PARENTS: Married 10/25/1707
1678-1761 Fenstermacher, Johann M Sr *
1689-1759 Ruppenthal, Anna Catharina *

∼Age @89y *

PARENTS: Married 10/25/1707
1678-1761 Fenstermacher, Johann M Sr *
1689-1759 Ruppenthal, Anna Catharina *

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BAPTISM/CHRISTENING:

"Germany, Births & Baptisms,
1558-1898"
name: Johann Jacob Fenstermacher
gender: Male
baptism/christening date: 21 May 1709
baptism/christening place: Evangelisch-Lutherische, Baumholder, Rheinland, Prussia
father's name: Matheis Fenstermacher
mother's name: Annae Catharinae
indexing project (batch) #: C99411-1
system origin: Germany-ODM
source film number: 493257

(https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NPKM-V8C)

Johann Jacob Fenstermacher Sr
BAPTIZED: 5/8/1774
Records of Lowhill Reformed Congregation,
Lowhill Twp, Northampton, PA, 1769-1881

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MARRIAGE: 04/20/1736 - Age @27
1719-1790 Schweig, Anna Margaretta

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CHILDREN: Fenstermacher
1) 1740-1801 Anna Maria Barbara *
2) 1740-1801 Wilhelm Johannes (William) *
3) 1748-1829 Christian
4) 1749-____ Jacob Jr *
5) 1750-1806 Joseph
6) 1753-____ Anna Barbara
7) 1758-1840 Andrew *
8) 1760-1815 Johannes Jacob
9) 1764-1842 Davalt

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IMMIGRATION: 09/09/1738 - Age 29
Ship: "Glasgow"
Philadelphia, Montgomery, PA, USA

Passenger & Immigration List Index,
1500s-1900s. Pg 8 & 116.

Passenger List #53 Glasgow:
1) Self:. Fenstermacher, Matheis
2) Wife: Fenstermacher, Anna Catharina
3) Son: Fenstermacher, Johann JAKOB (Sr)
4) Dau:. Fenstermacher, Maria Margred
5) Son:. Fenstermacher, Johann Wilhelm
6) Dau:. Fenstermacher, Anna Maria
7) Dau:. Fenstermacher, Maria Catharina

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
1738 Ship "Glasgow":

SHIP'S LIST #:
13) Finstermacher, Mathias
14) Finstermacher, Wm.
63) Finstermacher, Jacob

OATH OF ALLEGIANCE #:
25) Finstermacher, Wm. (Unsigned)
29) Finstermacher, Jacob
60) Finstermacher, Mathias

OATH OF ABJURATION
Finstermacher, Mathias
Fenstermacher, Wilhelm
Finstermacher, Jacob

Brother: Fenstermacher, Philip (at age 20)
preceded the others by arriving at Philadelphia, PA. Aug. 30, 1737 aboard the ship "Samuel".

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My date source is:
"U.S., Sons of the American Revolution
Membership Applications."

FENSTERMACHER, JACOB SR

DAR Revolutionary Patriot:
Ancestor #: A039056

Service: PENNSYLVANIA
Rank: PATRIOTIC SERVICE
Birth: 1709 GERMANY
Death: P 1790 BERKS CO PENNSYLVANIA
Service Description:

1) SIGNED OATH OF ALLEGIANCE, 1777

Most of the applications state year of death was 'AFTER' 1790, but the word "after" is usually overlooked or omitted. Accuracy can not be verified, so think of this as a guide rather than fact, until such time as a birth or death certificate are produced, or a headstone found.

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_________________ * ________________

DATES/BIRTH PLACE/NAME VARIATIONS

1) Andrew was born "AFTER" 1736, but since that is the only information we have on him, it is being used as the point of reference.

...BIRTH DATE . DEATH DATE ... NAME
2) 05/16/1740 - 05/10/1801 - Anna Maria
3) 10/11/1740 - 11/27/1801 - William John

It is highly unlikely they were born and died within six months of each other. Some records have Anna Maria's year of birth as 1741.

5) Jacob Jr, BIRTH year from 1749-1752.
There are duplicate files for a Jacob dated 1751 in Find A Grave which may or may not be him.

Anna Catherine dates range as follows:
1712 - If correct she married at age 24.
1719 - Sept. 11 or Nov. 09

Johann Jacob Sr dates range as follows:
DOB: 1708-1720, 1709: Mar. 21, May 2, 21
DOD: 1790, 1798

BIRTH PLACE VARIATIONS - GERMANY:
Exact location within Germany varies due to boundary changes.
Achtelsbach, Bayern
Achtelsbach, Birkenfeld, Rheinland-Pfalz
Achtelsbach, Pfalz, Bayern
Acteisbach, Pfaltz, Bavaria
Baumholder, Achtelsbach, Oldenburg
Ellerstadt, Bayern

LAST NAME VARIATIONS:
Fenstemaker.: 1733-1987 Land Warrants
Finstermacher: 1772-1890 Census Record
Fenstermacher: Birth/Baptism, Immigration

After immigration a wide diversity occurred in the spelling of the name Fenstermacher.

Since immigrants usually couldn't speak, read or write English, their name changed as often as the person writing it - and was often phonetic.

Accents, and the fact that other languages do not have the same 26 letter A-Z alphabet that English does, also contributed to making translations tricky and documentation difficult.

As if that wasn't enough the spelling of names is complicated by relocation. As they moved, individuals in one county or state would be taught the spelling of their name differently than the same family members in another.

In addition, names eventually were Anglicised, making it difficult to determine which is the actual, correct, version, so for the most part I have used the spelling of the name the family has agreed upon or where possible the name on the headstone.

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~ BIRTH/DEATH/MARRIAGE RECORDS ~

For those frustrated by LACK OF EXACT INFORMATION bear in mind these were PIONEERS.

Mass immigration occurred 30 or more years PRIOR to U.S. Independence. Most U.S. births, deaths and marriages occurred AT HOME, and may or may not have been documented by Church Records or the Family Bible, but were not a requirement of the BRITISH EMPIRE.

The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire.

Outside of the largest cities, there were no churches, schools, hospitals, stores, or CEMETERIES. Most pioneer graves occurred near where the individual died and were generally marked only by piles of stone or wooden crosses that disintegrate over time.

Early cemeteries did not bury families together – that is a modern day concept. Pioneer cemeteries originally buried people next to each other in the order of death, with separate locations for adults, children and ethnicity.

Foreigners who could not read or write in the native language where they live were functionally illiterate, but the backbone of this nation, building as they traveled.

Illiteracy was the norm, and only the wealthy were able to afford to send their progeny off to the city for several years to be educated.

During pioneer times quill and paper were not standard household items, blackboards and chalk were, which is why there are so few paper documents and the Bible used to document family history.

It isn't that we "FAILED" to find the documents; very few actually exist and due to illiteracy, language barriers, and virtually no education system, their accuracy is highly questionable and often conflicting.

I offer known, but unsubstantiated, optional dates in the files - not to confuse - but to reflect the diversity in record keeping of that era.

Be thankful we have the pre-independence records available, instead of critical of their inaccuracies.

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Author of above Bio Unknown at this time
WDP 01/31/2021