Re: Johannes Werbel Relation
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In reply to:
Johannes Werbel Relation
Grant Warble 11/11/08
Hi,
Lots of info on this family - I'll paste a bit of something I wrote years ago...
"II. Johannes Wirbel (c1707 – c1780?)
Immigration
This Johannes Wirbel came to Philadelphia on the ship Loyal Judith, which was qualified Nov. 25, 1740. His age on the Captain’s manifest was given as 33, so his birth year can be estimated to be 1707. Unfortunately, only adult males were included on this list. However, we know at least his young son Johannes came with him, and was almost assuredly accompanied by his wife Maria Elisabeth and his young daughter Catharina.
Linking Johannes to the Gensingen Wirbels
There are several reasons to believe that this Johannes who immigrated in 1740 came from Gensingen. Here’s a quick summary:
1. Johannes (Gensingen) had a son Johannes Jr. bap Jul 13, 1738 – Johannes (Loyal Judith) also had a son Johannes Jr. born 1738.
2. Johannes (Gensingen) married Maria Elizabetha Jan 18, 1728 and named his first daughter Anna Margaretha – Johannes Jr. (Loyal Judith) later named his first daughter Maria Elizabetha, and second daughter Anna Margaretha
3. This marriage date of 1728 is consistent with a birth year c1707
4. The male names Johannes, Philipp, and Christopher are shared by both families
5. Timing – Johannes and his young family left Gensingen shortly after 1738 (no more mention of him or his children)
Johannes’ Palatine Ancestry
Unfortunately the fact that the Gensingen records from 1689-1720 are missing makes it difficult to establish Johannes’ parents with certainty. We know from his 1728 marriage record that his father’s name was Johannes, but there were two Johannes Wirbel’s around Gensingen that were having children back then, and he could have been the son of either one of them. However, that same 1728 marriage record says that he was son of Johannes Wirbel “the elder”. This then would probably be Johannes[1] (born c1656), son of Henrich Wirbel (born c1624).
In summary:
1. Gen 1. Hans Henrich, b: c1624, buried May 1, 1674 in Gensingen; m: Elisabeth
2. Gen 2. Johannes [1], b: c1656, d: 1725; m(1): Jan 9, 1683 to Clara Agnes Leimbacher; m(2): Sep 28, 1685 to Anna Gertraudt Seligmuller
3. Gen 3. Johannes [3], b: c1707, d: 1763-1780 at Frederick County, MD; m: Jan 18, 1728 to Maria Elisabeth Siebert, immigrated 1740 Loyal Judith
Children of Johannes
Baptisms of the following children of Johannes and Maria Elisabeth are found in the Gensingen Lutheran Church records (except for Philip who was born after they came to America, his birth date is taken from his gravestone).
1. Johannes (twin); b: Jan 21, 1729; must have died young
2. Johan Wendel (twin); b: Jan 21, 1729; d: Sep 19, 1731; buried at Gensingen
3. Anna Margaretha, b: Jun 22, 1732; d: Jan 4, 1736; buried at Gensingen
4. Maria Catharina, b: Jan 30, 1735, m: Christian Thomer/Domer
5. Johannes, b: Jul 13, 1738; d: 1809 at Washington County, MD; m(1): Maria Salome, m(2): Sarah?
6. Philip, b: May 1, 1746; d: Jan 22, 1823; buried at Krider Church, Carroll Co., MD
Johannes at Germantown
For a long while we had wondered what Johannes was doing between the time he arrived in 1740 and the mid-1750’s when he first shows up in the Maryland records. Recently, a set of records have turned up which demonstrate pretty conclusively that this Wirbel family stayed for a least a few years by Germantown, the hub of early German settlement. Johannes and his children, as well as others later associated with this Wirbel line in MD, are referenced several times in the records of St. Michael’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germantown.
First, Johannes Werbel and his daughter Maria Catharina Werbelin were noted as communicants on Sep 8, 1751. We know from the Gensingen records that Johannes had a daughter named Maria Catharine, and she would have been 16 in 1751. Next, Johannes and Anna Catharina as well as Johannes’ wife Maria Elisabetha were noted Apr 12, 1752. Again, we know from the Gensingen records that Johannes’ wife was named Maria Elisabetha (Seibert). Also,
Johannes Werbel (Jr.) was confirmed there Mar 20, 1755, the year Johannes’ son Johannes turned 16. Finally, a Johannes Werbel (Jr. or Sr.?) sponsored the baptism of a Johannes Thomer (son of Christian Thomer and Maria Catharina)there in 1755. No more Werbel records are found here after 1755, as the family moved out into western Maryland.
The link between this Werbel family and the Werbel (in one instance spelled “Virvill”) family in MD discussed below can be convincingly demonstrated due to their association with the Thomer/Domer family that moved with them. The evidence from both PA and MD strongly suggests that Christian Thomer, father of the Johannes Thomer whose 1755 baptism in MD was sponsored by Johannes Werbel, married Johannes’ daughter Maria Catharina Werbelin
Johannes and family settle in Frederick County, Maryland
The earliest record of this family in Maryland yet found is an entry on Jul 5, 1757 in the Frederick County land records (Liber F, p. 292) which states that “John Virvill” took up a stray mare. Johannes was naturalized on Sep 10, 1760, and received his first land warrant the same day for 31 ½ acres. He obtained a second warrant on Feb 7, 1761 for an additional 22 ½ acres, and ten days later received a patent for the combined 54 acre tract which was named “John’s Luck”. This land was located about 1 ½ miles north of Krider’s (St. Benjamin’s) Church in the Pipe Creek area, just north of Westminster in what’s now Carroll County. A list of members of Krider’s Church from around 1763 (the year of the dedication of the new church) names both Johannes “Werbel” and his son Johannes Jr.
It’s not clear exactly when Johannes Sr. died. It was certainly after 1763, and could have been as late as c1780. On Aug 14, 1779, a Johannes Werble purchased an additional 6 acres adjacent to John’s Luck, but it’s not clear if this was Johannes Sr. or Johannes Jr. However, just two years later on Oct 8, 1781 Johannes Jr. (wife Salome named) sold all of this land and moved further west to Washington County, MD. It seems possible that the death of Johannes Sr. may have precipitated Johannes Jr.’s selling the land and taking up further a little further west. Johannes’ brother Philip remained in the area, where he was buried in 1823 and where the baptisms of his children are recorded.
More information
Much of the above information about Johannes and his family in Maryland was taken from “Johannes Werbel and his Descendents: The Warvel-Warble Family History 1740-1991” by Ralph Morton and John (Jack) Warvel ([email protected]). Jack has agreed to let me put up some other supplemental materials that he has put together that will be of interest to others researching this line:
1. Johannes’ son Johannes (Family Group Sheet)
2. Johannes’ son Philip (Family Group Sheet)
3. Selected Records of Krider’s Church, Frederick/Carroll County, MD