Selected Families and Individuals

Notes


Albert Alvin BARBER

per sister Hannah's obit: Albert is living in Christie in 1911 and middle initial is'A'


Almanza DEMOUTH

1880 census shows Almanza living and working for the family of Joseph & Frances Barber.


Theodore BOOHER

This person is dead.
son of Henry and Libby Booher


Elsey Jane MCMUNN

This person is dead.

Jane per 1860 census.
1860 and 1870 census give birthplace NY, 1880 says Penn.

Per 2nd marriage doc: daughter of John and Phoebe Mc Munn

Per daughter Helena's marriage record Elsie's last name is Bovlur


Ira B. PAYNE

This person is dead.
son of Edward and Delia Payne


Jennie Lena DEMOUTH

Lena is per Ancestry.com


Albert Peter ZIMMERMAN

From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
Phillip and Ernestine's third child was Albert Peter Zimmerman (1878 Minnesota – 1951 Minnesota).  He married Anna Thompson  and had two children;  Ernestine who never married, and  Phillip who served in the Navy in WWII and spent some time in Iceland.


Myrtle Ernestine ZIMMERMAN

Never married per J. Rose source.


Philip Martin ZIMMERMAN

Philip served in the navy in WWII.  AMM2C US NAVY WORLD WAR II


Edward Walter ZIMMERMAN

From "The Christian Zimmerman Story" by Dianne Z. Stevens 2013:
Phillip and Ernestine's fifth child was Edward Walter Zimmerman (1886 Minnesota – 1953).
He married Theresa Tabor.  Edward went to Northwestern University for one year but it was too expensive and he was homesick so he came home and took over his father's farm, eventually buying it.


Frederick Johann DEMOUTH Temout

Christening was a Confirmation on Easter Sunday in1714.

From Ancestry Family tree of http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/45430914/family?fpid=6362113488
"DRC Hackensack, Hackensack, Bergen Co., NJ
"At Acquackanonk Dutch Church, Fredrick Themont and Scharlotte Miller witnessed the baptism of Jacobus, b. 16 June 1732 s/o Marte Van Dyn and Maria Themont" NOT DATE OF MARRIAGE WITNESS A BAPT."

February 5, 2006

Dear Children,

Tonight I will tell you the story of your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Frederick Demouth. That's grandfather with 7 greats in front of it.

The Frederick Demouth Story
(1697-1766)


Frederick Demouth was born in Darmstadt, Germany in about 1697 to a Huguenot family that had fled persecution in France.  He came to America with his mother, father  and two sisters as members of a group of Palatines when he was about 12 years old. (See his father's story to learn about the  Huguenots and Palatines and opinions about whether or not our Demouths were Huguenots.)  

He married Annatie Charlotte Muller, a single woman from "Hedenborgh" (probably Edinburgh, Scotland) on 14 April 1722, in Geemepogh, which is translated Communipaw.  Communipaw was the first Dutch settlement in North America settled in 1615, even before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth.  It is now part of Jersey City, New Jersey.  

In his will Frederick names four children; sons Adam and Conrood, and daughters Elizabeth and Catherine. Baptismal records have been found for Conrad, baptised at four weeks of age, 6 March 1733/34 on the Eulenkill, which is right near the present location of Boonton, and sponsored by his grandparents, Jacob and Elisabeth Demuth; and also for Elisabetha who was born 29 October 1735 and baptised on the Eulenkill and sponsored by her Aunt and Uncle, Pieter and Anna Dorothea Friederich. Records of the other two children come to us from Frederick's will. Was the Eulenkill a river? I don't know. But I did find an old map, a map of where the Palatines had settled.  It had Eulenkill on it and under the word in parenthesis it said Hanover, and it was right about where Boonton is today.

Frederick was the first European settler in the Rockaway Valley.  There was a lot of seemingly empty land there, and Frederick both bought and was granted huge tracts of land. One tract was the 655 acres of Rockaway Valley purchased from Thomas and Richard Penn, sons of William Penn in 1758.  On this tract he established his home and farm.
William Penn is a famous Quaker. He was given the colony of Pennsylvannia in 1681 as payment for a debt that King Charles owed to William's father.  Penn used the opportunity to establish  a democratic system with freedom of religion, fair trials, elected representatives,  and separation of powers. He bought land from the Indians and  treated them with respect and fairness.  Many of his ideas  later formed the basis of the American constitution. William Penn was also granted a large tract of land in New Jersey, by the Duke of York in 1680. When he died in 1618, this parcel passed to his sons Thomas and Richard who sold a huge chunk, 655 acres, to our ancestor, Frederick Demouth.
You may wonder how Frederick came to have so much money to buy all that land. Remember the Huguenots?  They tended to be the wealthier members of French society, so it may be that Frederick's father, Jacob, was not a poor man and was able to preserve his wealth between the time he left France and the time he sailed for America with the Palatines. Frederick as the only son probably inherited the bulk of his father's estate, though no will has been found for Jacob.  Another point to remember is land was cheap then. It could be bought for shillings an acre, which would mean less than a dollar per acre.
Here are a couple of his other land acquisitions: In 1748 Frederick was one of a group of four men who were granted 422 acres along Rockaway River. In 1750 Frederick bought 614 acres in Rockaway Valley near Boonton.
The Boonton official website lists Frederick Demouth as the first resident and says he was of French Huguenot extraction and that his Rockaway plantation on land he bought from the Penns was at that time part of Pequannock. In her History of the Demouths, Lois Wells Wilson described an "Abner"  Demouth thusly:
"The earliest De Muths came over before the Huguenot troubles in France, colonized the Bergen, N.J. area and had large landholdings dating from 1624 in and near Boonton, N.J. The De Mott Hill and Cemetery there still exist. They say that Abner De Mouth lived like a feudal lord; he had 7000 acres of land, had his own brewery and his own blacksmith shop, all on his own place."
We know that Frederick Demouth was the first settler in the valley where Boonton now is. So if Mrs. Wilson is right about the place she must be talking about either Frederick or his son Adam.  And they're our Demouths that are buried in the Demouth Cemetery. They owned a lot of land, but nowhere near 7000 acres. I believe she was speaking of Adam.  Frederick spent his life amassing the family fortune and Adam inherited it, enjoyed it, and in turn passed it on to his son, Jacob.(Refer to the stories of Adam Demouth and Jacob Demouth (b. 1763).)

Did you notice that Mrs. Wilson spelled Demouth without the "o"? And notice below that it's not even spelled with a "D".  Read what Mrs. Wilson says about the spelling of Demouth in Frederick's father's story.

We know Frederick was a responsible member of his community.   We can see this fact in his being chosen and in his willingness to serve as  tax collector for Pequannock in 1743, 1753 and 1754.

This is a summary of his will:"1763, Feb.5 Temout Frederick, of Pequannock, Morris Co., yeoman: will to  Wife, Charlotte, use of my real and personal while my widow. Sons, Adam and Conrood, my plantation where I dwell, of 600 acres, and also land by Rockaway River, of 50 acres, and all other lands, except  4 lots at New Foundland.  When son, Conrood, shall get married, he is to have a setout, equal to his brother and sisters. Daughters, Elizabeth and Catharine, 4 lots at New Foundland.  Executors - my two sons, Adam and Conrood.  Witnesses - John Van Winkle, Frederick Miller, Ezekiel Cheever.  Proved Sept. 8, 1766"

In his will Frederick names four children; sons Adam and Conrood, and daughters Elizabeth and Catherine.  You may be wondering what became of Frederick's children. I can find no further record of Conrood after this mention in his father's will.  It is believed that one of the two daughters, Elizabeth or Catherine, married Peter Snyder and inherited the property at Newfoundland where the house, celebrated in the Rockaway Township Bicentennial quilt, is located,  the house where they burned the eight foot logs. Is this the same house that Frederick's grandson, Jacob inherited and raised his nine children in?  I'm not at all sure about the answer to that - more about that house when we get to Jacob.

So this is our ancestor Frederick Demouth.  He was born of a (perhaps) Huguenot family in Germany and with his parents and sisters endured a harrowing journey to America with the Palatines. During his adult years he amassed a huge estate, acquiring many hundreds of acres of land, building a home and farm that he passed on to his children.  He also served as a leader of his community. We can be very proud of our forefather, Frederick Demouth.

Here's how we're related to Frederick:  Frederick Demouth had Adam Demouth, Adam had Jacob Demouth, Jacob had John Demouth, John had Jacob Demouth, Jacob had Samuel De Mouth, Samuel had Thelma De Mouth, Thelma had Dianne Zimmerman, Dianne had Dawne Stevens, Dawne had . . . Sarah, Hannah, Timmy, and Becky!   So Hooray for Frederick Demouth!


Annatie Charlotte Eleanora Miller MULLER

The place of birth indicated by Jones may be a phonetic version of Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Ancestry Family Tree of http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/45430914/family?fpid=6362113488
calls this person Anna and gives birth date of 1703, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany


Conrood DEMOUTH

This person is dead.

Sponsors at baptism were Jacob and Elisabeth Demuth. (HJ)

I can find no further record of Conrood after his mention in his father's will.


Adam MILLER

This person is dead.

Buried at the Demouth Cemetery are Aaron Miller d. 1828 age 64
     his wife Jane d. 1849, age 84
Frederick Miller - d. 1816, age 88

From: Millers IN 1833 WILL, Acct of FAMILY - Ancestry.com
3. Adam5 Miller (Jacob4, Johannes Adam3, Johan Adam Mueller (Muller/2 Miller), Johann Conrad Mueller (Muller/1) was born Abt. 1767 in Pequannock Twp., Morris Co., NJ, and died in probably Ohio. He married Anna Demouth Bef. 1792, daughter of Adam Demouth and Charlotte Husk.

Children of Adam Miller and Anna Demouth are:
14 i. John6 Miller, born Abt. 1792 in Morris Co., NJ. He married Mary Jane Wolf; born Abt. 1800.
15 ii. Alexis Miller, born 07 Jul 1806 in Morris Co., NJ; died 23 Jul 1872 in Avon, Lorain County, Ohio.
16 iii. Keturah Miller, born 13 Jul 1794 in Morris Co., NJ; died 1879 in Ohio.


Anna DEMOUTH

This person is dead.

There is a document, dated 10 April 1790, releasing Adam's estate to his two children, Jacob, and Anna who had married Adam Miller. They had worked out an agreement between themselves and Jacob ended up paying Anna 5 shillings to make it even. Jacob became the owner of the 512 acre homestead farm. I wonder what Anna got.


Jacob DEMOUTH-THEMOUT

Adkins familytree posted on Ancestry.com lists Jacob's death as 1736 in Rockaway Valley, Morris, NJ.  I do not know what her source is for this info.

Some place Hoogwyzel in Holland. All the people I've known whose names begin 'Hoo' have been of Durch origin.

January 31, 2006

Dear Children,

Tonight I want to tell you about the first Demouth ancestor that we know anything about.  He was

Jacob Demouth
(16xx - 17xx)

Our immigrant DeMouth ancestor was Jacob who came to America in about 1710. I have discovered there are several very different ideas about Jacob's background.Many sources say Jacob was a French Huguenot. The Huguenots were French Protestants, members of the reformed church founded by John Calvin in the year 1550. France was a very Catholic country. Since Huguenots did not believe they needed the church to intercede between the individual Christian and God, the Catholic church did not like Huguenots and therefore the government of France did not like them.  For the next almost 50 years the French Wars of Religion ensued in which many Huguenots lost their lives. Then a remarkable thing happened. King Henry IV decided France had had quite enough of the Wars of Religion and the Huguenots could live peacefully and practice their religion in 20 specific French towns.  His Proclamation, called the Edict of Nantes,  lasted for 87 years. Though there were many violations of the Edict, life was more peaceful for the Huguenots than it was before the Edict or than it was after 1685 when  King Louis XIV declared an end to the Edict of Nantes. What happened next was called, "The Reign of Terror." Huguenot homes and churches were burned and many of the people were killed or tortured or sold into slavery. Those who were able fled the country. If the Demouths were originally French Huguenots, they escaped from the reign of Terror and fled to Germany.

There is another story that the Demouths came from Holland. Lois Wells Wilson has our Demouths coming from France to Holland. Here is her version:
"Three De Mott brothers and other members of their family escaped from Brittany (that's part of France) and fled to Holland. They waited there ten years for any of their retainers who might wish to accompany them to the New World and who might find ways to escape from France to join them. One of the brothers received a large land grant from Holland to property up beyond Boonton in New Jersey."
We should consider this information because it was said to have come from Thomas Demouth (b.1804) a descendant who had lived his whole life in the area, even in the same house, as our immigrant forefather Jacob. May Sommers in her Demouth history also says they came from Holland.

Mr. George DeMuth has studied the history of the name "DeMuth," of which Demouth is thought to be a variation.  He believes the name is definitely German and has a religious souce. The word Demuth in German means humility, an uncomfortable virtue in German culture. He connects the name backwards through history to the Waldensians in the Rhine Valley who were attracted to the teachings of Jan Huss, 1409. Huss tried to take church teachings back to their Biblical roots by emphasizing simple living and humility. Demuth as a name simply means "the humble one." Mr. DeMuth also says these folks who followed this religion lived mainly in the Rhine Valley along the border with France and that there were intermarriages with Huguenots. You can read more of Mr. DeMuth's interesting ideas in the sources that come after this story.

What we know from early records is that Jacob's son Frederick was born in Darmstadt, Germany  in about 1697. And there is a  record of a marriage between Jacob and Barbara Thewalt in 1736 saying Jacob was a widower from Hooghwysel, Darmstadt, Germany. Darmstadt is a city in Germany in the Rhine Valley.  Hooghwysel I have looked and looked for.  There is a village about 25 miles north of Darmstadt called Hoch Weisel. I think Hoch Weisel and Hooghwysel may be one and the same. We know our Demouths came over with the Palatines who were from the Rhine River Valley in Germany.
So while we know they lived for a time in or near Darmstadt,  we should also keep our minds open to the possibility that they lived for a time in Holland and that they may, or may not, have been Huguenots. Some future researcher will be able to untangle this more fully than I have been able to.

Because of Mr. Henry Z. Jones Jr's research we know that Jacob and his family came to America in 1709 or 1710 with a group of people called the Palatines. So now I'm going to tell you a little bit about the Palatines.

Darmstadt is in an area of Germany near the Rhine River that was known as the Palatinate. It is a very beautiful and fertile area that was fought over for centuries by the Germans and French and even Dutch, English, and Spanish. During the 1600's the Palatine people endured terrible hardships and oppression brought on by religious and political wars. Even the weather turned against the people. In 1708-09 the winter was so cold birds were said to freeze on the wing. This was the final straw for the Palatines. Queen Anne in England agreed that any Palatines that traveled down the Rhine River (which would be north) to Rotterdam, (that's a city in Holland,) would be transported to England.  And come they did, by the thousands!  And Jacob Demouth and his small family were among them. Once in England they were herded into old wharehouses where they starved and waited for the authorities to decide what to do with them.  They were given bread but never enough. Finally in December 1709 or January 1710 Jacob and his family boarded a boat for New York. On the boats conditions were even worse. There was a convoy of ten ships carrying 2,814 Palatines. There were rats, wormy food, dirty water, and poor sanitation.  Many became ill with Typhoid Fever and other illnesses. 446 people died during the voyage and 250 more died soon after their arrival.

But Jacob and his wife Elizabetha, and three children, Johann Frederich, Anna Dorothea, and Anna Maria, survived.  

Governor Hunter of New York purchased 6000 acres along the Hudson River for the Palatines. Our Demouths settled in a part called West Camp on the west bank of the Hudson River.  Rachel Meyer in an article on Rootsweb called Who were the Palatines? describes the daily life of our Demouths in the camp.
"The settlers built rough huts and cabins to stave off the winter months. . . Cooking was done in large outside community stone ovens. House furniture, tables and chairs were carved out of the forest timber. The assignment to each family of such a small plot of ground (7 acres) seemed like an insult to these men who had been among the best farmers in Europe."
We don't know how long Jacob and his family stayed in the camp.  We do know they were there in July 1710, and 1711.  If you look at a map of New York and New Jersey you will see the west bank of the Hudson down near New York City is already in New Jersey. There are several references to Jacob in New Jersey.  (See Jones.)  By 1731 there is a record of Jacob in Eulenkill which was the early name of an area right near Boonton.  There is also a  record of Jacob Demuth and wife Elisabeth being sponsors for the child Conrad, son of Frederick b. Darmstadt, on 6 Mar 1733/34. Conrad is named as an heir in the will of our Frederick.

These records point up one of the problems of genealogy.  Lois Wells Wilson described the problem thus: "It was necessary to search for information on these ancestors under such spellings as De Muth, Demont, De Mont, Dumont, Demit, Demet, Demott, De Mott, De Met, Demun, Demund, Demut, De Mutt, Dumon, Dumond, Dumot, Du Mott, Du Mond, De Muthe, and De Mouth. In France the name was often written 'de Mathe.'"  In America the name was also written Dimouth, Zeymout, Tymouth, Temont, and Themoth to name a few. I think Alex Fowler described the reason behind all these spellings when he wrote, "You will appreciate that the spelling of 'Temout' for Demouth is probably the English phonetics of the Dutch pronunciation of the French name."  Besides, folks weren't so particular about spelling back then.  If you could write at all you were thought to be an educated person.  That our Jacob was in that category is supported by Mr. Fowler's observation of a land deed, "Jacob signed his name but Elizabeth made her mark."

About 1730 Jacob built the old stone house.  This is how Lois Wells tells it.
"In 1730 Jacob built a sturdy house of stone for his family not far from New Foundland near the site of the old Clinton Reservoir. . . The old stone house was occupied for a time by a De Mouth daughter whose husband, Peter Snyder, built an addition to the house and a new entry way. Above the door he set a triangular stone with the Mysterious-looking inscription P.X.S. 1773, (thought to mean built by Peter Snyder in 1773).  It was occupied by our direct ancestors for five generations. The last to live there before it was destroyed was Margaret De Mouth who married Theodore Denman in 1854. Her daughter, Suzanne Denman, as a very young woman, went to visit the site and got the above information from the man who occupied the next farm, Thomas De Mouth."

Suzanne wrote a poem about the house.  Here it is:

THE OLD HOUSE AND STONEY BROOK BRIDGE

I will sing you a song about Stoney Brook Bridge And the rivulet running below;
There my dear mother played when a child on the ridge,
Or basked in the warm evening glow:
Great Grandmother had a stone house at the place
That is now called the old Reservoir,
While in Rockaway Vale lay the first of our race,
Who had come to the spot long before.

There was Abner De Mouth with his mill and his shop
On his seven thousand acres of land,
Who invited the ministers always to stop
When they preached to the small zealous band;
There were other historical spots I have seen,
As I traveled the vale, ridge to ridge,
But the place that I love beyond others, I ween,
Are the Old Home and Stoney Brook Bridge.

Old Stone House on the Hill, where my mother was born,
And her own mother played when a child,
Where the golden rod blew in the glorious morn,
And love was a thing undefiled,
Thou art sacred to me and enshrined in my soul,
And my plea ever is to be true,
To the prayers that went up to the heavenly goal
From the hearts that were sheltered by you!

Susan Denman Vincett

I think Susan may have been a little confused about Abner and the 7000 acres. Jacob had a grandson, Adam, who may have lived there and was a quite wealthy man. But I believe his estate was more like 600 acres than 7000.  Another description of the old stone house came from a site describing the Rockaway Township Bicentennial Quilt which included the house on one square.  (web address:  www.gti.net/rocktwp/5throw.html)
"The kitchen and dining rooms which were located in the cellar of the Stone Cottage had a fireplace with a capacity for burning eight-feet long logs, two other fireplaces were on the first floor and the walls of the building were two feet thick. "

Percy Crayon as well tells about the old stone house and a famous relic.
          "This family was in the possession of . . .an old relic, a razor hone of petrified wood which came over with the family, and had traditionally been preserved in the family a long time during their residence in France. Several other relics were well preserved and of great antiquity."

We don't know when Jacob died.  No record of a will has been found.  But he left his estate to his son Frederick, whose story will be next.

What of Anna Dorothea and Anna Maria?  Anna Maria married Martin Van Duyne in 1728. I have been in contact with one of her descendants, Cheryl Hahn.  Anna Dorothea married Johann Peter Friederich. Anna Dorothea and Peter Friederich (It was normal in German families to give children two names and call them by the 2nd. Score one for the possible German heritage.) were sponsors for Johann Frederick's (call him Frederick) daughter Elisabetha when she was baptised on 29 Oct 1735.   Our line continues with our ancestor,  Frederick Demouth.

So this is the story of our immigrant Demouth ancestor, Jacob. He may have endured the suffering of the Huguenots and fled to Germany.  He went from there to Holland and then to England.  He came to America with the Palatines and endured all their troubles, including a horrible voyage. We know he was a somewhat educated man because he could write his name at a time when few could.  He was able to preserve some wealth through all his struggles or else he was exceedingly hard working and resourceful after he arrived in America, or maybe both. After a very long journey that stretched at least from Germany to Holland to England to America, he finally found his home. In Morris County, New Jersey he built a beautiful estate which he left to his son. We can be very proud of our immigrant ancestor Jacob Demouth.

Here's how we are related to Jacob. Jacob had Johann Frederick Demouth, Frederick had Adam Demouth, Adam had Jacob Demouth, Jacob had John Demouth, John had Jacob Demouth, Jacob had Samuel De Mouth, Samuel had Thelma De Mouth, Thelma had Dianne Zimmerman, Dianne had Dawne Stevens, Dawne had . . . Sarah, Hannah, Timmy, and Becky Pamplin!  And that's how you are related to the Huguenots and the Palatines!

Love, Granny


From Millers IN 1833 WILL, Acct of FAMILY; Ancestry.com
NOTES: The Beginning of the Mass Migration of Palatines

England needed new colonists for their “New Kingdom” in America. The Palatines had heard about this wonderful land across the sea. About Spring of 1709, the families began to sail down the Rhine to Rotterdam. The trip took 6 weeks. From April to October 1709 at least 13,500 were transported across the English Channel from Holland to England at the expense of the British government. The name of most of the Ramapo (Ramapough) group appeared on the shipping list for July.

In December 1709, they boarded the ships and started along the coast of England but anchored several months and it was 10 April 1710 before they started across the ocean. There were 30 births at sea. The first ship arrived in NY in the middle of June. By July, 446 children and adults had died.

Three of those ships that arrived in June were the “Lyon” (?) and the “Lion of Leath” on 13 June 1710 and the “Lowestoffee” on 14 June 1710.

New York didn’t like the fact of all these people in poor health arriving in NY, so they were camped out on Governor’s Island. A change in government in London cut off support for the Palatines and on 12 September 1712, Governor Hunter told them they were on their on.

Some stayed on, but others moved north to Schoharie Co., NY, some went to PA and some went south to Raritan, Somerset Co., NJ. A group of about a dozen men moved their families to Ramapough (Ramapo). On 18 April 1713 this small group of German Lutheran Palatine men with their families and meager possessions arrived at Ramapo (now Mahwah, Bergen Co., NJ) Among the families, was Johan Adam Mueller (Muller/ Miller) and his wife, Anna Mary (Maria) Drauth and his children.


Anna Elizabetha FEBERS

This person is dead.


Jirah DEMOUTH

per Wells source: "On the tablet which marks his place of burial are these words: 'Mark the perfect man,  Behold the upright,  For the end of that man is peace."'

She says p. 90, "Jirah and Malinda lived at Taylortown until they moved to the family homestead by the reservoir.


Catherine Malinda KAYHART

Lonnie adds the name Catherine to this person.

Per Demouth Cemetery list A (from Lonnie) Malinda lived 38 years and 8 days.

Per Wells source: These words are inscribed on her grave, "Farewell, dear children, to this world, where you must yet remain; The Lord of Hosts be your defense 'til we do meet again."  When Malinda died she left her husband with 8 children.


Charles DEMOUTH

per Wells:  Charles died unmarried. Her served in the Civil War and died of Scarlet Fever in a St. Louis hospital at age 19.