Johannes Christopher Sprecher (abt. 1699 - abt. 1767)

Born about 7 Jul 1699 in Sulzfeld, Baden, Germany

Ancestors

Husband of Maria Ernestine (Beck) Sprecher — married 20 Apr 1728 in Sulzfeld, Baden, Germany

Descendants

Died about 1767 at about age 67 in Abbotts Creek, Rowan County, North Carolina

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Biography

Christopher Sprecher was born in 1699 in Germany. The date, 7 July 1699, is probably a baptism date.

He married Maria Ernestina Beck in Germany in 1728. They had 2 daughters born in Germany before arriving in Philadelphia in 1732 on board the ship, Pleasant. All of the records known prior to about 1761 center around the area of today's Berks and Lehigh Counties, Pennsylvania. Christopher was most likely a blacksmith by trade and may not have been a landowner - not a single land record is known. But the records do support a residence in Lynn Township in then Northampton Co. by the 1750's. A citizen's petition from 1757 in Northampton Co. suggests that Christopher's residence was within 4 miles of Fort Franklin, which was located along today's Route 309 in the SE corner of Schuylkill Co., PA. That is about 4 miles north of Lynn Township in Northampton Co. and probably places Christopher somewhere around the town of New Tripoli, PA.

However, it is important to recognize that during Christopher's early years in Pennsylvania, this area was still largely wilderness. Many of the records we have come from those of Lutheran congregations in the area. There were very few established churches at the time and itinerant ministers traveled widely to provide religious services. Among these records is one indicating Christopher was in "Schifenthill" in 1733. Extensive searches revealed that was more likely the name of a congregation centered around the area of the Oley Hills east of Reading and maybe 20 miles south of Lynn Township. Congregants apparently traveled several miles for important events or holidays. And that probably explains the many different locations for Christopher postulated previously.

Christopher's wife probably died c1755 and sometime around 1761, and probably before October 1761, Christopher and at least two of his sons, George and Christopher, moved to Rowan Co., NC, settling in the Abbott’s Creek area near today’s Lexington, NC. The Abbott’s Creek area is a tributary of the Yadkin River, and is in Davidson Co. today. The Abbott’s Creek area was a growing community of mostly families of German descent, beginning after 1745. According to Centennial History of Davidson Co. by Jacob Calvin Leonard (1927), early settlers of this area were Jacob Hege and sons George and Henry, Peter Spengler, Valentine Leonard and his brother Peter, Henry Shoof (Shoaf), Jacob Berrier, Philip Sauer (Sowers), Christopher Sprecher and son George Sprecher, Adam and Peter Hedrick, Peter Myer (Meyers), Adam Conrad, Jacob Byerly, and George Clodfelter. George Sprecher did purchase 320 acres of land on Abbott's Creek in 1763 and that land was probably the home for the entire Sprecher clan, at least for a few years.

Christopher was granted an exemption from taxation in 1767 in Rowan Co. He would have been around 68 years old at the time. This is the last record known for him.

Sources

• Marriage: "Baden and Hesse Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985"
  Ancestry Record 61060 #8247502 (accessed 1 February 2022)
  Johann Christoff Sprecher marriage to Maria Ernestina Becken on 20 Apr 1728 in Sulzfeld, Baden (Baden-Württemberg), Preußen.

• Canfield, Clifford R., My German (Swiss) Ancestors IV (Sprecher/Spraker and Allied Families). Hemet, California: 1993. Page 3. Mr. Canfield's information was gleaned from the church records of the congregations with which the Sprechers were connected.

• Baptism: "Baden and Hesse Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985"
  Ancestry Record 61060 #8251554 (accessed 1 February 2022)
  Johannes Spercher baptism on 25 Jun 1696 (born 24 Jun 1696), child of Hanß Jacob & Barbara, in Sulzfeld, Preußen, Baden.

• Church Records, Sulzfeld, recorded Canfield, Clifford R. My German (Swiss) Ancestors. Hemet, California: 1993, pg 2.

• Minutes of the Provincial Council, printed in Colonial Records, Volume III, p. 465; 11 October 1732, Arrival of the ship Pleasant from Rotterdam, Capt. James Morris, Passengers included: Christofour Spraher (sick), 33. Note: Wives and children were not recorded on the passenger list.

• Records of Reverend John Casper Stoever, Baptisms and Marriages, 1730-1779, by Franklin Jakob Fogel Schantz (1836-1907), FHL Film 7856844, Image 579, p. 6, (Baptisms); John Christoph Sprecher (Schifenthill); [Son] John George Sprecher, b. Sept. 8, 1733, bapt. Sept. 30, 1733; Sponsors John Joseph Becker, Johannes Kepner and Elizabeth Kaercherin.

• Matricul of the Augustus Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of New Providence, Pennsylvania, usually called the Old Trappe Church, by Julius Friedrich Sachse, published by the Pennsylvania German Society, Vol. I, 1896 (Google Book), p. 22; [Baptisms by Rev. Johann Eneberg or Rev. Gabriel Falk]; Johann Jacob Sprecher, s. Christoph and Ernestina, b. 27 December 1735, bap. 11 April 1736; sp. Catharina Schweitzerin, Catherina Schmidttin.

• Baptisms by the Rev. Daniel Schumaker, Pastor of the Lutheran Congregation in Berks, Lehigh and Northampton, Pennsylvania, 1754-1774, p. 14 (FHIL Film 7894582, Image 86); 25 May 1755, Langenberger, Joh. Juerg – S. Casper L. and Madln – Allemaengel (?), Child 8 weeks old; Sp. Juerg Sprecher and Mar. Ernestina.

• Northampton County, Pennsylvania Misc. Manuscript Records, 1727-1851, Cash Book, p. 15 (FHL Film 4035645, Image 252); 7 September 1756, To Paid, Stoffel Spracer per Order, 1.0.0.

• Pennsylvania Archives, Volume 3, p. 151; published 1853 (Google Book); 4 May 1757, Christopher Sprecher and George Sprecher were among 41 signatures on a citizen petition from Lynn Township, Northampton Co., PA. The petition requested retention of Fort Franklin which had been recently abandoned. Petitioners were all said to live within 4 miles of the Fort. At this time the French and Indian War was getting started. The Indians, who had been staying north of the Blue Mountains, now began to harass settlers on both sides of the mountains

• Baptisms by the Rev. Daniel Schumaker, Pastor of the Lutheran Congregation in Berks, Lehigh and Northampton, Pennsylvania, 1754-1774, p. 38 (FHIL Film 7894582, Image 99); 24 May 1757, Schily, Jurg – Jurg Leonhard S. and Eva – Allemaengel; child 4 weeks old; Sp. Christopher Sprecher and Mar. Anna Christ.

• Rowan County, North Carolina, Miscellaneous Records kept by the Register of Deeds (FHL Film 7527197, Image 222); A List of Taxables Sumonsed by Arthur Oneale, 20 October 1761; Christopher Secker. Note: Same list includes others with probable connections to the Sprechers: Jacob Ricker, Jacob Sink, Jacob Waggoner and Michael Worley.

• Rowan County, North Carolina Minutes, Court of Pleas and Quarter Session, 1755-1767, p. 710 (FHL Film 7640158, Image 410; 15 July 1767, Ordered that Christopher Spreacher be recommended &c [like the man listed previously] to the General Assembly to be exempted from paying his Public Dues & Other Public Service setting forth his Poverty & Age &c.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/95725253/johan-christophr-spracher: accessed 28 December 2022), memorial page for Johan Christophr Spracher (7 Jul 1699–1767), Find a Grave Memorial ID 95725253; Burial Details Unknown; Maintained by FYost (contributor 47463380).