoch has the major portion of the original Johannes Hoch property from 1750 adjoining the easternmost parcel of the estate of Johannes Hoch. All these parcels lie near or on the boundary between Oley and Rockland Townships. It seems to me that the part of one of these parcels may have become the Gheer Farm. Note below where it states that the Gheer Farm is on the Oley line. Jeff continued, > The article mentions 2 Keim burial plots on the Keim Rd. property. The two burial sites are near the present Jacob Keim property and were at one time part of the Jacob Keim property which was earlier owned by Johannes Hoch. One site is where Jacob and his wife Magdalena are buried. Theirs are the only gravestones in this plot. The second site is mostly Jacob's son, John, and hisprogeny. The grave of Johannes Keim b. abt. 1675 is not located in either site as far as I know. But, I have not seen a list of all headstones located in the larger family plot. Jeff, I have tried to add translations to what you sent although I am not great at this. "Notes of a drive through Oley township with Jonas DeTurck, of Neversink, Fall of 1894. Following deciphered on old sandstone tombstones in family burial plot on Gheer Farm, Oley Line: Zum Audenken - von Johannes Keim u Frau Susanna, Sterbt d. Decem., obiden yahre sein alter 70 mos. u 4Tag. Zum Audenkenvon Johan Keim u Fr. Susann, folgende Kinder ruhe, also Kinder von JohanKeim und Catherina geb 20 Feb., geb de 5 Augst. In Memory of Johannes Keim and his wife Susanna, Died in December at the age of 70 years and 4 days. In Memory of Johan Keim his wife, Susann, to follow children peace, also Children Johan Keim and Catherina born the 20th of February, born the 5th of August. 1771 1771 Sterbt c. 21 December, Died on December 21 obigen yahre seine alter 10m. 10 months and 1 day old u 1 Tag. 1781 1781 Sterbt d. 9 Jan. 1784, Died on the 9th of January, 1784, ihr alter 2 yahrat the age of 2 years 5 mo. u 6 Tag. 5 months and 6 days "Zum Audenken Von Maria Elizabeth (this may be the 2d wife of Johannes Keim the founder, see his will)" [last name variations cut] "Ist gestorben 2 june,1772, ihrealter 59 yahre ----- ein. This would make her born 1713, which date would correspond. He married her in 1731 when she was 18 years of age."In Memory of Maria Elizabeth died the 2nd of June, 1772, died at age 59. Please follow this and see if it makes sense: 1. It looks to me as if Johan Keim and Catherine are the children of Johan Keim and his wife Susann. 2. Johan Keim, the son, was born the 20th of February, 1771 and died the 21st of December, 1781 at the age of 10 yrs, 10 months, 1 day. 3. Catherina, their daughter, was born the 5th of August, 1781 and died the 9th of January, 1784 at the age of 2 yr., 5 mon., 6 days (looks like four days to me). 4. The Jacob Keim b.1724 (son of Johannes Keim b.abt. 1675) had a son named Johannes "John" Jacob Keim b. 1756. "John" married Susan Weidner and they lived on the Boyer Rd. Keim property. Are these the Johan and Susanna on this headstone? "John" would have been only 15 and Susan only 14 when Johan, the 10 year old was born but this is possible although seems improbable. Susan is said to have been born in 1757 and died in 1825. I don't know how accurate these dates are and where they came from. They make her 68 at the time of her death, not 705 [sic.] John and Susanna had one surviving son that I know of, Jacob Keim born in 1787. Is he the brother of Johan and Catherina? I guess my next questions are: Where was this headstone? Is it located in the burial site on Boyer Rd.? If so then these could very likely be the son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren of Jacob Keim b.1724. But it says "on the Gheer farm on the Oley line." Was the property across the road from the present Jacob Keim property somehow owned by a Gheer by 1894 before the death of the last Keim to own the house on Boyer Rd.? Elizabeth Keim died in 1911 and the property was sold in 1912 to M. H. Boyer. Is there someome who can check that family plot carefully and find out? Is it OK with you if I post all this to the Keim list? Susan. He was a Carpenter. He has Ancestral File number QTBH-FS. Johannes Keim was the pioneer of the Huguenots to the Oley Valley.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dated 29-Apr-1762, titled"Release John Kihm [Keim] toGeorge Kihm [Keim]." It is a quit-claim deedfor the 200-acreplantation in Oley Township, Berks Co., PA, formerlyowned by JohannesKEIM. The opening clause of the deed follows: "Thisindenture, made the29th day of April, 1762, between John Kihm, StephenKihm, NicholasKihm, John Henry Schneider and Catherine his wife (lateCatherineKihm), Christian Hoffart and Elisabeth his wife (late ElisabethKihm),Jacob Kihm, Conrad Kihm, Jacob Yoder and Maria his wife (lateMariaKihm), Michael Witman and Barbara his wife (late Barbara Kihm)andFrederick Hung and Susannah his wife (late Susannah Kihm), hiersandrepresentatives of John Kihm, late of Oley, in the County of BerksandProvince of Penna., deceased of the one part and George Kihm, ofOleyaforesaid Yeoman, of the otherpart."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This from a document made byJohannes Keim... "I, John Keim,was married in the year of 1706, fourteendays before St. Michael'sday. Catharina was born on St. Michael's Day1708 (in another hand wasadded-buried 8th ofMay 1793) and in the year1711, four weeks beforeEaster, my son John was born into the world;Stephen born 29 Mar 1717;John Nicholas born 2 Apr 1719; Elisabeth Feb1723; Jacob October 1724;and in the year 1731, 1st day of the year 1731,I took my second wifeinto wedlock and in the year 1732, the 27th ofApril, my son Henry wasborn into theworld."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Excellent sources ofinformation on the Keim family can befound in KEIM AND ALLIED FAMILIESby Deb. Randolph Keim; and theHISTORICAL REVIEW OF BERKS COUNTY, VolumeXLIX, Number 3, Summer, 1984,published by the Reading, PA HistoricalSociety.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ANNALS OF THEOLEY VALLEY March 6, 1926 The Keim family andhow its members havecontributed to the building of the city andcounty.By Rev. P.C. CrollD.D. of Womelsdorf, Pa. We have alreadyalluded to JOHN KEIM, his firstwife and the Keim Homestead in Oley, inour chapter on "EarlySettlements", the widespread character of thispioneer banyan tree,planted .. early in the rich soil of the OleyValley, and the importanceof this family in the history and upbuildingof the county and the cityof Reading with an increasing ratio fromgeneration to generation, callsfor an entire chapter on this subject.JOHANNES KEIM, the Americanancestor, was a native of Speier, Germany,and was born about 1675. Hewas the son of Johann (John) Keim. Thelatter was a son of George Keim, amerchant of Speier, who was a son ofLudwig Hercourt Keim, of ...RhineValley, and an officer in the ThirtyYears' War. Hercourt is doubtlessthe mother's maiden name and it looksas if he was related to Mrs. IsaacDeTurck and Mrs. Jean Bertolet, whowere Hercourts. As he settled in Oleybefore either the DeTurcks orBertolets, it is probable that hissettlement here may have been thecause of the later coming ... thesepossible acquaintances and kin.Like so many other happy andwell-to-do-residents of this Rhine sectionof Germany, the Frenchinvasion of the Palatinate (1688-1697),financially ruined Johannes Keim.So he visited the New World on aprospecting tour in 1698. Coming to thisinviting section of Penn's yetalmost impenetrable woods, he staked off aclaim in the Oley Valleynear the headwaters of the Manatawny Creek, thenwent back to theFatherland, wooed, won and married his Katrina, returnedwith her toAmerica and there among the first white settlers of all thisregion, in1706., reared their first rude log cabin and planted thisprosperousland outspreading Berks County banyan. The building was placedon thecenter of his large landed tract, in one of the richest blackwalnutgroves or forests to be found anywhere, which was it's self a suresignof richness of soil. This first Keim home was near Pikeville andlaterthe tract northeast of Friedensberg was bought and settled on,eitherby the American progenitor or his son. The private graveyards areatthe ancestral homestead. AUTOBIOGRAPHY A single bit ofautobiographyhas come down to his descendants in the form of a faded,time-worn andbroken two leafed document in the original Johannes Keimsown GermanScroll. It descended through the hands of his fourth child(third son)Nicholas Keim and through this line lodged in the family ofDaniel MayKeim, of Bristol, Pa. It reports the following familyhistory: Ich,Johannes KEIM, hab mich verheiratet in dem Jahr, 1706,viertzen tag VonMichels. Katarina, geboren auf Michel's Tag, 1708.1793, den 8 Maibegraben. (This is another hand added.) Und in demJahr, 1711, vierWochen Von Ostern, ist mein sohn Johannes zur weltgeboren. Stephanus,geboren 28 ten Martz, 1717. Hantz Nickel, April den2 ten, 1719.Elizabeth, February, 1723. Jacob, October, 1724. Und indem Jahr 1731,den ersten tag in dem Jahr 1731, habe ich meine zweitefrau Zur Ehegenommen. Und in dem Jahr 1732, den 27 April, ist meinSohn Heinrich zurWelt geboren. This family register translated intoEnglish reads asfollows: I, John Keim was married in the year 1706, 14days before St.Michael's Day. Katharine was born on St. Michael's Day,1708. (In anotherhand) buried the 8thday of May 1793. And in the year1711, four weeksbefore Easter, my son John was born into the world.Stephen, born March28, 1717 John Nicholas, April 2, 1719 Elizabeth,February 1723 Jacob,October 1724 And in the year 1731, the first dayof the year, 1731, Itook my second wife into wedlock. And in the year1732, the 27th ofApril, my son Henry was born into this world. Herethe record ends. Butnot the births. By this second marriage nine morechildren were born toJohannes Keim-- a total of 16 branchlets takingroot in the rich soil ofOley to perpetuate and spread this ancestralbanyan. They were all bornon this homestead of the Keims in theheadwaters of the Manatawny, nowOley, Berks County, then PhiladelphiaCounty. The last Will and Testamentprobated in Reading Jan 1, 1754,(Mr. Keim having died in 1753), theChristian name of the second wifeis given as MariaElizabeth.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Paraphrased from "Keim and Allied Families in America and Europe":Oley,which was in Philadelphia County, now in Berks County, is/waslocatedabout one-half mile from the village of Pleasantville,approachingLobachsville, then the frontier side of the Oley Hills andfifteen milessoutheast of the present city of Reading, PA. Parents:Johann KEIM<d184.htm>. He was married to Maria Elizabeth BOLLER<d103.htm> in 1731/32 inPhiladelphia Co., Pennsylvania. MariaElizabeth was Johannes' secondwife. Date could have been Jan 1 1731 orMarch 25 1731 depending whichcalendar was used. Children were: MariaKEIM <d184.htm>, George KEIM<d184.htm>. He was married to KatarinaBertha DETURCK <d153.htm> on 15 Sep 1706 inLandau, Speyer,Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany. Johannes m. (1st) in Germany,in 1706,fourteen days before the feast of St. Michael's, KatarinaMOYER.....Ihave seen that her surname was Moyer, but have, also, seen itclaimedthat he was married to Katarina (or Bertha) DeTurk, dau. ofJohannesDeTurk and Hester (Esther) Kip (Katarina DeTurck is apparentlythesister of Isaac DeTurck). Have even seen that he was marriedtoKatarina Haricourt. Other sources also note that his first wife diedin1730 or 1731 From Rootsweb KEIM Mailing List: Leah Kime Pratz inhermanuscript "The record of the Keim, Kime and Kimes and relatedfamilies"says the following: (pages are unnumbered) "He [JohannesKeim] married(first) in Germany in 1706, Katarina Moyer; married(second) January 1,1731 Maria Elizabeth." She is listed as KatarinaMoyer at least threetimes in the manuscript. No sources are given. [NOSOURCES!!!!!] From"History of Bettsville and Liberty Twp." (SenecaCo.) by John E. Durrett.I'll summarize: In 1698, Johannes Keim (Kime),age 23, left Landau,Bavaria, Germany, impelled by religiousconvictions, and landed inPhiladelphia. Johannes and wife, KatrinaMoyer,settled in Oley, PA,where he died ca. 1753. Also: "The recordstates that Johannes had sixchildren by his first wife, KatarinaMoyer. The last child being born in1724. He married a second wife,Maria Elizabeth, in 1731, and their firstchild was born in 1732. Inbetween these two dates 1724-1732 is the onlyplace where my ancestor,PHILIP, fits. He was born in 1730, but there isno record that provesthat this is so. However, all research indicatesthat he is adescendent of thePA Keims. There is also a record by LeahKime Pratz -Annals of the Oley Valley. It is a very interesting recordof Johannesand his family." In Keim and Allied Families in America andEurope, anentry from William Miles Kime (Keim) of Pleasant Lodge,Alamance Co.,N.C., dated September 1900 Vol. 1,2, Reading, PA -Harrisburg, PA. No.22.; there is an article by Isaac DeTurk (Doc. Hist.,N.Y.,O'Callaghan, Vol. III, P.551) as follows: Another entry dated April29,1710: A traditionfrom the ancients of the family says thatJohannesKeim, Founder, married Bertha DeTurck. The marriage took place1706 inGermany before his return to America in 1707. The DeTurcks,ofFrankenthal, and the Keims of Landau, near Speyer, lived inlocalitiesnot far distant." The first wife of Johannes Keim is BerthaDeTurck. Itis mentioned in the Keim & Allied Families by DeB Randolphin theirSeptember 1900 issue #22. Another source written on the familyis thebook by VanCleave. He introduces yet another variation on thename ofJohannes's first wife; Katarine DeTurck (seems to be acombination ofBertha DeTurk and Katarina Moyer) as the wife ofJohannes Keim, theImmigrant. An article about the KEIM familypublished in the ReadingEagle on March 12, 1972 shows the first wifeas Bertha DeTurck, marriedin 1706. This article also states thatJohannes married Marie Elizabethin 1733. It has also been related tothe researcher that descepency indates of the marriage (Jan 1, 1731 orMarch 25, 1731) could be because ofa changeover from the Gregoriancalendar. Children were: Johannes JacobKEIM <d184.htm>. Change Date:20 Mar 2002 at 09:24:12

Father: Johann KEIM b: 1647 in Speier, Palatinate, Germany Mother:Unknown b: ABT 1650 in Speier, Bavaria, Germany

Marriage 1 Maria Elizabeth BOLLERIN b: 1713 in Berks Co., PennsylvaniaMarried: 24 Mar 1731 in Berks Co., Pennsylvania Children Heinrich KEIM(KIME) b: 27 Apr 1732 in Oley Valley, Berks Co.,Pennsylvania ConradKEIM b: 3 Dec 1734 in Near Oley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania George KEIMb: Aug 1733 in Oley Valley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania Maria KEIM b: Nov1733 in Oley Valley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania Conrad KEIM b: ABT 1736in Berks Co., Pennsylvania Barbara KEIM b: ABT 1737 in Oley Valley,Berks Co., Pennsylvania Barbara KEIM b: ABT 1738 in Berks Co.,Pennsylvania Susannah KEIM b: ABT 1739 in Oley Valley, Berks Co.,Pennsylvania Susannah KEIM b: ABT 1740 in Berks Co., PennsylvaniaGeorge KEIM b: 3 Dec 1753 in Oley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania

Marriage 2 Katarina DE TURCK Children Katarina KEIM b: 29 Sep 1708 inOley Valley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania Johannes KEIM b: 1711 in OleyValley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania Stephen KEIM b: 28 Mar 1717 in OleyValley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania Hans Nickel KEIM b: 2 Apr 1719 in OleyValley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania Elizabeth KEIM b: Feb 1722/1723 inOley Valley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania Jacob KEIM b: 24 Oct 1724 in OleyValley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania0 @N2991@ NOTE

Continues:

GEN: HISTORY: He first came to America in 1698 on a prospecting trip.Hereturned GEN: to Germany and married in 1706 before returning tostay in America in GEN: 1707. This is documented in "The Keim andAllied Families in GEN: America and1 CONC Europe," 1899, Keim. GEN:!SOURCE: "The Keim and Allied Families," 1899, Keim. His firstwifemay have GEN: been named Katarine Moyer.--------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Individual Record for Keim,Johannes in submitter file dunlap1 Pedigree Chart Search Screen SearchResults Match Results Pedigree Searching Research Desk Name: Keim,Johannes - Sex: Male Birth: 1675 at Speyer, Palatinate, GermanyChristening: at Death: 1753 at Oley Twp., Berks Co., PA Burial: atBaptism: at Endowment: at Sealed to Parents: at Spouses: 1.X de Turck,Bertha - @@ 2. , Maria Elizabeth - @@

Notes

General Notes:

HISTORY: He first came to America in 1698 on a prospecting trip.Hereturned to Germany and married in 1706 before returning to stay inAmerica in 1707. This is documented in "The Keim and Allied Familiesin America and Europe," 1899, Keim. !SOURCE: "The Keim and AlliedFamilies," 1899, Keim. His first wife mayhave been named KatarineMoyer.

Submitter for dunlap1: Wallice H. Dunlap , 3616 Willow Bay Drive ,Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809 , Phone 504-291-8658 , Locator: KKNCD-ROM #01 Pedigree Chart Search Screen Search Results Match ResultsPedigree Searching Research Desk

E-Mail: feedback@@kindredkonnections.com Copyright 1 CONT-------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Family Record for Keim, Johann insubmitter file dunlap1 Pedigree Chart Search Screen Search ResultsMatch Results Pedigree Searching Research Desk Husband: Keim, Johann -born: ABT 1647 @@ Germany Wife: Marr: at Seal: at Children: 1.XKeim,Johannes - born: 1675 @@ Germany

E-Mail: feedback@@kindredkonnections.com Copyright 1 CONT-------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Family Record for Keim, Johannesand Bertha in submitter file dunlap1 Pedigree Chart Search ScreenSearch Results Match Results Pedigree Searching Research Desk Husband:Keim, Johannes - born: 1675 @@ Germany Wife: de Turck, Bertha - @@Marr: 11 Sep 1706 at , Baden, Germany Seal: at Children: 1.XKeim,Johannes - born: 1711 @@ PA

E-Mail: feedback@@kindredkonnections.com Copyright 1 CONT-------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------

CONT0 @N2992@ NOTE

Continues:

!WILL: Proved 1 Jan 1754, Reading, PA.

!NOTE: Hand written note by him quoted in which he named several ofhis children and gave the dates of his two marriages; however, hefailed to mention either wife's name in the note.0 @N2993@ NOTE

Continues:

KEIM, JOHN, Oley. -- 1747. January 1, 1754. Mentions "that all mychildren from my first wife leave me soon as theycomes to their agesaying to me Father what you have you have occasionfor your own selfwe will go and see to get our living 1 CONC for our self.Catherine,John, Stephen, Nicles, Elizabeth and Jacob, the youngest,followedtheir example in the month of October 1746." To each of abovenamed 6children �10 and remainder including 200 acres of land to wife,MariaElizabeth, and her 10 children [not named]. Exrs. wife, MariaElizabethand Casper CREAMER. Wit: John William POTT and Peter LOBACH.

Came to America before 1730.

Note: Johannes (John) (Hans) Keim was born about 1675 in LandauSpeyer,Bavarian Palatinate (later called Rhineland Pfalz orRhinelandPalatinate), Germany. He was the son of Johann Keim.

Rhineland-Palatinate is in the middle Rhine River valley in the westofGermany, bordering France and the state of Saarland to thesouth,Luxembourg and Belgium to the west, and the states ofNordrhein-Westfalen[North Rhine-Westphalia], Hesse andBaden-W�ttemberg to the north, eastand southeast, respectively. Thetowns of Landau and Speyer lie in thesoutheast corner of RhinelandPalatinate. Speyer lies right along theRhine River and Landau lies alittle southwest of Speyer.

Johannes was ruined by the French invasion of the Palatinateduring1688-1697. It is believed he had a carpentry business. HevisitedPennsylvania in America on a prospecting tour in 1698 duringthe lullthat followed the peace of Ryswick (1697). He then returned toGermanyabout 1701 where he married 1) Bertha DeTurck probably the 15thofSeptember, 1706 in Landau Speyer, Bavaria, Germany. (Some questionif sheis his wife. They say his first wife was Katarina.) They weremarried 14days before the Festival of St. Michael. She was born inabout 1686 inFrankenthal, Germany which lies north of Speyer in theRhine Valley.

Johannes and Bertha Keim immigrated to Pennsylvania about 1707.Johanneswas in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1707. They moved into thewildernesson Manatawny Creek in Oley Township, Philadelphia Countywhich is nowPleasantville, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA in 1708.According tofamily tradition, Johannes found this spot on his earlierprospectingtrip. He followed the Schuylkill River and Manatawny Creekuntil he cameto a large grove of black walnut trees near a gushingspring rising fromthe ground. In German tradition, walnut trees were asign of fertileland. Here they built a log cabin, cleared some landand planted theirfirst seeds. His first tract of land was warranted in1720.

The Keim family was probably originally French Huguenot but, inAmericaJohannes became a follower of Pastorius, the Quaker. Johannesand Berthahad six children before Bertha died in about 1726. She maybe buried onthe Gheer farm in Oley, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA.

The earliest autograph manuscript relating to the family of BerksCounty,Pennsylvania, USA Keim in America so far as known consists oftwomuch-faded, time-worn and broken sheets of paper in German scriptby thehand of Johann (Hans) Keim, the founder of the name. Althoughexceedinglybrief, it is in the nature of an autobiographic record.When it waswritten is not known, but it was about 1732, as it ends atthat year. Itwas evidently drawn up by the patriarchal author forhisfourth child andthird son, Johannes Nicholas Keim. From the latterit passed into thehands of his son John. It is now held by the familyof the late DanielMay Keim, of Bristol, Pa. who obtained it from hisbrother, Hon. GeorgeM. Keim, a zealous collector of the materials offamily history.

The following is a translation in full of this treasuredautographcontribution to the Berk-Keim genealogy.

"I Johannes Keim, was married in the year 1706, fourteen daysbeforeMichaels. And in the year 1708, on Michael�s day, is my daughterKatarina born intothe world. And in the year 1711, four weeks beforeEaster is my son Johannes borninto the world. And in the year 1717,the 28th of March, is my son Stephen born into theworld. And in theyear 1719, on the 2nd day of April, is my son Hans Nickel borninto theworld. And in the year 1723, in February, is my daughter Elizabethborn into theworld. And in the year 1724 in October is my son Jacobborn, And in the year 1731, the first day of the year 1731 I marriedmy secondwife. And in the year 1732, the 27th of April is my sonHenrig to the worldborn.

Johannes married 2) Maria Elizabeth Bollerin the 1st of January, 1731inBerks County, Pennsylvania, USA. She was born about 1713 in BerksCounty,Pennsylvania, USA. Johannes and Maria had ten children who wereall bornin Oley Township, Philadelphia County, which is nowPleasantville, BerksCounty, Pennsylvania, USA. Johannes died in 1753in Oley, Berks County,Pennsylvania, USA. He is buried in theSchneider-Gheer Cemetery offLimekiln Road in Berks County,Pennsylvania, USA. His will was proved in1754. In his will he mentionshis first six children by name, but onlysays "his 10 children with his2nd wife" and does not name them. Mariadied the 2nd of June, 1772 inOley, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA.

It is believed that Johannes� son, Jacob, later owned part oftheoriginal Johannes Keim plantation although the original part of theJacobKeim plantation home was built by his father-in-law, Johannes(John)Hoch, in 1753 for Jacob and his wife, Magdalena on 50 acresJacob boughtfrom John Hoch. Later Jacob�s son, John Keim made anaddition to thehome. It is located on Boyer Road near the intersectionof Boyer Road andLobachsville Road in Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA.150 acres of oldgrowth black walnut trees were cut into timber fromthe Jacob Keimplantation property in 1913 after the death of ElizabethKeim in 1911 andthe sale of the property in 1912. Some of the treeswere said to be 4 to5 feet across and 100 feet tall. Elizabeth was thelast Keim to own theJacob Keim plantation. George Keim, another son ofJohannes, received 200acres of the original Johannes Keim plantationin Oley Township, BerksCounty, Pennsylvania, USA in a quit claim deeddated the 29th of April,1762 that listed the names of ten of Johannes�children. George Keim alsoobtained acreage from the Penn family bypatent the 22nd of June, 1807.The oldest building now on his propertywas erected by a George Keim in1835. It is located near Pikesville onOysterdale Road just west of theLobacheville Road intersection inBerks County, Pennsylvania, USA.

(It is thought by some that the Keim family was closely related totheBertolets, DeTurcks and Levans families before their arrival inAmerica.Others question the research and authenticity of the artifactslinkingJohannes to Ludwig Keim.)

Sources: All information on Johannes Hans Keim and his descendants,unlessotherwise noted, is from: A chronological study by The Keim andAlliedFamilies in America and Europe, Vol. 1, 2 Reading, PA. September1900.Harrisburg, PA No. 22. Amonthly serial of History, Biography,Genealogyand Folklore, illustrating the causes, circumstances andconsequences ofthe German, French and Swiss Emigrations to Americafrom the 17th Centuryto the present time by William Miles Kime (Keim)of Pleasant Lodge,Allamance Co., N.C. This information was taken fromfilm on loan from theLibrary of Congress "The Keim & Allied Familiesin America & Europe" Dec.1898 by De B. Randolph Keim and from DARPatriot Index 1966. Thisresearch was done by Virginia Pierce. Someinformation came from FredEggleston of Alexandria, VA. Compiled andwritten by Susan Kimes Burgess.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenneth E. Loch questionsthe authenticity of the Keimartifacts and theconnections then made about the ancestors of JohannesKeim in his article"Keim Ancestors from A.D. 1020?", printed in theJournal of the BerksCounty Genealogical Society, Vol. 9, No. 3. Spring1989. Most people basetheir research on "The Keim & Allied Families inAmerica & Europe" amonthly publication begun in Dec. 1898 and editedby DeBennville RandolphKeim. This publication presents the two pagehand written listing ofJohannes�marriages and first seven children�sbirths and the carvedchest as evidence of the Keim lineage. Kochquestions the authenticity ofthese artifacts and says: "The chest/boxis housed at the DAR Museum inWashington, D.C. The educated guess ofthe museum's curator is that itwas made no earlier than 1750 and thatthe legend (with the date 1662)painted on it was not done by themaker. At this time, I am not preparedto accept any ancestors beforeJohannes, the Oley immigrant. The�evidence� gathered together in �TheKeim and Allied Families� is justtoo little and too contrived."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Virginia Pierce email of April 13, 2000: "With calendarchanges occurringin this time period, it is hard to say exactly whensome of the abovedates occur. In the Historical and BiographicalAnnals of Berks County byMorton L. Montgomery, published in 1909 onpages 1647 and 1648 is anaccount of the Keim family. It says that thefamily has a paper writtenby the ancestor Johannes Keim. This hasdescended thru the Nicholas Keimline. The paper begins with, "IchJohannes Keim hab mich verheiratat indem jahr 1706 viertzen tag vonMichels." Michaelmas is the 29th day ofSeptember, and was one of thefour quarter days in England. Assuming thatJohannes was referring toSeptember when he says �von Michels� this makesthe first marriage the15th of September, 1706. However, it could meanthe fourteenth dayafter Michaelmas.

Virginia Pierce e-mail of April 13, 2000: Johannes writes, "Und indemjahr 1731 den ersten tag in dem jahr 1731 habe ich meiner zweihefrau zurehe genommen." He married the first day of the year but, withcalendarchanges occurring at thistime this could mean the 1st ofJanuary, 1731as in the new calendar, or it could mean March when theold calendar yearbegan.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Release John Kihm [Keim] to George Kihm [Keim]:"This indenture, made the29th day of April, 1762, between John Kihm,Stephen Kihm, Nicholas Kihm,John Henry Schneider and Catherine hiswife (late Catherine Kihm),Christian Hoffart and Elisabeth his wife(late Elisabeth Kihm), JacobKihm, Conrad Kihm, Jacob Yoder and Mariahis wife (late Maria Kihm),Michael Witman and Barbara his wife (lateBarbara Kihm) and FrederickHung and Susannah his wife (late SusannahKihm), hiers andrepresentatives of John Kihm, late of Oley, in theCounty of Berks andProvince of Penna., deceased of the one part andGeorge Kihm, of Oleyaforesaid Yeoman, of the other part."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANNALS OF OLEY VALLEY, Part 5 of 6 The LevanFamily, by Rev. PhilipColumbus Croll

The LEVANs of Berks were members of the Huguenots. That scholarlystudentand fellow-descendant of this stock, Rev Dr. A. STAPLETON, inhistreatise on "The Huguenot Element in the Settlement of BerksCounty",contends that the KEIMS, BERTOLETS, DeTURCKs, and LEVANs wereall closelyrelated by ties of kinship before they ever came toAmerica. He says: "Acareful study of the settlement of Berks Countyconvinces us of the factthat there were well-defined and preconcertedmovements of Huguenots, aswell as German elements, with a view tocontiguous settlement. This isshown in their connections prior toemigration, and the fact of theirsettling in close proximity when theycame, even though they did not comein a body".

"Probably the first member of what was the most importantHuguenotsettlement in Berks County was Johannes KEIM, from thevicinity of Spier,in Rhenish Bavaria. Although he bore an honoredGerman name, yet we knowfrom the researches of several of hisdescendants that he was connectedwith the de HARCOURT family, one ofthe most distinguished of France.Richard, Count de HAR- COURT, one ofthe knights of William the Conqueror(1066 A.D.), has given to Englandsome of its greateststatesmen".

THE PIONEER KEIM. "French history abounds with references totheachievements of many who bore this name. Soon after the revocationof theedict of Nantes, they retired to places of security. We willmeet one ofthese families presently, andquite likely the one withwhich KEIM wasconnected. The pioneer, Johannes KEIM, came to the OleyValley in 1698,squatted on a tract of land below (above i.e. n.e. of)Friedensburg, andreturned to Europe. In 1706 he married, according tofamily tradition, ade TURCK, and the following year returned toAmerica and locatedpermanently on this land, for which he received awarrant in 1720. He was the ancestorof a great and honored posterity".

"Before proceeding let us glance for a moment at the map of Bavaria.Notfar from the city of Spier, the home of the KEIMS, will be seenLindau,from whence Rev Joshua KOCHERTHAL led the first colony ofPalatinates toLondon, and thence to New York, and from whenceeventually nearly allcame to Pennsylvania. You will keep this initialcolony in mind. Not farfrom Spier was Frankenthal, where the DeTURCKslocated when they fledfrom France at the Revocation (1685). Anothertown within easy reach wasMinnefelten, where the BERTOLETs located fora while. Muehlhaften, asmall town, is situated near Lindau. Let it beborne in mind that theseplaces were all within easy communication. AtMuehlhaften, was the homeof Jean de HARCOURT, of the ancient Frenchfamily of that name. That theKEIMs were connected with this familyadmits of no doubt, as thegrandfather of the Oley immigrant was Ludwigde HARCOURT KEIM, and on thelid of a box brought over by theimmigrantand still preserved by hisdescendants, is the portrait of apair bearing this inscription: LudwigHARCOURT KEIM, Bertha KEIM,Landgraff Von Alsace A.D., 1662".

"From this it would seem that the KEIMs were of the nobility. Amongthechildren of Jean de HARCOURT were at least two, and perhapsthreedaughters who as mothers gave to posterity thousands of BerksCounty'sbest citizens. The French armieshaving overrun and ravaged theentirevalley of the Rhine, the inhabitants were driven into terriblestraits.Spier, Manheim, Heidelberg and many other places were laid inashes, andthe French who had found a refuge there were in greaterdistress thanever before".

AIDED BY QUEEN ANNE. "A family of patrician rank named deBERTHOLET,having fled from France to Switzerland, some of the membersand perhapsthe entire family later removed to Minnefelten, where a sonnamed Jean(John) married Susanna de HARCOURT, daughter of Jean,previously noticed,in 1710. He located on a farm belonging to thebailiwick of Seltz, inAlsace, about 30 miles from Strasburg. At thistime the inhabitants ofthis region were fleeing by thousands toLondon; their great leader was,as said, Rev (Joshua) KOCHERTHAL, whoin 1706 went to England andinterested the authorities in the woefulcondition of his country".

"Receiving assurances of support from high authorities, he set outin1708 for London with some 21 families, composed of 54 persons.Theyreached their destination after great hardships, and utterlydestitute.Good Queen Anne was touched by the sad story of theirsufferings and gavethem an allowance of a shilling each per day. Thecolonists were suppliedwith tools and other necessaries, and in April,in company with Gov.LOVELACE, they were sent to New York. In thisconvoy we are deeplyinterested, as about half of them were FrenchHuguenots, and almost theentire company eventually came to Lancasterand Berks Counties". In thislist we see the name of Maria WEMAR(WEIMAR), widow, and her daughter,Catharine, aged two years. She was adaughter of Jean de HARCOURT (deHEROKEN), of Muehlhaften, alreadyreferred to. Then we find the names ofIsaac DETURCK, who was than abachelor well along in years.

THREE SETTLERS. We have seen in our last chapter that soon aftertheirarrival in New York DETURCK married the widow WEIMAR and later(1712)moved to Oley, and that here, when grown to womanhood, ElizabethWEIMAR,stepdaughter of Isaac DETURCK married Abraham LEVAN. So here wehave atlast three Huguenot settlers, Isaac DETURCK, Jean BERTOLET(described in a previous chapter) and Abraham LEVAN, settling nearJohannis KEIM, anearlier immigrant, whose wife, tradition has it, wasa sister of Mrs.Isaac DETURCK, all closely connected with the deHARCOURTS.--------------------------------------------------------------------Newspaper article, Keim�s Walnut Trees, by Wayne E. Homan,"ReadingEagle," March 12, 1972.

Berks Co. Deed book 143, p. 599.---------------------------------------------------------------------Bill Kimes research: The grave of Johannes Keim is in a walledgraveyardseveral hundred yards north of the intersection of LimekilnRoad and OleyTurnpike, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA. Coming fromthe east on OleyTurnpike as you near Limekiln Road, look off to theright and thecemetery�s walls are clearly visible out in the pasture.Turn right ontoLimekiln and go a few hundred yards to the first farmon the right. Thecemetery is not visible from where you park, but itis behind the barnnearest the house. Ask the owner for permission tosee the cemetery. Thegrave is marked with a large headstone carryingthe name of Johannes,followed by an illegible last name which appearsto be only four lettersin length. The last two letters seem to be "im"and the first letterappears to be the top part of a "K."---------------------------------------------------------------------The summer of 2000 Doug and I visited the grave yard Bill described.Mostof the graves are Schneiders. NICHOLAS KEIM and his wife,BARBARA(SCHNEIDER) KEIM, are there along with a some of their progeny.Two ofthe largest gravestones are of JOHANNES and KATARINA SCHNEIDER,theimmigrant parents of the Oley valley Schneider progeny, andBarbara'sparents. Bill had mentioned that it was raining the day hewas there andthe grave he found said Johannes and then he thought thelast name mightbe Keim. It was a short name and the last two lettersappeared to be"im". We found a grave stone matching that description.It was not one ofthe largest stones. It was very eroded and difficultto read. However twodates that did appear quite legible were 1767 and1823. This grave can'tbe that of JOHANNES KEIM the immigrant. Otherlast names that are foundin this fairly large, walled grave yardinclude GHEER, MESSERSMITH, andLEVAN. One of thegraves was a JOHANNESLEVAN b. 1798, d. 1882. I don'tbelieve the grave of JOHANNES KEIM theimmigrant has been located. SusanKimes Burgess

The Jacob Keim Farmstead is maintained by the Historic PreservationTrustof Berks County, P.O. Box 245, Douglassville, Pennsylvania 19518,phone #610 385-4762.--------------------------------------------------------------References: TheKeim Family Volume Cs71 K27 OR CS41 K27 from theJefferson Room of The Congressional Library

(John J. Keim Elk Lick, Penn) Page 4 Keim; The remains of JohonnesKeim, the founder, were undoubtedlyinteered by his son Nicholas, inthe private burial plot on the "G_____Farm" at Oley Lane. Thehomestead of the founder was sold in 1895toMoses Everhard (Everhand)who married Susan Keim, daughter of BennevilleKeim. Maria (Marcia) whomarried Charles H______ _____ to Greensburg,Westmoreland County, Penn.After her husband died she returned to the oldhome at Oley, butlaterreturned to Greensburg where she had a sonCharles. Mr. N. W. Keimof Johnstown, Penn. _____ date of December 28, 1899contributes thefollowing valuable and interesting. Details of earlyfamily movementand associations. My grandfather, Nicholas Keim arrivedhere(Johnstown) from Berks Co., Penn before the year 1800. He was agoodfriend of Mr. Johns. The town was laid out in 1801. My greatGrandfather,Peter Keim of Reading bound out all his children after hiswife died andNicholas, his son, my grandfather was trained up by anAmish Minninite.Peter Keim accompanied by his family, his oldest sonNicholas, livingbeen born in Oley Berks Co., Penn on February 2, 1768and his eldest sonJohn was born January 9, 1792. The family settled atElk Lick, in nowSomerset County, about the close of the 18th Century.----------------------------------------------------------------------- Questioning who were the wives of Johannes Keim? From Jeff Reimert<Jeffat Reimert dot org>

Johannes m. (1st) in Germany, in 1706, fourteen days before the feastofSt. Michael's, Katarina MOYER.....I have seen that her surname wasMoyer,but have, also, seen it claimed that he was married to Katarina(orBertha) DeTurk, dau. of Johannes DeTurk and Hester (Esther) Kip(KatarinaDeTurck is apparently the sister of Isaac DeTurck). Have evenseen thathe was married to Katarina Haricourt. Other sources also notethat hisfirst wife died in 1730 or 1731.

From Rootsweb KEIM Mailing List: Leah Kime Pratz in her manuscript"Therecord of the Keim, Kime and Kimes and related families" saysthefollowing: (pages are unnumbered) "He [Johannes Keim] married(first) in Germany in 1706, Katarina Moyer;married (second) January 1,1731 Maria Elizabeth." She is listed asKatarina Moyer at least threetimes in the manuscript. No sources aregiven. [NO SOURCES!!!!!]

From "History of Bettsville and Liberty Twp." (Seneca Co.) by JohnE.Durrett. I'll summarize: In 1698, Johannes Keim (Kime), age 23,leftLandau, Bavaria, Germany, impelled by religious convictions, andlandedin Philadelphia. Johannes and wife, Katrina Moyer, settled inOley, PA,where he died ca. 1753.

Also: "The record states that Johannes had six children by hisfirstwife, Katarina Moyer. The last child being born in 1724. Hemarried asecond wife, Maria Elizabeth, in 1731, and their first childwas born in1732. In between these two dates 1724-1732 is the onlyplace where myancestor, PHILIP, fits. He was born in 1730, but thereis no record thatproves that this is so. However, all researchindicates that he is adescendent of the PA Keims. There is also arecord by Leah Kime Pratz -Annals of the Oley Valley. It is a veryinteresting record of Johannesand his family."

In Keim and Allied Families in America and Europe, an entry fromWilliamMiles Kime (Keim) of Pleasant Lodge, Alamance Co., N.C., datedSeptember1900 Vol. 1,2, Reading, PA - Harrisburg, PA. No. 22.; thereis an articleby Isaac DeTurk (Doc.Hist., N.Y., O'Callaghan, Vol. III,P.551) asfollows: Another entry dated April 29, 1710: A tradition fromtheancients of the family says that Johannes Keim, Founder, marriedBerthaDeTurck. The marriage took place 1706 in Germany before hisreturn toAmerica in 1707. The DeTurcks, of Frankenthal, and the Keimsof Landau,near Speyer, lived in localities not far distant."

The first wife of Johannes Keim is Bertha DeTurck. It is mentioned intheKeim & Allied Families by DeB Randolph in their September 1900issue #22.

Another source written on the family is the book by VanCleave.Heintroduces yet another variation on the name of Johannes's firstwife; Katarine DeTurck (seems to be a combination of Bertha DeTurkandKatarina Moyer) as the wife of Johannes Keim, the Immigrant.

An article about the KEIM family published in the Reading Eagle onMarch12, 1972 shows the first wife as Bertha DeTurck, married in 1706.Thisarticle also states that Johannes married Marie Elizabeth in 1733.----------------------------------------------------------------------- Following taken from the section on DeBenneville Randolph KEIM aswrittenin AMERICAN ANCESTRY, Vol. VIII, publ. 1893.

John of Oley, Phila., Pa., b. in Alsace, Ger., d. in Oley, Pa.,1732,founder of the family of Berks Co., landed in Phila. 1698, joindthe Germantown settlement, moved up the valley and settled in Oley1704,being one of the first settlers in that region, subsequently asettlement of Swiss, French and German emigrant refugees, fromreligiouspersecution in Europe, immediately occupied several tracts ofland whichwere surveyed 1719 and 1740, was on the first list oftaxables ofthissection of Phila. co. (m. 1715, Bertha de Turk of thefamily of Isaac deTurk who landed in N. Y. Sep. 27, 1709,; son ofLudwig Hercourt Keim ofAlsace, Ger.; in the family is preserved aniron bow-gun, inscribedGilbert de Keim who fought in the SwissRebellion under Wm. Tell, andother heirlooms associated with theEuropeon ancestry of the Berks-Keims.

Collaboration

Login to edit this profile and add images.
Private Messages: Send a private message to the Profile Manager. (Best when privacy is an issue.)
Public Comments: Login to post. (Best for messages specifically directed to those editing this profile. Limit 20 per day.)

Comments

Leave a message for others who see this profile.

There are no comments yet.